Il Lazzarone Pizza — Restaurant in Kansas City

Whet here once in 2021 with some friends who convinsed me to go. and the atmosphere was great. Nice waiting staff, polite cooks, and patrons. An all around pleasure to visit, the food was like no other pizza place I'd ever been to it was phenomenal. And the service was just as you'd expect at a busy restaurant at the busy hours. I went back in 2023 and I don't understand how a place could have such a 180 degree turn in food quality. Ordered the same thing I did the first time, some bruschetta and the pizza with slices of tomato on it, forgive me i can't remember the name of it. The service was a far cry from what it once was. Granted with the lack of patrons going to it i'm sure they downsized waiting staff or were in the midst of trying to restaff. The atmosphere was practically identical. just not as busy. but the food... plainly put, I was very disappointed. The bruschetta from being nice and fluffy and clearly not the recycled burnt ends of seemingly stale pizza dough was exactly that. And the tomato seemed like it was rancid? It was probably fine, likely just not anywhere near ripe. But the recycled stale burnt pizza crust that was used as the bruschetta was immeasurably disappointing and for me and the person who was staying with me from overseas at the time, I had spent the time hyping up and recalling my first time experience with the food on the way there only to be met with mediocrity and skimping out on quality ingredients. Maybe they were short staffed in the kitchen or maybe they were going through a rough financial patch or recently lost their older cooking staff, i didn't recognize any of the cooking staff so that might have been it. Or they changed the recipes. But after that I've never gone back and I don't know if I plan too. Maybe in 20 years when I forget how upset I was with it or someone i meet in the future convinces me to go again. BUT do keep in mind that this review is from ONE person and is an OPINION of just one person's experience. So unless others agree with this review who had been long time patrons of the establishment, take this with a grain of salt. Again, maybe it was an off day or just hired a bunch of new people who don't quite know what they're doing. but regardless, for me the recent experience was atrocious. Apologies for the VERY LATE review. was going through my google maps bookmarked locations and remembered I never wrote my review out and figured better...

Absolutely — here’s a polished version of your feedback, rephrased with the same meaning but a different tone and wording:

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Subject: Feedback on My Recent Visit – River Market Location

Hello,

I wanted to reach out to share some candid feedback about my first experience dining at Il Lazzarone Pizzeria at your River Market location.

First, I want to commend you on the pizza itself — it was truly delicious, with great flavor and quality that exceeded my expectations. Unfortunately, the service I received took away from what could have been an outstanding overall experience.

Although the dining area wasn’t particularly busy, our server, Nicole R., made us feel hurried and uncomfortable right from the start. Her demeanor felt cold and dismissive, and it was obvious she was more warm and attentive to other tables nearby, which made the situation feel even more awkward.

What really concerned me was an incident where she misplaced my credit card, then implied that I had never handed it over. That interaction felt not only unprofessional but unnecessarily stressful — it created an atmosphere of mistrust that no guest should have to deal with.

As a small business owner myself, I know firsthand how much an employee’s attitude can shape a guest’s impression of a business. No matter how excellent your product is — and your pizza really is excellent — one negative interaction like this can overshadow it all. Staff who bring that kind of energy shouldn’t be in customer-facing roles.

I’m offering this feedback because I want to see good local businesses like yours continue to thrive. I hope it encourages reflection on hiring, training, and accountability for your front-of-house team.

Visit Details: Date: July 7, 2025 Time: 8:48 PM Ticket #: T14 Server: Nicole R.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for considering ways to ensure every guest feels as welcome as your food is delicious.

Best...

If you are gluten sensitive, they offer cauliflower crust, which my wife and I have not gotten into (its a taste thing). When the bartender saw my reaction to cauliflower, he pointed out that their regular crust is very low in gluten so some people don't have a reaction (please stop saying this). I'm not gluten sensitive so I ordered their regular Carne pizza with a side Caesar salad. The salad looked very appealing, but the small rectangular platter it was served on was not the best choice since ingredients easily fell off the dish. I also prefer my greens to be cold, yet this salad was room temperature. As for taste, it was fine, but not close to the best I've had, but I consider this a personal preference and feel that most would really like it. As for the pizza, the flavor reminded me of the pizza chain called Sbarro. It had that similar crust like a New York style pizza (thin, but not stiff). There is just one pizza size option which might just be a little too large for some people. Due to the size, I expected it to be cut into 8 sections and feel that it would have been easier to eat this way, but it came out in four large sections and due to the limpness of the crust made the points difficult to eat without losing toppings. I'm not sure if you were to fold it like a New York style pizza since the amount of crust on the outside didn't look helpful to do so. The toppings were good and they appeared to be a good quality, but could have used a little more of everything (toppings, sauce and cheese). As for the restaurant, it is quite nice, although I couldn't help think that the nice bar towards the front would be more appealing to those passing by. If eating at the bar, no need to wait to be seated. I gave them 4 stars (I liked it), which I did. With so many other pizza places to try, I'm not sure I'll make it back to Il Lazzarone, but I enjoyed...