Yesterday my friends and I had lunch at Papa Gino’s in North Dartmouth after my appointment at Healthtrax Fitness & Wellness Center and I was disappointed with the lack of wheelchair accessibility.

There are handicap parking spaces located on the side of the building where the wheelchair access slope to the sidewalk is located. The wheelchair access slope to the sidewalk is in need of repair as it appears to be old and damaged and not easy to wheel up. The sidewalk has some bumps in it along the way too. I ran into one and was pushed forward but I caught myself just in time. The sidewalk needs repair too!

The entrance door is not automatic but is wide enough to fit my wheelchair. Once inside I went to order my food and noticed that the counter where you order your food is too high for persons in wheelchairs yet the counter where you pick up your food is of a good wheelchair accessible height.

While I was waiting for my food I went to see if the restroom was wheelchair accessible and found it was easy to enter and very spacious. The safety grab bars on the side and the back of the toilet are at a perfect height. The accessible sink is of perfect height for a wheelchair and the pipes under the sink are covered as is now ADA required. I could easily reach the soap and towel dispenser as well.

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My friends and I got our food and brought it to a table which was a perfect height for my wheelchair. I did notice that there is a section of seating that is not wheelchair accessible as there are steps leading up to this section but there is a sufficient amount of seating in the lower section with a lot of tables that are of a good height for a wheelchair.

The Manager of this Papa Gino’s was very courteous and kind and offered us great service for Ric, my friend accidentally put garlic salt that he thought was cheese on his pizza and she offered to get him a new slice of pizza!

I give Papa Ginos in North Dartmouth TWO STARS for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn the other Three Stars they would need to: repair the slope leading to the sidewalk; repair the bumps in the sidewalk leading to the entry door; lower the counter where you place your order and add a small threshold ramp on either side of the upper section so someone in a wheelchair can access these tables if they chose.