Grimaldi's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Houston

Let me start by saying Grimaldi’s Pizzeria is a 35 minute drive from where I live, so I made lunch plans to dine in on my day off. Personally it is not a far drive if I believe it is worth it, but after today’s unsatisfying dining experience, I will not be going out of my way to eat here again.

Everything started out smoothly, I arrived with my boyfriend and got a table for two. Shortly after sitting down we were greeted by Justina who was also working behind the bar. We ordered The Don and was looking forward to enjoying a cheesecake for dessert. It was not packed at all so I was NOT expecting to wait 30 almost 40 minutes for a pizza, especially after glancing around the restaurant multiple times and realizing the staff wasn’t looking busy either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely understanding if there is an issue (which is why we were never rude to her and never questioned why it was taking so long, so that was probably our fault for not asking) but Justina never communicated that our pizza was going to take a bit longer or when we should expect it. Which really led me to believe she forget to ring in our order because we placed the order for one 12 inch pizza at around 1:30/1:35pm and didn’t get it until 2:13pm. And we had witnessed a couple come in and get seated a while after we did, that didn’t have to wait as long for their meal and was already eating at the same time we were.

When our server dropped off the pizza she stated “It’s late but it’s hot” implying she also knew it took a long time for us to get it. She didn’t speak much and never apologized about the wait. We even had to wait a bit for our drink refills, and when she did refill them it wasn’t even the full glass (as pictured) which really took me by shock!

The pizza itself looked a little over done and questionable at first but it was surprisingly delicious. It had the perfect crisp to it and I did enjoy it, which makes me even more upset about this situation because to me, if I know the service is terrible then it is not worth dining in. I really wish she would’ve shown some hospitality.

Even after waiting so long for our meal we still ordered the Oreo cheesecake for dessert which was decent. Everything was the perfect size for me and my boyfriend to share to feel full without being overly stuffed. I really wish this experience would’ve been better and the service matched the quality...

Hi Grimaldi's,

Let me begin this narrative by saying, I have ALWAYS been very fond of my pizza and Chardonnay; for YEARS! I walked to the bar of the Baybrook location and the only available seating, nearest the door, had remnants of previous customers, i.e., glasses, easter, food. I wanted the seat, therefore I stood there awaiting the bartender to tidy up as she was not behind the bar.

10 minutes passed. She finally came and inquired about any drinks we were interested in. Never acknowledging the obvious mess on the bar; I continued to stand.

Once she returned and set our drinks down, I asked if she could please clean the area.

She walked away, grabbed a towel and spray, returned to only aggressively spray and sling the towel ferociously missing my entire area.

Retreated, threw the towel and spray down, slamming, and proceeded to peck the "order screen".

I looked around astounded questioning my sanity. Saw a gentleman in a white shirt and asked a random staff member if he was indeed a manager. She agreed and retrieved him.

Asked the manager if we could please have our area cleaned properly. He obliged. She witnessed it then appeared upset when returned.

You know how someone acts when they are defensive? Like nervous and protective all at once. Well, that was her.

She ferociously stated, "is there anything else you need"?

I calmly asked, I am trying to understand what issue do you have with me. I have been as innocently respectful as can be and have only asked the minimum of what any other customer would have. Never did I disrespect you or display any grief about anything.

She walked away, and I assumed was spoken to by the manager as well as gathered her bearings.

There was a complete change! She returned as polite as could be. Please(s) and thank you(s) galore. I forced engagement and furthere conversations.

Nonetheless, the food and drinks and wine was great. Received order and even tipped a nice amount in spite of.

Understanding everyone has bad days, however, CUSTOMER SERVICE should never suffer when people are patronizing your...

After getting a reply from Grimaldi's I only thought it right to come back and give the full review. Here is the reason for my 3 stars. We arrived and the restaurant was for the most part was not busy. There were several open tables and by several I mean more than ten. We asked to sit on the patio which only had one table occupied. We were told by the host it would be a 10-15 minute wait. It was Friday night so that was better than most places. We truly had to wait almost 10 minutes not sure why. The waitress was pleasant. We told her it was our first time at this restaurant and she said "oh ok so you need to look at the menu" and she took our drink order and left. When she came back with the drinks she only had 3 of the 4, the one she was missing was our toddler's drink. This caused our toddler to have a complete melt down because he didn't get a drink like everyone else. Not her fault as it is a toddler but her fault. We asked her about some of the pizza she didn't really have anything to say about them. So we ordered our food and it came out quickly. We ordered an appetizer and a pizza. Both were nothing to write home about. The pizza was The Don. The sad part was the crust was truly my only favorite part. The sauce was plain the topping were lacking. Very little cheese almost like it had been pulled from the freezer. I had heard good things about this place and am guessing it was not our night for goodness. We as a family eat pizza every Friday night and our toddler lives for pizza. This is also how I knew it was not the best our toddler who can eat a mini pizza by himself did not even eat a quarter of one slice. Like I said it may have just not been a good night for them. I would maybe give them another chance but it won't be on our Friday night pizza night. Maybe lunch and I will definitely order something different. We didn't have a terrible experience it was just a 3...