Pisa Lisa — Restaurant in Sedona

We started eating at Pisa Lisa in Sedona around 2018. The first time the food and the menu were so good that we looked forward to going there again. I fly out to visit a few times a year from Florida and we drive up to Sedona to hike. Each time we visited Pisa Lisa, the service seemed worse. They frequently burned the pizza and screwed up our order, but we waived it off and tried it again. Last month, the waitress completely screwed up our order and mixed up ours with another family's. We laughed it off. (We never got our order.) Last night, we waited about 10 minutes to be seated, even though the place was half empty. We waited another 15 minutes to have a waiter acknowledge us. We heard him give the same speech about the menu over and over. (Is the menu really that conplicated?!) He brought out the salad and two minutes later, brought out the pizza, which is odd because then the pizza gets cold while you're eating the salad, but we didn't say anything. The salad was delicious! The pizza was pretty good too, but of course they left off what we asked them to add on and were pretty stingy about the toppings. We waited another 15 minutes for water, which we only got by getting a barback's attention. I had asked for limes, the waiter had said, "No problem" but never brought any, nor did he ask us ONCE if we wanted more water or anything else. The food was good, but the service was the worst it has been, even for Pisa Lisa, which is saying a lot. We normally leave a big tip, but not yesterday. I was tempted to leave nothing. I'm extra annoyed because I have called about 8 times to ask if we left a credit card there and we cannot get a live person. Yesterday, while we waited for our order to be taken, for the food, for water, the staff just stood in clusters chatting to each other rather than serving customers.

I would not bother writing a negative review, but I was very disappointed because we have enjoyed this restaurant for years, despite the poor wait staff service, but last night was pathetic, and not answering the phone is rude. The highly rated chef who started this restaurant group should rethink her wait staff. Her menu is creative and the meals (when the pizza isn't burned) are delicious. But they need to learn what SERVICE means. It's expensive, the service should...

I usually do not take time out of my day to write bad reviews about restaurants but this was one of the worst experiences I have had with restaurant service. After being told that the wait was about an hour, my family patiently waited for fifteen minutes over an hour. We were kept being told our seats were almost ready being third on the list, then second, etc. All of this excitement just to be told last minute that we could only order takeout as the restaurant was going to close soon. WE STOOD THERE FOR OVER AN HOUR just to be told that we couldn't even get a seat. I understand that wait times are just predictions and you cannot tell seated customers to leave, but when you see people standing and waiting for a table for that long, there must be some kind of curtesy or you could of told us to just get takeout a whole hour earlier.

The restaurant was clearly busy and I acknowledge that handling so many customers at once is stressful but if an NYC restaurant that is twice as packed as this one can tell me an accurate wait time or can tell me they won't be able to serve me in time, this one can put in the work to do so as well.

Obviously my family was upset and told the manager, Mariah, that what was being done was not right and very inconsiderate, but instead of taking ownership and at least apologizing, she just took offense and told us that the wait time is always going to be an uncertainty. She then proceeded to hide behind the counter waiting for my family to leave instead of dealing with us as customers like how a normal manager would.

No matter how good the food is, how popular your restaurant gets, or how many compliments you may get, remember to treat people with sincerity and respect. Especially if they are going to wait that long to not even be served. Clearly some of the staff lacks these qualities.

It is evident that some other yelpers have left similar reviews and I understand why. This is something that can easily be fixed yet so many people are having the same issue.

Worst part is, there was another family with two little kids waiting for two hours right next to us and they were told to just get takeout as...

Let me start by saying that the bartender, Kaynen, is absolutely fantastic. From the moment we arrived at 6:30 pm and were informed of an hour-long wait, he went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable. While we waited at the bar with drinks and appetizers, he apologized multiple times for the delay and ensured our experience was as pleasant as possible. Kaynen truly embodies excellent customer service and is the backbone of this restaurant.

Unfortunately, the rest of the experience fell far short of expectations. After waiting for 1.5 hours, the manager, Mariah, informed us that we had been removed from the waitlist and could only place a to-go order because it was “too close to closing.” This was baffling, as the restaurant closes at 9 pm, and it was only 8 pm at the time. Adding to the frustration, we are still waiting for our to-go order, which we placed at 8:30 pm, and it’s now 9:06 pm and we just got our pizza

To make matters worse, Mariah was unnecessarily rude, not only to our party but also to 2 other groups of customers. Her dismissive attitude and lack of professionalism were shocking, and her behavior raised concerns of discrimination, as she appeared to treat ALL parties of color particularly poorly.

This restaurant has so much potential but is being held back by poor management. If they were to take cues from employees like Kaynen, who exemplify what great customer service should look like, this could be an incredible dining experience. Our bartender Kaynen was the one who ended up making our pizzas ! Unfortunately, under Mariah’s leadership, it’s anything but.

I am editing this to say I just read another review where the SAME EXACT situation happened to another family today as well. Please correct your errors and do better for the next family that walks...