Tony & Alba’s Pizza and Pasta — Restaurant in Santa Clara

Today (Valentines Day) I decided to use an emailed coupon from T&A's. The coupon reads: "Celebrate love with an unusual gift, a heart-shaped pizza. Your choice of any Large Heart Shape Pizza for Dine-In, To-Go or Delivery, $16 (heart shaped box not included)." I call, and the owner "Al" answers. I order a combo (ANY large...) and he tells me, in an annoyed voice that says, you should know this, you moron, "No THAT would be $28 pizza, this is for one topping only." I don't argue, but say, "okay I'll have a pepperoni." He takes my delivery order and says "it'll be there in one hour." 90 minutes later I call back to ask if my order has fallen between the cracks. I am told by a snotty sounding woman that my order is "probably on the way". In 5 minutes she calls back to say that it has not gone out because they have a $20 minimum for delivery. I explain that this information was nowhere on the coupon nor was it bestowed upon me by the exhaultant "Al." And then, after I have waited 90 minutes for my pizza she has the nerve to ask me, "Do you want to add a salad for $4 or pick it up?" I tell her to keep it, although I would like to tell her more.

When I was a kid, me and my dad used to get pizzas from Tony and Alba themselves at their Escuela Dr. location in Mountain. View. Tony is gone, I don't know about Alba, but they don't run the place anymore. The result is that we now are blessed with lovely people who do not honor their coupons or "make it right" (as their guarantee reads) when THEY screw up. As much as I love the pizza, I will never eat another, nor recommend it to my friends as I have for years. As with so many businesses, the new owners have ruined a great institution. See ya, Al and...

I just read another review here from two weeks ago about the girl taking the order sneezing! Looks like she's still recovering as I had her sneeze quite badly a bunch of times while taking our order. And using the back of her hand to cover her mouth. Not fun!

If that wasn't enough, we ordered the Vegetarian Pizza off the speciality menu, and asked them to take off mushrooms, zucchini and artichokes. I asked the lady if she could add some jalapeños, and she says it'll be extra. I asked her how that makes sense if I am taking off 3 toppings and asking her to add one in its place? She says well you are asking for extra right? (3 toppings off for 1 topping on isn't asking for extra by any stretch of a mile!!) Her tone was quite condescending like she was talking to a 3 year old.

Also her own demeanor was like who is this guy. She had no smile and sounded like she wasn't able to comprehend what I was saying, like I wasn't speaking English...

The last straw was as we were eating I saw her handling food!! She had a tray covered in tin foil, probably lasagna, in one hand and while carrying it out to the counter she was coughing with her other arm covering her face. I felt sick.

The pizza itself was quite good, fresh and very very tasty.

But I am never coming back here. We drove all the way from the East Bay as the reviews were great, but never again. I wanted to ask for a refund (after seeing her cough while handling food) but decides against it.

I was also going to donate the 10 dollars for their Random Acts of Pizza but decided against it. If I am not comfortable eating here, I would not wish it on anyone else to eat here...

I have been eating at Tony and Albas since 1993 when they were on Santa Teresa and Blossom Hill and even followed them when they moved to Santa Teresa and Snell. I am a big fan of their lunch special and always order their pesto pizza and Italian salad. Their salad dressing is simple yet delicious and is a very good-sized portion. They have had to raise their prices like everyone else, but the quality and taste of their pizza are still worthy of today's prices. Over the years, I have been treated extremely well by the staff and never had a complaint. Until, my last visit when I was not treated very well at all. There was a large group in front of me who were talking their time, deciding what to order, so I sat down at a table where I was told by a male staff member that I could not sit at a table till I placed my order. I have a non visible injury, which makes it hard to stand long periods of time. If this is a new policy that they have implemented, I can respect it if it is posted. I felt singled out and mistreated and was embarrassed. I will not eat there again for how badly I was treated. I can honestly say their food is good, but the customer service that day was sub-par, considering what a long-time customer...