Sammy's Woodfired Pizza — Restaurant in San Marcos

Unfortunately, this place has gone downhill over the years. We've been coming here for years... but our last 2 to 3 visitshave really soured us.

We ordered 2 glasses of wine, an appetizer and a salad.

From a food perspective, the favorite (balsamic grilled chicken) salad of ours is incredibly expensive now. I know prices go up over time, but it is really ridiculous to be in a strip mall in San Marcos and pay $27 for a salad, and $16 for a 9 oz glass of wine, ON happy hour pricing!! (HH was for the appetizer and wine only)

If the restaurant were to have an ocean front view, then MAYBE, and only maybe, would it be for one to order a salad for essentially $30. It wasn't even as good as it used to be, but, it could be that we were disappointed at that. The appetizer was a fish taco. Nothing to speak of, again, not for $9. The food value is one of our disappointments.

The cleanliness of the restaurant was another. This seems lacking, and appears to be more of a training issue.

We sat at the bar, and the bartender/server gave us a nice welcome and greeting. He mentioned the dishes immediately to one side of where we were trying to sit were from another patron who may have been in the restroom. He quickly scooted all the items over one seat, to give us both seats together. (That was helpful.) The plate had a remnant of garnish leaf on it and a rolled up napkin. It clearly looked FINISHED, but I get not clearing all the setting, unless the person was for sure gone/done. A few minutes later, patron did come back from the restroom and picked up sunglasses or something and left. Those same dirty plates and glasses remained sitting right next to us for at least 25 minutes. Many servers (and even maybe manager) walked by without food or cleared dishes in their hands, and NOBODY took it upon themselves to clear the counter. It wasn't until a new patron arrived, to place a TO GO order, that they cleared the space for her. Why leave dirty place setting there? (Makes the environment less appealing.)

Lastly, we saw quite a bit of food sitting and getting cold, just waiting there to be served, sitting on 'the pass'.

The food was just languishing up there.. one sundae got made and toppled over from waiting so long... only to then get picked up by server and she bumped it and dropped it, so the guy had to remake it a 2nd time (he really just added more whipped cream). (Can't imagine the soupy ice cream when it finally got to the customer.)

In the end, so many of the improvements to the overall cleanliness and flow of the restaurant seems to be fixable. But the prices?! This will likely be the primary reason for us not returning. Its pretty unfortunate. The server, at least our guy, was very cheerful and pleasant and mentioned that the day we were there was not that busy. But maybe a few extra bussers and/or food runners...

A favorite indulgence... Always consistent and delicious! If you want really good food at a really good price, I definitely recommend Sammys!

My bestie and I make the hour plus drive to San Marcos every couple of months to indulge our cravings. Our favorites: Grilled Chicken Balsamic Salad... this salad has layers of flavors and textures with it's crisp romaine lettuce, sliced warm and tender basil herbed chicken breast, gorgonzola and walnuts tossed in a creamy balsamic dressing. Next is their Chickpea Hummus served with warm crispy and chewy Pita... I also love the Babaganoosh and get a small side for dipping. Finally, their Crispy Brussel Sprouts are Drizzled with a balsamic vinegrette, shaved parmigiano and walnut halves. We occasionally overindulge and add in the Truffle Fries.

All of this and a cocktail each is usually no more than $66.00 because most appetizers and house cocktails are half price during their daily Happy Hour from 3:00 - 6:00. Oh, nearly forgot.... today my son joined us and had the Spicy Italian Sausage Pizza, the Sweet and Spicy Thai Wings and a mojito. All were very good and from the Happy Hour Menu so we still made out for under $100.00. I don't know of another place where you can get good quality food and drinks at this price! Just a few weeks ago, I paid 25 bucks, after tax and tip, for meatloaf and a glass of water, and swore I was going to stop eating out! lol Thanks to Sammy's, I can...

We love Sammy's! We've been going there since the La Jolla restaurant first opened its doors. We would go there for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. And we NEVER had a bad experience until tonight. Everything was wonderful especially our server but the food was atrocious. The Brussel sprouts were cold, soggy, and without balsamic vinegar sauce. My wife's 5 cheese pizza was burned and cold. So cold that much of the cheese had never melted. There was also a strange green object embedded in one of the slices. My balsamic grilled chicken salad was wilted, underdressed, a fraction of the normal size, and the chicken was mostly carbon. Hard carbon. The wonderful server took my salad back. A great deal of time later a new salad was brought to the table. This salad was perfect, as it had always been. This salad was obviously made by a manager. When the salad was delivered, I requested take out containers and the check. Did I mention that our server was wonderful? She brought those items quickly and we tipped her well. We left immediately as we had been the last patrons for quite some time. Sammy, treat the first cook as you wish. We want to compliment the rest of the staff for a fine job. We'll be...