Sammy's Pizza & Restaurant - West Duluth — Restaurant in Duluth

Being not from the Duluth area, I knew I might be taking a chance ordering delivery pizza from a place I've never heard of, but the pictures here looked nice, so i gave it a shot. Boy, was that a great decision.

I ordered the 12" "Nick Special" specialty pizza which had chicken, bacon, fresh spinach, and a garlic butter parmesan sauce, along with a pound of parmesan garlic chicken wings and a couple of two bottles of soda.

The order arrived in about 35 minutes, which was perfectly reasonable. The delivery driver was pleasant and informed me they had upgraded our soda order to 2 liter bottles instead of 20 oz, as ther had run out of the former.

However, the main reason I'm rating this with 5 stars is the food. The pizza and wings were both delicious. The pizza toppings were generous, but not overloaded- a great balance. The garlic sauce had a wonderful flavor that perfectly complemented the other toppings. The obviously handcrafted crust was firm and perfectly cooked under the toppings, and yet the outer crust was soft almost like freshly baked bread sticks. Even my wife, who usually discards her "crusts" thought they were great and ate them. One suggestion I might give is to offer some type of dipping sauces just for eating the crust. I could easily see eating them with honey, or even ranch dressing or garlic butter.

The wings were also excellent. There was about a dozen in the order, mostly drummines. They were perfectly cooked and the parmesan garlic sauce was outstanding. They were soft, not crisp, which is to be expected with delivery wings (the steam in the container tends to do that) but they were very, VERY good.

We probably would have been fine with a 10 inch pizza (there were just the two of us) as we had enough pizza leftover for another person (thankfully we have a refrigerator in our hotel room.)

I would recommend this place to anyone, and will definitely remember Sammy's for future...

We still frequent this Sammy's because of the buffet. Even though its a higher priced buffet it still comes out to be cheaper than if everyone ordered a variety of pizzas. The only problem is that it's hit or miss as to whether or not more pizza will come out. If it's slow the pizza will sit there for a while before something new comes out. If it's busy you'll get fresh pizza but you have to get up there before, or with, everyone else right away. Otherwise you'll be waiting for them to bring out more. There would be a better (table) turnover for the servers if the pizzas came out faster. I really like the cold pastas on the salad bar but those too are hit and miss because they're made differently each time. The original wings are always a win and there is always a second flavored wing. The two soups and warm pasta are a nice option to fill up on when you're tired of waiting for pizza to come out. The veggie pizza and crew special are the best. The macaroni pizza is disturbing (haha) but I get it; kids like it. The cookies they offer on the way out are a nice treat. They're not too sweet and not too big so you don't feel gluttonous after having that sugar snack many crave after a meal.

On our last visit we noticed, at the bottom of our receipt, that they charge more if you use a card vs cash. I realize smaller businesses do this but don't most well established businesses (like Sammy's) include that in their overhead? I don't know how long it's been like that as we don't go that often but It's pretty disappointing.

Regardless of the price and service I ALWAYS suggest (any) Sammy's when people ask where to get the best pizza, especially people new to the area. I don't usually like thin crust but Sammy's makes it work. The balance of sauce, cheese and...

Sunday, July 29th 2024 - 11:58am Well, ok,...here it goes... HOLY MOLEY! An instant, cheerful, friendly greeting for a lone party of one. All of the servers were pleasant though very focused. It was still early and the spic-and-span, dining room was only about 1/3 full but this crew stays ON IT! From the pizza spinners to the servers and ESPECIALLY the buffet attendant (never seen leaving the immediate vicinity of the buffet bar) stayed graciously clear of the guests and immediately cleaned up/wiped down/replenished every time the way was clear to do so. The server: a very polite, smart, well-mannered, attentive and anticipatory professional. The selection: Four pizzas, all with different toppings - piping hot - immediately replenished when nearly finished - never saw the same pizza twice. Al dente penne with choice of perfectly seasoned marinara or thick, creamy alfredo. Chicken drummies piled high (regular and sweet chili). Cheddar, cauliflower, chicken and wild rice soup as well as beef and cabbage in a tomato and basil broth - balanced to seasonal perfection. Salad bar: Crisp green ice berg lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, black olives, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese. Cheddar chicken salad and regular, spiral pasta chicken salad - both with just the right amount of dressing, not too wet, not too dry - perfect! Bleu cheese, ranch, italian, raspberry vinagrete, french and thousand island dressings. This crew was trained and on task - easily handling parties of 8 and 10 that showed up simultaneously in the buffet room. Haven't seen a restaurant team this sharp in a very, very long...