Pizzeria Turns Prank Order Into a Good Deed for Hospital Workers

Dave Agovic runs L'Osteria Mondello in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He trusts people. That's why he doesn't require payment upfront for large orders.

On the night of August 14 someone called and ordered 18 pizzas — claimed they were for a children's wrestling club, wanted them fast. The total came to about $300. Agovic already had two other big orders going — one for 12 or 13 pies, another for seven or eight. More than 40 pizzas in the kitchen at the same time. He temporarily stopped taking new orders. Customers were warned they could face waits of up to two hours.

The kitchen powered through. All 18 pizzas were done in roughly 40 minutes.

Nobody showed up.

When Agovic called the number that had placed the order, the person who answered said they hadn't ordered anything. He didn't recognize the call. His number had apparently been spoofed or grabbed randomly — he had nothing to do with any pizza.

So Agovic stood there with 18 hot pizzas, a $300 hole in his pocket, and a decision to make.

"Why don't we deliver it to the hospital?" he thought.

Right around that moment, a former employee named Ryan Lemley stopped by the restaurant just to say hello. He heard what had happened. He immediately volunteered to help deliver the pies.

"He was my hero that day," Agovic said.

All 18 pizzas went to the emergency room at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. The ER staff got an unexpected Friday night dinner. Agovic posted about it on Facebook with photos of the pizzas, his staff, and the hospital workers.

"A little frustrating situation turned into a good deed, and hopefully the pizzas helped make someone's night a little better," the restaurant wrote.

The Prank Call Problem Restaurants Face

Agovic said in over three years of running L'Osteria Mondello, nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He's not alone in operating on trust — most local restaurants don't require upfront payment for phone orders because it creates friction with legitimate customers and implies distrust.

That goodwill gets exploited more often than people realize. Ghost orders — large fake orders that tie up kitchen capacity and cost restaurants real money in ingredients and labor — have become more common in an era when spoofed phone numbers make it easy to call from an untraceable line. A small restaurant getting hit with a $300 fake order during a busy Friday night isn't just out the food cost. They've also lost the revenue from customers they turned away during the backup, and burned out staff who spent 40 minutes on pizzas that went nowhere.

What typically happens to those pies is nothing good — they get thrown out. According to the EPA, food-service providers generate significant food waste annually, and a sudden surplus of 18 unwanted pizzas usually adds to that pile.

Agovic found a better answer. The ER workers at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center had a good Friday night because someone tried to ruin his.

The prankster got the last laugh on the $300. Agovic got something better.

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