| Categories: | Pizza, Italian Restaurants, Carry Out & Take Out, Restaurants |
| Price: | $15.99 |
Al's is the nicely decorated McDonalds of Italian eateries. The Best of Jax Folio award is funny, since thier pizza pales in comparison to many other places in Jax, and the service is always awful. The Al's at the beach is somewhat better as far as the pizza goes. The location is nice and if you sit at a window it's fun to people watch... stick with appetizers and maybe a beer.
Go for what it's namesake states...pizza. It's great. But, be very cautious of ordering ANYTHING else. First, my husband and I were seated right next to a noisy entrance way into the kitchen because we brought our baby(she was an angel compared to some of the noises coming out of that entrance way), even though there were plenty of other booth seats available. I made the mistake of ordering an appetizer (toasted ravioli...not horrible, but kind of dry) and Florentine stuffed shells (right out of the microwave and eating a tire would have been better). Then, there was the service. Under most circumstances, fast service is greatly appreciated. However, going so fast that there is no time to taste the food is nuts! On a positive note, the waitress, Liz, was super sweet and so apologetic, and the atmosphere was eclectic and easy-going. I love Riverside. Maybe I should have ordered that pizza instead.
I almost turned around and left when I noticed a lot of trash on the floor. The place was not busy. Then on the way to the restrooms, I noticed salad on the floor near the bar. Trash on the bathroom floor. So this gave a very bad first impression. If you can't keep the floor clean, how is the rest of the service going to be? We ordered calamari. Turned out to be the chewy frozen variety. The side salad was mostly iceberg lettuce with mushy sliced tomatoes. The pepperoni pie was bland and very greasy. I used a napkin to soak up the grease on the pizza. Overall a very poor meal. Went home and had a peanut butter sandwich.