Leni D’s Za Fest

Fast friendly service and good pizza. We had the bbq which has chicken, red onion, bbq sauce, cheese and cilantro. We also ordered the buffalo chicken ranch pizza. Both were good but the bbq was so different and unique tasting we will be back for it again.

The customer service is poor. Both employees looked at my daughter and myself when we walked in and put their heads down and continued on with what they were doing. Not one of them greeted us or said they would be right with us. It’s apparent why the place was empty. When we spoke with the manager Joshua he stated «well I was doing my job». Sorry Joshua but being in management a huge part of «Your Job» is CUSTOMER SERVICE buddy!

PROS:
Pizza is made fresh in an open flame oven
The pizza is delicious
CONS:
«What cha want» type of service
Small/​cramped restaurant
High prices
The store closes early

I ate here the other day, the pizza was very good. Very generous on the toppings. We were hoping to have dinner and sit down. Which we did, but the seating is pub style or like the awkward window seats in most small coffee shops. I recommend carry out.
The guy who was making our pizza seemed very unenthusiastic, bored, and not very friendly. He made made a great pizza though, so maybe it was an off night (Sunday).
Overall we were very pleased with our experience, I would recommend them. It wasn’t the best pizza I’ve ever had, but it was very fast (even though the guy moved like molasses), tasty, and not «Hagerstowny» at all.

This is the third time I’ve gotten pizza from this place. The staff is great however the pizza isn’t. Each time I get the pizza, the middle is raw. I called to let them know and was given a gift card. Today when I placed my order, I asked for it to be cooked longer. The ends are crispy however the middle is still raw. No idea what is going on but I won’t be ordering from them any more. Again, the staff is great. .no complaints about them just can’t stand eating raw pizza.

The website is great. The design of the store is aesthetically pleasing. The concept is fantastic. Local is also terrific. Now, concerning the food…
I ordered fried pickles with ranch and a 10″ create-​my-​own pizza with wheat crust, sun dried tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, and Kalamata olives — all to go.
Judging by the breading, the pickles could have been promising — except for the puddle of oil in the bottom of the Styrofoam container they were in that leaked all over the bottom of the bag. They appear to have been taken directly from the fryer, without pause, and placed in the container to drain.
The pizza, which is what you would come to a place like this for, looked delicious and it was — until the first bite. The crust was soggy and reminded me of the pizza I made using canned biscuit dough in a Home Ec class back in 8^th grade. The top didn’t seem cooked long enough either. After two small slices, I gave up on the crust and picked the arguably good (but cold) toppings off to eat. The rest went in the trash can.
I suspect that if Chipotle expands their Pizzeria Locale presence or other similar concepts, such as Blaze Pizza, enter this market, Leni D’s will have a hard time competing. Differentiation could be their only hope, but they have to do better than this to win that battle.

Great tasting pizza. Very good, lots of variety. Staff are very nice and I can jump in and back out within 10 minutes on a lunch break. The price is a little high which stops me from going more but that is the only detractor.

Staff is friendly and the pizza is excellent!
Tonight I got the «Meat Za» pizza. I normally just like cheese on my pizza but this sounded good. I was worried that the meats would be over spicy but it wasn’t. I also love the fact you can choose whole wheat dough.
Definitely will come back.

I ordered both a cheeseless pizza and one with vegan cheese and was pleasantly surprised. There are enough high quality toppings to choose from that are plant based to get a good pie without the cheese but the vegan option was a treat. This isn’t your every day sausage and pepperoni joint so go to any other place in town if this is what you’re looking for. If you like healthy high quality ingredients give it a try.

I’ve both eaten in the restaurant at lunchtime and ordered delivery on a Saturday night, and I’ll certainly be back. I’m firmly in the Neapolitan pizza camp: longtime fan of Pistarro’s in Frederick and Pizza CS in Rockville, for reference.
Eating in (1^st visit): The Chipotle-​style assembly line is having it’s day, and I don’t hate it. I was really impressed with the variety and quality of the toppings available. Just wandered in here by chance and didn’t know what to expect, but the staff were friendly and helpful. My husband and I went with one of their «Za Creations,» which they’ll let you do half-​and-​half. We did half Veggie Za (garlic infused olive oil, broccoli, red onion, portabella mushrooms, roasted red tomato, mozzarella cheese topped with arugula and balsamic vinegar) and half Med Za (extra virgin olive oil, sautéed spinach, red onion, roasted red tomatoes, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers with mozzarella and feta cheese).
Delivery (2^nd visit): I’m not taking any stars off for this because I think it was my fault: I’m pretty sure we live farther out than they normally deliver, but I give them props for coming through and slogging across town in dismal weather. That said, it took nearly an hour for them to arrive, but when they did both our pizzas were somehow nearly as impressive as when eating in the restaurant.
Next time I’d just go pick it up since it takes them all of 4 minutes to prepare a pie. And there will certainly be a next time.

This restaurant is like Pizza Studio. Choose your own crust, sauce, and toppings. It looks pretty nice inside. Very clean and the staff is very polite.
I’ve been here twice and both times left a lot to be desired. The first time I got regular crust and sauce with sausage and pepperoni and 3 cookies. The pizza was really under cooked in the middle and the cookies were very hard, like they were old and had been sitting in the container for a few days. It was disappointing because it was pretty expensive.
The second time I got the Meat Za on gluten free crust. it didn’t have any flavor and was also very expensive, $ 13.77 for a 10 inch pizza. I doubt that I’ll go back.

Great tasting pizza fresh dough and fresh toppings
Came in with some friends we were really impressed to know it is a locally owned business

This is a great idea… but that’s where it ends.
We were killing some time in the are, and decided to stop in and check it out.
There was literally no one else in the restaurant.
Undeterred, we ordered a specialty «za» which was $ 16 for a 14 inch pie.
It was done in just a few minutes, and my wife and son had seated themselves at the strange bar counter that serves as the only seating in the place.
The «za»… well that’s the problem.
Much like other reviews I see on here, the only thing we could taste was burnt crust.
I’m a big fan of wood fired pizza, but whatever the oven does to cook it so fast, actually just chars it way too much for any of our taste…
That being said, the ingredients all seems fresh, and the staff was polite.
The counter isn’t wide enough, to even fit the pizza paddles without hanging over the edge, so be careful if you eat here not to lose yours on the floor.
My recommendation, spend a few dollars more if you want wood fired pizza and go to the flying pie company downtown.

This pizza place is modeled after the chipotle assembly line, first you select your dough (I got traditional), then your sauce (went with red sauce), then the toppings. Plenty of quality toppings to choose from. I got seasoned beef, bacon and green peppers. The toppings were really good but they raise the price quickly. Then they put it in the oven and in a few minutes the pizza was ready!
The pizza was really good but next time I will ask for more sauce and less cheese. The dough was really good and I especially liked that the dough was a little charred and crispy!

Great fresh pizza with quality toppings. The pizza is assembled and cooked in front of you. They have a wide variety of toppings, both meat and vegetarian, including spinach, roasted peppers, pineapple, and chicken. Everything looked delicious, but we chose a half meat and half med (Mediterranean). The latter had olive oil instead of red sauce. Our server/​cook was very helpful and accommodating of our special order. He took care to cook the pizza just right, with just a touch of blackening on the crust. Seating was a bit tight, but the food quality was top notch.

Fast service. Pizza was there within 20 mins. The pizza would of been great if it wasn’t so burnt on the bottom crust. The salad and cheese bread was great. I’ll try it again. The pizza is different but amazing. Just don’t order extra cheese !

Nice idea, and fresh ingredients for sure. I bought mine to go and it was cold by the time I got home. The fast cooking process got the crust done and the cheese melted, but it didn’t stay hot on the ride home. Really no place to eat there except a small bench/​bar type thing in the wall and a table by the door. I ask what was good and they really didn’t have an recommendation so I went with the meatza. If it were cooked in a real oven it probably have been great.
Think of a papa murphys that cooks it for you in a minute or two.
I’ll probably try again, but would eat in. Nothing really special here except the fast cooking process.

I had received a menu from Leni Z’s in the mail. I decided to give them a try. I ordered a create your own Za. Traditional Crust with Garlic infused Olive Oil, Half Bacon, Half chicken and black Olives and a small Chicken Caesar salad. There were many things that went wrong with our experience and why I am giving 1 star.
I told the cashier that I wanted a small chicken Caesar salad, when the salad arrived, there was no chicken. The Pizza was cold and overloaded with toppings. The bottom of the pizza was darkened and was burned. It would seem either it was burned. or the soot from the pizza oven wasn’t cleaned out enough the night we ordered. The garlic infused Olive Oil was non existent. The Pizza only tasted of cheese and toppings.
The one thing I will say is that, the shredded chicken was cooked perfectly, it was very tender, juicy and not dry like some places when chicken is a topping. The olives were good too.
I called back the first time and informed the cashier of our salad. The cashier read our order back to us. He was nice and stated he would send a salad back out with Chicken. One hour later, still no salad. I called back and was told that we were out of their delivery area. I was stunned. I informed him that we received a menu in the mail. and it didn’t make sense. Many places in town have initially refused delivery when given our address. I asked for a credit back, He then told us. that we weren’t charged for the chicken. I would have probably figured this out, had I gotten my receipt back from the delivery driver. I informed him I would not be ordering from them again and hung up.
I understand that in the food service business people make mistakes, and normally I would have given them a second chance perhaps for take out next time, but due to the poor customer service and mediocre product, I will not do so. There are many more better options for Pizza in Hagerstown.

I thought I had walked into Chipotle by accident when I first tried this place out. Very similar vibe & layout.
Very polite guy asked what I wanted & cooked up my ‘za’ Didn’t take any more than five minutes, til I was walking back to my car with a steaming pie tempting me.
Great crust, right about of zest to the sauce & not over loaded with cheese. Some like a greasy pizza I don’t so this match my expectations.
Only complaint would be that the toppings need to be cut a bit smaller.

I lived in Manhattan for a year and a half so I am biased on pizza.
However I found this new restaurant when I had to go to fedex. They are fairly new as of October 2014. I walked in and was pleased on how clean they were.
They follow the model of chipotle, cold stone creamery and many other restaurant models of giving you the ability to choose your creation. Did the great selection of crusts (including gluten-​free), sauces, and ingredients. It was a bit overwhelming at first but don’t get scared because they also have a list of their creations for you to choose from.
I ordered the meat za and it was great. The ingredients tasted fresh. The crust was crisp (not NYC crisp, but crisp enough. It was loaded with ingredients, kind of a mix of Chicago and New York style pizza. It was definitely enough for 2 – 3 people.
Bonus: I ordered a drink and they have crushed ice.
Overall: great service, great food. Give it a try.