MOD Pizza — Restaurant in Lake Forest Park

I’ve been hearing great reviews from friends about this location and was really excited for my very first MOD pizza experience. A group of our friends and family visited this location on Thursday 9/14/23 and it was a downright miserable experience. When we arrived I told the person behind the counter that it was my first time there and I would need some guidance but ultimately rather than provide explanation about how the menu and ordering system worked, she appeared inconvenienced by my request for help and rushed the rest of our party’s orders.

Eventually I picked out a Mad Dog pizza and asked if I could add veggies, which she began preparing. When I got to the next person in the assembly line I asked which pizza was mine because I thought I saw it go in the oven before I was able to choose my veggies. The person preparing the pizza behind the counter said he didn’t know which pizza was mine or if any veggies had been added. The staff refused to look into it further, instead telling me that I needed to ask the first person in the assembly line who was already in rapid conversation with the next party. Finally, the last person in the assembly line was very apologetic and patient in trying to get my order straightened out and he started a new ticket for me with veggies, while someone else interrupted saying they had already made my pizza, when he said the extra veggies were not added, the other person appeared to roll their eyes.

Furthermore, upon arriving my mom explained that she was celiac and wanted to make sure she could safely enjoy their pizza, to which they agreed, confirming it would be safe/gluten-free to eat, even going so far as to replace her gloves before preparing the pie. While they advertise gluten free options it is not truly GF, as they put all pizzas in the same oven and do not permit the GF pizzas to bake on parchment or leave on metal baking pan (that they are already being prepared on) so unfortunately there is a lot of cross contamination in the oven.

After realizing that the pizza we had ordered would not be safe for my celiac mother to consume, knowing the GF process can be tedious and understandably not all restaurants can accommodate all food allergies, we asked if we could just take her pizza home and cook it in our oven. The employee asked their manager who came across exceptionally rude and without so much as acknowledging our presence or food safety concerns, she brusquely refused to let us take the pizza home to bake.

Their alternative option for her meal was a pitiful “Greek salad” which arrived with surprisingly scant toppings on a sad bed of iceberg lettuce.

While this location wasn’t as busy as others in the area it was not worth the grief of being in such an unhappy, uncomfortable environment. Rather than feeling like a welcomed, appreciated customer, it felt as though they were doing us a bothersome favor that was an inconvenience to accommodate. Something to note is it seemed that the low morale trickled down from the top and while most of the employees seemed uninterested in the customers, they seemed even more uncomfortable with...

I will admit to being surprised at the quality & freshness of both the food and the service here. I was skeptical of a "made to order" pizza place, reminiscent of Subway's operational model. I was quite happy to have been proven wrong. Being able to choose crust/sauce/toppings is a West Coast pizza norm; but standing over it and being able to say, "your idea of extra sauce & mine are clearly different," or asking for "half pesto/half alfredo" and having that request met with, "that sounds good, I'll have to try that," instead of, "we don't do that here" was a novelty - and for once I got the pie I wanted instead of what some corporate research team decided I wanted. I am not a pizza lover, but this is pizza I really enjoy. I would happily give MOD 5 stars, were it not for the price tag. Yes, there are people standing behind the counter making each pizza, but that is the case is all but the factory-made "fresh take & bake" places. I paid more for the novelty than the content of the pie itself. There may be times when I am willing to pay the extra money for a good slice freshly prepared the way I want it, but the cost keeps it from becoming a...

After 6-7 years I had my first negative experience at MOD today. I was checked out by a woman in her 50s or 60s. The word I would use to describe her is “surly”. As I was checking out, I asked to put in my phone number for my rewards as I always do. She she told me she did not know how to do that. Instead of getting someone to help who did, she just handed me the receipt and said “there’s instructions on the receipt. Figure it out yourself”. After trying to follow the instructions, I realized that the receipt only gives instructions for first time accounts, not pre-existing accounts. I was just kind of shocked that she not only didn’t know how to do what I can imagine is a pretty common request, but instead of helping me to resolve the problem, she put the burden on me to “figure it out”. She never smiled or greeted me either. I know it seems like kind of a petty thing, but it just felt incredibly dismissive and unhelpful. Food was great and all the other employees had great attitudes. I just doubt I’ll come back to...