Pizzeria Delfina - Palo Alto — Restaurant in Palo Alto

After spending the morning in a baking class with my niece, we decided to grab some pizza. I knew she enjoyed it, and since she had never been to Pizzeria Delfina — it felt like the perfect choice for our girls’ lunch.

I first discovered them at their original San Francisco location 15 years ago, and later enjoyed meals at their Palo Alto spot. It’s been a while since I’d been back, mostly because there are so many other dining options when I’m in Palo Alto. But today felt like the right time to revisit, and introduce her to it.

When we arrived, the interior was under construction, but their patio was open with heaters, so we sat outside. We were definitely hungry, so we ordered a farm-to-table salad, their famous meatballs as an appetizer, and then shared a pizza. Both my niece and I agreed — the crust was fantastic.

As someone who travels to Italy frequently for work and has had the pleasure of trying many authentic pizzas there, I can confidently say that Pizzeria Delfina’s crust holds its own. It was thin, crispy, chewy, and packed with flavor — just perfect. My niece, who is becoming quite the budding foodie herself, really loved it too. I’m sure she’ll be back, and I’m so happy we shared this experience.

Parking in Los Gatos can be hit or miss, depending on the time of day, but we were lucky and found a spot nearby. The restaurant is located right off the main street, with parking lots close by. The vibe is upscale casual — nothing stuffy — and sometimes it’s just nice to enjoy a simple, delicious meal that isn’t overly complicated.

Service was wonderful: attentive, knowledgeable, and perfectly paced. We’ll definitely be returning more often —...

I had never tried their pizza before, but I had read good things. I was short on time, so I called ahead & asked for a togo, Napoletana (one of their Specialty Pizzas) "tomatoes, anchovies, capers, hot peppers, olives & oregano " I added pepperoni to mine. When I arrived to pick up the pizza 15 mins later, it clearly was had been sitting for 5 to 8 mins, and was only warm to the touch. It was 13 to 15" across and had 8 slices, its crust was very thin, but not so much as to droop when lifted. The toppings were definitely premium quality and full of flavor. The cheese and sauce were used sparingly, which work great, one of those things where its enough to enjoy, but still leaves you wanted more when your through. In fact I was so impressed by the pizza, despite it being cold, the I ordered another one, this time the Fungi (hen of the woods mushroom pizza to go) as i really wanted to try a hot pie now. Unfortunately I think the server was busy and likely left it in the pass for 5 mins or so before running it out, it was hotter than the first, but when pizzas are super thin, it only takes a few mins for them to get cold. This pizza was even better than the first, (i thought a white truffle oil additional option would have worked well) I love the Hen-of-the-Woods shrooms and they really piled them on!!! I'd likely give this place a 4.5 or 5 on another trip, but as the cashier was less than polite, helpful, accommodating or informative, along with the second pizza not coming to the table before getting cold I gave it a 3 this trip. I will definitely be giving them another shot, as I imagine their "hot" pizzas are exponentially better,...

After being told there would be a 45-minute wait, we were seated in 15! Awesome. That’s about as good as it got. In the following 50-minutes we had breadsticks and two beers while watching tables that arrived after us eat and leave. Saw our waiter twice before making a complaint to the hostess who was running her tail off but look confused to see me. After being told our pizzas JUST went into the oven we walked out. Smelled good. Tasted like BS.

Post your deleted reply:

Hello,

While I appreciate your days later response, I am curious how you’d like to make it up to me? My family and I were in town for a wedding. We frequent the west coast but live on the east coast. If we venture back to the Stanford area, I doubt we’d take another gamble on your restaurant. No offense but it was a really terrible experience. The worst we’ve had on either coast!

I think the part that most irks me is that my father, in fear of stiffing a check as we left, ignored, dropped a $20 bill on the table for the breadsticks and beer he and my mother had. After being ignored and disrespected so badly I would had just left.

I know my one negative review doesn’t really affect you or your business. And no, I don’t think you can make it up to me. I just challenge you to take a deeper look at your biz model, your core values and your brand promise and ask yourself honestly, does it stand the test of time? Can you possibly sustain your business model with ill equipped staff and a lack of management presence on a busy night? What could you be doing differently to improve customer experience?

So, given my feedback, how DO you plan to ‘make it up to...