Marshall A.
Yelp
Here goes, I been going to Panzeras for a long time. I live in Dublin so for me to go there, it's basically an hour round trip. My wife and I have always loved the food and have told everyone they should try it, best pizza, pasta ever we said, and it is great. So I call in my usual Sunday night dinner order (always around $30.00,) I'm standing at the counter ready to pay when the guy nicely asks, "will there be anything else?) I say yes, actually I would like to grab 5 or 6 packs of parmesan cheese. As I'm saying this, another guy comes out of the restroom and around the counter. The guy that was taking care of me starts to look sort of out of the corner of his eye towards the guy that just came around the counter, then that guy loudly says, "whatta you need." That sort of took me by surprise but I again, nicely said, "can I get 5 or 6 packs of parmesan cheese. That guy then said "you can get as many as you want, they're .75¢ each." I grinned slightly, thinking he was totally joking and said, "well, maybe just a couple then that comes with my two meals will be o.k. the guy then says that the meals don't come with any parmesan packets. I honestly thought he was still joking around. I said are you serious, you really don't give a couple packs of parmesan cheese with your Italian dinners, he said "NO, I TOLD YOU THEY WERE .75¢ EACH" and turned away and walked to the back of the kitchen. I then asked the first guy was he serious and he embarrassingly said yes, he charges .75¢ each for parmesan packets. I quietly scooped up my food and drove the 30 minutes back home to Dublin, with no parmesan cheese.
This is really very sad and pathetic. It would be like McDonalds charging you .75¢ for every pack of ketchup. I have never ordered pizza or pasta anywhere in my life, and I've lived in 8 different states where you're expected to pay for condiments.
I mean, I could maybe understand if he was on such a low profit margin he may need to charge say .10¢ to cover his costs but MY GOD, .75¢ REALLY? As everyone knows, we have tons of great Italian food in the Columbus area, none of them that would charge you .75¢ for a pack of parmesan by the way so I will continue to give my hard earned money to Anges Pizza on GoDown Rd where the food is always delicious and they ASK YOU if you would care for any parmesan, red pepper, plates or napkins and don't charge you for it, imagine that!
Obviously Panzeras doesn't need my $30-$35.00 a week so I will never go back there again. It's a real shame that people can become so focused on such petty things. Knowing what I know now, I'm surprised he doesn't charge you for the box to put your pizza in. I noticed it's also the only place I've ever been to that doesn't put tomatoes on their salads unless you pay extra for them. Times must be tough at old Panzeras, their sales will definitely drop $35.00 next week and from then on.
You need to pick your battles Panzeras, so sad, I'll miss you