Hernando's Pizza Pub — Restaurant in Winter Park

I went to Hernando's Pizza Pub for the first time this evening upon arriving in Winter Park due to the excellent reviews. And just to clarify, this review is not about the pizza, which was excellent, or my server, who was friendly and competent. The problem was that I was seated next to a couple of young guys who appeared to be locals and friends of a number of the waitresses who seemed to be bringing them drinks, and sitting with them to chat as the restaurant appeared a bit slow. They seemed to enjoy each others banter, which was not problematic for me until the young fellows started to tell stories of their bowel movements during hiking and other outdoor activities. Now this sort of behavior would be fine I suppose at some young persons bar, but not at a family restaurant with a obvious older patron sitting about 4 feet away. What I would have expected from a more professional staff would have been the waitresses who were sitting at the table to set a standard for their two male friends to stop the subject of bowel movements and remind them that there was at least one customer, that would be me, who may not enjoy hearing stories about their bowel movements. But the waitress friends did not seem to understand that they were at work and their responsibility was to make the environment pleasant for the customers and not to entertain themselves or their friends. I did speak to a fellow behind the bar after I paid my check who said he was "kind of the manager" for the evening but he didn't appear to be too concerned about my complaint. So the moral of this review is that the staff at any restaurant should be tending to the paying customers and not taking time out to banter with their friends as if they were off work in a bar somewhere. I hope that who ever is the actual owner or manager of this establishment will bring this issue up the the waitress staff so they do not get review such as this...

before you read, this is a table full of servers from Texas, enjoying a trip to Colorado

We came in as a party of 7. The host, young male, was super nice, and greeted us with a big smile. We sat down, and our waitress gave us water to start off with. We ordered 6 ten inch pizzas, and one 14 inch. The 14 inch was feta, spinach, and pepperoni, that’s it. Waited about 25 minutes (expected) and all of the pizzas were right, except the 14 inch, which had artichokes on it. The male wasting this is allergic to artichokes, and the waitress expected him to eat it. She goes back and gets another pizza going, only to bring out another wrong one 30 minutes later. We mentioned it nicely that it was messed up, and she aggressively flips through her book, as if we didn’t know what we ordered. Not once did she check on us to make sure we were doing okay, simply bland attitude and no hospitality whatsoever. After an hour and 25 minutes, we get the right pizza, and all the rest of the guests were finished. She gave us a $12 discount… what?! That pizza should have been free.

She then gets upset that I took a few sips out of my husband’s Pepsi… as if I’m not allowed to take three sips of Pepsi from my husband’s drink?! She was rude and didn’t have any care for messing up a pizza TWICE, and then proceeds to get mad about a PEPSI?!

She brings the check, and makes sure to let us know that she didn’t do automatic gratuity, and basically that we better tip her. We are all servers, and even then we were confused as to why she deserved a $30 tip. My brother in law tipped her $25 because he’s too nice.

Please understand that customer service should not just be a southern thing. How are you going to get people to come back if you’re rude, and don’t care to make things right?? I’d love someone to contact me about this, because there was no manager coming over...

Hernando's has always been a staple in the valley. When reccommending tourists to a new place to eat I often suggest they head over to winter park and try their Pizza. It's unfortunate i was not as impressed this visit, as i have been in the past. Reading the previous reviews I see the johnsons were spot on. The brick oven taste was there, but the food was far from on point. The marinara that came with our breadsticks was more chunks of tomato than sauce, it seemed to need a few more spices and a spin around the blender or food processor. It was sorely disappointing.

I love Hernando's, the atmosphere, and all of the staff. I am not sure why tonight I found the pizza to be as bland as it was. I have never experienced this in the past.

I was glad to have brought my wife, she had never been before. The iconic dollars littering every wall and ceiling brought light to her eyes, and we are enthused to spend time making our own. I hope our next visit is better. The waitstaff seemed.. Tired. As if it were a slow day and they found themselves bored. Or waitress was wonderful, but her attitude could have been brighter. The pizza could have been better.

Overall it was a pleasant experience, and we will be sure to return to explore the other selections they have...