Poor Richards Pizza — Restaurant in Porterville

It really lives up to it's name - POOR.

I remember having very fond memories of this place as a kid in the '80s. Poor Richards was always synonymous with quality. Back then it was known for it's giant pizzas overflowing with gooey cheese & delicious toppings. Everyone knew that you could go to a place like Pizza Hut for a cheap pizza fix but Poor Richards was the real deal when it came to outstanding pizza. It was clearly one of those "you get what you pay for" situations.

Well times have changed...

On a recent trip to visit family in Porterville, I started thinking of the very best of the best places to eat from when I was younger. Poor Richards was at the top of the list. So we all went down to check it out...

We went to order and were the only ones in the place. We start looking at the prices... OUCH!. We ordered a large pie and 4 drinks and it came out to over $30. "It's Poor Richards... this is totally going to be worth it!" Yea, right...

About 20 minutes later, they finally call our name and I walk about 100 feet to the back to pick it up myself. It was so small it didn't even fit on the large pizza pan it was served on. I took one look at it and noticed right off that the crust was the totally frozen, stiff as a board, cardboard type.

I honestly think it may have been a frozen tombstone pizza. If not that, than probably something out of the freezer section of Smart and Final. It was pathetic...

We sat and ate our frozen pizza on paper plates while drinking our cans of soda (no glasses or ice).

Talk about disappointing...

The only plus side of the place are the cool old antiques and the beautiful old stained glass depression era bar. At least the decor hasn't changed much. The arcade in the back is actually like I remember it too. They actually have a working (I got it to work for one game) Addams Family pinball machine. I'll add a star just for that...

I understand the fact that the economy sucks right now and small local business like Poor Richards need to cut corners to stay in business... but come on. When people rake out over thirty bucks for a frozen pizza and a few cans of soda... word gets out and people don't come back. When you "cut back" ALL of the quality, people stop coming in and you have no one to blame but yourself.

Having your employee take a pizza and a few cups of ice out to a table isn't going to put you out of business (not doing it may though). Raking out an extra buck to pay for the ingredients to make an ACTUAL pizza isn't going to put you out of business either (not doing it may though). Cleaning the filth off of the vents above the bar wont put you out of business either (you get the idea...).

Step up your game...

SHORT VERSION: Pizza was good and came quickly. Prices were average. A good stop.

LONG VERSION: A large and very dark pizza place with a shocking number of TVs lining the walls. Lots of seating. There is a long bar on one side and a number of large tables around. A tired arcade room is on the other side, but it didn't have any games to keep kids occupied (I'm not sure the ones it had worked, but I didn't try them either).

The restrooms have some fabulous and interesting decor - be sure you check them out! The men's room is a little more gas station than restaurant, but it worked.

The night I was there was pretty quiet - only two couples came in while I was there, but there seemed to be za going out the back door to deliveries. Menus and ordering are done at a cash wrap near the ovens. Prices were pretty usual for a local pizza place.

My small pepperoni and pineapple (yes, pineapple DOES belong on pizza) was on a hand-stretched crust with a good amount of toppings. I prefer when a place puts a sprinkle of cheese on top of the toppings to help stick them down a bit, which this place did not do, but that's not a make or break for me.

Taste was good. Sauce was right. Crust had flavor. The pizza came to my table on a large pan instead of a small one. But that's minor (though it does make the pizza cool a little faster). I have an odd liking for the bubbles that sometimes show up in the crust while a pizza makes, and my little pizza had a couple. I enjoyed every bite.

BOTTOM LINE: Reminded me of a 70s pizza place. Lots of thick, dark wood, lights barely illuminating the tables, but good food from a hard working pizza maker. I...

This place is AWESOME!!! A friend that I hadn't seen in almost 40 years reunited this day and he treated me to poor Richard's pizza. I loved it! The atmosphere is so relaxed and casual as you will see when you see the fun interesting mix of furniture that makes up the dining area. The pizza was phenomenal and cooked fresh. They have a jukebox you can play music on. And the bathrooms, OMG the bathrooms! The girls restroom looks like it's been painted in hot pink cake frosting lol and is very retro looking but the men's restroom takes the prize hands down. It has a bunch of front pages, newspaper articles (all fake and made up) telling a little bit about the plots and main characters of pretty much every horror film franchise ever made, including the Texas chainsaw massacre, Jason, Freddy, Michael, and the shining. They look like real newspaper articles. You could get lost on there reading all of them for quite a while. And then there are vintage classic rock poster or album covers on the wall of the hallway between the restrooms. I have to admit I loved going to the...