La Rosa Pizza — Restaurant in Philadelphia

TLDR: Simple order of 2 pizzas was delayed 2 hours. La Rosa refused to provide a discount or refund, and tried to get me to accept the original order at the original cost without explanation or apologies.

Let me preface by saying as someone who has worked in the service industry and has many friends in the service industry, I try to exercise empathy for these small businesses and always over-tip, even for takeout orders. We have also been longtime customers of La Rosa and the food has always been quite good.

However, the service has always been severely lacking (prolonged wait times even past the 45 min - 1 hour estimates on the app) and came to an unacceptable point yesterday. We ordered 2 pizzas (one cheese, one sausage) through Slice at 5:11 PM, with the app estimating a 6:14 PM delivery. By 6:48 PM, the pizzas had not been delivered, so I called Slice, who liased with the restaurant and gave me a vague "should be there soon" without any explanation of the hour and a half duration. I asked if we could get a discount or anything extra since it had been over a half hour delayed. Slice tried to connect me to the restaurant but I kept getting disconnected / hung up on.

When I finally got in touch with La Rosa directly, they said "oops we didn't even see the order, we see it now from the original 5:11 time, we can fulfill it in 25 minutes" (bringing the total wait time now to 2 hours). Once again I asked if I could get a discount or refund or anything extra to compensate for the wait time, and the person on the phone said "No we don't do that. The pizza will be fresh, so I don't see why you would have a problem. Do you want it or not?" I said no, just cancel the order and please refund me, because I did not have faith that we would get the pizza in 25 minutes. They said fine and hung up. They then called me back a few minutes later and said that they do not do refunds period, and tried once again to get me to accept the pizzas and the original cost point, 2 hour later than I had ordered them, with no compensation. I said absolutely not. I then had to jump through hoops calling between their staff and Slice to get the refund.

Once again, I am empathetic that small businesses can be chaotic. But to refuse a refund for a bill as small as ~$40 over a two hour wait time for a very simple order, and to not offer any apologies or explanation but to turn it back on the customer is...

After a day of sampling (some really good) various square tomato pies across South Philadelphia, we stopped into La Rosa Pizzeria to end the day. This place was recommend on one of the "best of" lists for tomato pie in the city. I don't know how the pizza at La Rosa achieved that ranking, as it was awful! The sauce had no flavor to it whatsoever! The cheap cheese was piled on top of the slice, and leaked grease and oil all over. I didn't even bother tasting the crust, as I couldn't get past the first two bites! It was almost as if the two slices we got were left over from the night before.This "pizza/tomato pie" was definitely not either or! Do not waste your time trying La...

Absolutely delicious pizza, definitely the best in the immediate neighborhood. They however take South Philly rude to a new level. Generally speaking it's worth the terrible service as it's cheap and good. Tangy delicious sauce, good cheese and a tasty crust. However, I have walked out a few times. Asking for a slice just to get ignored and a dirty look and then the counter person walks into the back not to return for several minutes while several people are waiting to order is ridiculous. I'm not paying for that attitude. In total, great pizza, ridiculously terrible staff. Worth it if not in a rush, hell no if you expect any semblance of politeness or want to grab a...