Giuseppe’s Express — Restaurant in Pismo Beach

Before the big move, our family really enjoyed Giuseppe’s Express. It’s was our favorite stop after a day at the beach, a hike, lunch or just a nice treat. We loved the small Italian feel, the pictures on the wall, it was so familiar and safe, and the service was on point. Now, in the new restaurant, right off the bat, the service is nowhere near what they offered at the old place. I understand there’s new people, logistics, all that, but we’ve been there twice and the service is getting worse, not better. The second time, we went for our anniversary, after a hike on the preserve, I was craving the pizza and carrot cake. We ordered 5 squares of pizza, (we had the kids with us) a slice of carrot cake, and a slice of Milky Way Cheesecake. We grabbed a spot outside, and for items that are already cooked, we waited longer than we should have. The young lady came out with a pizza box and just stood there, didn’t call out the name we gave at the register. We wouldn’t have even thought it was ours, since we ordered our food for there, not to go. She finally asked us if it was ours, after she had to open the box and show us the pizza. She didn’t have our dessert, we figured she went back to get the slices. She never did. I had to go back in, and stand and wait for someone to ask if they needed help. The young lady finally approached me, I let her know we never got our dessert, and told her what we ordered. She quickly got them, but when I got to the table and opened the bag, I noticed she gave us chocolate cake and not the Milky Way cheesecake. So, I had to go back in and request the correct slice. It was like yanking teeth to get a simple order. My husband and I both work in the service industry, so I understand when it’s busy, mistakes can happen, but to me it just seems like lazy mistakes. I really love the food, and the point of this place is “Express”. I hope you don’t lose the element of quick service that people came to love about this place, and the excellent service you had before. I hope this review is read and you can take it to your team as a learning opportunity, and I can turn this 3 star into a 5...

I was pretty floored by the awful customer service today. My family and I were excited to get some pizza at the new Express location today. We entered and there were people kind of scattered everywhere all looking confused. After a minute or so, a group of people moved down to the end of what looked like a grocery isle. I had to ask the group in front of me if they were in line or not. They informed me that if we wanted food to go, follow the people down the aisle, but if we wanted to eat there, to stay put and wait for a server. That group was seated shortly. We were next in line. We waited, and waited. It was if we were invisible. No employee spoke to us or even acknowledged our presence. There was a gentleman that walked past us a number of times with a full shirt and tie on. Looked like a GM. Never said a word. No eye contact. No one cared that we were there to give them business. I finally asked what was going on and was meet with a fairly arrogant and unfriendly response of….our tables are all full right now. That was it. No suggestion of where to wait or where to sit. No wait list. Nothing.

Meanwhile, outside was an empty table that had a sign that said “please see our server to be seated”. When I brought it to the employees attention, I was told that’s only at night time. No where did it say this, nor was there any employee to be seen anywhere to inform us of this.

We wasted about 15 minutes of our day trying to figure out how to navigate this restaurant, only to leave and go somewhere else.

The arrogance of the employees and their management is second to none. I really liked the main restaurant, but don’t usually eat there as they don’t take reservations. I spend about 3 months a year in Pismo, so looks like I won’t be going to the Express anymore either.

If you’re looking for a cool place with people who don’t care about you, come in and waste...

Cliff notes: Logistics of the new location aren’t figured out yet and results in very disappointing service. First recommendation would be to wait another month or two so they can figure out operations. If you still want to try it out, I would just order from the deli/togo line or get drinks at the bar.

The new location is very unorganized. Difficult for customers to know where to go. There’s a separate gelato line, deli/togo line, and a table service.

We tried out table service. We were sat quickly but did not get a server for about 15 minutes after to take our order. After ordering we waited about 45 minutes to receive our food after we watched two other tables that were seated after ours get their food. Part of our order was 2 salads and a cold sandwich so no reason why the other tables with the same orders would get theirs first other than our ticket was placed out of order.

After our food was received a server did not check on us at all. When we were done, we waited about 15 minutes until I got up and tracked down a server. Couldn’t flag one down because they did not bother to look our way.

The bar staff seemed to be attentive to the customers at the bar and on top of drinks.

I actively had to go up to a staff member to ask if they could take our order. Me and my family were about to walk out before we received our food because it was taking so long. I actively had to get up and request the check...