Whitewater Pizza Company — Restaurant in California

Our intention was to sit at the bar and relax, order a few rounds of drinks and a pizza, and work a little on our laptops while the pizza was being prepared. That was, apparently, a tall order.

We walked in shortly after their opening at noon, and were the only patrons present. We walked up to the podium, and told the young man there that we intended to order drinks and pizza, and would like to sit at the bar. Apparently we had to order pizza first, from him, immediately. Then we could set our things down and sit at the bar. Okay - weird, but okay. It took a minute to review the menu board, but we ordered our pizza and sat at the bar.

This was a big mistake.

The bartender (?) was the only employee present that we could see, besides the young man that disappeared after taking our pizza order. She was behind the bar, busily talking to a man with a laptop and appeared to be placing her supply order. Not once did she even look in our direction. My husband spent maybe five minutes trying to be obvious, stretching over the bar to examine the bottled alcohol selections in the refrigerator behind the bar. This also didn't inspire any attention in our direction whatsoever. We talked, loudly, laughing about what we would like to order, should we ever be given the chance to order... No response.

We sat at the bar, unattended, for the entire time our pizza was cooking.

When the pizza finally came out, the young man who took our pizza order asked if we wanted to "settle our tab". Our tab? Bar orders incur a tab. We didn't have a tab. We paid for our pizza and left.

The pizza was good - hence the inflated rating. If you're even considering eating here, order takeout. Don't bother with hoping for service. We won't be back - not after being...

Cool location, but the food was incredibly disappointing. Fryer oil was not hot enough and the wings weren’t battered completely - they had the patchwork look of a mangy dog. Skin wasn’t crispy and fried either - overall, a soggy mess.

Pizza - zero rise, dough was clearly dead. Red onions tasted old and astringent - like they had been sitting at room temperature for a long time before going on a pizza. Cut them reasonably fresh and rinse them in cold water for a few seconds.

A real bummer because I was stoked to go there after rafting the American. This is clearly just a high margin, low effort play raking in cash from the location and captive audience. Think, airport food.

I’ve no idea where these positive reviews are coming from, it’s like the extended family, congregation, community are propping it up.

The food is really bad and a tremendous disappointment after eating river snacks...

There is a lot to recommend this place - the view of the South Fork American River from the outdoor patio, decent spacing of tables to prevent covid, a decent beer selection, and friendly staff. Also, just know the vibe is relaxed and you order inside first (I have a deeply ingrained habit of waiting to be welcomed and served). The staff were friendly and accommodating. I ordered the Barking Dog, an ode to that magnificent surfwave, and it is vegetarian. These folks do not skimp on the veggies, which I was pleased to notice on not only my pizza but other pizzas I saw as well. The pizza is very lightly salted, if you are a salter you know what to do. (Please see a photo of two slices of the Barking Dog; I took the other half of the large...