PIOLA ON MIAMI BEACH

Piola is a pizzeria located at 1625 Alton Road, Miami Beach. As expected of most places on the Beach, it's a trendy spot that feels more like a discotech disguised as a restaurant. The pizza is baked in an open oven and served in large portions. But, we're not here to talk about the food. It's all about the service.
The young lady who was our primary server was pleasant and helpful enough. But, the manager for the evening lost it
when he decided to lecture us on the merit of the coupon we presented for a free pizza. The coupon was the only reason we wanted to go to this restaurant. We're not big pizza eaters, but the coupon was a gift to my husband so we invited a friend to try it out. Great advertising, right? Wrong. When we presented the coupon, it was met with what felt like a Spanish inquisition. He gave us this long-winded explanation including, but not limited to "I've never seen this before" to "we can only honor these when signed by the manager of another store". Incidently, my research shows it is the only Piola restaurant in South Florida.
Now at this point, we're starving, the only thing on the menu is overpriced personal pan pizzas, we haven't ordered anything and I'm way past tolerating his tone of voice. I would have left, but I had to consider my promise to serve you. So, I stayed and trudged forward, pursuing the mission of getting the free pizza that was owed to me. I asked him, "are you going to honor it or not?" After a few moments of more excuses and explanations, we finally get him to say "yes" as if he were doing us a favor. Eventually, he went away, we resumed our evening with the regular server and the rest of the evening went off without a hitch.
The lesson learned here, use better judgement before lecturing customers. Is it worth the cost of the potential gain you stand to lose. In this case, he gave us an 8.95 pizza and our bill was a little over $50 (it would have been more, but the food wasn't good enough to risk dessert). That's an 80% return, almost lost due to a bad attitude.
The views expressed on this blog are my own. Use this as a guide only. This critique was not solicited, nor was I hired to share these thoughts. I am not a professional. I'm just a customer looking for great service. The names of the individuals mentioned are eliminated, primarily to protect me. Please remember, everyone's opinion is different and I encourage you to check it out for yourself.
By the way, this was my first time at this establishment and it will probably be my last. I'll keep you posted.