Ken's Artisan Pizza

12/16/09

If I gave that bad of service ever... I would want to know.

by JBird123 at Citysearch

Sad, sad service. Good pizza. Bad/HORRIBLE wait Staff and Manager staff (Specifically April and some unnamed waitress who wouldn't give us her name). Maybe for a reason...

My husband and I went to Ken's Artisan Pizza tonight to celebrate my Birthday. I read about it in the Portland Monthly and was excited to go. We got there walked in the waitress looked at my husband with out saying a word. We said "table for two"... this might sound petty at the moment but wait for it... it ADDS up! We were seated at a nice table by the window with out a word said to us. Call me crazy but I think a greeting was in order. When the waitress came back to the table to take our order there was no smile or greeting just asked us what we wanted. My husband asked what she recommended and she told us even keel w/ no enthusiasm. Ok... fine. Not a problem so far but noticeable. She came back to our table with pizza in record time. Not bad if you want to rip off the burnt edges from your crust but maybe that is ARTISAN. She never came back to the table to check on our food ordered or perhaps a drink order. By the end of the meal we had our card set out on the table still with out a word said. When she finally came to check on our table we had been waiting to pay and done with no check up. Call me crazy but you would think that is standard service anywhere expecting a tip other than buffet style. There was no horrible interaction. But I was def not feeling good about the service. I asked the waitress her name and she asked me why and told me she doesn't give it out. Annoyed at this point I told her so I could reference it when I wrote my review. She said no and walked away. We didn't leave a tip two minutes later completely disappointed I called to speak to a manager. She, April was equally as rude. I was put on hold obviously while she was being updated by the unnamed waitress. I told her about our lack of interaction and that I was terribly disappointed in the service especially since it was recommended by the Portland Monthly. She asked me what happened and I explained hoping to have a better interaction. She responded to and said "didn't she recommend pizza's to you"? Ummmm yeah..... because my husband asked and it would have been even more rude to not answer that question as part of the wait staff. She said "well, I am just trying to get both sides of the story". She only defended the waitress and didn't even apologize for any bad service instead she was just "trying to get both sides of the story" WHAT?! Disappointed yet again.

Hmmmmmmm.... too bad. Was really looking forward to a good time with some good pizza with at least adequate service. This was less than adequate service. We will never go back, nor recommend this place. We will also tell all of our friends how awful our experience was.

I have had better service at all "known" bad service places in portland for years.

• Pros: Pizza... but not worth the staff's bad customer sevice
• Cons: STAFF

11/17/09

service horrible

by man about town at Citysearch

good food shouldn't be served by bad people. I won't return to this place despite it's convenience to my location.

• Cons: service

09/19/09

Could be almost perfect, but...

by ACJ at Citysearch

The food here is generally really nice, and worth queuing for. However, living nearby, I often notice the staff outside the restaurant smoking and it is very off-putting - makes me think, do I really want to be served food by people who have just been putting cigarettes in and out of their mouths? It isn't a good advert for a food place!

• Pros: Pizzas are usually very delicious
• Cons: Some of the staff are not respectful of customers