Grimaldi's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Florida

This place has greatly improved with their staff and customer service. However, still a decent wait time for anything to include getting initial drinks. Given the hot temperatures at least trying to get waters to the tables while they wait would be something they would incorporate.

The pizza, BBQ chicken, was fantastic. A little soft on the crust, but the rest of it was amazing. Drinks were a bit sporadic. I ordered two metropolitan mules, the first was amazing, the second one however, seemed to have a different proportion in ingredienta/mix. Overall still decent drinks. Dessert trio was really good, there options were a bit limited (missing 2 of the original ones asked for) but was still flavorful.

-----old review----- Not sure why it took so long to notice. But the common factor to all of our less than pleasant experiences here are related to one staff member. This particular waitress seems to be lacking quite a bit in customer service skills. She hardly updates us on our order. Doesn't check on our table, hardly offers any refills nor water to go along with other drinks. The wait between each time she stops seems to elongate the more we wait, almost as if she's trying to avoid us as she's unaware what to do with a table and it's guests. I rather not drop her name in a public review. But if management would like her name, by all means leave a number or email for me to contact and I'd be happy to provide additional details and answer any questions that may help improve the customer experience here.

----older review----- This place is definitely a hit-or-miss with every visit. We've had times with great staff and amazing food and we've also had times where the staff were just terrible, long waits with no explanation or apologies. A different visit we didn't even eat, we arrived quarter to the hour and we were informed their stoves were not running hot yet so they couldn't serve pizza. Rather than offering us the opportunity to wait, have drinks, try something different the hostess just implied that we should leave. The fairly consistent quality of food is the only reason for the continued visits, but the quality of the service is making that justification harder...

Regrettably, we had a most disappointing experience at this restaurant today. We had been to the same store earlier this week and we had had a perfect dining experience - food, wine, service, quality were all top of the top - definitely all of them solid As. We were excited to return for another memorable dining experience.

This afternoon, after driving 35 miles from Panama City Beach to get there, we m, unfortunately, had a completely opposite experience. We ordered the same 16" Brooklyn Bridge premium pizza we had enjoyed so much on our previous outing. The pizza today was overcooked, had very sparse sauce and toppings - ricotta cheese and sausage - and was burned on the entire bottom. Four of the slices had no sauce, cheese and sausage on at least 1/4 of each slice - so ... on four of eight slices, crust only, with no sauce, no toppings.

We should have sent the delivered pizza back immediately, but the server didn't come back to check on us, we were hungry and, having waited 20 minutes already for our pizza, we didn't have time to wait for another 20-30 minutes for a second pizza.

Pizza at best was D+. Certainly not worth the 28.00 price tag - in fact, no where close. When the server finally returned with the bill, we told her - politely but firmly - that we were very disappointed with the pizza for the reasons outlined. She apologized and said she would review it with the manager.

Nothing was done. The manager never came to the table and did nothing to acknowledge and resolve our concerns. No adjustment was made on our bill and nothing further was done by the server.

Service was the same D+ as the only thing the server did was bring out a lousy pizza and offer zero positive response to our bad experience. Foolishly, I still left a fair tip and now regret doing so.

Our experience: Big mistake going to this restaurant today. Poorly prepared food, lousy customer service, poor overall value. Not respected at all as valued customers.

From an excellent experience to a truly lousy one in just a few days - we were definitely very dissatisfied customers today...

Grimaldi's Pizzeria is a convenient place to find a good pizza.

We first tried Grimaldi's on hearing about it from friends who claimed it as the best pizza in the Destin area. I cannot vouch for that, as I have not tried that many pizza places, but we have visited here numerous times and keep coming back. We obviously like the product!

We usually order "The Don" pizza. It is described as a "Traditional Pizza Topped with Italian Sausage, Meatballs and Pepperoni." It comes in several sizes and is very good. We often order a large pizza which is good for about three meals for two people. It freezes easily and heats up in the oven without a problem.

There is an extensive wine list and also plenty of beers to choose from.

We had stopped ordering the salad here for a while as the lettuce was bitter and not the best quality. On the last occasion, we again ordered one, a Caesar Salad, and it was much better. The lettuce was light green, crisp and not bitter. On earlier occasions, the lettuce has been a dark green color, somewhat bitter and not a good quality. Hopefully, it will be just as good on the next trip here.

The atmosphere is informal and guests can watch the pizza being tossed in the air by the people creating the pizza. It is fun to watch; I have never seen them drop it in the 8-10 visits we have been here.

Outdoor dining is available as well as an inside dining room.

Service is usually very good. There has been a staffing shortage, as with many other restaurants. We went for a late lunch (after 2 PM) and it was virtually empty and service and food were both excellent. This is a heavy tourist area so keep in mind that during the busy tourist season, Grimaldi's may get crowded and there may be a wait.

We sometimes order online and pick up the pizza to minimize the wait time and enjoy eating the product at home. That is a good alternative for most of the summer months as well as spring break, holiday...