Campisi's — Restaurant in Dallas

——- Critics Review ——- My 3rd over the years - and last time going to this location!!!

The last 3 times here over 4 years has been horrible. Failed again tonight. I was with a friend from high school who was in town and he wanted to go to the Mockingbird location because that was the only one in the 70s-80s. My head sank because the Lovers Lane location is perfect!!!

I told the waitress specifically, “an all the way pizza, minus mushrooms, triple garlic and extra crispy - so the toppings are toasted. I do not want the toppings in the center like you normally do - I want all toppings to the edge of the crust.”

Ugh, again - a total failure. Look at the photo! Toppings only in the center. The outer 2 inches is only cheese and garlic. You can barely see any salami or Italian sausage anc onions are everywhere. Almost under cooked - no where close to crispy! (A machine could do better!!)

Of course being with my friend I could not complain. So I went to my normal location (Lovers Lane), showed the manager (Derick) the pizza Mockingbird gave me. He knows me and what I like (as does 1/2 of the staff!) He was equally appalled.

I ask him to take a photo and send it to the Mockingbird manager and share my story. And throw it in the trash! I choked down 2 baby slices only to be tell my friend I has a late lunch as was full. (Mockingbird - I’LL NEVER GO BACK - EVEN IF YOU OFFER FREE FOOD FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!)

Of course Derick offered to make me a replacement pizza - and I refused twice. But when he added a free bourbon and coke… I broke down and said ok - but only a small. (See 2nd photo - a perfect pie!!)

Lesson learned. From now on, every friend who pops in town and wants to go to Mockingbird - I will tell them of my last 4 experiences and how Lovers Lane is the VIP place to go! Screw the atmosphere and nostalgia of Mockingbird!!!

Avoid Mockingbird at all costs!!! Order Dominos instead (or better - eat in or do a pick up at Lovers Lane!!)

End ————————-

Ok, I’ve been eating their pizza for 35 years and love it. However, it saddens me to see so many negative reviews on food quality. I went open minded and my pizza was perfect!!!! I got the all the way, minus mushrooms (make pizzas a little soggy), add garlic, and extra crispy (crunchy crust and toasted meats). I’ve been in FL for 2 years… and on my first bite, I had a huge reaction (spontaneous and not intentional). I sat up in my chair, turned my head to the ceiling, raised both arms up to the sky, and said “Mmmmmmmm” as I chewed…. and afterwards, said, “it feels so good to be alive!” Yes, it was dramatic, but it’s been 2 years!

Now for the sad part. My friend ordered the lasagna with meat sauce. He is a big foodie and cooks a lot. The pasta was so undercooked that he could not cut it or eat it. Seemed to be dried hard pasta from a box, layered in the pan, and expected to fully cook in the oven. Definitely not freshly made. Really bad and he could not eat it. Therefore only 3 stars. (Would be a 1 for lasagna,...

I've loved Campisi's for decades, so I leave this review with a very heavy heart. We are a large Sicilian family, so when it came time to book a relative's birthday party, Campisi's was a no-brainer. I made reservations for 35 people 8 days in advance. I made sure it was okay that we would require separate checks and would be bringing in a cake. I was told it was fine and that plates and forks would be provided.

When we arrived, I was surprised that we were not seated in the large party room, but instead crammed in the back room in an L-shaped configuration with one side of the table pressed so close to the wall that, once seated on that side, it was almost impossible to get up, which made visiting with other guests, or even going to the restroom difficult. I don't understand why you would not seat your largest party in the largest section of your restaurant, nor do I understand why we only had one member of waitstaff for the entire table. She did her best, but was quickly overwhelmed. Many orders were wrong, and some items were ordered but never received. When these errors were brought to her attention, our waitress told me everybody needed to "chill out." I told her they weren't rushing her; to the contrary, everyone was exceedingly patient, especially given the inordinate amount of time they had to wait for the wrong food. They just wanted the food they'd ordered before the rest of our party finished eating. I realize she was busy and frustrated, but that comment was still out of line. When it came time to cut the cake, we were provided a butter knife (for a tall 3 layer cake) and too few plates and forks. This caused us to stop down the cake cutting for about 15 minutes to try to get someone to bring us a larger knife. When the manager finally brought one, he got angry because we had to ask twice. Some people got tired of waiting, cleared their tabs and left. Once we started cutting the cake, we realized there were only half as many plates and forks as were needed, and I had to go walking the restaurant again for help. To make matters even worse, the billing was an absolute nightmare. Items were put on the wrong tickets, and after reviewing our receipts the next day, my brother and I found we were double-billed for 3 orders and 2 cocktails.

In total, our party ate and drank almost 1200 dollars and tipped very well. In fact, I gave our waitress extra cash at the end of the night in case there were any light tippers in our party (which, it turns out, there were not). Even still, we all came away feeling that our patronage was not valued at all. We will miss Campisi's, but this experience was so disappointing that I doubt any of us will return...

Hadn't been in a couple years and was greatly disappointed by the service today (1-12-2025). My mother got there first and reserved a table for 8 and was told the wait would be 30 minutes. There's the center/main room, then a room to the left and room to the right. We were told they were not seating tables in the room to the left as they were low on staff due to not anticipating being busy. We were, however, told we could wait in the room to the left where we watched a large party get seated and served. We watched the host and another employee, presumably a management level employee, argue over where groups could be seated just to watch nobody get seated as tables emptied. After waiting for over an hour, we were finally given a table. The server was nice but clearly overwhelmed. First he took our drink orders and hastily walked away. I had to ask him as he walked away if we could order appetizers. Once the appetizers got there, we had to ask for water. We finished the appetizers and waited for about 20 minutes, without water as he'd forgotten, until we flagged down a guy cleaning tables to ask if we could at least order food for the kids. Shortly after, the server came to take our orders which was over 40 minutes after being seated. We were finally given our waters, though 2 were missing so I shared with my kids, as well as being served our side salads and bread. I'm assuming he knew the service had been poor as he brought us an extra calamari saying it had been made in error and was just sitting there. 40 minutes later, our entrees arrived but they'd forgotten the kids' pizza. When asked, the server went to check, then returned saying they had to remake it as it had been burned and it would be another 4 minutes. About 10 minutes later, we finally received the cheese pizza, in the wrong size, but we were just happy the kids finally had their food as the rest of us were finishing our meals. Throughout the meal, nobody was offered refills of their drinks. Only my wife got a refill because she asked for it. I've never had a server not check on my table for refills or whatever else may be needed a single time and have to chase them down twice to order food. It's also a first to have to ask for water not once but twice. I'm not usually picky on servers but it was severely lacking today. I've never tipped so low that I felt guilty walking out. The food was good after being ignored in a restaurant for the better part of 3 hours, I can't say I'll be returning. I usually recommend this specific location due to the history and atmosphere but I'll have to refrain from doing so...