You had me right up to the ad.

Imagine my surprise when today I got home and asked my father how his day was and he told me he has had better. I asked what happened and he told me that he was working on the house and his phone died, making him unable to call my sister to come pick him up to come back to our house.

Knowing that the pizzeria was right down the street and he knew the family that owned it, he walked the half block down the street and went in. Lilly was there and asked if she could help him. Now, my father is a 61 year old black male. He is well groomed, extremely educated, and generally even-tempered. He was wearing fitted jeans and a polo shirt; hardly a hooligan or a ne’er-do-well.

He politely explained his situation and asked if she could help him out. To which she replied “sorry, we don’t have any pay phones here.” He asked again and then she kinda shrugged it off and asked him if he wanted something to drink. Not a beer drinker, he quickly looked and said he’d have a Samuel Adams. She got his drink and he placed a $10 to pay for it. When she returned with his change he tried again. He threw out the names of her family members to let her know he wasn’t a bum on the streets or a random stranger.

After having had to throw out “credentials” she was reluctantly willing to dial the numbers he gave her. She tried the number and then said it was disconnected. Having spoken to her several times that day on that phone number he was a bit confused, but in the end asked her if she could call him a cab. She did and then let him know it would be between 15-20 minutes.

Still willing to turn the other cheek he tried to order a pizza to go, thinking he would surprise us with the pizza when he got home. Lilly said she would have to ask someone. She turned around and asked the guy making pizza something and then said “well, it will take 20 minutes and your cab is going to be here in 15 so you may not get your pizza.” Getting the idea that he wasn’t welcome in there he said ok and sat there as he waited for his cab.

I decided that it may be best to find out what happened firsthand and decided to pay the place a visit with my sister.

We went in and it was busy and loud. Lilly came to the front and I asked if we could go somewhere quieter to discuss something. She asked why and I let her know I’m pretty sure she didn’t want to have this conversation right there. The place was packed and there were at least 6 other employees already staring and wondering what was going on. She refused and I let her know I wasn’t happy with the level of service she provided my father with.

She cut me off and loud-talked me when I hadn’t even raised my voice. She gave EVERY reason in the world for treating him the way she did citing “people in this neighborhood are always trying to scam us.” I even let her know that I was not satisfied with her response. I gave her every opportunity to apologize for the way she treated him and she just kept trying to justify her actions. She even threw out “and I know you’re thinking I’m racist, but it wasn’t because he was black.”

I wanted her to realize that the way you treat people has consequences and no matter what her motives were she shouldn’t have treated ANYONE in such a fashion. I didn’t want a free pizza or her firstborn; I wanted her to apologize for the way she made my father feel unwelcome in her restaurant. She just didn’t get it.

She even loud-talked us as my sister politely told her that all she wanted to hear was an “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”

What I learned from all this was I need not stray from what I already know: I know that Feros Pizza & More has the best tasting pizza in Columbus, the owners are friendly and they respect their customers no matter what their circumstances are.

I agree with MVP…we were very turned off by the obviously canned mushrooms.  Also, each pizza, besides the crust, seemed like something that I could have made at home myself.  The vegetables were too crunchy and there was almost no seasoning.  It was like I cut up some vegetables at home, dropped them on top and put in the oven.

I am happy there is something in OTE, but i think people are giving them a free pass.  Not NEARLY as good as Bono or the Rossi.

Crust, toppings, service, beer (I saw delicious sodas in the cooler as well) and the shiniest wood tables in town.  Seriously, I love the shiny table tops.  I’ll be back.