Gemelli’s pizzeria — Restaurant in Cleveland

An Unwelcome Surprise at Gemelli’s Pizzeria

Gemelli’s Pizzeria in Cleveland, TN, how you've changed. Once a paragon of cleanliness and efficient management, it is now a place where unexpected 'guests' reside in the to-go boxes. Our recent visit, a special dinner with my son and grandson, turned into a bitter experience.

In the past, we marveled at how clean and well-run the restaurant seemed. I even enjoyed playing chess with the manager—a charming man. But tonight's "find the cockroach" game in our pizza box wasn’t quite as delightful.

The shock was palpable when we discovered a live, 2-inch cockroach comfortably nestled in our to-go pizza box. I tried to handle the situation discreetly, requesting to speak with the manager. We had just spent $38 on two large pizzas and four drinks—plus, apparently, a bug.

The manager, bless his heart, insisted it was a water bug, not a cockroach. He did apologize, saying they came in from the bank next door. I don’t care if they waltzed in from the Ritz-Carlton—I don’t want them in my dinner.

Handing the receipt to the manager, I calmly requested a full comp for our meal. His response? “Oh my, you’re killing me!” It was clear that someone was getting killed, and it wasn’t the cockroach. He continued to insist it wasn’t a roach, despite the evidence. His response was far from satisfactory.

To top it all off, shaking the empty to-go box sounded like a slice of pizza was still inside. I swear the bug got mad and shook the box back at me! In the end, the manager grudgingly offered a $30 refund—not exactly the full compensation we deserved. He should be thankful Gordon Ramsay wasn’t the one making the complaint.

While the manager was sincere and tried to do what he thought was right, it wasn’t enough. Our family will NEVER eat there again. So, a word of caution: when you order a Gemelli’s Special, be prepared—you might get more than you...

Very disappointed with our first, and last, experience at Gemelli's. We entered & were not greeted, there was no sign saying, "please order at counter" or any kind of direction.

Order was placed, spent almost $50 on two drinks, fried pickles, two salad bars, large House Special & a custom pizza (pepperoni, pineapple, onion, mushroom). They have a deal if you buy one, you get another for the same size for $4.25. We were shocked at the price.

The salad bar was almost $8!!! It was very limited & definitely NOT worth the price. The fried pickles arrived....with MARINARA!?! I went to the salad bar for some ranch. I LOVE fried pickles & try them every where I go....these had absolutely NO taste. The pizzas arrived, we are not really supposed to eat pizza due to medical reasons, so this was to be a rare treat for us. The pizzas were SOGGY & FLAVORLESS! We should have just gone to CiCi's, we would have had better...

With a rating of 4.7 on Google, you have to try them. Well there's a reason they have that rating. I grabbed a house calazone. If you don't like cheese, you won't like this one. Most calzones are bread for a couple inches around the outside. This one has cheese upto the edge of its flaky crust. Filled with abundant toppings, it's an incredible value at some change over $10. The bathroom is really clean which is a pretty leave of mine. I figure dirty bathroom means dirty kitchen. Only drawback is the parking is tight. I'm just glad I don't live near this place or I would have a...