Oregano's — Restaurant in Goodyear

I came to Oregano's this weekend to have lunch, my family. We were seated immediately at a corner table, and our waiter Alexis came and asked what drinks we wanted. Once he came back with the drinks and took our orders, we continued having our conversation. Everything started out well, and it took about 20 minutes for the food to get back to the table. Once Alexis brought the food out, he quickly turned and started walking away but forgot to bring our utensils or any napkins. My aunt and mother ordered the Hakuna Piccata, and I ordered the Ciabatta Bing Ciabatta Boom sandwich. All three of these meals included chicken breasts in all of the dishes, the chicken was either overcooked, or just old reused chicken. The pasta dishes were over saturated with lemon seasoning and wasn't worth the price that it was advertised for, and the best part of my dish was the bread, vegetables, and fries. Usually, the waiter or waitress comes back to check on the table their waiting on, but Alexis kept walking past our table and even avoided making eye contact when walking by. After he made about six trips past us he decided to stop and ask if we needed anything, my mom then asked for another drink thinking she would get it within five minutes but he never returned to our table. We watched him tend to the surrounding tables near ours, and not once did he come back with her drink. When he finally did come back, he looked down and asked us if they (which he was referring to someone else) brought the drink out, and we replied no. Alexis then said I'll go get it now," to which we all said it's ok. we'll just need three to go boxes and the check, and he said, " I'll get that right now." Alexis left the area, and when he came back to our side of the restaurant, he was back to waiting on the other tables and then disappeared again. Alexis was gone over twenty minutes and it gotten to the point that we asked one of the guys that was cleaning off the empty tables if he knew where Alexis was at that we just wanted the check so we could leave. He came right back and told us that Alexis should be right over. Alexis didn't come back for another ten minutes after his coworker went and got him. When he did get back, he still didn't have the to go boxes or the bags but had the check. My mother, who was paying, asked him if he could bring the change back and not disappear like he had been doing our entire visit, to which he then replied ok. It took Alexis over ten minutes to come back, and even though I was being treated to lunch, I didn't enjoy the service that we received. If it was left up to me Alexis wouldn't have received a tip at all, if you don't like your job maybe you should find a job that's better suited for you, but treating patrons at a restaurant this way is unacceptable and it's to the point that I will never visit this...

I will explain my one star for overall while my service was five-star. I have been going to Oregano‘s since 1998 when all they had was one restaurant and have traveled the city no matter where I was to hit Oregano‘s because I loved their food. I was up in Minnesota for three months this year, had to fly home for a doctor appointment for my son, and went to Oregano’s on my one day flight home, and again awesome as ever. Upon arriving home end of October 2023, I went to Oregano’s alone and ordered Guacatony only to find it had dramatically changed and did not taste good. I was so disappointed in the food quality being less than their normal amazing dishes I told my husband, I probably would not go back. We ended up calling another branch (which was the Goodyear branch) and spoke to a manager and found out that Oregano’s had been purchased by a new owner and they were revamping their menu, and that included the Guacatony. I am not sure who bought this restaurant and thought it was a great idea to change what has worked for more than 25 years that I have been going to this restaurant, but they are not very smart, and people are going to figure it out, and you will lose patrons that have loved this restaurant. My five star for service was for this particular Goodyear restaurant is: We went back one time since October 2023 (it is currently late March 2024) and the manager here sat down at our table and explained what had been changed, and what hadn’t been changed and made the experience better than I expected considering the recent menu changes. He is someone that you need to keep and excels at his job and I appreciate all that he did. That being said, whoever purchased this place needs to know that I frequented Oregano‘s weekly, yet I have been one time in five months due to your recent changes. Your tactics coming in and changing an amazing restaurant are some of the dumbest I’ve ever seen (excuse my bluntness)! Buying a restaurant that has worked as long as Oregano’s has is because of the recipes that it offered. Unless things go back, you’ve lost a patron that had now more than 25 years of service from this restaurant most the time on a weekly basis.

4/12/24: I revised my review as I was contacted by Oregano’s who went above and beyond to explain all changes, why the changes were made and addressed every single concern I had after my last experience. I don’t do many reviews unless I need to give very positive feedback or if I really feel something was really off, but to date, I have never had any company or go as far as they did to keep me satisfied as a customer and to keep bringing people back. I will, again, make this restaurant a part of my normal dinner’s as I had prior to my experience prompting my review. Thank...

I’ll be giving Oregano’s a 5 star and this is something I don’t just hand out without thought. And my wife and I should have reviewed this place a long time ago.

We come to this particular Oreganos for the sole reason that it’s a great atmosphere. And we credit this to our bartender Jeanette. And I will say her infectious smile and friendly disposition makes this a great experience for all who come to oreganos. Plus she knows how to make a real drink.

We like the food with the amble servings. And almost always cooked to our likings with right amount of seasoning. Since we are regulars we’ve had the opportunity to sample many dishes.

But what keeps us coming back is the friendly personal treatment we get from Jeanette. Kind of like Cheers., and someone who makes the effort to address you by name in an authentic and genuine manner. This is something severely lacking in today’s food and beverage industry.

We’ve been to many locations on our date nights, something we do weekly, and time and time again we always put Oreganos on top of our list for this reason. For almost 2 years now

I hope management of Oreganos can recognize Jeanette’s valuable contributions to this establishment by making this a real family friendly environment. If anyone thinks the service is slow I suggest use the drive through, at Carls Jr. I’ve traveled the world to include Italy and being at a real Italian restaurant, and ambiance is top priority, so is socializing. Not fast food treatment. I hope someone who is a regular carries more weight in reviewing than someone who critiques gas station food and McDonalds. 🤷‍♂️

For a chain family restaurant, Oreganos is...