Grotto Pizza
| Address: | 7075 Minstrel Way, Columbia, MD 21046, USA |
| Phone: | +1 443-583-8200 |
| Site: | grottopizza.com |
| Rating: | 3.8 |
| Working: | 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–1AM 11AM–1AM 11AM–11PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
M
M Kone
Looking forward to our first visit, left disappointed by the experience. Our Friday evening there started off waiting for a parking spot to open, I hoped being busy was a good sign. Once in Grotto Pizza we were informed to expect a 25 minute wait however, we were offered a table in the bar area by others who were leaving. A waitress cleared then wiped our table, but left it so wet that we could not rest anything on it. So I used their paper napkins to wipe it dry, to my dismay the napkins came up brownish-wet after I wiped off our ‘clean’ table. The waitress returned to take our order, I explained we were just becoming acquainted with the menu. We ordered a side salad as an appetizer, steak and cheese sub with French Fries, and a large plain Pizza (some take-home), with sodas. Most restaurants offer their sub customer a choice of cheese and ask if they prefer any topping (lettuce or tomato or onion, etc.), we were not asked nor had we noted those are by request. The sub and fries arrived first, the sub consisted of meat and cheese on the sub roll - the absence of toppings was our oversight. The steak was flavorful but we both found bits of bone and/or gristle in the meat. We read the French Fries were recommended by another reviewer, ours were lukewarm and nothing special. Later the Pizza arrived, this was a swirl pattern of cheese and tomato sauce topping that was tasty. The crust was thin and nicely crisp but ‘white bread’ bland. I usually eat every bite of a Pizza, but here I left the untopped crust not thinking it was worth the calories. As we finished our meal I was wondering about the side salad when that arrived; we asked the waitress return it. We also showed her the parts found in our sub, she offered to adjust that off the bill. As it turned out the salad was credited while the sub remained on the bill, I was content just to get going not caring about the $10 fee for that sub so I paid the bill and tipped our apparently overworked waitress. Bell Curve comes to mind here, many people were there maybe because this place has a liquor license? Likely not for the food or service. Grotto Pizza’s food and service too are bested by several other pizza places in the area, since we care less about alcohol we likely will not return.
GA
Gabrielle Moore
Left Three Brothers to give Grotto a try and very disappointed that we did. Walked in and immediately smelled Chuck E Cheese pizza sauce. You know it when you smell it, cheap ingredients. We ordered two side salads, two slices of cheese pizza, one order of wings and one order of cheese sticks. The cheese sticks were small and served with no sauce for $8. The pizza slices were the size of the ones served to children at Chuck E Cheese. I am not joking, I am shocked. Ive lived in Columbia for over 35 years and being the pizza lover that I am, Ive tried many competitors. I am a little worried that Grotto may not have shopped their competition because the food offerings were small portions, cheap ingredients and expensive. I cant imagine what they are thinking. As we sat waiting for our food, there seemed to be an issue with staffing as there were 4-5 servers waiting around chatting, 2 hostesses and seemingly one chef. As we watched the single chef carry out one item of our order at a time, we watched a girl wipe down the gelato containers and tank with the same dish rag. Just as we were considering coming back on the weekend for gelato, I watch the young lady stretch to wipe inside the gelato tank and as she retracted from the tank, her dish rag dragged across several mountains of gelato. My hubby says the wings were poor. The location is spacious and the bar is a full large square surrounded by numerous flat screen TVs so Grotto has no place to go but up. However, we wont be back until they raise the bar and become comparable to their local competition like Three Brothers and Ledos Pizza.
ME
Melissa McNair
Let me preface this by saying that we love grottos when we go down to Rehobeth, so I was very excited to hear that one was coming to this area. We ordered take out on a Friday night, a large pizza with 3 toppings and it was almost 26$. The pizza was good, but I dont think that it was worth it at that price. I know I havent been to grottos in a while but I never remembered their prices being so high. The crust was a little soggy on the bottom and that was a bummer. and to give this place another chance I just went to lunch with my toddler - got a mini lunch sized pizza, and a kids chicken fingers with fries - 17$. The chicken fingers are just the generic frozen ones and they dont taste good, so dont waste your money on those. The fries were crispy and delicious. The mini pizza was ok, I liked the large size we had the other night better but I think its just because of the sauce/cheese/crust ratios being off because of the small size. Another weird thing - they were playing dance/club R and B hits at 1pm on a Tuesday. It was awkward to see this little girl in the corner break dancing to "sexy back" on the radio, followed by "promiscuous girl" and then some others I dont know the names to. I dont think we will be back, I gave this place a shot twice and was disappointed both times.
DA
Danielle Pientka
The bolis are EXCELLENT and 50% off on Thursdays. Its clean. Free popcorn. I like the location and setting. My HUGE complaint is that theyre consistently slow. Its to the point where we hesitate to go because the food comes out at all different times. Ie. Today our one sons Mac n cheese came out. 3 minutes later, the pizza for my other son. 10 min later, my boli. 10 min later, my husbands boli. It means we either eat at different times or we wait to eat together and some of us eat cold food. Id give them a pass if it was a one time thing or a particular waiter//waitress but it has been a consistent issue. I think they just need to do better training with their staff. Its just very hard to take kids to places that dont serve in a timely manner and its not that much fun for us either.
CI
Cibele Lima Raimondo
Just left this place. My daughter had a birthday party and my husband and I decided to bring the rest of the family and have dinner there too. We have never been there and had heard positive things about Grotto in Crofton. Ordered cheese pizza, salad and wings. Food was just ok so I would have given it 3 stars but service was subpar. I had to flag the waitress more than once. Decided to pay and order and pay for gelato separately and the experience was just as bad. I had to actually ask the person in the counter if I could order some gelato (after patiently waiting and observing). I would have left but didnt want to disappoint the kids. And guess what? Even the gelato was just ok. With so many other alternatives, we probably wont go back.
WI
William Gast
Not impressed. Ordered carryout via phone. Ordered a large pizza w/pepperoni & jalapenos, 2 pesto chicken sandwiches, and bruschetta. Total was a whopping $52. We get there and there is only 1 sandwich on the ticket, and the bruschetta was not with the order. They made another sandwich for us in about 5 minutes. When the bruschetta was brought out, it was in a sandwich-type bag - I asked about this and was met with a rude reply from two employees. Get home, and the quality of the food is just not worth it. Pizza was $3/per topping for like 6 pieces of pepperoni. Next to no sauce on it, and it just tasted bland. Too many good places to waste time & money here.
