Italian Cottage — Restaurant in Chico

UPDATE: The bad experience below actually happened but I wanted to update my review. Even though that happened and I was unhappy I have still gone back. Why? Because I have eaten here for most of my life and I still think it has the best Pastrami in town. I have also had good experiences before and since then. Things happen and employees don't always know the whole story or communicate well as I've been an employer for a long time.

So this is me saying it's not all bad. I was afraid that my bad experience meant that things had changed for the worse but that has not been my experience. So if you choose to go here I suggest the Pastrami with pepper cheese and grilled onions. It's my favorite. And if Italian Cottage is reading this then I'd love to be able to have the shredded beef back on a pizza someday. It was my father in laws favorite and the way we celebrated his memory every year. Thanks

Original Review:

This was a huge disappointment! For years we have been going here as a family to celebrate the memory of my wife’s deceased father who loved the Beef and Onion Pizza here for decades. We even had it the day he was unplugged from life support as a part of trying to deal with the trauma.

For the last 10 years, every year on the anniversary of his death, we have been coming here to remember him by eating his favorite Beef and Onion pizza and have a pitcher of the beer he drank with it.

Tonight we were told that we can only order toppings that are listed under the possible omelette toppings on the menu. The shredded beef is not an option even though you can get it on a beef sandwich.

No matter how much we asked or explained our situation we were told that under no uncertain terms would the kitchen put the beef on a cheese pizza and throw some onions on it.

This has been a family restaurant run by a great family but it’s clear that the rules have over run customer service when the supplies are already in the kitchen.

We are obviously sad and will be coming here much less often. I’m sure they’ll survive but the founders touch and the Chico community charm is clearly gone.

Go somewhere else because the magic...

Waiter offered the other tables straws, ranch, dessert, all the extras but I had to catch the waiter and ask for everything they were being offered. I imagine she thought theyd be big spenders since they ordered alchohol. Water tasted like a dirty sink and was lukewarm being poured from an old piece of pottery. My daughters pasta was mainly sauce and she said it was burning her lips it was so spicy.

The waiter told me all the pizza was good. I ordered the white pizza but instantly regretted it once I took a bite. It was worse than frozen pizza, a taste/smell that can be compared to old gym socks. I was on a time constraint so I ate what I could.

The waiter grabbed the check without asking if I wanted anything else (which I did). She had to redo the check to add on more. She handed us the check then walked away without saying anything else. I felt a bit judged like she didn't think I'd be a big tipper/spender because it was just me and a child. The couple seated across from us received a much nicer experience, even a super nice goodbye, and lots of upsellng before she closed their check.

I had my card ready to go but she made it clear I'd have to walk up to the register because she wasn't going to take it. I just found her to be a bit rude because she assumed I'm a single mom without money.

Food is definitely all frozen/canned. Everything came out in less than 5 minutes, which means it was all nuked under a microwave and premade. There were pools of oil all over my pizza, I had to soak it up with napkins. My daughter's spaghetti definitely smelled like a cheap pasta sauce I'd avoid buying even from the store. I really don't understand why people come here. I went years ago to the other location and it wasn't good either. No wonder they're...

1st Order WRONG and 2nd RAW CHICKEN !! We’ve recently moved to the Chico area and my daughter suggested Italian cottage for lunch so we placed an order over phone and she picked it up. Well when she got home and started unpacking food she noticed we were missing an order for pasta kaboom. She called the restaurant and asked about missing item and was told yeah I see you ordered two but we only charged you for one so if you want to come back and get second order I’ll just charge you for it . So I’m thinking if you knew she ordered two why didn’t you fill the order as requested . Last week I placed an order over phone and thought I would surprise my daughter, I ordered two pasta kabooms and ravioli with meatballs for my husband. Got it home and my husband said it taste like spaghetti O’s meatballs. And I couldn’t eat the pasta kaboom because it really had no flavor and the chicken was so tough I couldn’t chew it. I just let it go then a hour or so goes by and my daughter comes over and says my order has raw chicken and she shows it to me. I said let’s call them because that is not ok and explained my meal was bad as well. She calls and was told sorry but we don’t refund any portion and I said I’ll bring both back to you and again it didn’t matter that we were unable to eat the food . The manager couldn’t be bothered by the fact that the restaurant just gave raw chicken to customer’s. I will never eat there again. They certainly don’t want to make customers happy. And I certainly am not going to pay for food that may or may not be edible. Mistakes happen but both times I’ve been and order was wrong or inedible with horrible customer...