Cali-Forno Pizzeria — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

My family and I happened to stumble across this place this past weekend (12/17) and it was a huge mistake. It was one of the worst service and food experiences I’ve had. My Gf and I never received our pizza we ordered that we physically had made in front of us. This is part of their niche service, similar to Subway where they top everything off for you. Also, there were zero sanitary precautions taken as the worker topping the pizza had no food gloves on, while the other one did. Disgusting to say the least. After we made our order (12 inch pizza & salad) we sat with the family and waited. We were the last to order in our group so we expected to get our food last, but we continued to wait even longer to the point where everyone had already almost finished their food. We had a beeper and it never notified us to pick up our pizza, so out of curiosity and a bit of frustration I went up with my girlfriend to wait up by the counter where they were prepping a pizza. We thought “this should be ours I bet” and no… it was another customers order, one that came way later after us. I peeked over the counter and noticed no more pizzas being cooked or no prepped pizzas, so I asked the closest worker (younger male worker 23-30) to me about my order and the first thing that came out the workers mouth was a blatant lie. He insisted that they are making it and it should be coming up soon. I told him “I don’t see any pizzas in sight though” and he persisted to say it’s being made now. As I mentioned, this was a lie, as I observed them conversing amongst each other unbothered and unattended by work. This really irked me as I was now more frustrated at how unprofessional they were and lied about it instead of owning up to the mistake. During this confrontation, I realized that someone took off with our pizza too. Needless to say, the worker was unapologetic from their poorly executed service and I told him I’d like a refund for both items. Luckily, my family had their food (they mess up their orders too) and offered it to us. I’ll have to say that this one was one the poorest attempt at a pizza. No crust and very soggy. You would think that with a stove pizza oven it’ll at least taste and look the part, but it doesn’t. I’ll highly recommend spending your money elsewhere. If you love pizzas as much as I do, do not ruin your...

Cali-Forno has great pizza, but you might want to get it to go.

It wasn't until I had an intense craving for wood fired pizza that I learned that Santa Barbara is a wood fired pizza desert. Not many around; or at least, not many that the Google could find. But, Cali-Forno came up. Since it was on State Street, I expected three things: it would be expensive, the atmosphere would focus on accommodating young people with money, and food quality would be lackluster. I was wrong on all three expectations.

Looking back, the first indication that this place would defy expectations was that the person making the pizza didn't understand English very well. We wanted the Supreme Pizza, but without mushrooms or olives on half. He did seem to agree that we could have different toppings on each side, and I thought we had communicated our desires adequately. Ultimately though, our pizza was bereft of mushrooms and olives on the whole pizza.

The next clue was that they had a great selection of Mexican soda; the kind that isn't available unless you are at an authentic Mexican restaurant or in the Barrio. No matter, we took advantage of the rare availability.

It wasn't until we completed our order and was looking for a table that I realized that Mexican music was playing in the background. Loudly. I don't mind non-English speaking music, but I'm not a fan of loud music with accordions and tubas. Not my thing.

The pizza arrived quickly, and I realized that I over-ordered. The 12-inch pizza would easily feed two hungry people. We didn't need the garlic bread sticks, and they were late in coming anyway.

The pizza was heaven; a wonderful amalgamation of taste, texture, and aroma. The crispy crust on the bottom and fresh al dente bell peppers and onions on top bookended the wonderful flavors in the middle. It was a memorable pizza.

The bread sticks eventually arrived, unwanted and unneeded. I tasted one and it was unremarkable. With the pizza consumed and the accordions blaring, it was time to go. We won't be back for the sodas, but maybe...

We were sadly disappointed with this place, despite the “raving” reviews. The pros: Easy access and on the main State Street strip. The cons: Unfriendly staff! My 5 years old daughter went to the counter to ask for napkins, instead of helping her, the staff pointed her to get it herself, even though there were not many patrons. food quality - We ordered a well-done vegetarian pizza, to our dismay the veggies looked nearly fresh and not cooked. Might as well have added the toppings after the crus was baked. We had to eat couple of the pizza slices out of hunger and because the 5 year old was famished, but ended up leaving two or three because it was simply not eatable. poor management - when we mentioned to one of the staff members and shared the feedback, she was somewhat receptive to the comments and she said she was going to get her manager. The manager, never came by to ask or hear the concerns, mind you we found out he was the one at the register that took our order. cleanliness- nealry all the tables were not clear and needed to be wiped, except one all the way to the end near the doorway which looked wiped and clean.

I took the plates and remained pizza to the counter and asked the young lady that was mopping if the manager was around or ? She said, ohh did you want to talk to him? I believe he opted to not deal with it and thought it was not worth it.

Anyhow, given this place had barely any customers and was not busy, their service and food should have been better!

I highly recommend choosing the other option down the street, which we should have gone to and not be fooled with the rating!

Today when I attempted to call and speak with a manager, yet again an abrupt response made and then hung up. The management team should be better and someone that is experienced and has customer...