Paisans Pizzeria — Restaurant in Proviso Township

On Thursday, August 22nd at 6pm for party of 8.

I called around 2pm to place our order ahead of time to avoid a long wait since we had 3 children in our party. The woman assisting over the phone was great and mentioned multiple times that our food would be at our table by 6:15pm.

Mario the shift manager and his front staff were super unpleasant. We came to enjoy a family dinner for our daughter’s birthday.

We arrived and no one seemed to know about our reservation and kept saying they don’t take reservations. Finally Mario confirmed our reservation and seated us at a table with 3 chairs and a bench. When we asked for the longer table, due to our party of 8, he became annoyed but said fine. Our food finally arrived almost an hour after we arrived only to be told it was ready to go and sitting in the warmer the whole time. It should have been at our table by 6:15pm as promised.

The waitress bringing our drinks didn’t hand them to us directly. She placed all of our drinks in front of my 3yo son and then dropped a sprite over his head by accident. We didn’t want to make her feel bad because accidents happen but there was no urgency to clean up/fix the issue or apologize. Finally after some time and after we already cleaned him up, our waitress offered a paisans shirt since he was soaked. It was huge so my 3yo did not end up wearing it.

We had a small cake for my daughter and Mario the manager was giving us so much attitude and was basically saying that if something happens to one of us because of this cake then it’s not his responsibility. We were okay with that but his attitude is what was so unsettling.

Overall, the food was great. Our experience was compromised bc of the people working up front that evening. They looked and acted miserable, almost like they wanted to be anywhere else but at work and took it out on us.

They took the price of our small pizza off the bill to make up for my son getting soaked. We appreciated that gesture.

Worst Paisans...

I placed an order for a heart-shaped pizza for Valentine’s Day 2024 to make it special for my son. When I arrived to pick it up, they told me it wasn’t ready. I understood—it was a busy day—so I waited for about 30-45 minutes.

For Valentine’s Day 2025, I wanted to do the same, so I called two days in advance to order a heart-shaped pizza. I asked if I should place the order now or on the morning of Valentine’s Day, and they assured me it was better to do it ahead of time. I went ahead and placed the order and paid in full. On Valentine’s Day, I arrived early for pickup, anticipating a busy day like the previous year. I provided my name and phone number, but they couldn’t find my order. They asked if I had ordered at the right place, under the right name, and with the right phone number. By this point, I was getting frustrated, as it seemed like they were blaming me for the mix-up. The employee went to get the manager, who asked me the same questions and even requested proof of my order. I explained it was placed over the phone, then showed them my credit card statement, which listed the order date, location, and amount charged. Once everything was verified, they searched further and finally found my order. The manager remembered that an order hadn’t been picked up two days earlier, and he said he would make a new pizza and have it delivered in 20 minutes. I agreed and gave my address.

The delivery arrived an hour later than expected. The driver handed me the pizza and left, but three minutes later, I got a knock on the door. The driver said the store had called, stating they had given him the wrong order and asked for it back. I handed it to him, and about 10 minutes later, the correct pizza arrived.

Throughout the entire ordeal, I never received an apology from the employee at the counter, the manager, or the...

Paisan's Pizza is bands down my absolute favorite pizza. Been a Chicagoan all my life and not even Giordano's gets so much money from me, haha! They handled the social distancing environment fairly well. I did notice a party (larger group) come in and they could have easily been seated but the staff asked them to wait and when a table cleared, they joined two tables together for them to be seated. Luckily it still was distanced from other tables, so they did great! It wasn't overly busy but our waitress forgot several things. We weren't told you had to scan the menu, so we waited for a menu, we waited a long time for her to come back so we can even order our pizza. Several tables who came in after us were eating before us. We weren't given silverware for the salad, we waited quite some time for our check to be picked up so we ended up going to the counter to pay. I presume the older gentleman who stepped in to help us a few times was the manager. He did great and was apologetic but trnded to us as soon as we asked him over. The overall environment was nice. This was my first time dining out since the pandemic began last year so while there were so many mishaps, I was still happy yo be eating my favorite pizza in a welcoming environment. 4 stars because God Bless the girl working around unmasked people (diners) and she was a sweetheart. The food was AMAZING (being totally biased here and honest!). I can only imagine maybe she was nervous or tired. We never complained, just asked for assistance. Anyone dining out, please keep that in mind. The workers may be tired or nervous, but they're out there serving you. And they're doing great, so give them your respect and support. They...