I've gone back and forth for months about leaving this review, but the experience has continued to bother me, so I feel like it's important to share.
I stopped at Zack's on a Friday evening to get a slice of pizza for my son. We had been running around all day, had already gotten home, and I realized we had promised him pizza, so I came back out specifically to grab him a slice. I chose Zack's because it's close to my home.
From the moment I walked in, the atmosphere felt cold and unwelcoming. There was no greeting or acknowledgment. There were a few other customers inside, including a family with a child. While looking at the pizza on display, I noticed that the slices looked dry and as though they had been sitting for a while. I also noticed the man behind the counter going between reheating/handling the pizzas and wiping down the counter, which made me uncomfortable from a food-handling standpoint.
I was tired and decided to order a slice anyway. After I had already paid, I simply asked if the pizza was fresh.
His reaction completely caught me off guard. Instead of just answering my question, he immediately became loud, defensive and started yelling about how he reheats the pizzas every 20 minutes and that if I didn't want it, I could get my money back. I had not raised my voice, insulted him, complained about the price or demanded anything. I literally just asked whether the pizza was fresh.
Even the young woman working the register appeared embarrassed by his reaction and tried to calm him down. At that point, I absolutely did want my money back. I got my refund and left without the pizza.
What has bothered me all these months isn't even the pizza. It's how unnecessarily hostile the interaction became over such a simple question. As a woman of color, I left feeling extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome. I'm not going to claim that I know what was in anyone's heart or what motivated the way I was treated, but I do know how I was spoken to and how that interaction made me feel.
What made the experience sit with me even more was later reading other reviews describing negative or aggressive interactions with the current ownership/staff. It made me realize that I shouldn't just brush my own experience off.
Customers should be able to ask a basic question about the food they are purchasing without being yelled at or told to take their money back. Basic courtesy costs nothing.
I live nearby and would have gladly supported a neighborhood business regularly had my experience been different. Unfortunately, after the way I was treated, I will not return. read more