Mountain Mike's Pizza — Restaurant in Lake Forest

Since some time has passed since my Original review of this location, based off of today's experience, I am prompted to post an updated review.

First off I wanted to say the food here remains great. The owner...Raj, and The Edge! Edgio are good guys.

I understand in this day and age it can be hard to get good help, and that is indeed what I am writing about today. The Front help. For some time now, the employee's up front haven't been very good. Today takes the cake. Rather than resort to name calling let me just say that this short guy who helped me today, seemed, in my opinion...lazy and rude, with Terrible customer service skills. It all started when I called to make a simple request. The phone rang, and rang and ranggggg....until it eventually was picked up. This front end employee right off the bat seemed very dim, and I got the distinct impression he didn't want to talk to me. I put in a request and he immediately started to argue with me. When he realized I was not going to just...give up due to his argumentative and rude behavior he agreed to pass on my request to the kitchen. I arrived for The Buffet. The first thing I see is some Lazy short guy in Front Lounging against the counter, playing on his phone. He initially did not welcome me, or even acknowledge me until I both got to the counter, and talked to him. He *grudgingly slammed down his phone then looked at me impatiently. No smile to be found. I told him my order. silence. looking at me. I repeated?? my order. blank, impatient look. "oh, ok, you want the buffet, then?" Yes.....thank you. with drink please. I then politely ask for two normal plates (using my please and thank you's). confused look, plus look of annoyance. angry look. puts salad plate back, violently tags out a second normal plate. To make a longer story short the whole order taking and paying process was painful and insulting. I found my table and the phone rings. I look over after the 4th ring. The guy is back on his phone...*ignoring the call. Out of the corner of my eye it looked like he picked up and hung up on the caller (pushed button). did he....? during the time I was getting my food the Front end guy wandered...wandered Many times. He never picked up the phone and it stops ringing. The Front End (short guy) continues to make me feel unwanted, unimportant, and like he has better things to do, all while not doing any work. Just standing around doing nothing (or on his phone). More customers come in. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Front End guy is working. This guy also *suddenly is being nice to customers and was a good personality. weird...or not. The next thing I see is the Boss walk in the front door, and meet up with some guy who was waiting to interview with him. well, well, well....now I get it. *Frustrated sigh! This Front End employee was an inch. I can tell. Just an *inch from telling me off. Is it that hard to be nice, work, and apply good customer service technique's?? By the time I was done interacting and observing this employee I was very annoyed, frustrated, and insulted by him I was thinking I wont come back anytime soon.

Then my Hero Edgio came in from outside! finally...a good guy! Edgio saved the day and got it done (made sure my pizza request got fulfilled). All while being the good guy he is.

In this day and age it is hard to get good help, but this guy was terrible. Based off what I saw, that is a "Final Warning" type of situation for that Front End employee.

In closing, yes the food is Great here, and Raj and The Edge are great, but based of more recent customer service experiences, and am forced to give this review the...

If it is your first time, I would suggest the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet. Not because it is all-you-can-eat, but it is a great way to try different pizzas and get some salad veggies too. Plus, at $7.99 for lunch and $8.99 for dinner, it’s a bargain! Kids, 10 and under, are only $5.99! Next time you want pizza, you’ll know what to order.

Have a group that just can’t decide on one pizza? Mountain Mike’s can make a half and half. We ordered Chicken Club (creamy garlic white sauce, chicken, bacon, diced tomatoes, and green onion) on one side and on the other, Garlic Tuscan (traditional red sauce, Louisiana hot sausage, salami, black olives, garlic, green onion, and sundried tomatoes). I just love pizzas with white sauce! Tomatoes can cause problems for me, so I try to avoid it as much as I can (as a food writer, it’s hard). The white sauce is creamy and garlicky (I could handle more). The pizza really resembles the flavor of a chicken club sandwich with the chunks of chicken and smoky, salty bacon. The green onions add a nice refreshing zing. The Garlic Tuscan is the hubby’s favorite (not just because he’s part Italian)! He just loves meaty pizzas. The slightly spicy sausage, salami, and olives exude savory flavors while the green onion refreshes the palate and the sundried tomatoes add a bit of sweetness.

Snowy Alps is my favorite pizza! It starts with creamy garlic white sauce topped with pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, sausage, green onions, and diced tomatoes. It combines my love of the garlic sauce with a meaty pizza. I didn’t mention it before, but I also love their traditional crust. I don’t like it too thin and I need to be in the mood for a thick crust (because it just fills you up). Mountain Mike’s has perfected the thickness compared to the ratio of toppings.

Bone-in chicken wings with choice of four new sauces: Frank’s RedHot Buffalo, Frank’s Stingin’ Honey Garlic, Frank’s RedHot Sweet Chili, and KC Masterpiece Original Barbecue.

My favorite is the Frank’s Stingin’ Honey Garlic! It is sweet, garlicky, and balances well with the chicken wings. The sweetness also balances with a savory pizza like the Snowy Alps!

Frank’s RedHot Sweet Chili tastes exactly like the sweet chili sauce you would get with lumpia or eggrolls. The outer crispiness of the chicken wings matches perfectly with it.

Frank’s RedHot Buffalo is exactly how a buffalo wing should taste like. The initial inhale of vinegary aroma and the spiciness of the sauce is the perfect experience.

KC Masterpiece Original Barbecue is an old faithful favorite because everyone loves barbecue! It has a nice balance of smoky and sweetness.

Craving dessert? Chocolate Chip Pizza Cookie is the way to go. It reminds me of the Tollhouse Cookie Bars my mom used to make when I was little. Tastes like homemade with the buttery richness, brown sugar sweetness, and warm, gooey...

WORST experience at any restaurant I've EVER had! Even Burger King has better customer service than this place. I'm a server at a finer dining restaurant, as a person that has to still give perfect customer service to my guests while keeping an extremely professional composure no matter what is thrown my way, I am absolutely appalled of the customer service I recieved at the Mountain Mike's in Lake Forest. My boyfriend and I arrived 30 minutes before closing just wanting to have a couple beers while waiting for our pizza and maybe have one slice and go since it was fairly close to closing time. Again, as a server I have to deal with people that walk in 5 minutes before closing and end up serving for even up to 2 hours after closing again, with professional composure and impeccable customer service. My boyfriend and I recieved the exact opposite of that that night. The cashier Kathryn was EXTREMELY rude, constantly reminding us they were closing soon and that we would need to leave. As we were listening to her call last minute orders to pick up their pizza, she rudely explained they were closing soon and that they would need to hurry up. If I ever said that to one of my guests I would be fired instantly lol. We recieved our pizza half cooked with most of our ingredients cold and thrown on at the last minute, probably right before serving. It was goopy, cold, and disgusting. Super glad I paid almost $50 AND tipped this rude cashier for the worst experience of my life. PLUS 10 minutes after closing I needed to use the restroom before leaving, as I walked out I had walked into a dark restaurant because THEY HAD SERIOUSLY SHUT THE LIGHTS ON US ONLY 10 MINUTES AFTER CLOSING. I tried to call the next day to speak to the general manager, an extremely unprofessional boy answered the phone and took my information down assuring me I would hear back. Go figure, still haven't heard back. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND AVOID THIS OVERPRICED CHILDREN CENTER!! You'll get MUCH better service and better quality food at the Italian restaurant across the plaza or even at Pizza Hut to be honest... Basically anywhere would be better than this place, I would give 0...