Croma Pizzeria

I have been to the Lothian location three times, well actually twice and an attempted third time.
The first time we went the service was awesome and the food was great. We even went onto the Odeon website and left positive reviews for our waiters (as we had two). They gave us a stamp card where if you buy 4 pizzas you get the 5^th free. We actually bought three pizzas in that time but said they could only give us two stamps. We were okay with that.
The second time we attempted to go, but just as we walked in the woman at the door said they were closed. We looked around and there were people who had just sat down and still looking at menus to order.
The third time we went, which was this evening (Aug. 9^th) they staff were initially really nice. The first server was extremely nice, she had a strong Italian accent, so it was a bit hard to understand her– but still very friendly… however– she must have been cleared to go home because after taking our order she was not seen again. While we waited for our food, another waiter was talking to the cooks and complained about how she was just about to close out to go home but then a bunch of people walked in and so she was forced to stay. I get that you want to go home, but this should be a conversation out of earshot. We had a voucher that was buy two meals and get a carafe of wine for free– I didn’t realize it had expired, but the manager brought it back to us and said ‘sorry, this is expired,’ literally tossed it on the table and walked away before I could say anything. I felt that she was trying to get out of having to talk to me about it. Finally our food came, delicious as it was the first time we ate at this place… however, while we ate the manager stood talking to one of the other waiters and said their sales were down and they needed to double it, which would require at least five more tables. I don’t think this was a conversation customers should have been able to hear. We finished our meals and a third waitress came over to ask if we wanted anything else. When we said no and just the check she seemed disappointed. When she brought us the check, just like the manager did earlier, she sort-​of tossed it on the table and seemed to be trying to scoot away quickly. I was able to catch her and showed her our stamp card. My friend asked if we could again get two stamps since we ordered two pizzas. She very rudely replied no it was one stamp per person per order and started walking away. I said that the time before we were given two stamps. Again, in a snotty rude reply, she said that shouldn’t have happened. She stamped it once and then after returning it to us she went to the manager and started telling her how we wanted two stamps. That is another conversation that should have been out of ear range. Before leaving, I let the manager know that her comment about sales being down might be helped if her staff were a little bit more friendly.
I always like to leave reviews when service and experiences are good. I never really comment about bad experiences, unless it was as bad as this one. We just felt like we were a bother to this manager and staff one duty tonight. This is a shame as our previous experience was so good. We actually left saying that we wouldn’t go back to this location again, and I likely will let people know that they may get great food, but I can not say the customer service would be up to par.

I hear good things about their pizza, but so far we’ve only visited Croma for breakfast. I’m no poached egg connoisseur, but what I sampled was outstandingly good, and far better than the other poached egg dishes I’ve been served on my travels around Edinburgh.
The place is located in the former foyer of the Odeon Cinema (the cinema remains, but with it’s main reception now downstairs), so I’m not sure the décor will appeal to everyone, but I thought it was very smart, with a nice open kitchen.
One of those really unlikely places that offered a very pleasant surprise, I’d make a breakfast visit to Croma a priority.
So overall, we said: «we were really impressed with Croma. The value on offer is excellent, with the omelette coming in at £3 and the poached egg dishes at £4. We’ll be back to try their pizzas, at some point, but next time you’re looking for a good egg breakfast in this part of town, we’d recommend that you visit Croma.»