Base Camp Pizza Co. — Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe

My wife and I have been coming here for a couple of years now. This is always a must for us when we come to Tahoe, as their pizza is unbeatable in the area. We appreciate a thin crust and crispy toppings. This last time we went there was all out of whack. We tried to go on a Sunday night, and it was packed. Not surprising since it's really good pizza. However, when we went to go add our names to the wait list with the host, he said it was an hour and a half to two hours wait. He seemed annoyed when we still chose to add our names to the wait list. We ended up walking into a different place to eat about 20 minutes later. While we were placing our orders at the other place, we received a text to go check into Basecamp pizza as they were ready to sit us. Not even 30 minutes after we had signed up. That was annoying. Then the following night, we ordered take out. Just so we could avoid the fiasco of trying to get seated. Upon checking out, we were charged an 18% mandatory gratuity fee. While we don't mind tipping and are generally pretty good tippers, it was not warranted. When we checked out, the order said it was going to be ready anywhere between 25-35 minutes. So we waited at the parking lot. First, they have a separate line for take out and it clearly states to not approach the line unless you have been texted that your order is ready. Second, we had already waited 45 minutes, and still hadn't received a text. At about the 55 minute mark, we went to the window. I approached the window to find a worker on sitting down playing a game on his phone. The worker didn't acknowledge me for a whole minute, and then I just asked if our order was ready, and I gave him the name of the order. Then he said, that yes, it was ready. When we took it back to our hotel which was a 3 minute drive, our pizza was as cold as ice. Pizza, and wings were cold. Salad was not cold. As it had been sitting outside for a long time. I didn't mind it because I do enjoy the occasional cold pizza, but we paid a little under $100, and we didn't even get fresh food. The annoying part was that both nights we received bad service. The second night we had to pay a mandatory gratuity fee. and we didn't even get hot pizza. My wife and I both agreed that the service is not worth the wait...

We recently had the most wonderful experience, and I could not wait to publicly share it!

Our family went to Basecamp, before attending the hockey game that afternoon (03.30). For some context - my daughters quickly fall in love with amazing humans who make our dining experiences so special. And from the moment they meant Sunny (I am spelling her beautiful name incorrectly, but I want to ensure she gets the credit!) - they FELL in love!

She greeted us with a warm smile, and genuine care. She was so gracious when the girls were asking her questions and giving her hugs. When my oldest (7 y/o) told Sunny that she wanted to have the same job as her someday, Sunny so sweetly offered to have her help take the orders from our table. Yes, Sunny walked with my daughter to each of us at the table, and helped instruct her on how to write down the orders on her note pad. It was the sweetest moment, and my little girl felt SO special and such #BigGirl status.

Now, this might not have seemed like a big deal to Sunny, as her kind heart did not even think twice about offering it. But to my daughter - it meant everything. It reminds me of what I read in "Unreasonable Hospitality" where the special sauce is in the human-centered experiences created. The book refers to service as "black and white" while hospitality is "full of color"..... Sunny brought ALL the color through giving my daughter this experience, and through this extension of kindness.... My daughter has a positive forever memory, and this mama is a loyal customer. We will absolutely be back!

The food was also delicious and the set-up (heated patio with live music) was a vibe! But most of all - Sunny brought the color! Photos included (as this moment was too special not to capture)... Please send our love and deepest...

This place is almost perfect, but our experience that could have been perfect was ruined (twice) by the same person.

There was a younger girl working the front outside desk seating area, and we had gone the day before and asked to make a reservation for the next day. She rolled her eyes at us, scoffed, and said "we don't take reservations". We left and immediately commented to one another how rude the girl was. We eventually decided we wanted to come back the next day as planned, hoped there would be available seating, and thought maybe the girl was just having a bad day.

The following day we arrived and the same girl was working the front. We said hi and asked for a table for 2 and she didn't say anything, looked down at what I assume was the seat map, and said sorry we don't have anything. It will be a 10 minute wait. We said that's fine, and then she said actually wait never mind. She grabbed 2 menus and then brought us to a table on the other side (still outside). It was a table of 6 together (3 tables pushed together). I asked her if we should split the table since it was just us 2 and the place was quite busy, so it might allow more people to sit if it was 4 and 2. She looked at me dead faced and said "We can't split tables" with such an attitude as if I was stupid. Then she walked away.

Our actual server was great, he was very polite and nice, and the food was incredible and worthy of 5/5 stars. However, whoever that young girl is that is working the front seating... she is one of the rudest people I've ever interacted with in my life. She acted so entitled and completely uninterested in being there. My advice to the manager... have a conversation with the younger staff (18-24 generation) and make it clear that just being polite to people is good...