I will preface this review by saying it is Friday night, and I am reviewing a pizza place, so let that hold as little or as much weight as you want.
This would be my first experience with MOD Pizza. As a vegan in this area, my pizza options are limited so I was excited to give it a try. I placed an order online around 4PM to pick up at 6:30PM (I had to run some errands) thinking they would have plenty of time to get it together and it would be ready to go as soon as I got there. The ordering process itself was pretty easy, so 5 stars for that.
I arrived just at 6:30, and I walked into the store to mass chaos. I saw a counter where people were waiting so I walked over and asked the slicing and finishing gentleman there (kicking myself for not getting his name!) if I was in the right spot. He pointed to one of my pizzas sitting there, and told me they were working on it so it should be finished soon.
Ten minutes go by. I watch a few people complain about the wait and notice the line has barely moved. My second pizza comes out, and I'm still waiting on two orders of bread sticks.
Fifteen minutes. An employee is on the phone, walking around looking worried. Said employee apologizes about my wait, as does the gentleman at the counter. I see other employees on the line giving each other attitude and looking very worried. I start to hear that there is some sort of dough shortage taking place. Line still not really moving, and no one standing at the door explaining to people coming in that there is a long delay on orders.
Twenty minutes. The phone employee hands me a coupon for a free pizza, again apologizes. The counter gentleman, politely fielding any and all customer complaints (when clearly that is not something he should solely be responsible for when there's a team of several people, all contributing the problem) turns around and quietly, politely asks the rest of the team about the orders that are taking forever. They immediately give him attitude and raise their voices at him. 0 STARS for team communication and interaction. The counter gentleman calmly turns back around and goes back to finishing the few orders that are coming out and continuing to field any complaints. The phone employee tells me he personally finished making my order so it should be out any minute.
Twenty five minutes from expected time of pick up. My order is complete, and I've been apologized to multiple times. 5 STARS for the gentleman at the counter. I work in fast-casual service and I understand how frustrating it can be when you're totally slammed and taking all the complaints when it is not your fault that things are going wrong. He kept his cool and was very polite to all of the customers despite their complaining, and continued to keep his cool as the rest of the team got worked up and had attitudes with each other and completely unnecessarily had attitudes with him.
Honorable mention to the phone gentleman. He was walking around to customers apologizing, and I appreciated him personally taking care of my order after I had been waiting so long. Still though, slicing and finishing counter gentleman is the real MVP.
My conclusion on service: need more organization and teamwork. A pizza place should expect a big crowd on Friday night, and should be prepared both with staff and materials to handle it. Even if things do go awry, employees should never be visibly frustrated or raise their voices at each other in front of customers. I work in the industry, so I do understand how hard it can be to keep calm, but it is not difficult to smile and be polite to each other, even if you're freaking out on the inside.
Now to the food. I will say the food was their redemption! I really liked the pizza crust, it was reminiscent of naan bread. The BBQ sauce I got was seasoned really well, and I thought there was a good amount of toppings. I really appreciate their catering to vegans and those with allergies with their dairy-free cheese option (that doesn't cost extra!). And you cannot beat the fact that additional anything doesn't cost any more! It's always the same price, no matter what you add. We also got the cinnamon bread sticks with chocolate and strawberry dipping sauces. They were the perfect follow-up to the pizza we devoured.
Overall, I would say great food and not-so-great service, as whole (remember my slicing and finishing MVP though!). I'm not sure if I caught them on a bad night or if Fridays are always like this. I am willing to give them another try since the food was so good, but I think we will do any other night but a Friday. read more