RUSSO'S — Restaurant in Town of Orangetown

We typically go to a pizza restaurant once a week throughout the county. This time, we planned to visit a place in Pearl River, but since it was closed, we decided to give Russo's a try. In the past, I wasn't a fan of viral garlic knots, but we thought we'd give it another chance—especially since my little one was very hungry and wanted to eat.

Upon entering, we noticed that the floor and tables looked dirty, but I understand times are tough, and it was a slow Tuesday. The pizza looked old, and I was hesitant to order, but we decided to go with a Drunken Grandma, a Chicken Parm slice, a pepperoni slice, and a plain slice for the kids.

The guy behind the counter was cordial and brought out our slices. I asked for a rag to clean the table, and he kindly came out and did it himself. However, the Drunken Grandma and Chicken Parm were so dry, almost like cardboard. My husband and I kept looking at each other and laughing, trying to force it down, but it was so bad I had to stop eating it.

Thankfully, the little ones loved the plain and pepperoni slices—they ate them all, so those must have been good. Maybe they just like Ellio's pizza!

When I went up to get a second slice for my little one, I mentioned to the man with the black hair/mohawk and beard that the Drunken Grandma pizza was very dry, just as an FYI. He responded sternly, asking why I hadn’t come up right away so they could fix it. I wasn’t looking for a fix—I just wanted to mention it. My husband had advised me not to say anything, but after crunching his way through every bite, we couldn’t help but laugh at how dry the pizza was.

It was an enjoyable night overall, filled with laughter at the situation, but I can’t help but imagine a fresh pie might have been better. I would have rated this place higher if it weren't for the rude remark and the crunchy pizza. I was really disappointed after seeing all the Instagram posts and viral hype about this place. It probably is better on the weekend, but it felt like we were eating pizza from Saturday.

In the end, it was a memorable evening filled with laughter, but sadly, not for the reasons we had hoped. Hopefully, others will have a better experience, maybe with fresher pizza and a friendlier atmosphere!

They have a high rating so i'm thinking it was...

From the second I walked in, the atmosphere felt small, secluded, and stuffy. I had placed an online order, but when I gave them my name, they had no idea what my order was. After a long, 4-hour drive, I couldn’t remember exactly what I had ordered on the way home. As I was checking my phone to confirm, instead of being helpful, the staff started laughing and made comments like, “Oh my god, I thought I was fried.”

It seems they found it amusing, but the lack of professionalism was disappointing, I hope the comment was worth the review—whatever gets you through your shift, I guess, but it definitely didn’t improve my experience.

I usually love coming here since I live nearby, and the Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza is...

The younger kid who took our order seemed completely out of it. I didn’t get a good feeling about how he took our order... he took a phone call part way through. They totally forgot about the sandwich I ordered, and we never received our house salad. They said they were understaffed but it looked like 3 employees standing around while the manager fixed all of the mistakes. We ordered ravioli with sauce on the side, they definitely came with sauce and were also likely never started on until we asked about the order.

When I finally got my sandwich, it was decent in terms of taste and a hefty portion which was nice, but did not make up for the poor service from the...