Gladstone St. Pizza & Saint Pizza Lounge — Restaurant in Portland

I’ve decided to give this place a try after seeing the 5 star reviews and wanting to support a small family business, this is Saturday night 1/14. The service was decent, nothing special. My boyfriend and I came in, there wasn’t a distinct host at first . I feel like we weren’t seen at first or made note of until a couple minutes later. That’s not my issue though. Pizza was alright, also nothing special, and I guess would be worth it for the price listed on the menu. My boyfriend and I ordered the Summer in New York pizza in a large size with additional mushrooms on half of it and two Shirley temples. The menu price for this pre-designed pizza was $32. The bill arrives at a surprising amount of $53 and I’m slightly confused because it seems kind of high but I go ahead and pay. I look at the pizza price and it comes out to $45. I’m confused because I don’t understand how additional mushrooms on half of the pizza is an extra $13. I try the math and it still doesn’t work. I go back and explain how the pizza is $45 when it was $32 on the menu besides extra mushrooms, which are about $2 extra on the menu. The server explains that the pizza was charged as a “build your own” because of the way their ordering system is set up. So each individual ingredient is charged as it’s own, just because I wanted one more topping on the pre-designed pizza. There was no disclaimer on the menu and my server also didn’t notify us of this system failure/price change at the time of ordering. I believed I was going to pay the correct price plus 2-3 dollars more for my pizza. Instead I paid an extra $13 which is ridiculous in my opinion. A refund of the $13 wasn’t offered, I wasn’t given an apology for this price discrepancy either. I was just told that this price error happens in the system if an additional topping is added to a pizza. 1. I’m sorry but if this price error is already a common occurrence and is known of, why hasn’t it been fixed or at least mended through an additional step such as adding a discount? 2. Adding an extra topping to a pre-designed pizza does NOT and SHOULD NOT count as a build your own. Nothing was built of my own, all I wanted were mushrooms on it as well. I feel like I was duped and it frustrates me that this might be happening to other customers as well, especially in these financially difficult times. I wish I was notified of this price difference at the time of ordering so there was no lack of communication or major price discrepancy. Another thing to add is the confusing tipping screen on the card readers. From left to right, it went 25%, 20% and 15%. I had to double check to make sure I was seeing right. For someone who chooses the first option (very left) because usually it is 15-18% and I believe service that meets standards but doesn’t go above and beyond, that is an appropriate amount. Also, with the type of eating establishment this is.. not anything fancy.. 25% of a tip really won’t be that common unless the service is spectacular. I just wonder how many people have accidentally chosen the 25% option. I’m really disappointed in the lack of communication, major price discrepancy, mediocre service and just how my complaint/ confusion was brushed off because of a system error that the staff KNOW about. I think I was ripped off on purpose and/or nobody really cared. I won’t be coming back nor do I think anyone should try this place in the beginning.

Another thing: I’ve seen the replies to poor reviews of this restaurant, those being 3 star or under usually, and the person or owner who replies to them.. and I will say that the type of response is so unprofessional and lacks any respect or customer service that it baffles me. They came off as passive aggressive, honestly closer to attacking the reviewer and no resolution was provided in these responses either. Taking the high road or being the bigger person, especially as a business owner is not common here. Everyone especially customers, even those with supposed poor experiences should be treated and spoken to with...

I am sorry for the length of this review, it was truly very bizarre & upsetting. This was the worst experience I've had with customer service to date. I wish I could give less than one star.

I am greeted promptly and genially by my waitress. I ask if I can order one slice of pizza. She explains they don't offer slices before nine. She then proceeds to call the bar tender over and confirm that the time, at that moment, is indeed before nine. (Fine, I would've spent the same amount of money on Shut Up and Eat first, had they been open.) I order a whole medium 'white pizza'. It appears edible when it arrives. I'm reading a book and biding my time. A new waitress approaches and picks up my book from the table without warning. After an awkward interaction she leaves. The slice of pizza I did manage to eat was thin, and burnt. I did not enjoy it. I wait for any waitress to come check in, to discuss a possible solution. The first waitress appears to be preoccupied with a guest at the bar, studying flash cards. The bartender seems to be doing closing duties. I wait for quite some time. Eventually, the second waitress comes around to ask how I am doing. I attempt to inform her I was underwhelmed with the quality of both my food and the lack of service. Immediately she demands to know why. I apologize and mention this is the first I've been checked on and I simply don't enjoy the pizza. I ask for a full or partial refund having only had a quarter slice. The waitress then tells me that I may NOT have a refund and that she has to know what is unsatisfactory about the experience. I inform her I am not trying to be a nuisance, and try to mention that I also work in the service industry 'even if you disagree with my opinion, the customer should always be right.' I try to mention I simply do not like it. She then chooses to argue that no, the customer is NOT always right. She then says, "You seem like you are trying to create a problem for no reason." She tells me to pick a new selection off the menu instead. At this point I am extremely upset and want to leave without pizza or a refund. She makes a final snippy remark, grabs my pizza and leaves. She then pulls the first waitress away from her friend at the bar and complains to her very loudly in the next room about me. The first waitress who had originally sat me comes to my table with a voided receipt and asks if I am sure I don't want something else instead. At this point I am so angry I refuse the offer and leave. I have had other bad experiences at this particular restaurant before. I thought enough to give it a second chance. I should have stayed home instead.

In short, they were very rude to me on purpose after I expressed my unhappiness of a product. No apologies were given and I was guilt tripped about it before they voided my check. Don't even bother...

I'm reluctantly writing this review because I love this place and I love their pizza, but people looking to order to go from this restaurant need to know.

I live right down the street from the restaurant and often call in pizzas to go. The last couple time I have called in, they say the pizza will be ready anywhere from 30-45 minutes. Totally fine... totally normal.

Two visits ago: I called in, and the lady said the pizza will be ready in 45 minutes. I showed up 55 minutes after calling in (pizza should be ready). The lady said, "oh it will just be a couple more minutes." Totally fine. She comes back about 10 minutes later and asks me if I wanted a drink. Thinking that was odd because my pizza should have been ready about 20 minutes prior, I said no thank you. Fast-forward another 30 minutes and I am still waiting for a pizza to show up. She continually promised it would only be "a couple more minutes." I ended up getting my pizza over an hour later AFTER showing up to the place.

Last night's visit: I called in and the lady said it would be ready in 40 minutes. I said on the phone to the lady, "I do not mean to be rude in anyway, but will it really be ready in 40 minutes? I am totally fine waiting longer, I just don't want to show up and have to wait a long time like I did last time. She assured me that it would be ready in 40 minutes. I showed up 50 minutes later, and the pizza was not ready. I proceeded to wait another 15-20 minutes before the pizza came out. What's funny about the whole experience is that the pizza was over-cooked, too.

Advice to management: PLEASE. Be more accurate with your estimations. Add 20-30 minutes to all call-in times just to be safe. People are totally fine with waiting an additional 20 minutes for their food.. just let them know. The hit of knowing you have to wait longer from the get-go is much less annoying than over-promising and...