laurienzo brick oven cafe

more menu options please. i get that it's a pizzarestaurantfirst and foremost, but i rarely want to get pizza when i dine out and this is the only "upscale" dining place in mount airy. pizza, imo, is something you eat when you don't have time to cook and need something quick. laurienzo's is nice, but i with they had more appetizer and entree selections. i'd come here a lot more if they did.

delicious and cozy. my fiance and i were visiting friends in mount airy when they showed us laurienzo's. i come from an italian family and am used grandma's cooked-from-scratch everything. we decided on mussels for our appetizer. there were about 24+ mussels in the dish and they were all tender and perfectly cooked. the white wine sauce was delicious and the basil was wonderful. two in our party decided on the frutti de mare, which they loved. another ordered the fettuccine alfredo which was delicious. i ordered one of the specials - a orechetti pasta with artichokes, sausage, feta, basil and a light wine/cream sauce. i took a chance on the sauce and was very pleasantly surprised. the portions were huge aside from the frutti de mare, which was a reasonable portion but not enough to fill the belly on its own. a manager came over and personally offered us fresh baked rosemary bread and it was perfectly toasted. therestaurantis cozy and romantic and just perfect. the place is about 40 minutes from where we live, but i would absolutely go out of my way to make the drive to go there again!

let customers leave with half full restaurant. my family and i went to laurienzo's last night at around 7pm. when we arrived, we noticed that therestaurantwas about half full. the outdoor seating area had 3 tables open (all four tops) and numerous open tables inside, including two 6 tops. we were greeted by the hostess and advised that we had four people in our party. the hostess then informed us that it was going to be a 20-25 minute wait. i then questioned all of the open tables. the hostess responded that they are not seating anyone to allow for the servers to catch up from the dinner service. i advised that it was only 7pm and the dinner service was not over and she reiterated that it was still going to be 20-25 minutes. i then advised that was a very difficult excuse to accept and that i would have to take my business elsewhere and she stated that i should do what i have to do and let me walk out the door.

what??? i have never seen arestaurantallow customers to walk out the door, prior to being seating, with a half full restaurant. if this is how thisrestaurantdoes business they will not be successful for very long. being a former chef, i know a great deal about the ins and outs of running a restaurant. there are many issues that arise during a dinner service. i can accept that. just being up front with the customer is important. tell me you are behind and that the food is food/service is slow. tell me that you just got slammed, your understaffed, your chef just walked out. i'm ok with that, just be honest. just offer us a seat and take our drink order and let us know things are running slow. telling me that you are allowing your servers to catch up from dinner service is either complete b.s or a major issue in management. either way it is unacceptable. my family eats out quite frequently in mt. airy and laurienzo's has lost a potential long term customer for life.

in the end, my family drove a mile down the road, saw the mt. airy inn and decided to give it a try. to our surprise they also have a brick oven. wow, what a correct decision. the inside of therestaurantwas inviting and the service was even more so. while the food was a little simpler than what was described by the menu of laurienzo's it was excellently executed. they also have one of the best beer lists i have seen in years!

went for dinner, got a managment lesson. we arrived, we walked through the outdoor seating area and observed that although full, most tables looked like they were near the end of their meal. we were pleasantly surprised to see that we were the only ones on the waiting list, so we asked to sit outside. a table of four left, and i anticipated that our party of 3 would be seated at that table. to my dismay, the owner of therestaurantinstructed his crew to break that table into two table of two rather than seating us. i informed the hostess that i was not happy that we were not being seated. it was at this time that the owner came over and "jokingly" told me not to yell at "his girl". i was not yelling, and let him know that i was telling her i was not happy about the seating process. this is where he informed me that " he had to do what was right for his business" and that by breaking that table down and giving me the next available table, "everyone was happy". i was not, and sarcastically gave him props for doing what was best for him, and not the client. a few minutes later we were seated at a different table, and after two other groups that came in after us, and we enjoyed our meal. since i am a local, and have had good experiences at thisrestaurantin the past, i went in afterward to shake the owner's hand and say "i love this place, but want you to know that the way the seating was handled was a serious strike against the restaurant." instead, this is where i was told that i should have apologized for "disrespecting a successful business owner by questioning his decision" and should be grateful for "the lesson inrestaurantmanagement" that i had received. he went on to say that i "had just had a perfect meal and had no reason to complain." apparently he doesn't realized that the dining experience begins the moment you enter the restaurant, because my perfect experience does not include being told that i have no right to any particular table and that makes more sense for the business to make me wait and seat to other parties.


if you are looking for arestaurantmanagement lesson, then this may be your place, although i do not think you will learn anything about client relations. but if you are looking for a good dining experience where you are treated as a person, other than as another dollar of profit, i would recommend that you choose anotherrestaurant... i know that i will.

bestrestaurantin mtairy!!!! everything is absolutely delicious, great staff too, and nice atmosphere!! love the pizza and their dinner salad meals.