Sosta Pizza Lincoln Road South Beach – Soda Rip Off
Slice Rating
Sosta Pizzeria on Lincoln Road, in South Beach, has been a place I have been meaning to try. A friend on Twitter had recommended this place over and over to me and couldn't wait to see if it was as good as Spris and Piola during previous visits.
It wasn't easy getting my wife to eat at Sosta. We were having a mini vacation at the Fontainebleu Hotel (amazingly beautiful) and the last thing she wanted to hear me say was "hey, let's go get pizza." We stopped by Sosta along the way and she looked at the menu, which was handed over to us by some frowning girl. This hostess appeared like she could care less to help us, and it made for an extremely univiting impression.
When will restaurant owners come to realize that the host/hostess they have at the front door of their restaurant, can determine whether or not people will eat there? It is a patrons first impression of the restaurant. If the host/hostess appears happy, shows a smile, and makes possible customers feel invited, they will naturally feel welcomed and eat there. If you put this "thing" at the front of the restaurant that has no ability to smile, doesn't make eye contact, and kinda just pushes the menu your way, you will lose customers. I believe this is the reason that the restaurant was dead inside this Saturday evening, while the other restaurants surrounding it (including Quattro, which possess the same owners) were packed.
You can see by this photo, the only people inside the restaurant this Saturday evening were employees. It wouldn't be wise for me not to mention that most of places on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach have outdoor seating. Usually these outdoor eating sections are packed on the weekends, which leads to an overflow of people choosing to sit inside the restaurants instead of waiting. Since the outside had very few tables filled, the inside here was empty. Time to change your staff Sosta.
Our waitress came over to the table and we placed our orders. She also seemed a bit inattentive to us. After never getting our bread, this tiny tiny tiny bottle of Coca Cola arrived in front of me. When I initially picked it up, I had assumed that it was tampered with and someone opened it before me. This could be the only reason why it felt so light. Once I unscrewed the cap, I noticed that nobody had messed with my bottle, and that it was sealed. The only explanation for this coke being so light was because it was, in fact almost empty. I read the label to discover that the bottle of soda was 8.5oz. A can is 12oz if this gives you any idea on size. So when we got the bill and realized that Sosta charged us $4.00 for a tiny serving of soda, I was horrified. THIS IS A TOTAL RIP OFF!
I know this site isn't about soda talk or the price of Coca Cola, but I need to warn my readers about this RIP OFF before they would consider going there. If you are going to Sosta, only get a water with your meal. It isn't worth paying the equivalence of $64 a gallon for any soft drink. Where on earth do they get the balls to charge this much for less then 2 sips of soda! The check and my straw were almost bigger then this!
Anyways, back to the pizza! All hatred towards their ridiculous theivius pricing on drinks aside, the pizza was actually good here. Had I gotten a water or was charged the $1.50 they should have charged for the Cola, this pizza could have roamed around in my mind as the new pizza place to frequent when on Lincoln Road. Although there was a lot of flour used, the pie itself tasted pretty delicious. The cheese was the prefect blend and fresh. They didn't pile on the sauce and what they used was sweet and smooth. The crust was cooked almost perfectly and managed to stay crisp the entire time.
Sosta gets 6 out of 8 slices for their pizza. However, unless you want water and no drinks, I suggest you stay away from this place.