May. 28, 2008 - Issue #658: Beija Flor
Ragazzi Bistro Italiano
Ragazzi's great, if you can get the right waitress
“Sorry”; “We’re running a bit behind”; “It’ll be just a few more minutes”: all are words that can make a big difference. Glares, sighs and indifference will not. If those few words remain forever locked inside a pursed mouth, disaster can and likely will happen.
Why the rant? Unfortunately, a waitress having a particularly bad day changed what could have been an exceptional dining experience into something less than pleasant. Which is too bad, because Ragazzi Bistro Italiano (“Pizza Boys” to some) isn’t a bad restaurant. In fact, to some, it is the place to go for delicious, thin-crust, hand-tossed pizza.
The night in question started off innocently enough. We decided to go out for a family dinner, one that would not only satisfy my pizza-crazed kids but also offer a bit more than the standard pizza joint: more ambiance, more selection, more personality and, of course, better food. Friends of ours are Pizza Boys (they still don’t call it Ragazzi) fanatics, so we decided to check it out.
From the outside, it certainly looks like a typical pizza joint: plain and simple, blending into the concrete parking lot of the strip mall it calls home. The name is fancy though—Ragazzi Bistro Italiano. Four brothers opened the restaurant seven years ago and named it Pizza Boys, for obvious reasons. But the name implied it was just a pizza place, not somewhere to go to satisfy a craving for good, authentic Italian cuisine. So last year the name was officially changed to Ragazzi Bistro Italiano.
Ragazzi still means “boys” in Italian, but adds some zing and mystique. And once we left the bleak, concrete parking lot and entered the warm, aromatic bistro, Ragazzi did seem more appropriate. As we walked in, my eyes were drawn to the back wall. It’s lined with brick and has a semi-circle “window” in it, which teased us with a peek at the pizza chefs and a glimpse of the kitchen. A blackboard hanging nearby listed the pizza of the day—tuna, red onion and capers—adding a homey touch. Definitely more welcoming than just a pizza joint.
We were quickly seated in the half-full restaurant and, eager to quiet our ravenous kids, wasted no time in scanning the menu. An order for a milk ($1.50), orange juice ($2), soda water with lemon ($1.50) and a Coors Light ($4.75) was quickly dispatched. Although the pastas sounded tempting, it was the many pizzas scattered around the room, sitting like kings atop their pedestal platters, that won our vote. Two 14-inch pizzas—one cheese ($13.50) and one with green pepper and mushrooms ($18.00)—were ordered, along with two bowls of minestrone soup ($5 each). The kids were especially excited at the prospect of watching the kitchen hand-toss the pizzas, something the menu encouraged. Our waitress said she’d come and get them when it was time.
In the meantime, our drinks arrived and my soda water had only a tiny slice of lemon. I politely asked our waitress for another, when she had time. It never arrived. Not a big deal, so I let it go. But then our minestrone soup arrived in fabulous, inviting white bowls, minus the fresh buns promised on the menu. We requested the buns and waited. The soup smelled amazing but, as we are both dippers, we held off for a bit and waited some more. Still no buns. Another request and a snap in reply. We also inquired about when the pizza tossing was going to take place. “We’ll come and get you” was the response.
Buns finally came, but we had to ask for butter—three times. The once-warm buns were now cold. Oh well, we didn’t need the extra carbs anyway. The soup was delicious; the broth was full of flavour, the chunks of veggies and beans plentiful without being heavy and overwhelming, but also slightly cold by this time.
There was still no mention of pizza tossing, so I made another inquiry and got a sigh and the report that our pizzas were made, but the kids could watch someone else’s being made. Not quite as exciting, but it would have to do. Partway through the soup, our pizza came. The dilemma: eat hot pizza and forsake the rest of the rapidly cooling soup or finish the soup and eat slightly cool pizza. The soup was amazing, so we decided to finish it.
We were short a couple of plates, which we requested along with parmesan and hot peppers. The plates arrived only after the three reminders to our waitress went unheeded and one of the brothers saw our distress and intervened. I got up and retrieved the parmesan and hot peppers myself.
The pizzas were delicious and boasted the best crust we’ve had in a long time. Tangy sauce, loads of mushrooms and just enough gooey cheese made ours hard to resist. Had we eaten it when it was hot, it would have been even better.
To Ragazzi’s credit, the owners delivered a complimentary tiramisu. Although it was delicious (according to my husband) and a thoughtful gesture, everyone just wanted to get the bill and go. When our waitress did deliver our bill, there was no eye contact, no thank you, nothing. At any point, just a few words of explanation from her would have gone a long way toward changing our opinion, but we just felt hostility. And she never did come get the kids so they could watch the pizza tossing.
Sorry Ragazzi, as wonderful as the food was, the experience was not. So go, enjoy, but beware of waitresses in grumpy moods. Seek out one of the owners though, and you just may have a new favourite pizza place. V
Ragazzi Bistro Italiano
8110 - 82 Ave, 414.0500
Open Mon - Thu (11 am - 10 pm)
Fri (11 am - 12 am); Sat (4:30 pm - 10 pm)
More info about Ragazzi Bistro Italiano →
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