The Best Pizza Ever (straight from CA)

In case you haven't noticed, Julie does most of the blogging for our family.  But this is one post, that I (Craig) had to write given the story behind the story.

I was thinking a few weeks ago about how I could bless Julie and thank her for all her hard work over the last few months.  She has been working her tail off from late night feedings with Davis to getting up early to take care of Caleb's needs all day.  She has done this all without complaining and to bless my trooper, I thought about what would be a special treat.  Not sure why, but I remembered our favorite restaurant back in Palo Alto - Patxi's Pizza.  They have the best deep dish pizza and the thought hit me that they might ship a frozen pizza as this would be a fun way to surprise Julie with some tasty vittles.

I went on their website and there was no mention of shipped pizzas, so I sent an email to the general manager of the store to see if they would be willing to do so.  To my amazement, he (Bryce) got right back to me and said that while they had never done this before, he was willing to give it a try.  We emailed back and forth and brainstormed a way to give this a whirl.  We ultimately decided that if they baked it, then froze it, and overnighted it to us frozen, that it would likely survive the trip and be edible. 

After figuring out the details, the pizza was shipped and arrived in one piece. It was still cold upon arrival and looked like it got hand delivered from the restaurant because it was well packed to survive the trip.  At this point in the story, it is key to understand the great lengths that Bryce went to in order to make this happen.  First, he had to take the pizza home after baking it to freeze it in his personal freezer since Patxi's doesn't use freezers.  Then he went and picked up a box and packing supplies after realizing that FedEx wouldn't let him overnight the pizza in their packaging.  I've never experienced customer service like this from any organization, let alone a pizza place that had nothing to gain from serving us in this way.  We were loyal Patxi's fans before, but they outdid themselves with this gesture.

Julie was ecstatic when I rolled in the door with Patxi's and after warming it up in the oven, it was as great as we remember it.  I can always remember a great meal when the last bite tastes as good as the first one, and this is consistently the case with Patxi's.  Whether in the restaurant in Northern California or out of our oven in Texas, the pizza is awesome.  The deep dish melted in our mouths and the combination of Patxi's flaky crust, flavoral sauce, abundant melted cheese, and mouth watering sausage and canadian bacon made this little surprise one of the best gifts yet for Julie (and if you haven't noticed yet I got to enjoy it too).  Caleb got to enjoy his first Patxi's and I think he is officially hooked as well.  Bryce - I'm hoping we get a chance to meet next time we are in Palo Alto, but wherever you are now, know that you made my family very happy by serving us in this way.  Bryce and Patxi's - you guys rock!

To summarize, I thought I'd share my Top 5 learnings from this experience:

1) Never stop looking for ways to bless your bride (she is worth the effort)

2) Don't let practicality get in the way of a gift you have in mind (dream big)

3) Give a company the chance to be a hero to your request (even if it is an odd one)

4) Never underestimate the power of good customer service (even if just for one customer)

5) Remember that there are still servant hearted people out there (Bryce - you are the man!)

Below are some photos from our Patxi's pizza feast.  Warning - don't look at these if you are hungry...