Boston Chefs Share Pizza Delivery Horror Stories

From cold pizza and slow delivery times to disappearing cars and armed robberies, everyone's had an unpleasant pizza delivery experience at some point, whether it's from the point of view of the person delivering or the person receiving. For the next portion of the Pizza Week 2014 survey series, Boston chefs and restaurant owners share their pizza delivery horror stories.

Dante de Magistris, Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Restaurant dante and il Casale: "Back when I was in college, a lady friend poured a bottle of garlic powder on my slice of pizza, knowing how much I hate that stuff, then dared me to eat it. After I burnt the roof of my mouth, I decided to pay her back in a make-out session. Just kidding, I didn't go to college."

Will Gilson, Chef/Owner at Puritan & Co.: "Never to me, but the cooks at Coppa were delivering pizza boxes filled with Smirnoff Ices for a while to other restaurants. I'm glad that's over."

Josh Bhatti, Bowery Presents & The Sinclair: "My roommate in college was the worst delivery customer. I think every shop in DC stopped taking his calls after 2 a.m. because there was a 50/50 chance he'd be passed out by the time the driver would get there."

Allison Finney, Manager at The Sinclair: "One time I was delivering pizza, and I was running into the restaurant to grab a couple of pies. I was parked in the delivery driver spot, but I left my keys in my car because I didn't think I would be gone too long. When I came out, my car was MIA, but an elderly man was standing nearby with a couple of employees from the hardware store next door. They proceeded to tell me that this elderly man had accidentally taken my car and forgot where he put it. I then had to go back to work tell my boss I couldn't take the delivery because an old man with Alzheimer's took my car and didn't remember where he put it. The police came and all was resolved, and we found my car unharmed in a parking lot on a nearby street. The saddest part about all of this was his wife was sitting in the front seat of his car, and a marshmallow gun was in the front seat of mine."

Rodney Murillo, Culinary Director of Davio's: "Recently my wife had a craving for Uno's pizza; she hadn't had it since college. I ordered it, and I got to the place 20 minutes later. They kept telling me they hadn't placed the order yet because I had ordered just two small pizzas. The guy decided to charge me $37 for two small pizzas. I go in my car and wait another 20 minutes. Two hours of my time. I come home and open the pizzas: two chicken and pesto pizzas. It took me over two hours, and my wife hates chicken on pizza!"

Dave Werthman, Bar Manager at The Sinclair: "I pulled up to an apartment complex and three guys came around the corner and took the pizzas. They said they forgot the money and would be right back. They came back with ski masks and a shotgun. I walked back to my car and was sure that I was dead and that the job was not worth it. When I got back, the owner thought I was lying. My last day in a pizza parlor."

James DiSabatino, Founder/CEO of Roxy's Grilled Cheese: "I used to babysit my younger cousins on weekends when I was in high school. We would order pizzas and dress the younger cousins up as monsters/gremlins/goblins/Al-Qaeda and play pranks on the delivery guys. I actually dressed up my cousin Maggie (who was six at the time) as Osama Bin Laden. The delivery guys loved it. My cousins loved it. Real bonding experiences."
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