Pete & Sam's Italian Restaurant

I made many jokes about Olive Garden having the worst Italian food, and after eating at Pete & Sam's, I owe the Olive Garden an apology. Pete & Sam's is the worst. The food, the service, the facility, and the prices were all substandard. Our party sat where half the table had lighting and the other half was so dark, I had to use my cell phone to make light to read the menu. The waiter made a rude remark to our guest for having confused him by ordering a "plain" salad, which the waiter interpreted as a "dry" salad, and upon correcting him, he got irritated, to which I sternly corrected him right back. I had to get up to get our guest straws, get my own beer that he forgot, and other things. I had to ask other waiters for help because mine was no where to be found, and the other waiters seemed embarrassed about it.

The food that I sampled from others at the table, including my own was bland, plain, burned, or just nasty. I spotted several people offering their food to others at the table because they didn't like it. I saw one person scraping something gross off his food that was not food. I ordered the eggplant parmigiana, which had many parts darker black than my car tires. I chipped off the burned sections and tried eating the rest, but it was the most repulsive eggplant parmigiana I ever had. It was so soggy, it could have been a soup. After pouring it out of the stainless steel boat they cooked it in and onto a plate, I notice the entire bottom was black and burned. Nasty. The salad was no better, just a small bowl of iceberg lettuce and a few pieces of tomato hardly worth mentioning, and for that they charged an extra $4.50 (an overcharge of a buck from their menu listed price).

I was eager to forget this horrible dining experience, get up from the dark drab hole we were seated in, and get in my car in their worn down parking lot and leave, but that's when I noticed the 'insult to injury'. They had hidden $7 in the subtotal (and no it was not gratuity). Understand, they hand write their tickets, and do not use a calculator tape to show the math, which makes it easy to overcharge (purposely or not) a customer. Not only was I overcharged, but I was then charged tax on the overcharge. I held up the line with no apologies to have them run it on an adding machine, and they were embarrassed to find I caught them. No apologies from them, just defense for their waiter making a mistake in doing simple math. They cared more about their incompetent (possibly dishonest) employees than customers.

After eating at the Cordova location about three times, this was about my fourth time trying them out. I thought maybe their main location would be better. Nope. It was horrible in all areas of dining. Now, I know what you're going to say, but they are a Memphis landmark. That means nothing to me when I'm rating the dining experience and especially the food and service. I have tried them enough times now to know that they must have a cult following to continue giving them business when the food, service, prices, and atmosphere is as bad as I described. They are a complete waste of time and money to eat there. But if you want to support them just because they are a Memphis landmark, go for it. I just recommend you eat first and don't expect much from the service.

This is not the Pete & Sams of Philly. This one in Memphis on Park Avenue has gone down hill over the years. I keep going back, thinking maybe it will improve but last Friday was it!

Lasagna was lukewarm, hard & crunchy-my guest from Florida didnt eat but one bite.

The steak was cooked correctlyl, but the baked potato was cold, & brown inside-obvioulsy sitting in the warmer for hours.

Chicken Marsala-what a disappointment. Farfalle noodles all over he plate were cold. A small ladle of sauce was placed in the center & didnt cover 3/4 of the noodles. Marsala sauce had no de[pth of flavor & was cold. Chicken was dry & tough. Didnt eat it.

Discussed it with the server who seemed uninterested. Discussed it with the manager who apologized & offered something else, but 3 entrees were already crap-I have tried other items previously & they were just as bad- why try anyhting else? Went to the restroom & was dumbstruck. It looked like a bomb went off inside- The filthiest restroom I have seen in all my travels (& I have been to places in Times Square-New York). Disgusted, I immediately left & brought the manager in to see it. Many women servers were in & out of that bathroom all nigh t(we were there 2.5 hours).Noone told the manager the bathrooms needed cleaning?? Manager didnt check it out? Please?,,,, this place has gone so far down hill not even the longevity & fond remembrences of 30 years ago will bring me back again. There are plenty of very good italian restaurants that are much much better & pricing is about the same or more. I dont mind paying more but not for what they serve at Pete & Sams. This place isnt cheap. Our bill was approximately $89.00 & they still charged us $40 for not eating their food..oh, we did eat 3 salads, 1 coke, 1 order of toasted ravioli & 4 beers.