Review: Sbarro, Great India Place, NOIDA
By Sid • Mar 25th, 2008 • Category: Restaurants In NOIDA, ReviewsWe visited Sbarro this past weekend. Sometime in the future, we may visit snake infested amazonian jungles when bored, jump off cliffs with bedsheets and attempt to fly and perhaps even sit on the kerb and count the number of men with moles on their noses.
However, you will probably not see us at Sbarro again.
It’s located in the Great India Place mall, in NOIDA - on the 3rd floor with the rest of the food outlets. Featuring a very open decor plan with rather small tables, it looks quite interesting and a nice place to pop into for a snack. The service is prompt and friendly with non-interruptive music in the background.
We ordered slices of the Supreme Stuffed Pizza - which is more like a pie really and has nothing like pizza about it. There’s very little cheese, and the whole concoction was totally without flavor of any sort. The vegetables were watery and the meats barely there. What I’m trying to say here, is that I have no idea what it was or what I ate - just that I’m probably not going to eat it again.
The place is quite on the expensive side what with a slice of the ‘pizza’ going for INR 140. Also, be warned that they charge double the MRP for their bottled drinks. If the food was brilliant, I may not have been grouchy… but it was and I am.
I recommend at least one visit, so you know how low a pizza can sink. 
Meal for two: INR 500 | Rating: 4/10 | Alcohol: No
- Sid
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Sid is a self confessed food addict who likes cooking, writing and photography... and travel, if it gets him closer to a good book and interesting food.
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Hey! Sid,
Why did u even bother to try this Sbarro??
I mean at 140 per slice, I would never eat at such a place, thats heights of stupidity. They make Pizza look like a costly food whereas it isn’t. I had been to Sbarro at Saket, I asked for Menu, and they said, we don’t have a menu card. They mean to say, i have to place order like at a Mc Donlads and pay up like a 5 star hotel?
WTF!
I mean how much GREEDY are these chain owners?
Rather than making it easily affordable and getting customers used to the new taste in the begining, these chain owners want to recover the cost from the very first order I guess.
If you ever happen to visit, Munirka or SDA, do try Pizza Square at S.D.A Market. They don’t have seating facility, but their Pizzas are great when it comes to taste and also they happily replace any one topping, without the "ITS AGAINST COMPANY POLICY" look on their face. But, one simple advice, do make your order clear to them before finalizing it!
Atleast, Pizza Square doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket like Pizza Hut n Sbarro!
U didn’t mention about the VAT and other Taxes for you bill at Sbarro, how much was it?
Looks like I have a supporter. Did I tell you they served us in flimsy paper plates with plastic cutlery? Goes nicely with your ‘5 star theory’.
I paid a total of INR 214 for one slice of pizza and one soft drink. ouch!
Sid
Guys, there is sbarro outlet in CenterStage Mall as well. I just happened to passby and from the look it appeared very appealing. I along with my friends went inside and enquired about a few things. They had kept a couple of pizzas on display. I chose one (based on the looks) and then turned towards the price. It said 1000 bucks for a single family size pizza. And it did not take me long to walk out straight away. By the looks it seems they wouldn’t be selling more than a pizza a day!
Bullzi: I haven’t seen that one. However, the pizza wasn’t brilliant and quite mediocre really. So it isn’t worth the price in any case. Are you from NOIDA?
Hey! Sid,
I had seen ur review b4 visiting this magnificent place called ‘SBARRO’ due to my bad habit of not trusting all online reviews and getting an experience of my own. But surely i deserved the meal there for this sin I had committed.. It’s absolutely hopeless stuff what they serve there, i even tried some spaghetti and believe me even I can bake better pizzas and boil those flour strands. For all those who don’t believe in others reviews i am posting this.. Rest is ur destiny so u might visit it even after reading all this..
Hello Adi, I’m sorry you had to suffer their food and service. I do believe this is one restaurant chain that needs a serious introspection and alignment with customer expectations.
If you know of any restaurants that need reviewing do let me know - I’m always on the prowl.
I went to the Sbarro central kitchen in Noida. Never in my life have I seen a kitchen so Dirty with products going off and still been used for customers. Lot of my friends have been very sick after eating Sbarro products. I know the Sbarro brand in the US and the product is outstanding.
@James: That sounds awful. So much worse than attitude or taste.
May I ask how you were inside the kitchens? Doesn’t sound like the kind of place where they would allow customers.
Hello All, Let me introduce myself. I am Rakesh Verma a senior Manager of Sbarro restaurants in India. For the record, Sbarro is a Quick Service Restaurant serving a variety of Italian products in a cafetaria style setting. Our menu prices range from Rs. 25 - Rs. 250. While I appreciate people’s viewpoints that some of our products are expensive and we are looking at ways to making them more affordable, certain facts should be considered.
1. All our raw materials are imported (Flour, Sauce, Pasta and others). These fine ingredients are very expensive and this leads to the product costing what it does.
2. Our service style is one where the guest chooses by display. Their is no table service and no menus like Mc Donalds. The products are served in most outlets on disposable Crockery and cutlery, a lot of which has been imported specially for Sbarro use in India.
3. We sell pizza by the slice. The pizza on display is a standard 17 inch pie which is many times larger than what is available in India. The cheese slice of this pie, which is equivalent in size (although superior in ingredients) to other players named on your site, starts from Rs. 49 plus taxes. A whole pie of the most expensive topping may very well be for Rs. 1000, but 8 people can eat this since it is equal to 8 individual 6/7 inch pies.
4. The ruling of the Hon’ble courts allow restaurants such as us to sell beverages at a price higher than MRP. Surely one cannot imagine us paying rent and CAM, charges for teams, operating costs, fixed costs etc and sell a product at MRP wherein we possibly do not even cover enough margin to pay for the cooling, glass or straw or ice.
5. The Supreme stuffed Pizza that Sid sampled is the most expensive pizza product in our menu. This is a special product and not one that has been sold for long in India. It is more like a pie and therefore a guests reaction may very well be like Sid’s reaction at the first trial.
6. All players who run legal businesses have to pay VAT and those are the only taxes levied at Sbarro. If your neighborhood restaurant does not charge VAT, its most likely that they are illegally not paying the same to the Government.
7. It is difficult to believe that James (if that is is real name) actually got access to our Greater Noida CPU since access into the state of the art facility is restricted for obvious reasons. Since I do not believe that James ever actually entered our facility, it would be pointless to respond and add value to his other claims.
As a brand, we are committed to serving our guests in India. With respect to your comments on chains milking consumers to earn profits from day one I think for a company like ours the first few years will only be ones of investment and returns will come in the distant future and not from the first order.
We welcome your comments and thank you for the feedback since we can only stand to improve and serve you better if we know how you feel. In order to express our gratitude, I would like to offer a gift certificate of Rs. 1000 to each of the respondents to Sids pages on Sbarro, including Sid. Please contact me on my email as listed ( vermr1@gmail.com )and a certificate will be mailed to your address. We hope that you would again visit any of our restaurants and give us another chance to serve you.
Thank you.
Rakesh Verma
Hello Rakesh,
Thank you for your detailed comment. I’m rushing off now but:
1. When I’m back in India I will take advantage of your offer (July)
2. I appreciate your feedback and will respond in a detailed manner later today
Look forward to speaking with you shortly.
Thanks,
Sid
I had food poisoning when I had the meatballs at the sbarro saket store. I will never go to a sbarro store in my life again.
Azam
Rakesh nice write up. This write up does not mean anything until you put what you are saying into practise. Then your words will mean something.
Dear Sid,
Hi! I am in advertising and also happen to be a foodie! While I wouldn’t like to deny any of the above bloggers their experience at Sbarro, mine has been a little different.
I have eaten on two occassions at Sbarro, both at the Nehru Place outlet in the Satyam complex. Once a slice of pizza (can’t remember which one) and on the other occasion, spagetti with meat balls (an all time favourite). I quite liked both these meals.
This is the first large chain of restaurants serving genuine Italian food. Their format not being fine-dining means relatively lower prices as compared to other fine-dining Italian restaurants, though as compared to a fast-food or similar format the prices are on the higher side. Also, due to the large number of outlets people who love Italian food can find a Sbarro close enough to them.
Their locations are in prime business/commercial areas and I can well imagine the overheads involved… What they certainly need to do now is to firstly, publicize this chain well to create awareness. And secondly, to position it. Their offerings are for SEC A/A+ individuals and they need to position the chain to those kind of audiences.
Cheers!
Hey Navnita,
good point. perhaps another visit/review is due based on that point of view.
lets meet up and have another go at it.
what do you say?
sid
Navnita
Your write up seems to be well organsrated for someone who has only been to Sbarro on two occasions. Are you by any chance doing the marketing or public relations for Sbarro?
Hi Gopal, I take that as a compliment…!! Its actually part of my job to be aware of brands and related aspects.
Thank you very much for your kind words Navnita. I have been contacted by a few of the people who had responded on Sids blog. Sbarro India looks forward to all of you visiting us again and to your continued patronage.
As mentioned in my email, vouchers will be sent to all of the respondents - Sid, Jas, Bulzi, James, Adi, Azam, Gopal and Navnita. I have received Bulzi’s address and would request all of you to kindly provide me your mailing address either on this blog or at vermr1@gmail.com so that we may mail the vouchers.
Sbarro is committed to satisfying the discerning needs of its Indian guests and thanks all of you for your kind and valuable feedback. Please do let us know on a regular basis what you feel of our products on my email above and we look forward to your visits.
Best
Rakesh Verma
@Rakesh: Thank you for your kind offer. I’m sure all of us are delighted to be able re-visit the place and review past experiences. I must however decline your offer for myself. In order to present an unbiased opinion on this blog, the element of surprise is essential. Additionally, I *must* pay for my food.
I do however, look forward to meeting you another time, soon.