Address: | 2527 W Colorado Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80904, USA |
Phone: | +1 719-632-8121 |
Site: | pizzeriarustica.com |
Rating: | 4.4 |
Working: | 5–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM |
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A Private User
(June 11, 2009) This small pizzeria offers a simple decor and relaxed atmosphere. Everything, and I mean everything, is fresh and cooked on site that day. Even the mozzarella cheese is made right at the restaurant. There are no freezers, and to the extent that it is possible, the ingredients are purchased from local farmers. The menu is very limited and beware: the portions aren’t the typical American appetite size. I think that the hope is that when ingredients are so fresh and authentic that larger portions aren’t needed. As stated in another review, you can pay for a side salad (to which you are offered only two dressing choices). I tried the small antipasto salad ($6.00) and was surprised and delighted by its uniqueness. My husband had a small green salad (verde salad $3.00) and he seemed happy enough with it. The dressing is described as Caesar, without the egg. My husband said it was more like vinaigrette. Our service was below standard and sadly it set back the meal. When our waitress came to the table she apologized for the delay as (she said) our table was out of view. I found that statement interesting since from where I sat I could see ALL the tables. She promptly took our order for a Salsiccia pizza with red onion added ($12.00 plus $1 extra for the onion). Some time later the waitress returned to ask if we did indeed order the red onion because she wasn’t sure. When the pizza arrived there was no red onion on it but the waitress was so slow to return that we ate a slice anyway. From my one slice I can say that the freshness of the sauce was amazing. There was very little cheese and frankly, I couldn’t taste it. The sausage was sparse but tasty. I’d love to be able to comment on the wines (which many customers seemed to be enjoying) but we had coffee. It was better than average (and I’m particularly fussy). Again, the waitress lagged and we were ready to leave by the time she finally offered to refill the cups. When we pointed out the missing onions, her only comment was, “Well, I told the kitchen. Sorry.” We were pretty excited about trying this new and authentic pizza but what good are fresh ingredients when the service lacks? Mistakes happen but when they do – like forgetting an ingredient – we’d actually like something more than a brusque “sorry.” So, will I go again? Maybe. Or maybe we’ll try a different place. Note: This establishment offers a military discount.
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Matt Czimer
Well I have to say Im disappointed. I was, at first, excited after seeing some of the positive reviews but this place has some issues with customer service and proper execution of some of the dishes/drinks as well as. I was hoping to try a local gem and enjoy some great pizza but this turned out to be entirely forgettable. I have had the opportunity to sample lots of small local restaurants in a number of cities and unfortunately some of the mom and pop stores miss some key details that can make all of the difference. FIRST - Dont ever serve a cocktail, such as the vodka soda a number of us ordered, warm. There was NO ICE IN THE VODKA SODA. What? Seriously? That was very unappealing. Then when its brought to the servers attention, her response was pretty much, oh well..... SECONDLY - the small version of the salad (meant to be a side salad) was a small fistful of lettuce with about a drop of dressing and cost $5. Thats a ripoff, in my opinion. THIRDLY - once a server has charged the credit cards and there is clearly an authorization/approval code on each guests receipt, do not come back to the table and claim you need to swipe everyones cards again because your system says unpaid. Your system clearly has an issue and that is none of our problems when we can all see the charge on each of our mobile apps for all cards swiped. We stood around while the server spent 10 minutes checking into it, making us late getting to an event that was planned. Overall, the server seemed more or less disinterested in the customer service factor. The pizza was good but not great. For the price point, Ive come across many other pizza joints that really whip up some artisanry for the same price, if not a little less. My advice to the owner, you need to lock down your customer service, serve your cocktails cold (with plenty of ice) and make sure your computer glitches dont become the problem of any of your guests. Im in management for a living and I have a feeling others will concur with my findings.
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Iceberg Slim
This place is totally try-hard at being rustic and fancy, but it falls flat on its face and is nothing but pure garbage. Speaking of which that brings me to my first point: we were seated at a table 5 feet from a can of garbage with no lid, near a wash sink and all sorts of cleaning chemicals just out in the open dining area. One can imagine the lovely waft of air this provides for such a fancy and rustic experience. Right off the bat strike 2: beverages are delivered in a can to pour in a glass yourself. Its 2016, and we are in a restaurant that asks for tipping servers, and outrageous prices for food and beverages, and the best that can be done is here is a glass of ice and a can. This is gut-wrenchingly poor execution in service. Which brings me to my next point. Any pizza place that brings out a fork and knife and assumes its supposedly fresh ingredients (and desire to be fancy) should speak for themselves enough to warrant a $14 pie thats only 12 inches -- that pizza place better make sure that 12 inches of pie is on point. Hate to say it but they failed. Im sure the ingredients were fresh but its kind of hard to notice when the predominantly burnt-tasting and grease soaked crust overwhelms the other flavors on this hot mess. This is a pie that *they* list as a default on their list. There is no blaming the grease itself for the result, as there are plenty of establishments that cook Neapolitan pies with similar ingredients - some of them in Colorado Springs in fact - without burning the crust and having it resemble a chewy sponge of greasy gunk. I requested ranch to try to lift the flavor to edible, but was denied. Because, you know, ranch aint fancy enough. Edit to reply to owner: That one just flew right over your head, didnt it? My point is that your pizza is so bland and disgusting, that even ranch would improve the terrible food you serve and attempt to pass off as authentic.
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Anna Fell
Would have given 5 stars hands down based on food and previous visits, but...This is my favorite restaurant in Colorado Springs. We try to go for my birthday every year, but sadly werent able to this past year so we went a couple weeks ago. Our server was horrible. The woman who sat us and gave us our food was much more pleasant than he was. Our server didnt give us his name or even smile. My husband and I are in the food and service industry; we know what is expected. We were definitely the youngest couple in the restaurant, and Im not sure if this had anything to do with him thinking we wouldnt tip him. Again we are in food and service, we tip well above the norm because we know how that matters. Even with his horrible performance, we probably tipped better than most in the restaurant at the time, hope he learned a lesson and felt a bit guilty for treating us like second class customers.