Puzo's Family Restaurant 16 West Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450

"What an awful experience. I have known Mario for over 18 years. I’m a neighboring business. His restaurant has benefitted weekly from my staff and I ordering lunch from his restaurant. I asked him if I could have my daughter’s friends to him for some pizza. I brought the ice cream cake, which he put in the fridge so it was half melted. I brought the cake cutter. We asked him to have the pizzas ready for 6pm for 13 girls. They didn’t get served until 6:30. The kids were hungry. There was no water poured or utensils on the table. My husband and I distributed napkins, utensils from the waitress station. My husband and I had to run back and forth to the counter to ask to fill the water pitchers. They were only giving two at a time. It was difficult to say the least. We were not assigned a waitress which meant I had to constantly run back and forth for napkins and whatever else we needed as well. I had called for this reservation a couple weeks ago. When I called to confirm today, he said “oh that’s tonight” he didn’t even remember. I cleaned the area once the kids left, wiped down tables, stacked the plates, collected the garbage, returned condiments to the waitress station, checked floors for waste/napkins etc and put it all in one table for ease of cleaning by his staff. Again, I felt like I was family to him almost for all the years I’ve been ordering from him. So when I received the bill you can imagine how shocking it was to see $44 in pizza but $75 for a dining room fee. He never mentioned this fee to me, and of course I certainly wasn’t going to not leave an incredibly generous tip for all the dishes that were left behind for his kitchen staff to clean. I asked him about it and he said “what do you expect, for me not to charge for the service?” I said, “I’m sorry, what service? I did it all and also cleaned. I was certainly planning on taking care of everyone here. After how long we’ve known each other, why would you think differently?” He couldn’t even look at me. I asked him again, “is this fee staying? You never mentioned it to me and I cleaned and did everything. “ He again, didn’t look at me and kept making a pizza. So I will address you here Mario, when my family is in from Italy, I bring them to your restaurant. When I hire new staff I tell them to support your restaurant. When I asked if I could have my daughter’s friends for some pizza I didn’t expect to be ripped off by you, as I considered you my friend. No one was turned away because we took up half your dining room. Had I known I could have made the decision not to pay $150 for 8 years old to eat some pizza where I picked up after them and scrubbed your tables clean before leaving. SHAME ON YOU MARIO. I’m deeply offended and shocked at your poor business acumen and in addition how poorly you treated me after the tens of thousands of dollars I’ve spent at your restaurant since 2005. I will never be in your restaurant again. I paid the bill in full in cash for anyone reading this an wondering how it ended clearly that $75 was needed more by him than me."

"I really enjoyed this place and the food. The inside reminded me of my Nonna's kitchen. I would just say to be cautious of cross contamination. My friend has celiac disease and we ordered the Greek salad to share, they put pita bread on it which is not mentioned as an ingredient. When taking the left over caprese salad our server used the same spoon that touched the Greek salad and pita bread (gluten), so he could no longer even bring his leftovers home with him. The gluten free pizza was really good. It's the only one he's aware of that he can consume and not get sick. It's his favorite. I really enjoyed my margarita pie and enjoyed ordering takeout as well."

"Great food and service! I started working in the area and come here at least once a week for lunch. Food selection is great, and everyone is so welcoming and friendly. I would highly recommend if you're in the area or looking for a new pizza spot."

"Have never stepped foot in this place. My brother is addicted to ordering the grandma pie on door dash at least once a week, which our entire family is also now addicted to. We are mostly lactose intolerant but will go with whatever if it’s a pizza, as we are NYers. But this pie is hands down amazing. Perfectly crispy and cooked through, fresh tomatoes make amazing sauce… I want to try to original place in Hawthorne now, after reading the other reviews… If the pizza is this good after being delivered to our doorstep via third party, cannot imagine how good it would be to dig in right there!"

"It's been a long time coming, but I can finally write a 5 star pizza review. Ordered a large pepperoni pie with mushrooms on one half. Asked to have it well done and light on the cheese. A lot of places use gross canned mushrooms; these were not. The dough had a nice flavor, was crispy on the bottom, and not undercooked in the middle. The cheese was just the right amount, which aided in keeping it creamy. Cheese is supposed to be a sort of heavy garnish and this was pretty close to that. I was having a rough day, but not after this pizza. Put a smile on this Italian-American boy's face. Thank you!"