Apizza! — Restaurant in Town of New Paltz

I came to check the hours and saw Andie’s 1-star review - I couldn’t believe it. Why? Because I was right there, sitting at the table next to hers, watching the whole thing unfold.

Before her group even arrived, Adam had already started politely turning away walk-ins. The pizza oven was about to be shut down for a re-fire, and we were told up front: “If you’re ordering pizza, please do it quickly.” We appreciated the heads-up and ordered without issue. From my seat, I had a clear view of both the kitchen and the entrance - and I watched multiple customers respectfully walk away or place quick orders after Adam kindly explained the situation.

Then Andie’s group showed up - right as the oven was literally about to close. Adam tried to gently turn them away too, letting them know the oven was shutting down and offering other menu options like pasta if they want to a table still. But Andie pushed back -loudly, repeatedly - saying things like, “We just want a pizza! It’ll be fast! We just want a pizza!” Adam is a kind person, so eventually he said, “Okay, if you order now…” and they were seated. (And took a while to order while Adam waited)

Maybe their pizza came out a little soggy. But I also saw (and heard) everything that happened next: her complaints, a tense argument with her husband (he understood they already pushed their way in and the pizza wasn’t that bad) and an incredibly uncomfortable scene. Everyone around them could feel the tension. Even though the food was amazing, it was hard to enjoy our meal because the negative energy from that table was so overwhelming.

Adam did everything he could to smooth things over - he apologized multiple times and even personally took the pizza to reheat it downstairs for them. And still, the conflict at the table escalated.

I ended up rushing to finish my food just to get away from the atmosphere. It wasn’t the restaurant’s fault - at all.

Every time I’ve been to Apizza, the food has been 12/10. It’s our favorite restaurant in New Paltz. The chopped salad, Caesar, the bread, the appetizer plate, the pizza, the meatballs… all incredible. Adam and Lauren are hardworking, kind, and go above and beyond for their customers. To blame them for what was clearly a personal, internal conflict - and to leave a 1-star review because of it - is deeply unfair.

Apizza deserves better than that kind of review. And if anything, I hope this reminds them they handled the situation with far more patience and grace than most people would have. If you need to close the oven - close it. Don’t let pushy people override your boundaries. You did...

Unfortunately, we were served a soggy raw pizza. It was almost comical that this was allowed to leave the prep area and reach our table. They had to know when they cut it that it was virtually raw.

I actually tried to eat it to keep piece with my husband, but it was honestly making me sick.

When I finally decided I could not take another bite of a slice of pizza that was so limp and wet that juice was creating rivers and running onto my plate, I got up to complain to my server. The owner overheard my dissatisfaction and seemed a bit upset at the issue. I understand they have to refire the pizza ovens at a certain time, but you still need to put out a quality product. One that represents the pride you have in your business. If the pizza was not going to come out crisp and cooked, then it would have been better to turn us away. I’ve honestly only had worse pizza when visiting Florida, which is notorious for soggy crust pizza. This is a NY establishment…I hold you to a higher standard. I feel bad that this happened, but I hope the constructive criticism leads to a better product for others.

How they even allowed us to pay for this when they saw they made a mistake is an ongoing mystery. But I was not up for arguing in front of my kid.

In response: I do very much appreciate you taking responsibility. That’s pretty rare in our world. I respect your honestly and availability to make things right.

I’m a small business owner myself and I know how difficult it is to manage expectations and balance sales. I’m always ok being turned away and told to visit next time because things won’t be perfect. I might be disappointed…but I’ll come back more eager to try your food.

We are not pizza makers, so we have no idea about the complexities of your business. I feel bad we made you feel pressured to serve us. That’s my bad, and I take responsibility if we made you feel that way.

We will visit next time under better circumstances and I’ll...

I’m in New Paltz almost every weekend and wanted to try this place. It was about 4pm, and when you come in the door there is a bakers rack full of bread loaves w/ a sign that said fresh baked bread $8.00 - $10.00 Great! I’ll pick one up on my way out. Sat down and ordered a medium pie w/ sausage. I was told there would be a slight wait because they were sweeping the oven, okay no problem, ordered a beer. The pie came and looked good, It could have used another minute in the oven but not a deal breaker, it was still a good pie. My only real issue was when the bill came I asked my server for a loaf of bread to go and was told they couldn’t sell me one because they needed them for the dinner service, I said okay no problem. Then the pizza chef over heard and also said sorry but they needed them for dinner service, i said no problem! So i go to bathroom and on my way back to the table I hear the same people say to another customer, oh you came in for the bread? okay I can sell you one and proceeded to bag the bread for him. Really? I wasn't in the mood to argue or debate, especially in front of their other customers. Maybe his money was better than mine, Idk. Just take the sign down and put the bread in the kitchen if you don't want to sell it!

2/12/24 - Thank you for a sincere reply and offering to make it right. It’s not my intention to hurt anyone’s business, it just felt like an insult at the time. I edited my review to more accurately reflect my experience and of...