Willows Pizza & Restaurant — Restaurant in South Portland

I’ve been a customer of Willow’s for nearly 3 years and had a horrible experience last week when dining in. Usually I just do take out but decided to dine in for a change- something I likely won’t do again and don’t recommend. Me and my partner orders two pizzas and fries to share. A young girl working out back (not our server) brought our pizzas out and I asked if our fries were coming out too and she looked confused and said “uh they should be.” 20 mins later our fries never came and our server never checked on us. We had both been out of water since half way through our meals. When the server finally came 20 mins after the pizza arrived, she asked if we wanted boxes. Never once asked how the meal was or if we needed anything else. I said we’d like boxes and also that our fries never came so to please remove them from the check. She then looked at our food and was like “ohhhh yeah. Hmm yeah I’ll take it off the bill.” I told her I asked the young girl if they were coming out when she brought the pizzas out yet they still didn’t come and she said “hmm weird I wonder where they ended up!” Then she brought out the boxes and bill. Didn’t apologize or take accountability or offer anything on the house like dessert to make up for it. And the server worked with one table at a time for a few minutes which is why we never saw her. For example she would go ask one table what they need (check, boxes), go get their check and boxes, then run their card, then go back to them, then clear their tables instead of asking what multiple tables needed at a time then dropping a bunch of things off to each table. Also the hostess was on her phone majority of the time as well and we could see her from our table. A hostess should also be aware of customers and should’ve noticed us looking around needed something and that we were out of water. (Several tables looked annoyed and were looking for the server). Overall the experience was bad due to poor service. I’m very disappointed because I love...

Willows is a locally owned family restaurant that specializes in Italian food and pizza. We eat there a few times a year and also get takeout. They have entertainment a few nights a week in the dining room. You need to make reservations on those nights.

That was the case last night when we decided to go there for dinner. We were seated in the bar, which has a few booths and a number of high top tables, in addition to bar seating. We were seated at a high top. The chairs had a bar to rest your feet, so it wasn't uncomfortable.

We started with drinks. My husband just got a soda. I cannot drink right now, but I asked if they could make their drink special - coconut margarita - alcohol free. The bartender did and it was delicious.

My husband ordered the cup of chowder with half an eggplant sandwich. He thought the chowder had a slight vinegar taste to it; I had a small taste and didn't taste anything like that. He said his sandwich was delicious.

I ordered the lasagna. It was excellent. Just the right amount of spice and a fair amount of meat and sausage in the sauce. It came with a small loaf of bread. Needless to say, I have today's lunch! Good value at $12.99, if memory serves.

And what is dinner out without dessert? The hubby got the turtle cheesecake; I ordered the lemon cream cake. Both were very good and very reasonably priced at $4.99 each.

I took pictures of my food, but not his. Don't ask me why.

Also. I'm writing this on my phone. So I apologize if I...

Ahh, Willows Pizza… I have been a patron for over 30 years. I just can’t say enough positive things about this business. Let me start by saying the owner Dave is a real community supporter yet very humble about his heartfelt support for all kinds of good causes. Talk about great, delicious food! The food is always fresh and tasty, the consistency of quality is always spot on. The menu is uncomplicated yet well versed. From the kitchen staff, take out staff to the wait staff and bartenders you can always depend on great attentive service. I find the bar tenders to be well versed in their jobs including being spicy with the regulars which regulars enjoy and often with good humored visitors. They all have a great sense of humor and work hard to balance great service with a down home feeling of welcoming attention and sometimes banter. Overall, I would give this establishment 100 stars as the staff works very diligently to provide an excellent dinning experience. They often have live music on Wednesday evenings and weather permitting there is also some outdoor seating. It gets busy, so sometimes there’s a wait for dining but if so head over to the bar and get a drink while you wait, even if the bar is busy someone will let you in to get a bevy, the other patrons are very friendly. I go there often as do many of my friends, it’s just a great meeting place and very family...