Pietro's Pizza Hood River — Restaurant in Hood River

Summary: Really sub-par pizza in a legit 1978 atmosphere.

I haven't been to Pietro's since the early 1980's when they had a restaurant in Lynnwood, near the current site of Alderwood Mall and Target. It was never much of destination for the locals, as other pizza places, like Pizza Haven, Alfy's, Sparta's, and even Bonnie and Clyde's, generally outshone it. Still it was usually a decent experience there and they were the only place in town with the little teeny-tiny pepperonis that some of us liked.

I was pretty stoked to venture a couple hundred miles south and visit Pietro's 40 years later. And when I arrived, I got to relive the 1970's pizza experience all over again. There was a big open cafeteria-like dining room with rows of tables, end-to-end, a pass-through refrigerator behind the front counter for easy beer retrieval, a large, exposed and wide-open kitchen, and a large central fireplace, ringed by seats. Only dim lighting would've added to the effect.

We paid $25 for a two-topping pizza (ouch) and waited patiently. Service at the counter was quick and friendly and our pizza was delivered in 10 minutes or so. So far, so good.

Then we ate some and it was not good. Every flavor was "off." Not like rotten or anything (at least I hope not), but nothing tasted, at all, like I would have expected just by looking. The pizza was a sad disk of bland, only occasionally punctuated by a disconcerting sweetness. I got no sense of seasoning, herbs or spices. The bacon on the pizza was the lone redeeming quality ingredient and the salad bar wasn't bad. So, for the first time that I can remember, I left the remaining three-quarters of the pizza behind and left. (Full disclosure: my wife, shocked, retrieved the box and brought it home for the kids. They only made it through half of the leftovers before giving up and making faces at me.)

This location, at least, really needs to re-think their recipes. This is some of the worst pizza I've had in recent years. The crust had a nice texture but horrible flavor. The sauce was bad. The cheese was horrible. The pepperoni and canadian bacon were flavorless. The mushrooms were sweet and woody.

In the end, I think I gained a new understanding of why Pietro's didn't survive in the Puget Sound area. I'm just surprised that they can keep their doors open in Hood River. On the other hand, I drove 200 miles to visit, so maybe nostalgia hunters and the smell-blind are enough.

Of note: the claw game had the most ridiculously specific prizes: Calgary Flames NHL plush dolls and Nascar plush dolls, primarily. To sweeten the deal, a dollar bill was tied around the neck of one of the plush...

It is difficult to criticize any business going through all of the issues we are experiencing now. COVID, limited availability of goods and most of all being understaffed. Everyone that is working today seems to want to be here and working hard. I usually don’t leave many reviews, but this business seems to be a poster child for the struggles the restaurant business as a whole is facing. Half the table are left dirty, was informed they are out of multiple items before we placed out order. I understand businesses need to rebound. The arcade has maybe 10% of the games operational with hand written “ out of order” signs on most. I’ve come here literally my entire life. To see it struggle at this level doesn’t make anyone feel good. I would recommend to them that “Management makes the difference” limited employees get overworked. They want to do a good job. Can be difficult when there is not anyone to lean on. Everything suffers. Our pizza was undercooked, our chicken on the salad was old a gray. We waited and expected period for our food. It’s not the employees fault. Help your staff. Get your machines operational and put out high quality food. It’s hard. It will always be hard. Work more. Save your business and reputation as people remember and expect it to be. It is NOT THE EMPLOYEES RESPONSIBILITY TO MANAGE THE BUSINESS OUR THE EXPERIENCE. MANAGEMENT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.

I hope you take these comments as constructive. Your staff will become overworked and that effects the experience. That is what people want when the come here. To show their families a good time. To spend time together. Please I suggest your refocus on your business and your customers. And remind your staff that they are appreciated and you know they come to work to do a good...

The pizza was decent enough, but don't come here for the first time on a Friday night. I called ahead in the morning to let them know we had a group of up to 30 coming, and over the phone they were super helpful and accommodating. However, when we showed up for our reservation, it was very busy which led to poor service (as well as an unpleasant environment-- I could barely speak to the person next to me, it was so loud and crowded!). Having 20 something people on my tab led to everyone having to stand in line to wait for the register with my tab to simply get a soda cup (and don't try to use the stacks of paper cups to get water; they punch holes in them so that you have to wait forever just to get tap water too). When the pizzas were cooked, they brought them to our 3 tables without any plates, so people ate off napkins. The employees noticed this when they brought the rest of the pizzas but still never brought plates for anyone. We had two vegans that ordered individual pizzas upon arrival, and by the time everyone else was finished eating, they still hadn't gotten their food. I inquired about the vegan pizzas, and the first time, the employee said they were almost ready for the server to bring it to the table. 20 minutes later, I entered the long line again to see if they were really almost ready. When I get to the front, two employees were looking confusedly at two little pizzas and I asked if they were the vegan ones, which they were, so I took them myself to the table very late. Nobody was especially friendly (except the people on the phone) and the experience definitely wasn't worth the hype. It isn't a good value for the price, either, so I doubt...