Fat Tomato Pizza — Restaurant in Long Beach

I usually order from here at least once or twice a month. Usually default to ordering from here because of the consistent quality of their pizza and how close they are to our home. My girlfriend ordered from them today on Eat24, and they noted they received the order. After ordering 30 minutes beforehand, she arrived to pick up the pizzas 3 minutes before they were due to be done. Fat Tomato claimed to have not received the order and had clearly not started making the pizzas. After reviewing the details of the order and her information, they admitted that the had received the order and had just not started making it yet.

Because we support local places like Fat Tomato, she swallowed her frustration and waited for them to make the 2 pizzas we ordered. She received the pizzas and was offered a free water bottle as a discount for her patience. My company and I hang our hats on providing excellent customer service to each person that deals with us. I find it hard to believe that that was an appropriate way to handle a customer when a company makes such a huge mistake. The whole situation was handled inappropriately from the very beginning by choosing to say they did not receive the order without reviewing previous orders, to not immediately offering a water or something while she was waiting for them to prepare the order, or even offering a discount at checkout. Clearly the owner and management have something to learn about providing service, in a service...

Mixed feelings here. This was my first time ordering from the Fat Tomato. I felt lazy so I ordered a pizza and salad for delivery. Although I was a bit surprised by the price, $18 for a large pizza from a take-out/delivery place?, I ordered anyway. After checkout, I was presented with an ETA of 70-85 minutes! WTF? Who takes that long to deliver 3 blocks?

After 90 minutes, I decided to call to see what was the delay. I got the usual textbook reply of "oh, the driver just picked it up and should be there within 15 minutes". Another 15 minutes? I expressed my disappointment and was told they only had one delivery guy and was merely offered an apology and a free soda or dessert (I declined both), I just wanted my pizza!

Finally, the delivery guy showed up, called me from his New Orleans cell phone number, (a number I would normally disregard as SPAM). I was starving by this time and just wanted to eat. I removed the salad from the bag and was disappointed yet again (see pic). However, ending on a good note, the...

I LOVE pizza. And I'm not so picky that I can't enjoy the cheaper pizza chains or dare I say even a frozen pizza. I really want to like these guys cuz they're right next to my house. But for the price ($22 for a medium) I just don't get it? Maybe it was a poor choice of toppings on my part. The "roasted" eggplant was weird and rubbery and tasted terrible, that and the other veggies were under-cooked. Which is weird cuz the bottom of the crust is crispy and the cheese is melted. The center of the pizza wasn't very hot though. Maybe the oven is too hot and you're cooking it too fast? I'm no expert on how to cook pizza, but I do know tasty pizza when I taste it, and I'm sad to say this just didn't hit. The cheese was good, and the service was good though. Maybe I owe them another visit in the future and should stick to...