Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant: Lovely Setting, Average Food, Poor Service

For the past several months, we’ve all craned our necks when stopped at the light at Nutt Road and Bridge Street, watching the transformation of the old Fountain Inn into the stucco wonder that is now Pat’s Pizza. 

“What’s it like in there?” everyone asks me.

The building looks as great inside as it does outside. The stuccoing continues inside the building with light plaster walls between heavy wooden beams and plenty of windows. 

A huge reproduction photograph of the original Fountain Inn is embedded into the wall opposite the cash registers. Booths line the outside windows with tables on the inside walls. The outside patio dining area features large metal chairs and round tables fitted with huge umbrellas to keep off the sun or rain.

Service is confusing from the start. Although waitresses walk through the dining
areas, they are only there to deliver food that has been ordered at the cash
registers inside–they do not take food orders.

To order, you go to the cash registers inside and a waitress hands you a menu. Of course, this crowds the cash register area as there are all these people standing around reading menus and trying to figure out what they want to eat. 

Once you decide what to order, you go back to the cash register, order and pay for your food. The waitress hands you a number so that your food can be delivered to whatever table you choose. You sit down, display your number at the table and eventually, a waitress wandering around with your food finds you. 

A simple sign on the door that says “Please order at the register” would eliminate much of the confusion we saw, especially in the patio area where several patrons sat and waited for a waitress to take their order.

The menu is extensive with pizza, strombolis, pasta and lots of sandwiches. We decided to sit outside for the ambience (which included not one, but two ambulance crossings and a full empty of West End Fire Company, complete with sirens!) and ordered from all over the menu.

We choose the Broccoli Bites ($6.39) for an appetizer. These were triangular wedges of mostly deep fried yellow cheese with a hint of broccoli and a side packet of ranch dressing. My husband choose the Chicken Rustic Sandwich ($8.29) which was grilled chicken breast, sliced commercial tomato, provolone cheese, a few roasted red peppers and a mild dijonaise sauce on a ciabatta (broad, flat Italian) roll. Sue chose a large Chicken Cheesesteak ($7.99) with American cheese which was the best dish of the night with a nice balance of chicken and cheese.

Although I ordered a medium Chicken Stromboli ($8.99) when we ordered the rest of the food, Sue and my husband had finished their meals by the time the stromboli arrived.  The filling was an unremarkable mix of chicken breast, sweet peppers, a few fried onion bits and some marinara sauce. Although the crust was thin and crisp with no damp spots, overall, the stromboli was average, rather than “worth the wait.”

Unlike most pizza places, Pat’s Pizza offers dessert, so we thought we’d brave the group at the cash registers and order the Banana Caramel Cheesecake Xangos ($4.99).  I placed the order, received another number and put it on our
table. 

Fifteen minutes later, no dessert.  I went back to the cash registers and was told “it will be right out.”  Five minutes later, still no dessert, so I went back to the cash registers and asked for my money back. 

The waitress apologized and said she’d add an extra Xango to the dessert
to make up for the wait. Five minutes after that (it appeared the kitchen had forgotten the order and was tossing the banana and cheesecake-filled tubes of dough into the fryer), we had our dessert.  The banana flavor was pleasantly
intense, but one tube seems pricey for $4.99.

Phoenixville has dozens of places that serve pizza from formal restaurants to local family joints. While Pat’s Pizza looks stunning, the food isn’t worth giving up a meal at your favorite pizza palace. Hopefully, the service situation will work itself out in time, but meanwhile, if you’re hankering for pizza or a good sandwich, you already know where to go. 

If You Go:

Location:  498 Nutt Rd., Phoenixville

Cost:  $4.99 to $28.99

Phone:  (610) 933-1515

Hours:   Sunday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Monday-Thursday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

                  Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Website:  http://www.patspizzeria.com/

Parking:  Free lot behind restaurant

Payments accepted:  Cash, Credit cards with ID