A beloved friend of mine and I were deciding on what restaurant to spend our student loan money on. My stomach ached for some Italian food, and my friend didn’t care so off we went to Zelda’s Original Gourmet Pizza on 1415 21st St.

Despite the low-lit atmosphere and the semi-huge bar that confronts any viewer when they step in, Zelda’s is kid-friendly. The customers age range was from toddler to elderly. This is one of those restaurants that appeal to everyone. And the mood lighting really did its job according to the necking scene my friend and I had to witness in the next booth. But don’t worry, that didn’t ruin our appetite.

Our waitress was attentive in the beginning and she was kind enough to warn us that we had to wait for 45 minutes before we can get our large half-cheese-half-pepperoni eight-piece pizza. We were already settled into our hard wooden booths so we decided to wait. Besides the average user rating for this place was four and a half stars out of five. So we ordered one salad to split while we waited? and waited and waited.

When the pan pizza finally arrived, I ordered my second diet coke and devoured almost two pizza slices in less than a minute. Then I realized that our pizza barely had any cheese on it and a massive helping of sauce. The sauce was superb but there was far too much of it. The crust also tasted homemade which was fine, but it left a heavy cake aftertaste.

After polishing off my third piece of my heavy caked and sauced light cheese pizza, I washed it down with my third and last diet coke. I then told the waitress that I was ready for the bill.

The total for the bill was $26.50. I couldn’t believe it. If we included a tip (which we did) then that would be at least thirty dollars. That seemed pretty pricey for one large pizza, one salad and two sodas. That’s when I realized unlike most restaurants, Zelda’s doesn’t offer free refills on soda and salads cost three dollars each.

With a bad taste in my mouth, a heavy stomach and an empty wallet, I made my exit through the back kitchen door.

Zelda’s is definitely unlike most pizza places. Their atmosphere is not so commercial and the place had a medieval feel to it. I’m glad I went because I was curious about them because of their great reputation but it really didn’t live up to my expectations.

Overall the place felt claustrophobic due to their small perimeters, the food wasn’t worth the price and I hated the fact that I had to literally flag down any waitress every time I was thirsty. They never once came by and asked if we needed anything.

Well they don’t have to in the future because I’m not going back unless I feel like wasting money.