El Fredo Pizza — Restaurant in Sioux City

If there's one place that makes you yearn for a time machine to avoid, it's El Fredo Pizza. From the moment you walk into this relic, you're thrust into a nightmare with the saddest video game arcade you've ever seen and uninspired decor that hasn't been updated for 20 years.

The first sin of El Fredo's is the service. Why? Because YOU are the service. YOU have to walk up, place your order where the takeout orders are serviced, and then wait for your number to be called over the intercom. The staff behind the counter are mostly teenagers or college kids (home on summer break?) who have zero interest in customer service.

Let's talk about the ambience—or the lack thereof. El Fredo's hasn't been updated since the '70s, and not in a charming or "what a cool dive bar" kind of way. The dark walls, dingy floor, and worn-out furniture just look neglected. Check out the wobbly old chairs and torn vinyl rail in the bar. The longer we waited for our pizza, which took almost 90 minutes, we could see that everything about the restaurant was done to minimize costs AND visitor experience.

For our second attempt (bad idea), we decided to skip the horrible dine-in experience and place a takeout order. The good news: the pizza was ready when I showed up at 6:30. The bad news: it was cold. When my wife called to complain, we asked to speak with the manager. His defensiveness and unwillingness to listen to customer feedback speaks volumes about his dedication to his business—or rather, the lack thereof. His solution: wait in line for another 90 minutes.

Nostalgia—the last refuge for a struggling establishment trying to stay relevant. While El Fredo's may have earned a few die-hard fans with memories of yesteryears, it's nothing more than a crumbling facade of its former self, trading on the thin threads of nostalgia to mask its present-day inadequacies.

Sioux City is a small city but is this REALLY the best non-chain restaurant pizza available? Unfortunately, El Fredo's is what we get: the absolute bare minimum of what a restaurant can be. It's a place where the dining experience goes to die and where a passion for food and customer service are nonexistent. Save your money and frustration and avoid this sorry excuse...

I Grew up on the west side , elfredo’s pizza has always been good up until April 11th 2023 I live 7 hours away and we were in town I told my husband let’s order a jumbo works pizza so my husband called at 6:25 pm to order it and cheesy bread sticks , they said it’s going to be 30 to 40 mins ok so we sat in the car until then and went in to pick it up it wasn’t ready we had to wait until like 7:25 before we got our pizza they were giving everyone else there’s that dined in and picked up when we finally got our pizza we drove to Walmart on Floyd and sat in the parking lot eating it after tasting it we right away discovered it wasn’t as good as we’ve gotten in the past the crust was real hard and burnt like and the pizza was greasy and all the toppings was on the bottom with cheese and pepperoni over that and sausage it was totally different then the works pizza we had gotten in the past the original sauce wasn’t as good I have to say it was one of the worst we had gotten my husband had a hair attached to the piece he was eating it spoiled his appetite the cheesy sticks weren’t the best either. We did not have time to take this pizza back to them we had a seven hour drive ahead of us back home we never thought that we would of had to inspect our pizza ahead of time before we ate it . My husband said he will never go back now which makes me sad because this was my favorite pizza place since childhood . He said unless he’s reimbursed for everything he will never step foot in one again ever . A good day turned into a bad day real fast . Not...

A good salad bar loved it, I couldn't find someone working to ask a question when I was looking for a worker in the front. The food I expected to be better, but the pizza was bigger than expected. My friend was also gluten free, thought they would have more accommodations, but she just had the salad bar. The building is also in a difficult place to pull out and get into in a way how the building is positioned. Over all the people were friendly when we came in and gave us plenty of time to order and pick what you want. The ordering is different you pick what you want when you first get there they show you a menu then go sit down, no waiting on the tables, then they bring the food to you after a while. The pop machine is also hard to find if you have never been there before. It was hard to believe the person in the front was gone being that the restaurant was practically empty, and we went not that long after they opened for the day. they also charged extra for some toppings on the pizza we did not initially know about, but we just figured that...