Oregano's — Restaurant in Scottsdale

This may be the singularly worst dining experience I can recall in Scottsdale. Lackluster welcome, had to go get manager’s attention to get service on patio after an inordinately long wait. Waitress came out as he was leaving with our drink order and “took over”. There was confusion regarding drink order -she informed us they didn’t have much in the way of liquor and suggested a beer. A small beer was ordered, a large beer was served. She said she’d only charge for a small beer but then charged us for a large. ( what a surprise!). Food order was FINALLY delivered. It was so subpar and very disappointing since we have enjoyed Oreganos in the past. Not one item was anything like we remembered. No one ever checked on our meal once it was delivered, there was never an offer to refill waters. The service was just plain awful. At one point when she came to tell us our food was almost ready to drop at the table and to apologize for how slammed the chef was, (not crazy busy in the restaurant I might add) she approached the table with a huge stack of dirty dishes from another table she had bussed. Ugh. The last straw was when we asked for a couple of to go boxes for a bit of pasta and a decent amount of leftover Caesar salad with chicken. The waitress took the plate away before our guests had a chance to put their leftovers in the container, and when she showed it to them after being questioned, she said, “but you put a crumpled up napkin in there on top of the salad”. Our guests did NOT put a crumpled up napkin on top of it, the waitress did when she picked it up…on top of the plate still containing a significant amount of chicken with the salad, which would’ve been nice to take home. Ugh. I’m telling you, it was just awful. Somebody needs to get into that restaurant and train their staff. The place needs a major service and...

I was craving a salad from Oregano's, that was mistake number one. I called in for take out and the girl was quite nice. She informed me of the price and said it would be 30 minutes. I thought, really that long for salad, then I realized it was Friday night at 8:30 so they must be slammed. It is Scottsdale after all. So I arrived at about the 20 minute mark and when I pulled into the parking lot I knew I was in for a treat. (That's sarcasm) I saw 4 cars in the parking lot. I went in and walked up to the carry out desk and the young lady was pleasant and told me it would be ready soon. She checked 2 more times and kept apologizing for the delay. At the 45 minute mark I gave up and walked out. I was half way to my vehicle when she opened the door and said I have your order. I paused trying to decide if I even wanted it anymore but I went back in. While she was ringing it up I looked in the bag and low and behold NO GARLIC BREAD. So she apologized profusely and got my bread. While finishing ringing me up she asked me if I wanted a manager but my fear was that it would take 30 more minutes to cross the restaurant. So I said no. Who knew it takes 45 minutes to make a salad in a dead restaurant. Now what should have happened is the girl should have brought the manager with her into the parking lot. Or called the manager over of her own accord but no. I don't blame her or even the cooks. This is clearly a management problem. They either aren't trained or they don't care. I'm quite sure they blame the economy to the owners as to why they are so slow. Only go here if you have 2 or 3 hours to kill or you are completely desperate. If you do go rest assured you won't see me....

Okay. The meal started out strong with the appetizers. The Six-Pack Shrimp was delicious and surprisingly unique. The shrimp was good-sized, cleaned well, and plump. The sauce was zesty, with a subtle kick. It was a dish you would expect from a fancy restaurant. The toasted raviolis were tasty as well. They were not overly coated or overly cheesy. They were cooked just right where the outside was crispy and meshed well with the warm and flavorful mix inside. The mini-pan pizza sucked. I don’t know how else to put it. It was one of the worst pizzas in my life and I’m including store brought frozen. It had no flavor. The cheese was bland, the sauce was bland with no discernible herbs or spices, and the crust was nothing but a filler. I can’t believe that any self respecting chef, cook, or restaurant would serve such a passionless and bad dish. I can’t believe this place holds itself out as a pizza place, but served a pizza that was just not good. The restaurant was fairly empty at lunch on a business day in a high traffic area in prime season. The server was pleasant and attentive. I just wish he told me to order another appetizer instead of the pizza. I would not...