My friends and I were having a lovely evening in downtown Reno last Sunday night. It was a gorgeous night, the beginning of summer, and we wanted to be where the action was. Downtown Reno, along the Truckee river. We could hear the sound of the River Festival. And our kids were hungry so we decided to try Campo, on the river. I have always wanted to try this place - yes, it was my first time at Campo. And I am sorry to report, this is not going to be one of my gushing reviews. And boy, I am bummed about it!
We arrive at 7pm, a decent hour. We want to enjoy the atmosphere and since it is a downtown restaurant, and kind of pricey we expect it to be good. Heads up: It is not good. Sadly. But, it sure is pricey.
I will let the kids summarize the experience, in my first ever negative review of a local anything:
“The other day we went out with friends when we got hungry we went to campo apparently a famous restaurant, at first it was fine cause they gave us bread only 5 pieces.. for 5 people ….uhm we aren’t birds 👁👄👁 speaking of birds there was bird poop everywhere like they never cleaned it or something.
The pizza was awful, they screwed it up two times. The first time they gave us really spicy peppers, so we asked them to remake it. The second one was burnt and had this dusty texture to it. Not to mention that the plates and cups were dirty, the whole restaurant was extremely unsanitary. The bread was fine,but they didn't give us enough. 5 pieces of bread isn't enough for a single person, let alone a whole family. The waiter wasn't even good! He forgot to bring us plates and water. I was excited to come to this restaurant, but now, I really don't recommend it😟”
Now what happened was this: the food was not great. And it was expensive. And it was sad. We ordered pasta, and found out it was 23 dollars for something that tasted of microwave and nothingness. And we ordered a large pizza in the hopes that it would be decent - we wanted tomatoes, mushrooms, basil, and green peppers. The pizza we got had tomatoes, mushrooms, basil, and the hottest jalapeno peppers known to mankind. Kid 1 tried a bite and her face changed colors. An adult tried a bite and the same thing happened. So, we asked the waiter to return the pizza and get us a new one. He did. It took a long time. And then when our pizza came back to us, it was black. Burnt. Black. Dusty. Burnt. Sad.
So, we ended up asking to speak to a manager. We did not have to pay, thankfully. Which is nice. Which is why I feel half bad about having to write this review, but when I think about the other people sitting, waiting - we waited a long time for food, and many others did too - I just want people to know hey, maybe rethink going to Campo if you are hungry and if you want to order pizza, or pasta. Maybe their other items are amazing. Maybe I will go back and try and be able to write a glowing, positive, forgive me, review.
When we talked to other locals they all said oh wow, we love Campo, we love their pizza, it’s a good place. But some of them mentioned that it was closed and is perhaps under new management? Or just bouncing back after a pandemic? I am not sure what is happening but, I promised the kids I would write, polish, and publish their review because the entire experience was so interesting to us all, and I suppose a learning experience for all involved.
I do not want to write bad reviews but, I do want to be honest and hope that this urges our local businesses to do better, try harder, not charge 23 dollars for a small plate of pasta that is not that good, and not let their waiters serve burnt pizza to anyone for any reason - unless a customer of course, for some reason, asks for burnt pizza, then, sure, okay.
Ultimately we ended up leaving Campo and heading home with our friends. They ordered a large veggie pizza from Boulevard Pizza on Rock, and it was hands down the best pizza I have had in this town. We talked about our experience, ate dinner at 9pm like we were fancy Europeans, and enjoyed really amazing local hometown pizza for a reasonable price. Lessons learned!