cogans pizza norfolk

i love the pizza here i alwaysorderpepperoni and pineapple pizza easy on the cheese and extra mild sauce. only complaint is there a little stingy with pineapple :-/

why is this place so popular?. i've heard from a bunch of people, plus reviews on here, that cogan's has great pizza and is just overall awesome. i love pizza, so i figured i'd give it a shot. my fiance and i showed up around 6:45 on a sunday. we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table, which was fine, whatever. we were seated outside, which was fine because it was soooo loud inside. we sat at our table for about 10 minutes before a waitress ever acknowledged us. of course we already knew what we wanted since we waited so long, so we ordered sodas and our food all at once. it was a few minutes before we got our drinks, but whatever they were busy so we understood. it was another 15-20 minutes before we got our garlic knots and garden salad. the salad was very blah. the garlic knots were good. there were a lot of them though so we just had a few and got a box for the rest. it was about another 45 minutes before a waitress brought us a pizza, but they got ourorderwrong somehow. we ordered half pepperoni, half mushroom. we got half pepperoni, half pepper, with some other meat all over it (sausage?). so the waitress took it back and of course it was at least another 15 minutes before we got our pizza, during which time we finished the garlic knots. oh and we really only saw our waitress once or twice - a couple other waitresses brought the food or refilled our drinks. we asked for the pizza to go since we waited so long. we were there for almost 2 hours in total. there were no apologizes or offers for coupons, free desserts, or to comp something like other restaurants would likely offer. to top it off, the pizza was mediocre. after all the reviews and all these people who talked it up, i figured at least the pizza would make the bad service and long wait worth it. it didn't. if i were to ever go there again, it would be out of peer pressure. maybe you have to have a few drinks first to really appreciate the pizza?

first timer....i've had better. called in a take-outorderon a thursday night and got placed on hold for over 10 minutes. then when the guy took myorderhe could barely hear what i was saying. i repeated myself continuously. came to pick it up 20 minutes later and couldn't get in the door. stood there completely ignored for 10+ minutes and finally walked up to someone hoping they were an employee explaing i had placed an order. she proceeded to get my pizzas and told me to "talk to sharon" to ring me up....who is sharon? so i walked to the over packed bar and watched the bartender but never got her attention, and i'm only assuming that was "sharon". finally the girl who initially got my pizzas took my money and gave me a receipt and walked away. transaction complete? when we got home our pizzas were well done. mmmmmmmmmm. flat, burned, wilted toppings and so much crust you only had about 3 bites on each slice. i'd ratherorderfrom pizza hut.

great pizza...a bit inconsistent. i have been going to cogan's since it used to be a dive-bar with live music. fast forward many years and it is now a pizza parlor with a great beer selection, pool table, and outdoor seating area. when everything is running smoothly, cogan's is one of my favorite spots to grab pizza. it is a thinner styled crust w/ the option of spicy sauce (which i highly recommend). however, the past few times that i have been to cogan's, it has been really hit-or-miss. i usuallyorderthe "greek" salad and a large pizza. the salad is always delicious and full of artichoke hearts, pepperoncini, onions, roasted garlic, feta cheese, etc. the problem is that the last few times the pizza has either been very undercooked (they told me they have been having issues with the oven) or it has been pretty over-cooked. i will definitely return and give it another chance though, because i realize that there are many factors that can contribute to the inconsistency...i just wish that they would improve in this respect. they also do $5 off all of their pizzas on sundays, which is a great deal. if you get there after 500pm on sundays, expect to wait a long time to be seated.

pizza and beer: how could you go wrong?. the pizza here is delicious and i recommend the spicy sauce option. beer aficionados will enjoy the huge selection of off-the-beaten-path brews. the decor is quirky and fun and the place is usually packed at peak hours. unfortunately, this also means the service suffers. expect an exercise in patience if you're trying to get a drinkorderin on a weekend night.

great - as long as you're cool with not getting your food. "we are a business that is in love with our customers..." i guess it's true that restaurants, like people, can love something but still treat it really badly.

i've only eaten in the restaurant a couple of times and service was just okay - just regular bar type service (don't expect refills very fast, etc). most of my experience is with food delivery. let me preface this by saying i'm not the type of person who sends food back in restaurants, or complains if something tastes weird. if something is wrong, i just don't eat that part. i don't even really care about service - if i get my food and it's mostly right, i'm good. i worked in the food service industry a long time and i know everyone/place has off moments. however, cogans has pushed me to the limit and i'll not be dining there again. the food is just regular bar food! it's not delicious and certainly not good enough to deal with the staff.

beware, if youorderfood for delivery don't expect to get everything you ordered every time. as long as you're cool with having to drive to cogan's to pick up missing food you won't be disappointed. also, if after several such incidents, you finally snap and call to ask what's up with their service, expect to speak to some hipster who really doesn't care if you actually got what you paid for, who will also attempt to insult your intelligence when you say you are questioning whether to everordersomething from there again.

nothing to write home about. i went last night and while the pizza was a-freaking- mazing the staff was forgetful and just horrible service all together. took 20 minutes to get a beer (because she forgot it the first time she came back to the table) and when going through the actual beer menu the first 6 or 7 beers we tried toorderthey either didn't carry anymore or they were out. it was extremely crowded, which is usually a good thing, but there was only one small bench that held three people to sit down to wait for a table, therefore groups of people were standing where ever they could and the wait staff would have to push through these gaggles of people.
on the plus side the space murals featuring aliens and space gorillas were fascinating. i'll come again, probably not when they're busy but not during friday or saturday.

placed a deliveryorderover an hour ago. called to check on theorderand it wasn't even made yet and the girl who answered the phone was an idiot. eat there don't get it delivered. i will neverorderdelivery again.


-----17 apr, 2010-----

not for the impatient. this spot wins for character alone! this is my favorite place in norfolk to grab a beer and hang out with my friends. i practically grew up here. it is the home of 20+ years of local indie rock history. the bartenders are some of my favorite people to see and they have arrogant bastard ale on tap. in all honesty, while there, the food is an afterthought for me. when i do eat, i find that the service is on and off. once i was seated on the patio and it took 12 minutes for the server to greet us. (after 5 minutes i had grabbed the hostess and asked her to bring us some drinks and then started timing.) when i'm hungry, this is irritating. i don't hold it against them, though. i don't go there to have my butt pampered. i think the pizza and subs are pretty darn tasty but i usuallyordermeals for pick up, unless i need something to soak up the alcohol.

cogan's pizza - not so good!. the staff here (suffolk location) is more interested in shooting pool than serving guests. you might as well get yourorder"to go" because the restaurant has a terrible odor and you will take that odor with you when you leave the restaurant. when you go out to eat, shouldn't the focus be on the food and not the poor service and bad smell? yuk!

space gorillas. awesome pizza, and awesome retro sci-fi decor. newcomers should know that the pizza sauce is slightly spicy, although if youordera whole pizza i think you can request regular tomato sauce. lots of interesting toppings to choose from, too.