Pizzaiolo Cafe - Where's the manager when you need one?

On a whim today I decided to join some friends at the Pizzaiolo Cafe on Fern in Alexandria, just off Quaker Lane where the Lindsay Cadillac used to be. In fact, if you're not careful, you might miss the Pizzaiolo sign altogether since the Cadillac sign is still there. I arrived to find 3 friends sitting in front of empty plates - 2 of them had enjoyed and eaten what was in front of them, and the other 1 had eaten the toast and eggs she had ordered, but was still waiting for the breakfast potatoes. I could talk about how this place needed to use Italian spellcheck before they printed their menus (including the coffee menu up above the kitchen). I could talk about how my pizza was served to me at the table in a box.

But what I really want to write about is the fact that this place desperately needs a good manager. Or as I suspect may be the case, just a manager. But seriously, you cannot open a restaurant and have no manager, or someone who knows nothing about managing a restaurant, and then expect that everything will run smoothly. It won't. And yes, Mr. or Ms. Manager - it is your job to monitor the staff working there, and to teach them if they don't know what they're doing. The restaurant is not going to run itself. Well, except maybe into the ground. The fact is, someone needs to be there - yes, all the time - to monitor what is going on and keep things well-oiled.

On the plus side: the pizza was pretty good - I ordered the Neapolitan - and the waiter, if a little on the casual side, both in appearance and manner, was darn cute, and very friendly.