Antica Pizzeria

02/15/09

Pleasantly Surprised

by TrendyMommyx5 at Citysearch

My husband and I found a last minute babysitter last night (Valentines Day) and decided we had only enough time to see a movie, a much needed break away from the kids! We bought our tickets at the AMC but had an hour to wait and we were hungry! We walked around the strip mall and saw Antica and a soup plantation, antica it is we said. We got inside and were a little put off when we saw a heat lamp and some not so fresh looking food...uh oh we thought. We get escorted to the dinning area and are surpised by the nice warm decor and polite staff. We sat down thinking since it was Valentines, we would have to pick off a pre-fab menu of only a few items, wrong. We picked from the menu and waited (kinda long) for our food. Out came our meals piping hot and delicious. I had the gnocci and my husband had the chicken marsala. He (who is very picky) was very satisfied with his food. I liked mine as well. I would recommend this place because 1. its tasty and 2.its a casual place with a nice environment and 3. they have a friendly staff. I was also thankful that we didnt need to worry about the reservation on one of the busiest nights out. We didnt have to wait to be seated and another plus was they wrap your food up for you to go. I cant tell you how much I hate places that throw you a box to pack it up yourself. I would recommend however, that they get rid of that heat lamp case in front, Im not sure what it was for and I know our food wasnt under it...its a little off putting. Thanks Antica, we'll be back!

• Pros: Ample parking, nice staff, good food, fair prices, casual but nice setting
• Cons: heat lamp display case in front as you walk in.

01/13/09

Awesome

by ironchefjeff at Citysearch

Love their pepperoni here. Veggie pizza is phonomenal also. This place has great service most importantly

06/23/08

Just coasting on old reveiws - food is longer worth the attitude.

by bookwichy at Citysearch

I have enjoyed the food here for years, since Antica first opened. But the service has gotten progressively worse over the years, as has the food. The waiters and managers are always in a bad mood. Somehow the only people that understand the concept of customer service are the hostesses.

Two years ago we stopped eating in the restaurant itself due to the horrible service. However, we continued to stop by for take-out on a regular basis. As of last night, we will no longer order food to go either. I ordered over $100 worth of food to go, four pizzas, pasta, salad, dessert, etc. I ordered a glass of wine to drink while waiting, paid for it, and went to the bar for the wine. The manager came over, asked if I was with a party of four people waiting at the bar for a table, and when I replied no, I was just getting the glass of wine I had already paid for, literally took me by the arm and escorted be to wait in a crowd of people next to the hostess stand. When I asked why I couldn't wait at the bar for my order, he ignored my question, and said he was sorry if I "misunderstood" his actions. He then handed me a bag with a free piece of stale cake.

The food was not worth the aggravation. Chopped salad: flavorless and limp; pizza: hard crust; pasta: overcooked. The prosciutto pizza had too much meat, overpowering everything else on the pizza. The pizza with radicchio and some kind of cheese was dry on the edges, soggy in the middle and the very large lumps of cheese resembled dry, flavorless feta. Pasta bolognese had no sauce, just the occasional piece of ground beef here and there and some olive oil with a bit of spinach or something to give it color.

This place is coasting on its reputation as an authentic Neapolitan pizza place. Go to Mozza. Worth the drive from the Westside, with a much better wine list. And, if you order judiciously, not much more expensive. Also Mozza loves children, unlike Antica as we learned on previous visits.

• Pros: Food used to be good, maybe will improve in future.
• Cons: Bad service, rude manager, food not worth the price or attitude.