This used to be such good pizza. Now it’s coasting on old reviews. We used to drive out and pay $$$ for this pie often. The food here has really changed. If you have been eating it all along, you may not have noticed. But, last weekend we felt as if we’d bumped into a friend we hadn’t seen in awhile to find him 60 lbs heavier, unshaven and rude. Twice now, we’ve made the trip out to treat ourselves to what we thought would be another great pie. What a disappointment. The sauce, compared to its former richness, is very thin, watery, and without much in the way of flavor. Servers disengaged… Crust soggy… yuck.\r
This owner is a piece of work too. Picture “Italian mobster” type with the language to match. I should have guessed after that BelMar Italian Festival snub. We had signed on to receive emails about events and specials. What we get is this defensive owner constantly rallying support for situations where he feels wronged, or boasting about some “big” charity contribution, etc… (He even has one gigantic check for what he apparently considers a large sum of money hanging in the dining area! Overcompensating?) Once, when getting an update on the delayed opening of the new Littleton location, he mentioned how unexpectedly pricy the wine bar was getting but that it would be worth it. The latest tacky email was a surveillance video of some dine-&-dashers who skipped out on a $70. tab. The video is peppered with the owner’s crude comments. In the end he tries to pass off the notice as trying to protect the children of this dasher when he is clearly out to catch and humiliate him. All restaurant owners have had to deal with ding-&-dashers at one point or another but honestly, when was the last time you received a video alert about it? He might think about emailing out a coupon or two to his loyal customers instead. And the unpaid bill… $70. + tip. Since when does it cost $84. to treat one adult and two children to pizza?\r
I for one am tired of emails asking me to write to publications like 5280 and Westward praising Virgilio’s and to support the place by writing good reviews… for what? Not so much as a coupon. I suspect recent good reviews to be contrived by an owner who has taken advantage of his customer base because this pizzeria has lost its “stuff.” \r
As far as awards for “Best Pizza” these publications may want to reconsider allowing this owner to buy his way onto to list if they want to remain credible.\r
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