Bocca Lupo Coal Fired Pizza Port Charlotte — Restaurant in Florida

Where do I even begin? If I could give zero stars I would. I was in the service industry for over 20 years and never in my life have I experienced what I experienced tonight. When we walked in after 7 pm, the place was not busy but the dining rooms were trashed. There was a couple ahead of us, and the hostess was too busy chatting with them to acknowledge us for several minutes..There were staff members hanging around a window behind the hostess stand asking if they were cut yet...obviously had plenty of time on their hands to have maybe acknowledged the door or clean the trashed tables. Another lady came up to ask us if we needed to be sat, and I said I thought the other lady took our party number (2) down. The 2nd lady actually was the one to clean a table off and sit us. Our server greeted us promptly, and offered appetizers and took our order. The server brought out our drinks but did not look at the glass she grabbed to put my daughter's soda in. The server poured soda into the most disgusting glass. My daughter drank about a quarter of it before she showed me and asked what was in it. Completely grossed out, it literally looked like puke was in it, that should have been my 3rd sign to leave, but it was late amd my poor daughter was starving, as was I. I had to flag down another server to address the disgusting glass I was given. She got our server who brought a new glass, but no manager came by the table, to apologize, address or fix. Silverware was filthy and had food stuck to it. Does this place not have a dishwasher that servers are forced to grab dirty dishes, etc..and from other reviewers, Id have to assume this is the case. After we placed our order it took 27 minutes and that whole time we didn't see our server again..We didn't order anything difficult for it to take 27 minutes for a kid and adult. My daughter's personal sized pizza was delivered hot, but the garlic knots I asked to be served with the meal were ice cold and stale...my sandwich came out with cheese that wasn't even melted and that's what prompted me to check my meat.. Sure enough...Ice cold. I had to flag the server down again, and asked her to at least take the sandwich off the bill since I didn't even eat a bite. Again, no manager came out to apologize or address the issue. Nobody offered to re-make anything nor did they offer to heat it under a salamander or anything. As soon as the server brought the plate back to the kitchen, whoever was in the kitchen started throwing dishes having a temper tantrum and the guy tossing pizza dough started laughing. Absolutely disgusted and grossed out with the lack of cleanliness and lack of service. Pathetic I paid 27 and change for crap personal sized pizza, inedible garlic knots and 2 drinks..and I didn't get to eat. At least my...

Friday we decided to try Bocca Lupo Coal Fired Pizza Port Charlotte at 1900 Tamiami Trl, Port Charlotte.  In the same area where Lowe's is located and Five Guys.  It was our first time there. The first thing we noticed when we walked through the door was it was divided into 2 different sections.  On the left as you walk in is a spacious eating area with some Italian oriented art.  This seemed to us to be more appropriate for families with children or those not interested in a television or a bar area. The area on the right contained a bar and television(s).  It is also where the restrooms are located. The sign said to seat yourselves so we chose the left  side family area.  We were greeted and asked what we would like to drink.  The menus were already on the table and not very complicated.  My wife and I decided to have the Antipasto salad and to split a personal Italian Pizza.  The Pizza was stated to be New York Style.  Danielle, our server was friendly and professional and attentive.  She brought us our drinks and a few minutes later we received our Antipasto Salad.  It was large and more than enough for 2 people.  It had spring mix, cheese, Capicola, a couple of different kinds of salami and giardiniera.  It came with an Italian dressing in a container with a lid.  There was no spoon or utensil to use to remove the dressing, so we just poured onto our salad.  The salad was fresh and flavorful.  My wife remarked that it was one of the best salads she had so far.  For me it was ok.  I thought the salad dressing was a little too vinegary for me.  It's a personal thing, but it was good. Once we finished with the salad, our server brought out our pizza. The crust was great.  It had a good chew and was done well.  The pie had cheese, sparse sauce, meatballs, Italian sausage and pepperoni.  It was very good. We enjoyed the meal and will be back.  We felt that they did a good job on the pizza and there are quite a bit more things we would like to try on the menu.  The place had two thumbs up from us. They are friendly, fast and professional.  It is a good place to bring a family. The prices are very reasonable and there is plenty of parking.  If you are in the area, I would encourage you to stop by and try them out.  I am positive you will have an...

By far the worst experience I’ve ever had to swallow, the waitress staff completely ignored me on a slow day and helped more than one other guest even after I walked up to the register clerk upon entry asking if I could take the seat in the corner. My “designated waitress” was helping a table right next to me as I passed her to have a seat and she never acknowledged me. I saw her acknowledge other seaters saying she will be right with them even though I was seated before them. I waited patiently because I figured it was just a mistake. After she helped the table next to me with boxes to finish up and I noticed a table not to far from me getting full service even though they came after me as well I then walked back up to the front desk to ask if I could just order at the counter. Woman at the counter said I’d have to take it to go if I ordered with her so I decided to sit back down and she said someone will be with me. On the way back to my seat I passed Julia serving a guest and if not for Julia noticing me sit back down and asking me “if I was already helped” I would of never even of been “noticed”. I felt completely under valued by the lack of customer awareness on a slow day. I do believe I was noticed upon entry and people were aware of my presence but because I’m a black man with dreadlocks and I was wearing sweats from leaving the local fitness gym I was not of interest to provide anything above effortless service nor was my time acknowledged from when I sat down to when I walked back up to hopefully place my order at the front from sitting quietly over 10minutes. I’ve eaten at this restaurant at other locations, I love the food but due to the way I felt throughout this experience I can’t spend my money at this family owned establishment and I hope nobody else ever goes through the emotions that I felt because they may not be able to accept it the way I did. After asking the receptionist if they took cardless Pay and realizing I left my wallet in my car I decided to take that a sign to go home instead of come back in the restaurant because I wouldn’t feel ok tipping any of these waitresses and there was little faith in the experience change or getting better… it was...