Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza and Grill

Great Artesian thin crust pizza. Lettuce wrap is slightly spicy and equally as good. Service was on the slow side. Place was not full.

Our favorite place, so far, during out SD trip! The margarita (sp?) and spinach, mushroom, and goat cheese pizzas were absolutely delicious!

Better than I expected. Came here from some «deal» and was pleasantly surprised. Good gourmet-​style pizza and really good service. Much better than expected!

The burrata & pesto pizza is so good!
My sister and I wanted to split a pizza and she’s a vegetarian so we wanted to pick a pizza we could both eat without it being too veggie for me (I didn’t want any eggplant or squash on my pizza) but it didn’t disappoint… I liked it! So did she.
The waiter with the pretty blue eyes was really nice too :)

Nice place to have lunch with a goup! The food is great. I tried the Chinese Chicken salad and was very impressed. The textures and flavors blended real well, and the dressing wasn’t too overpowering.
I was really impressed with the hummus appetizer, it is absolutely delicious! I am addicted to it!
The pizza was not particularly great, the crust was too airy for my taste. I like my crust a little denser.
On a positive note, a huge fan of the service. Everyone from the hostess, the waitress, even the chef were all super friendly and accommodating. Will be back for more!

DELISH FOOD, MID $$, MENU is FUSION TYPE VARIETY, OK SVC– A LITTLE SLOW.
Liked that they had TAPAS type food appetizers, We tried a little of everything. Had Mahi Tacos-​good and tasty came as 2 large tacos that covered the plate, Duck Mini Taco appetizer –very very good, Lobster Mac n Cheese-​creamy smooth soo good, mozzarella pizza– crust was perfect not soggy or burnt like at some other places, chicken lettuce wrap– good but it was a little too spicy for my taste. Had beignet type donuts for dessert which was very oily.
Service was a tad slow in getting our wine but food came very quickly Those were the only negatives.
All in all it was a very good meal.
Décor was contemporary not your typical Italian restaurant. Sort of defies definition with all the menu choices from Italian pizza and pasta, Asian Mexican american /​steak/​burgers.
Would DEFINITELY TRY AGAIN AND RECOMMEND

I haven’t been at this Sammys for a long time and, honestly, did not remember that was so good, especially considering that is just next to Horton Plaza parking lot and I was expecting a more fast food type of service. It has been some years since that last time and I don’t remember going at night, so I liked it a lot. It was Mardi Gras night and the whole Gaslamp was loaded with people, so I wanted to have something to eat in a more regular place not super crowded. My friend suggested Sammys as pizza was on the favorite list of the night.
The crowd were mostly couples and professional people out of some of the congress from the Convention Center. Red/​orange lightning was very mellow and created an old fashioned yet modern look (for both my friend and I this place reminded us the typical cafes from our respective countries were we usually met friends on a Sunday afternoon for coffee and something sweet, more than a pizza restaurant).
My friend got the sausage pizza and was perfect, size not too big, flavor good, crust very nicely done. I was actually not in the mood for pizza and fancied more a soup, so ordered the lobster bisque and was very good. Good service and fast.

I love Sammy’s! I’m not sure why it doesn’t have better ratings. The service is always suburb and the food delicious, fresh and filling!
Their organic pear arugula pizza is the best pizza I have ever had! And the balsamic chicken salad is my go to!

I gotta give props to the manager, Teva for contacting me and offering me gift cards to redeem themselves after a rough night. I came in to give Sammy’s a second chance, and they did a great job! I came in at a weird time around 4:30pm between taking a class, and starting my shift at work. I alerted my waitress, Holly that I would only be able to stay for about an hour, and if that would be enough time. She said, «Of Course!» I ordered a salad and a pizza… the salad came out in less than 10 minutes! Holly was very nice and gave me her undivided attention.
At the end of the meal, I asked if I could speak to the manager to thank him for the gift cards. Teva came over to me, and we spoke for a bit about what happened the night of my review. He was concerned about why things had not been up to par that night, so he could make things right. I told him that it was right after a show had gotten out at the theatre next door, and every table was filled, so maybe it was crazy busy all of a sudden and they weren’t prepared. Honestly, I’ve been here a bunch of time before, and never had that type of experience here before. I was in a dour mood from a rough night at work, and just wanted bread and a soda and when it wasn’t coming, I got upset because I couldn’t get anyone’s attention. I’m giving 5 stars for my updated review because of the way management handled the situation, and the genuine concern that the customers coming into the restaurant are receiving the best service possible.

Very good pizza and salad. Okay mac & cheese.
Had lunch at Sammy’s with my wife and little girls. Patio seating on a beautiful day made for a fun lunch an conversation.
Margarita Pizza was very good and the Greek Salad was both huge and tasty. Conventional stuff at standard prices, so it was a good lunch spot for us.
The only knock is that the seafood Mac and Cheese was runny and a little cool. It was a Unilocal!promo for checking in. We didn’t feel too put out for not eating much of it.

Saturday early dining experience… their was 2 of us. We were promptly seated. Our server took our drink orders (wine, which was ok, and a cappuccino, which was yummy), returning promptly (but that was the end of the promptness). Atmosphere was nice.
Server provided some suggestions, as this was the first visit to this restaurant. We shared our food (no charge for splitting). We ordered the chilled vege salad, which was delicious, and also ordered the 5 cheese pizza, which was to die for!
Although the food was fabulous, the service not so much (our server only checked in once during the whole meal… not good).
Hopefully, when we return, the servers will be a little more attentive to the customer!

The Duck Tacos were AMAZING. Such a perfect combo. I wish I just ordered 2 or 3 of these dishes. They were that good! I give 3 stars for the pizza and service, but they get an extra start for the Duck Tacos. We ordered a pepperoni pizza and margarita pizza. Pizza’s were tasty, but nothing exceptional. The messy sundae was a noval idea and we enjoyed it. Expect to wait 15 minutes or more for a table (this was between 6:30pm and 7pm on a Friday). People are friendly but the service is spotty. The table next to me supposedly waited 40 minutes for the salads… It took a bit for us to get refills on our sodas. For the Unilocal free Tapas deal, you have to use it before 6pm which is quite a bummer.

service here wasn’t so great. It wasn’t even busy and waited to seated over 20 mins. it was too hot to sit inside so we decided to sit outdoors. I had the hawaiian and my friend had the combo pizza. the pizza was great but service need improvement but i heard they just opened so hopefully they will get things up and running.

Pretty awful all around.
Came here for lunch on my birthday for the gluten-​free pizza around 12:30pm when the Gaslamp was pretty much zombie zone (Monday/​holiday weekend). This location is pretty big inside with ample patio seating perfect for people watching. Very casual atmosphere, large beer and wine list, decent variety on the menu… seemed like a good bet, tooooo bad it wasn’t.
Our waitress was nice enough, but a little imprudent. She provided the service she was there to provide, but without evidence of a smile or personality… or life. Anyway, maybe she just didn’t want to be at work when everyone else had it off, but she really didn’t add anything positive to the experience.
I ordered the Hawaiian Pizza on gluten-​free crust and my dude ordered the Balsamic Chicken Salad. Gluten-​free crust is often thin crust, as it was here, so I expected that, and the size was pretty good for the price (although they charge $ 3.00 extra for gluten-​free which is pretty standard). The problem lied with pretty much everything else about it starting with the fact that it was COLD… not warm, not luke warm, not room temperature, fuckin COLD. Even the plate was cold. I have no idea what that was about, but it pretty much ruined it from the beginning. I kept eating it anyway (I think I had two pieces total), but it was 100% because I was starving and hung over and not because I liked anything about it. The crust was the worst gluten-​free crust I’ve tried including frozen ones and that’s coming from someone who has had A LOT of GF crusts.
My dude ate the chicken off his salad and then gave up on it. I tried a bite and had nothing to say about it either way.
I will not return here nor would I recommend. The only redeeming point that gave them two stars instead of one is that the robot waitress removed the pizza from our bill when I politely told her it was served cold.

Despite the fact that a meal here can be kind of expensive, I do like coming here. The pizzas are good, which is expected, but their other entrée items are also pretty good, which I didn’t expect.
My favorite pizza by far is the arugula and goat cheese (you could put either of those two ingredients on practically anything — or just serve them to me in a bowl — and I’d eat it!) My husband loves the shrimp and grits — it’s typically what he orders. He says it’s some of the best grits he’s ever had. I take his word for it. =)
I appreciate that they offer different crust options for the pizzas — it’s especially nice when I’m with my dietary-​restrictive friend. Seems a little sheisty that they charge for gluten-​free crusts, but I can see how it’s probably not a highly-​ordered item.
The Lebni appetizer is amazing — the tanginess of the cheese pairs really well with the spices and the flat bread. My gluten-​free friend was able to eat this by getting the offered lettuce wraps in place of the flat bread, which was nice.
The balsamic grilled chicken salad is okay, but nothing spectacular, and certainly not worth the price tag. I also like the wraps and sandwiches, but again, I think they are a bit overpriced. They give you a lot of pasta, but with only four options, there’s really not much variety.
The service is typically good, though there have been times when we’ve had to sit and wait for a waiter to even acknowledge us at our table. There was also one time where my husband went to pick up a to-​go order for my friends and I, and accidentally left his card there. They didn’t bother calling us back (even though they had our phone number associated with the order). It took us calling them back to confirm that they had it to get it back. At least they kept it secure… that’s a plus.

5 stars straight out the gate. In all honesty we came here just for happy hour since we already had dinner plans. Even though we said we just wanted drinks they were very cheery and accommodating.
Big shout out to Audrey — she was serving us and was just amazing and super attentive, she even bought us a round of drinks on her, and we were even offered free Pizza (no doubt due to a misorder but still). If we didn’t have other plans, we would have snapped it up. We meant to go back to try out their pizza/​food for real, our plan was to go on our last night in San Diego, but a major freeway accident affected the buses so we ended up not having time to take the walk from our hotel to the gas-​lamp district that evening due to a really early morning flight home the next day which was a shame.
But wonderful place, just for the service they deserve the stars. Next time we are back in San Diego, they will be on our list of places to visit.

Ugghh. This place is abysmal. The ultimate in corporate mediocrity.
If one type of food could claim to have a «personality», it would be pizza. But Sammy’s is utterly without any style at all. Perfectly round, tiny pizzas that look made by a machine. This place so lacks imagination that there is not even a list of topping available, there’s just a few types of pizza you can order. Non-​descript tomato sauce and chewy bread-​like crust, in concert with the ambience of a CVS, make for one soulless experience.
There’s nothing like the anticipation of a night out for pizza, and nothing quite like the letdown of having wasted it on Sammy’s.

I really enjoyed the selection of pizzas here. I ended up with the brie, mushroom and truffle oil pizza. I also split a salad with my husband. The crust on the pizza I had was nice and thin allowing me to eat more pieces. The only thing is that it’s such a rich pizza, it would’ve been nice to split that pizza with someone and split a less rich pizza too.
The service was ok. The server brought us the check before we even had a chance to order dessert. I also felt like we had to ask for things (like refill for water) or wait longer than normal for service.
I’d probably come again because the food was good enough to warrant it.

I come to this Sammy’s from time to time but prefer the much larger Sammy’s with consistently slightly better service in Mission Valley. Same good (albeit chain restaurant) food though!
I absolutely love the chopped chicken salad with kalamata olives, basil, sun-​dried tomatoes, capers, and grilled chicken tossed in vinaigrette. It’s a monster of a salad, a 6″ high pile of chopped iceberg lettuce on a 12″ dinner plate. Look forward to it every time.
I’m also a major fan of the flatbreads that Sammy’s has on the tapas portion of the menu. Earlier this week my dinner companions and I gobbled up the flatbread with Kobe beef and hummus as well as the herb-​y flatbread with soft Mediterranean cheese. Delicious.
Chain restaurants and I are rarely friends, so my saying that I look forward to visits to Sammy’s and the food that comes along with those visits is a big, big deal!

Hey there Sammy!
Long time no visit. I know I shouldn’t wait so long to come for a visit! I see you changed the menu a bit, I didn’t see my favorite Cobb salad I usually get, but it’s all good. It just gave me a reason to try other items on your menu!
For an early Saturday dinner after comic con but before our Demetri Martin show at 7 pm, you were very accomadating. The mini duck tacos for our appetizer was fantastic. 6 little crunchy tacos, the duck was okay, but that sauce and the feta cheese was different. I loved it! The chicken BBQ pizza was perfect! It made me regret not coming more often.
Not only are the food and service great, but you guys saved my evening from being a disaster. After dinner we walked over to Spreckels Theatre which is only a 10 minute walk, while I sat in my seat I rummaged through my bag to find my new iphone 3GS gone! I’ve only had it for a few weeks! I started to develop bead sweats all over. My sasquatch ended up going back to you and asked if they found an iphone. The manager asked him if he knew what was on the wallpaper…“John Legend”…of course it would be a hot picture of my Johnny boy… and the phone was returned to me! Yeah!!! Thank you for being honest and giving my phone back. And for that I am eternally thankful. I will be more careful with my phone. I only whipped it out to take pictures of your delicious food to post on Unilocal.Damn that Unilocal!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will return soon.
xoxo
Lily and her phone