LetsTalk AboutYourService
Google
This place is a failure on every level.
I tried this Blue Pan location twice (dine-in, in April 2025, and takeout in July 2025). Both instances were totally disappointing, with most of the failures coming from the kitchen.
During the dine-in visit, we arrived and were told that the wait time for a table would be one hour. We went to a nearby bar and got a round of drinks to wait it out. When we returned, the chef/kitchen manager was at the host stand. He told us he couldn't give us an update on the wait for a table, as he didn't know how to use the application that the host uses to seat guests. Finally, the host returned, and we were seated.
We ordered a pizza and two appetizers. plus a round of drinks. Our pizza arrived before the appetizers. When one person in our party inquired about why the appetizers hadn't arrived yet, the server told us that the kitchen employees had started cleaning up early, and the order had been overlooked. This was on a weeknight, about an hour and a half before the restaurant closed. This led us to ponder why the kitchen would have been cleaning up so early, if the restaurant didn't close for another hour and half, and the place was on an hour-long wait. Very strange.
Finally, the apps arrived, with the server telling us that there was a small discount for the kitchen staff dropping the ball. I had one drink, two pieces of pizza and a portion of two apps and the bill came to $40 (with the discount). I found this to be quite expensive, but was even more irritated to see on the bill that there was a mandatory fee added for the kitchen staff (the same people who botched our order trying to get out of work early, and who also couldn't use the host's software). We thought to ourselves: why are we forced to pay a fee for the kitchen, when they can't get an order correct? And, if they are getting a cut of the server's tips, why can't they use the host's software?). It seemed like we were forced to pay part of their salary, but they weren't forced to increase their level of service to us. This was at a time when the minimum wage in Denver county had just been bumped up to $20 per hour. So, we are forced to pay an increase in prices to cover the increase in minimum wage, PLUS a kitchen fee, PLUS a suggested 30% tip, and we can't get things to work in our favor.
Weeks later, I decided to give this place a second chance. I ordered a pizza to-go. The host's phone skills were mediocre. I picked up the pizza and took it home, only to see the grubby fingerprints of the kitchen staff on the box (see photos). I thought this was rather odd. Doesn't the kitchen staff wash their hands? What other plates of food are contaminated by their grubby, unwashed hands? All of them? They make $20 an hour, get a kitchen fee added to their paycheck, plus they get a cut of the server's tips, and they can't put a pizza in a box without getting it dirty with their unwashed hands? Really?
But the real disappointment was yet to come: when I tried to open the box, it was evident that the inside of the box was sticking to the top of the pizza... I had to get a spatula to remove the cheesy top of the pizza from the cardboard. This resulted in most of the sauce clinging to the top of the box, and basically ruining the pizza. Some of the cardboard from the box was embedded in the pizza. Every pizza restaurant on planet earth uses those little plastic things that keep the top of the box from touching pizza -- except this Blue Pan location. This place is a disaster.
We will not be returning to give the kitchen staff one more chance. They got a pay raise, a cut of the server's tips, AND a mandatory kitchen fee (never mentioned by the server when you order), and they still can't do an average job. Bye! We'll go to Giordano's next time.
