New York Pizza Department — Restaurant in Lakesite

It’s amazing how some people can get promoted to management, yet have no clue how to manage and run the day-to-day operations. I called two Saturday’s ago to place a pickup order for a large pizza. I was told it would be a one hour wait. No problem, its Saturday, so completely understandable. I showed up and the pizza was over cooked and had bubbles everywhere. The fact that the staff even attempted to pass this off as acceptable is issue number one. When I brought it to the managers attention, she stated that they were sorry and super backed up from a 50-quantity pizza order. Having ran a successful bar and restaurant for years, I can assure you that no one will call a restaurant the day of an event and ask for that large of an order. Most people will call ahead because how will that look if you cannot get pizza to feed a 100+ people. It’s safe to assume that this was a known large order and as such New York Pizza failed to prepare and adequately staff the establishment to handle the large order while at the same time attend to incoming daily business.

After management recognized the burnt pizza, she then had the audacity to say, “we can remake it, but it is going to be another one hour wait.” So, YOU make a mistake, at no fault to the customer but then want to further inconvenience that customer by saying they have to wait another hour? The other option was to refund the pizza and give a credit to be used in the future. So, I said, tell you what, how about just discount this pizza and we can cough it up to a hectic business day? After all, unexpected events happen in the restaurant industry. “No, I am sorry but if you take this BURNT pizza, I’ll have to charge you for it, but like I said, I can refund you and give you a free pizza next time.” Anyone who runs a business can see the flawed logic in this approach. One, you told the customer to wait another hour for a mistake made inhouse. Two, you now have to throw away a burnt pizza thus equaling loss revenue and you further that loss by having to comp a pizza in the future adding to the loss revenue. Lastly, you have a customer who would have coughed it up to a bad day, walk away upset only to never return, leave a negative review and tell their friends and family. As a former GM, I would be LIVID if my staff allowed the above to happen. In closing, the old statistic is that an unhappy customer will tell 25-30 people about a negative experience. This was before social media! You can easily multiply that by 4 in today’s world. New York Pizza Department of Hixson should really think about this in a world where more and more people are beginning to vote with their wallet. I hope the...

The Good: The restaurant was clean with adequate parking. Plenty of tables available both inside and outside. There was a gentleman playing guitar very well outside making the atmosphere fun and inviting.

The Rest: Immediately upon entry we were not asked about desired seating (in/out or otherwise) and instead were seated right beside the restroom despite ample other seating areas being available. After being seated we were close enough to the young ladies rolling silverware next to the drink station arguing over who had the table.

We were brought water and placed an order for loaded fries, my wife ordered a soda. Fries and soda arrived promptly but the fries were a mess. The fries were barely warm at best and not crispy at all. The chicken on them was room temp and grey (resembling canned chicken.) We ate a few and it turned out stomachs but we were willing to try the pizza after hearing such good things.

25 minutes later after having made eye contact with our server on several occasions and running out of reasons to stay... we were still waiting to order and had empty drink glasses on the table. Finally the wait staff arrived asking how everything was and we advised the fries were not good and we were ready to pay and leave.

They did at least remove the fries we had barely touched and there was no fuss at the very least. We won't be back.

Edit: In response to the owner. I made efforts to gain the attention of our wait staff. But I suppose it's my fault for waiting so long to order and express how upset I was that they were arguing over whom would attend us... you'd think with your "seating method" mentioned below that our location would dictate whose section we were in, saving them the trouble of arguing IN THE DINING AREA WHERE PATRONS CAN HEAR THEM. That was very rude of me.

Also, your ingredients may be fresh when delivered... but it does no good if prepared in advance and served cold enough the cheese on the loaded fries won't melt on it. But again... I should have shot a flare at the waitstaff to express my concerns rather than waiting 25 minutes before giving up and deciding to leave. That's my fault... I appreciate your feedback though and will work on improving my skills as a patron so I can better accommodate a poor dining experience thanks for the diet coke.

Thanks for not making excuses and showing ownership of a poor experience and setting a strong example of the behavior everyone can expect of your staff. Best deflection and excuses in town come try our food, it might be okay if you can get it. (And if you can't that's...

UPI Lakesite, TN: UPDATE: EXECUTIVE CHEF DAVID AND OWNER FEARED MISSING TWO WEEKS AFTER OWNER ASSURES REVIEWER THAT CHEF DAVID OR HIMSELF WILL REACH OUT TO REVIEWER TO DISCUSS UNFORTUNATE EXPERIENCE AT NEW YORK PIZZA DEPARTMENT - LAKESITE. HIS PHONE NEVER RANG. Regrettably, despite the assurances by the owner, posted within hours of my initial review posting, I have heard from neither Executive Chef David nor the owner with regards to my unfortunate experience. I can only assume that nefarious forces are in play. Granted, I ordered Blinded by the Light by Bruce Springsteen and I received Manfred Mann's Earth Band's version. That said, I can only surmise that something has gone wrong (wink) If you have any information pertaining to the whereabouts of Executive Chef David, either on the date of my unfortunate experience or hence; or the owner (same timeline), please, PUH-LEASE contact them and inform them that they owe me a phone call and about $27. Little wonder Decavalcantes were called farmers.

We're not in New York anymore Toto. I ordered two Italian Eggs Benedict for take out. It was about as Italian as Colonel Sanders. The menu description: Poached eggs (they were actually poached nicely save for the thumbnail size shell left in. I got my calcium requirement for the day even allowing for what I spit out), prosciutto ham on a toasted English muffin (it appeared to be common country ham on a not exactly high quality biscuit. If it was prosciutto it wasn't sliced thin enough which explains the chewing every bite for 60 seconds), smothered in our (soon-to-be) famous Beurre Blanc sauce (apparently smothered means virtually non existent in volume, appearance or flavor). Served w/ home fries. (Nope. Not that they were bad. They weren't served. Didn't get 'em) When I called to voice my concerns, my name and number were taken as the manager could not come to the phone. That was, as of now, 23 minutes ago. I will update this review when, if I receive a call back. Ordering take out from New York Pizza Department: Free. Eating take out from New York Pizza Department: starting your diet because you no longer have an appetite. Four pached eggs (shells included), two biscuits, four pieces of shoe leather ham, no home fries: $34. I wouldn't stop in there again if my car...