Coal Fire - Ellicott City — Restaurant in Maryland

Complaint and Request for Refund of Order at Coal Fire I am writing to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the experience I had when purchasing a pizza from Coal Fire. Let me clarify that, previously, I was a loyal customer of another pizzeria, but motivated by recommendations and high expectations, I chose to try out Coal Fire's service. Unfortunately, my decision was a serious mistake.

Upon receiving the order, my expectations were high, eager to enjoy a tasty and well-prepared meal. However, upon opening the box, I was met with a distressing sight: a pizza of zero quality.

The disappointment was immense upon realizing that the pizza was completely devoid of both dough and filling. It seemed more like a clumsy attempt to imitate a pizza rather than a genuine product. The dough, if one could even call it that, was minimal and seemed destined for a significantly smaller pizza size. The impression I got was that they tried to stretch the dough to cover the requested size but ended up making it disappear completely.

It is inconceivable that a renowned pizzeria like Coal Fire could deliver such a lamentable product. Besides being a huge letdown, it was also a complete waste of money and time. As a consumer, I demand a minimum standard of quality that clearly was not met in this case.

In light of the above, I request a full refund of my money. Not only as compensation for the poor service provided but also as a form of respect to the consumer. I hope that measures will be taken to ensure that other customers do not go through the same unpleasant experience that I faced.

I await an urgent response and the appropriate resolution of this issue. Otherwise, I reserve the right to seek other forms of redress and to alert other consumers about the lack of quality of services provided...

I'm not sure what went wrong in the Ellicott City Coal Fire location, but last night was absolutely our last time dining there.

The inside was very busy, loud and freezing despite the numerous people in the space. Our server, Jordan, although polite, was absent our entire meal and never checked on us. I overheard her apologizing to other tables near us on behalf of the kitchen, telling guests she was sorry for how behind the kitchen was but not once did she say anything to us. Again, she was nice but we only interacted with her to order our food and when she gave us our check.

The food has gone downhill over the last few years as well. The wedge salad came out quickly, but was water-logged and poorly put together. It came with a very, very hard piece of bread as well. I would have said something to our server Jordan but unfortunately we didn't see her until the check. The pizza came out nearly 20 minutes after my salad and it was... soggy. The outside crust was okay and it looked great, but the entire middle was barely cooked and toppings/cheese slid right off. Eating the toppings with a fork was the only option.

What's really unfortunate is that we were hurried off from our table by a young man who wanted the pizza board from our table. We hadn't even finished boxing the remaining pieces (planning to cook them longer in our oven to see if that improves it), and he grabbed the board while saying, "do you mind? I need this" as we still had two slices to box. We felt insignificant, invisible to our server and rushed away.

It was a really disappointing experience overall last night and we won't return to the Ellicott City Coal...

The food here is always good and there's a decent variety to choose from at mostly reasonable prices. We've also always had good service here. It's a popular place on weekends so there's often a crowd of people milling around waiting in the front of the restaurant to get seated (or picking up carryout orders) - and I think this is primarily because the dining space is on the small side and unfortunately the bar area is really compact with only 10-12 seats and 3-4 hightop tables. The dining room is very brightly lit and kind of reminds me of an upscale carryout..the kitchen area is also open and has very bright lights. Because of the decor in the dining room I'd rather dine in the bar area - but because it's so tiny you have to get there pretty early to get a seat. The service at the bar is very friendly and attentive - and the crowd is fun/upbeat. I personally wouldn't eat on the dining room side myself bc there's no ambiance - but it's great for families with kids, and there are many of them there on a given night. This is why I wish the bar area was larger - if it was we would probably go here a few times a month, but we haven't been back for a couple of years bc we can't get there on weekends early enough to sit at the bar. If they could expand from the space they're in it would be ideal bc the food is good. If you don't mind a brighter noisier family atmosphere you'll like it here and can't go wrong with the...