Pedone's Pizza & Italian Food — Restaurant in Hermosa Beach

Where do I even start with this pizza disaster? I swung by with a friend recently, hoping for a quick and satisfying bite. We ordered two personal pizzas: a Hawaiian for me and a pepperoni for him. Let’s just say the only thing “personal” about mine was the grudge I now hold against whoever made it. I’ve had low expectations before, but this took disappointment to a level I didn’t know existed—like something they’d serve at Guantanamo Bay to break your spirit one soggy bite at a time. First off, the Hawaiian. I’m a sucker for that pineapple-and-ham combo when it’s done right—sweet, salty, maybe a little melty cheese to tie it all together. What I got instead was a crime scene on a crust. The dough was a limp, undercooked mess, like it had given up on life before it even hit the oven. The sauce? Barely there, and what little I could taste reminded me of that generic ketchup you find in a dollar store packet. The pineapple chunks were mushy and flavorless—possibly canned, probably sad—and the ham was less “smoky goodness” and more “questionable lunch meat” vibes. I took two bites, sighed deeply, and decided it wasn’t worth the calories. Even the homeless guy I offered it to on my way out gave it a hard pass. When your pizza can’t even win over someone who’s literally scavenging for scraps, you know you’ve hit rock bottom. My friend’s pepperoni wasn’t much better, though it at least cleared the bar of “technically edible.” He described it as “tolerable,” which is about the faintest praise you can give a pizza. The pepperoni itself was fine—greasy in that classic way—but the crust was just as uninspired as mine, and the cheese had that weird plastic sheen you get when it’s been sitting under a heat lamp too long. He powered through it, but I could tell it was more out of hunger than enjoyment. We sat there in silence, chewing our regrets, wondering why we didn’t just hit up a food truck instead. The vibe of the place didn’t help either. The whole experience felt like a lesson in lowering expectations, and even then, they managed to limbo under the bar. I’d give this joint a 0 out of 5 stars—and that’s being generous because I’m assuming they at least tried. If you’re craving pizza and this is your only option, do yourself a favor: skip it and eat the box instead. It’ll have more flavor and better texture. As for me, I’m still mourning the $27 I’ll never get back—and the faith I lost in humanity’s ability to make a...

Mother's Day, 4:00pm. EMPTY restaurant (first weird sign on a special day when other restaurants were packed full of clients at that time). All screens off for a Sports Bar (second weird sign). Only one person working and attending (third weird sign on a Mother's Day). Despite this, we wanted to give it a try and ask for a table. Then we discovered dust everywhere around the tables. I ordered a coke. Coke was served in a glass. I asked for a straw. The guy told me straws are not allowed in the beach city and he did not provide one. Hermosa Beach law says non plastic single use straws may be provided upon request. He didn't. Glass was dirty like washing only with water. Of course I will not drink from there without a straw. I ordered Calamari rings. You have to see the pics. Calamari were over fried and dark inside towards black. It supposed to be fresh and white. Then I searched for reviews in Google and found out two particular ones: one from a former employee talking about health and safety violations and the other one from a client talking about get poisoned after eating some wings. Enough. I didn't try the Calamari and told the guy we were leaving. He told me my burger was ready. I said I have no confidence in your food. I wish I had checked the reviews before getting a table to avoid wasting my time. I am glad I didn't bite any. I knew after this from someone else working in a high class restaurant kitchen that when restaurants don't have too much clients they heat and reheat the food and serve food well past due. We went to have dinner to another restaurant in Hermosa Beach. Yes, they provided straws upon request. The guy at Pedone's simply doesn't know even his local ordinance. By the way, I am sure all lately reviews in Google are fake or paid to say something positive. So weird a place like this have so many 5 stars in the recent months, but guess what, all come from users with only one review and that one was this restaurant saying something pretty generic. I'm 100% sure they got paid. A while ago I was offered to write fake reviews in Yelp to get paid. Of course I said no but you must know that ia happening in the review world. Check the bad reviews first as those...

These people are scam artists. Me and my wife stopped by for a couple drinks after dinner tonight and our waitress had to leave and requested we close out our tab, we did and paid in full, 30 minutes later another waiter approached us demanding payment and insisted our previous payment "wasn't in the computer." He was incredibly rude, belittled us and accused us of being too drunk to remember not paying because "our payment obviously wasn't in the system." Despite our best attempts at reasoning with him and showing him the pending charge on our chase account, we were forced by this bartender to double pay even though we both knew he was dead wrong. Immediately after confirming with Chase I was double charged, I called the business and was transferred to Peter who is supposedly the manager. He said that since I used profanity in his store, the f-word one time apparently, he would not consider my complaint about my double charge and hung up the phone on me. I"ll escalate this as far as possible and get my money back one way or another but can only imagine how many people this business has put in this situation.

Edit: The owner called me on my private cell phone and tried to Bribe me into remove this review. Stop harassing me, it's not going to happen. Additionally, the two charges on my credit card were for two different amounts for the same two drinks. Thats means the second bartender took the liberty to add an additional $4 to our tab that the first bartender did not. These people are literally charging you whatever they feel like. Never give them your...