Ptown S.
Yelp
What had been my favorite pizza place in my neighborhood is sadly no longer an option after I was completely ignored after sitting down at the bar and waiting 20-25 minutes with no acknowledgement on a recent Friday night. I said a friendly "Hi" to the young server when I walked in (after dutifully getting cash from the ATM in the next room). She seemed less than thrilled and kind of backed away as if I'd overwhelmed her or something. So I sat down near the front corner of the bar and waited and waited. The server wandered around inside the U-shaped bar, checking on the same customers two or three times, hovered over the computer for what seemed like an
inordinate amount of time, shuffled a stack of menus, all the while avoiding eye contact and completely disregarding my existence. Meanwhile, her older colleague chatted up a couple of customers for several minutes, never looking at the rest of the bar.
In an effort to determine what was wrong, I asked a nice, middle-aged couple next to me if this was a private party or something. They assured me it was not, joined me in my frustration, and kindly informed the older server that I had been sitting there for awhile with no service. She said she was leaving for the night and couldn't speak for the younger server's lack of action. When the latter had no choice but walk by me, I calmly said "Thanks for ignoring me." She rather laconically replied, "When did I do that?" I said, pointing at the chair, "I sat there for 20 minutes." She kinda mumbled "Oh my God," gazed in the other direction, but offered no apology or anything to remedy the situation. So I walked out of Mineo's, probably for the last time, and headed to another restaurant, where the bartender immediately engaged me, providing a smile and a menu. I'll miss the pizza, but fortunately there are plenty other options in Squirrel Hill.