Glass Nickel Pizza Co. – Fitchburg — Restaurant in Madison

It makes me super sad to write this review, but it is what it is.

I used to mostly love Glass Nickel, and I still want to love them very much. But I think I'm done.

Pros: service is always great. Delivery is reliably fast, even compared to other places during normal weekend rushes. In my mind, Madison is the home of the best, friendliest, most attentive customer service, and GNP consistently meets those expectations.

Otherwise: Ugh.

About 25% of the time I order from the Fitchburg store, the pizza is notably overcooked, and in my experience, overall quality has deteriorated steadily over the last couple of years.

I've been hesitant to complain because GNP is local, and they have some delightfully adventurous pizza toppings. But...

Pasta is consistently mediocre. Their jalapeno poppers used to be the best in the area, but they've become basically awful.

Last night was the breaking point for me. It was Friday, pizza sounded good, and I really wanted their jalapeno poppers (and the Acropolis, which is a tasty if forgivably inauthentic Greek salad). I ordered with great expectations.

Most of the pizza crust was completely burnt, and the poppers were dry and overdone.

I called the store, and they quickly sent out a replacement order, but almost everything was still inedible: the pizza was slightly less burnt but still tasted like charcoal, and the poppers.... ugh, like, they tasted like the frying oil hadn't been changed in weeks.

Because they do provide good service, they said they gave me a refund (of course, it will take a few business days to confirm that I've gotten the refund).

But shirt birds. When you place an order that costs almost $50 and the salad is basically the only thing you can eat...

I'm so sorry. I really want to support GNP. But Sugar River Pizza in Verona is going to be my consistent go-to...

I’ve ordered from them 3 times and this time was the last time I will order from them. I’m not normally one to leave reviews and complain but the food I received for the money I was charged is not worth it. First time our pizza was cold and had onions when we asked for none. Took an hour and a half to get it to us with an estimate of 45 mins.

Second time, the person who answered the phone didn’t even know the items on the menu. They said they don’t have the kind of pizza I asked for, I had to tell them I was looking at the menu on the website for Fitchburg specifically. After asking their manager if they actually had it and then they said yes. Ordered no onions on the pizza it was COVERED in diced onions. When I called to tell them my order was wrong, they just apologized. I asked if I could get a replacement, they said they could make one for half price. Why should I pay half price for an order that was flat out wrong?!

Today, we ordered lunch at our place of work. I ordered the 12 pc shrimp basket. The picture shown on the menu is nowhere near the pathetic size I received. I got the 12 shrimp, but received basically a single handful of fries, similar to the size of small fry at McDonald’s! I also didn’t get any cocktail sauce, and my food was cold. We got our food only a few miles away from the shop, and it only took 15 minutes to get here. So WHY were my shrimp and fries COLD?! Not even a little warm, they were COLD. For $12 plus delivery tip?! There’s no excuse for this low level of service and food when it’s as expensive as it is. I will not be ordering from...

I really hate to give negative reviews, it’s really not something I normally do. I’m very pro-service industry. I understand with staff shortages, there’s bound to be some issues. I am sure there are explanations for the poor service we keep receiving, but it’s been consistent.

Service is really 50/50 here. When we do pick up, the product itself awesome! Glass Nickel does excellent pizza. But when we do delivery? Man, it’s always late, often cold and often items are forgotten. I usually don’t mind, forgotten sauces with wings or drinks, things like that, I won’t complain… but having to sacrifice the texture of freshly baked pizza for heat (because you have to microwave it) when you’re paying for the convenience of delivery time and time again? Getting soggy, room temperature chicken wings, and not receiving the desserts you paid?

I really try my best to do pick up but man, sometimes you’re tired after work and you just want to pay extra for the convenience.

I called the restaurant and they apologized and offered to send the dessert back out. I promise I’m not trying to be petty, I understand if there’s a dinner rush or a busy weekend night - but it seems to happen regardless of the day of the week. I’m sure the staff are stressed, hard working, and probably underpaid.

It’s just wild, because we live within 5 minutes of the restaurant.

I just wanted to share my...