George's Restaurant & Pizza

My family and I are visiting from the south for a family reunion and unfortunately we experienced poor service due to a language barrier. When trying to decide on an entree, the waitress couldn't understand that I was asking for a recommendation. I wanted to know which special seemed the best. It was a toss up between the lasagna and baked ziti. She could not understand me and grabbed the owner whom described one of the specials slowly and with too much detail.

My order was misunderstood; my Greek salad was missing olives and feta. That was an easy fix; I simply requested feta on the side. My entree arrived and it looked appetizing but unfortunately, lacked in flavor. Between my father and I we both emptied the Parmesan cheese container onto our meals in hopes that would add flavor. Instead we discovered mold at the bottom of the jar.

Gross. We pushed our plates far away from us and did not pack up our leftovers when provided with boxes. My father and sister informed the owners of the unfriendly fungus among us and they ended up comping our meal 100%. My dad was willing to pay but oh well. Thanks to the understanding owners but they will not see us again.

Leaving the restaurant, the sign advertised: "Almost World Famous Pizza" - I guess we ordered the wrong meal.

Overall, unintentionally poor service, bland Italian and uninvited penicillin.

Honestly, in years past, I've always loved this place, but...

I guess things have changed here, and not for the better. The food is still pretty good here, tonight I had 2 Chicken and 2 Ribs, with fries and soup, and a roll. Roll was hot when I got it, but it wasn't fluffy. Mom had the Chicken Waffle, and it isn't a chicken flavored waffle like I thought, its more like regular chicken and waffles. But she found a bone in it, and that's not good!

My meal, the soup, had noodles that didn't fit on the spoon, I like big noodles though, but the vegetables could have been a little smaller. The Chicken and Ribs were, well, the wing was small, but the 2 ribs were huge! And the chicken wasn't raw (not saying they have served me raw before but after Hell's Kitchen this week...) but the Tapioca Pudding seemed a little runny. I don't know why for sure...

Now for the reason this place gets a low rating though the meal was good. You see, its the service. Sure the person who served us was friendly, but the problem was, it was like every time she passed by us after I wanted a refill, she never offered or even took my glass to get a refill like some places just do. I dunno what was going on, but if I were you guys, I'd be prepared to start eating the ice in your drink.

Sigh... I want to love this place.  

It's close to home, clean, and the owner is attentive and ALWAYS welcoming....always.  The food prices are usually cheap, and there are some pretty good specials.  But the food is mediocre, the atmosphere is odd (dated bar/family restaurant/diner all rolled into one), and there are such strange money-saving rules here that eventually made me stop "putting this place into the rotation", despite its close proximity to home.  You can't get pitchers at the bar, but you can move five feet to the left and sit at a table next to the bar and get one.  You can't take home food that you PAID FOR if it is part of a special, and you just can't finish it (instead it is thrown in the trash right in front of you).  You can't get a healthy side (like greens on your plate instead of chips) for a simple upcharge - instead you have to buy an entire side salad and get no break even if you don't get those chips you paid for, and liquor prices are too high.  There are almost no healthy options on the menu, and those that are offered (like a salad with grilled chicken) have cheap ingredients and little flavor.  

I think George's will always do ok... this odd little place, because there are always locals sitting at the bar.  But it would keep more people around (including me) with a few minor, smart changes.  Too bad.  I want to love this place....