Pizzeria Valdiano — Restaurant in Lakeland

Unfortunately this pizza shop wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t great, just mediocre. I would eat here again over little Caesar or hungry howies but aside from that, there are MUCH better pizza options in the area. We ordered take out and were attempting to place the order online, unfortunately it would not provide us a pickup timeframe for takeout which is extremely inconvenient depending your circumstance. So, we decided to call and place a phone order to ensure we were quoted an ETA. It was about 10-15 minutes which wasn’t bad at all! So we told the individual exactly what we wanted and payed at pickup, very minimal interaction. We ordered a Hawaiian pizza along with a Caprese salad. We received a Greek salad in error but it tasted just fine. Moving along to the pizza, we are big pizza critics having family owned restaurants on the west coast. No matter if you are getting an Americanized pizza, Chicago style, New York style or traditional Italian pizza, the basic definition of a pizza includes a round food item, made of dough, cheese and tomato sauce. I emphasize this because our Hawaiian pizza had absolutely no pizza sauce. On their basic google menu it indicates sauce, but on some pictures from other dine in customers it says this is on request however, that would not make this a pizza by definition and conflicting information makes customers confused. What’s disappointing is the individual that took our order did not mention this. If their is something out of the ordinary, to ensure adequate customer satisfaction it’s important to take 15 seconds to explain the pizza is out of the ordinary and comes with no pizza sauce to avoid any confusion. When things like this are not mentioned, this will create unsatisfied customers. To continue on the pizza it was spread too thin on the bottom, too thick at the top. It was also left in the oven a bit too long having charred areas. To paint the picture, it was like eating crackers with cheese and some toppings which is just a huge disappointment. Unfortunately, from this experience we will not order from here again since the main dish was just a huge...

Poor customer service. Rude owner. I have been going there 4 days a week for years. Then covid. Recently started back at my job, going there again 4 shifts a week for lunch. Many many times through the years got take out to bring home for family if 6 for dinner. Havr had issues and never once complained. Well. Saturday night at 8 pm after working a 12 hour shift i picked up my famoly order to take home. Got home and was missing a few items in my family if 6 meals. Called and was told i could come Sunday and they would fix it.. I couldnt go out of my way sunday to get it so i stopped by Monday. The owner was rude and told me he saw the note that was left about it and would not honor it. he said if i saw i was missing things i should have come back that night and picked it up. Well i explained i was exhausted after a 12 hour shift and noticed after i got home. I couldnt go out of my way to get it on Sunday, but i did go out if my way for their error on Monday mid morning and he said and i quote ..thats too bad, i will not honor it, you should have driven back that night when you saw the order was missing items, we were still open, thats on you. Told me nothing he could do. Treated me very rude, firm tone. Horrible customer service. First time i ever said anything about a mistake they made over the years. I have had many errors from them before and were minor so i never said anything. He not only lost me 4 days a week but my work who spends about 200.00 a month with them will no longer buy their employee pizza from there once a month. plus my coworkers who now agree to not go. All because they wouldnt honor what i paid for. Their mistake by not handing me all my food bags. Be careful what bridges you burn.

Replying to your response. Had nothing to do with the kitchen. But thanks for the generic reply. It was about the rude comments and tone from the owner who does not care about their paying customers. Even long time customers. You got my money, i didnt get my food, you rudely handled the situation. . i will not support a business that is...

A small casual place. Counter service and get your own cutlery. Moderately busy when I went during lunch on a weekday.  New york style pizza, not thick.  Can be bought by the slice.  I forget the name of the slice I had, with pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, mushrooms and onions.  It was pretty good.  Cheese was soft and slightly oily as it should be, toppings and crust were well cooked.  On the soft side.  Slice plus soda with free refills around $6.50.   Not quite enough to fill me up completely.  Ambiance was good for what it was - a bit of a dive.  I prefer a dive over the usual style of casual dining which is seems to be the norm for the area.   It feels more authentic.  More comfortable.  The one thing that did not work was the plastic cutlery.  I had a very hard time cutting the pizza with a plastic knife.   I had to saw at it.  Alot.  Too much work.   This is my first stop for pizza in Lakeland so I have nothing to judge it by on local terms.  Still, I'll be back.  I could see this becoming my go to place at Lakeside...