Oregano's — Restaurant in Phoenix

A truly disheartening experience. Oregano’s has been a cherished family favorite since 2007. It was our go-to spot to introduce visiting friends and family to one of our all-time favorite dishes—the Boom Dip. Sadly, about a year ago, we began noticing changes in the food. The Boom Dip was completely different, and we hoped it was just a one-time mishap. Unfortunately, the pizza also started to lose its touch—toppings unevenly distributed, undercooked crusts, and an overall inconsistency that was hard to ignore.

Fast forward to the other night: the kids were eager to have Oregano’s, and we decided to give it another try. We arrived around 6:30 pm to find the restaurant half-empty, with just one occupied table on the patio. To our surprise, the hostess informed us there was a 45-minute wait. Confused, I politely inquired why, given the abundance of open tables and the lack of other waiting guests. The manager stepped in, “coached” the hostess in front of us, and assured us we’d be seated in a few minutes. Even so, we waited another 10 minutes on the patio before being seated outside.

We ordered our usual: the Boom Dip, Clark Street pizza, and a few kids' meals. Sadly, the Boom Dip was unrecognizable—not only was the dip lackluster, but the accompanying pizza crust was soggy and undercooked. The pizza wasn’t much better, arriving grossly undercooked and piled with excessive toppings concentrated in the middle. It left us baffled how this could pass any quality standards. To make matters worse, the service throughout was disappointing. A young server, who wasn’t even assigned to our table, stopped by to check on us. We shared our honest feedback, and she was genuinely apologetic. She explained that she was relatively new but often heard seasoned staff reminiscing about the “good old days.” They’d talk about when people lined up for hours just to get a table, when the food was outstanding, and when it was such a joy to work there. She mentioned how much things had changed under the new owners, who made changes they claimed were “for the better.”

It’s heartbreaking, as we too remember those days. For years, Oregano’s was a place where an hour-long wait was worth every second. The food was impeccable, and the staff ran like a well-oiled machine. It’s mind-boggling that a company would acquire such a successful establishment, only to undo everything that made it great.

This was our last visit. A place we frequented several times a month for many years is no longer the Oregano’s we fell...

I am sorry, but I really never complain about the food and service at restaurants unless it is really bad. I have eaten at other oregano’s on Shea and Scottsdale Road, and the one in Cave Creek and always have enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. This one on cactus was terrible. We ordered our food and two of us got our food and the guy said your pizza will be out in a couple minutes, two of us finished our food and still had not gotten the pizza. The guy delivered two other pizzas to different tables and never even dawned on him that we hadn’t got ours. Never checked on us never checked on her pizza. My pasta was cold when I got it and not very much sauce on it, the other person had a meatball sub, and that was very dry. When we hadn’t gotten the pizza I went up and talked to the manager, and she said she was very sorry and would take it off her bill, which I would hope so being we didn’t get it. But then she came over to explain that the reason it didn’t go through was because we had ordered it after. Well, that was the first thing we ordered. And the kid came over and said he had put it in, but they hadn’t cooked it. Well, wouldn’t you think you would check on your customers to make sure that they have their food. No he did not. Then she said I’m just gonna cook it anyway and give it to you. Like she was doing us a favor. We took it home, decided to heat it up for dinner, and it was just disgusting. The pizza was like cardboard, and tasted like cardboard. I have to say it was the worst pizza I’ve ever had. And this is not compared to any other oregano‘s only the one on cactus. And the manager pretty much threw the guy under the bus and said that he had said that we had ordered it later. Will never go back there. Very disgusting and very...

This is my boyfriends favorite spot for your pasta dishes. We usually come by once a month and bring family along to catch up. I can easily say the service is usually great as well as the food on our previous visits.

Today, I was completely appalled by the service from Marcus. We were seated on the patio and forgotten about for over ten minutes. It was hot outside and when the server (Marcus) came by my boyfriend made a remark about the wait and being really thirsty (mostly because he knew I was overheating) the server literally shrugged us off and asked what we wanted. We ordered everything promptly. The server seemed reluctant to take care of us and didn't show back up until we were half way through our meals. The rest of the wait staff was very friendly and helpful.

We saw the server just hanging out by the bar pass through, so even if it was a busy night, there wasn't an ounce of urgency or care from him. Someone else came to table touch when we finished our meal and had been waiting awhile to order a dessert. We had mentioned the unremarkable service and she kindly offered to help order our dessert. Our server came out very shortly after this making a comment that he heard something about us not liking the service then dropped the check before we fleven got out dessert order. He came by again to return the check after we paid, but only ever completed one table touch. He was rude, uncomfortable, and failed to understand social cues.

I am reluctant to the idea of returning based on this experience and would encourage management to staff people who are interested in bringing enjoyable or atleast decent service instead of treating customers like burdens...