Papa Dan's Pizza & Pasta — Restaurant in Palm Desert

2 PARTS RUDENESS, ONE PART HOMOPHOBIA; A RECIPE FOR DISASTER AT PAPA DAN'S I moved to this area of Palm Desert about two years ago. In that time, I have patronized Papa Dan's restaurant many times; the food is great, though the prices aren't. My good feeling about Papa Dan's changed on August 12, 2023, when the man who took my phone order was rude to me... and, in my view, homophobic.

Specifically, when I asked him to read my pickup order back to me, just to confirm the order... he said, and I quote: "I don't need to do that. I'm sure about what you ordered. Are you sure?"

I'm hard of hearing, which is why I asked him to read it back. Not because I thought he was not an intelligent person.

I was stunned, of course, by the rudeness... and the strange nature of his comments. I didn't respond to his provocation and came to pick up my food. When I did, he started being rude to me again, picking up where he left off on the phone. I finally had to say something and stated I didn't appreciate his attitude, particularly given what a loyal customer I've been. He glared at me. I then asked for the manager, and he said, quote: "You're lookin' at him."

Really? at $53.36 for some pizza and pasta?

I picked up my food and left.

I do like the food, so... I called to order from Papa Dan's today and was told I've been banned from the restaurant. To me, this is the height of insanity, as I was the victim here... not Papa Dan's, which should be apologizing to me and offering me a free pizza, quite frankly.

I wrote to Papa Dan's today and shared the above, adding that they need to credit my MASTERCARD back $53.36 for the rudeness and homophobia visited upon me on 8.12.23. If they do not refund the amount, I'll dispute with MASTERCARD. As with so many things in life, it's not the money so much as... the disrespect and homophobia shown to me that...

Night before Thanksgiving, kids are packed in the house, let’s call pizza in… Think again! Ordered our pizza at 5:45pm. Their online ordering system doesn’t tell you the wait time until AFTER you’ve paid. It confirmed a 7:20pm delivery. 1.5 hour wait, yikes - but, what are you going to do? It’s the night before Thanksgiving… 7:30pm rolls around, still no pizza. We call and obviously they are overstretched because when you call, they pick up the phone and immediately say “please hold” and then put you on hold before you can even answer, No! I don’t want to hold!” We have to call 6 times until someone finally picks the phone and will let you explain what’s going on. The Manager assured us Ricardo is on the way. Well, Ricardo was not on the way. Now, it’s 8pm and with hungry crying kids we determine, the food is not coming. So, at 8:10pm, nearly 2.5 hours after our food was ordered and nearly an hour past their estimated delivery time, I get in my car to drive to Papa Dans to get my refund because they’re still picking up the phone, yelling Please Hold and then immediately putting you on hold. Which, by the way IS THE WORST MOVE IN THE BOOK. When I get up there, the Manager is too yellow-belly to come out so the staff - which I will say were attentive and wanting to fix the problem - did well to refund my order quickly, but not with out some confusion. The big question, where was the manager - behind the wall just listening perhaps?… but the bigger question on everyone’s mind… Ricardo, Ricardo, where are you?! My advice, if you’re too busy, shut off your online ordering platform. Admit you’re not Dominos, that you have a limit. It’s okay! Shut it down, spare your customers, your staff and...

Wish we had better things to say. It was our first time getting food here and, unfortunately, I don't think we'll be back. We come from the El Paseo area and made a special trip to this neck of PD because family friends rave about this place. We ordered take out online, and went inside to pick up. On a 79 degree nice night, got inside to pick up our food and the first thing I noticed is how hot and steamy it felt, like a hot and steamy 90 degree sauna. I had to step outside just to cool off because a woman in very revealing clothing was taking forever fishing out $1 dollar bills from her wallet as her colorful boyfriend covered in tattoos looked on over her shoulder. It was only one person working the cashier, even though another guy greeted people as they came in (Including me and simply handed me a receipt of my order for me to hand to the cashier--bizarre). I think the guy who greeted people could have easily brought the food out to me (since I paid online) so I didn't have to wait for the colorful couple to find $50 worth of ones... Finally got the food home and my husband and I's first impression of the pizza was it was doughy. More dough than cheese and sauce, and the cheese didn't seem quality. Reminded me of the cheese on the square shaped pizza slices back in elementary school. So we tried the spaghetti. We saw the dark red sauce and my hubs said "that's Prego sauce." We tasted the spaghetti and I can't argue with him. The sauce looked old and it did not taste homemade, nor fresh. Disappointing all around. It looks like a lot of people in that neighborhood love this place, but, unfortunately, we don't think we...