Rise Woodfire Pizza & Rotisserie — Restaurant in Santa Clara

I had a disappointing experience with this pizza store, and unfortunately, it seems to stem from poor management and a lack of discipline in how the business is run. When I called to place an order, I asked if they accepted phone orders. The person on the phone confirmed they did, so I went ahead and ordered a chicken pizza. She told me it would be ready in 15 minutes, but her tone was so indifferent and unprofessional that it felt like she didn’t care about her job at all.

After 15 minutes, I arrived at the store. The receptionist tried to locate my order but couldn’t find it. To my surprise, he then asked me to pay so they could start making the pizza! This showed a complete lack of coordination and organization. I ended up paying and waiting another 15 minutes for them to prepare it.

The pizza itself was another letdown. The chicken tasted stale, as if it had been sitting for days, and it had an unpleasant smell. It seemed like they just threw on scraps of chicken from the counter rather than using fresh, quality ingredients. The bread was tough, dry, and hard to chew, making the meal even less enjoyable.

Overall, this experience reflects poorly on the store's owner or management. It’s clear they haven’t properly trained their staff or implemented the discipline needed to run a business efficiently. Poor training and a lack of organization are the reasons customers like me have such an unpleasant experience. I would rate them 1 star and definitely wouldn’t recommend this...

Came here on a Saturday night with friends and I must say this is a very good place for wood fire pizza.

For appetizers we went with jalapeño corn bread which had the jalapeño flavor with corn and… bread. It comes with a slightly sweet honey butter which made it a sweet treat.

Next we got the Burrata + Tomatoes with Pesto which was a very refreshing treat. I’m a big fan of the pesto here and the burrata on the toast made it a nice appetizer.

For pizzas we went with margherita which was solid, just slightly wet. The sauce went all over the plate but it’s a nice subtle melody of tomato pizza with basil.

Next we got the salsiccia which was a nice savory pizza with chives and fennel seeds. We added pesto too and made for a very nice hearty pizza.

Lastly we got the calabrese + honey. I don’t really taste the honey except for on the crust so for me it wasn’t that salt and sweet pizza I was hoping to be. It was just another ham pizza at the end of the day.

For drinks, I ordered the nectar on the rise which I absolutely love. Very nice tequila with ginger beer cocktail. My friend ordered peacock daisy which didn’t have a lasting taste. It felt flat and not great.

Service isn’t too bad. We had to keep asking for water when our jar was empty. We also had to wait forever for our waiter to come get the check.

Overall, our next door table was super noisy, super belligerent because they were so inebriated. But overall without them, this place would be a...

One Star — Would Give Less If I Could ⭐☆☆☆☆

I really wanted to love Rise Woodfire in Santa Clara, but the experience was a total letdown from beginning to end. This was supposed to be a fun afternoon date with my wife after errands—and based on my fantastic San Mateo visit, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, Santa Clara didn’t even come close.

The Food: • Pesto Lemon Shrimp Pizza was flavorful with just the right char • Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread packed a great kick • Henhouse IPA hit the spot, and the Housemade Lemonade was refreshingly balanced Kitchen = 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Service: • Took over 10 minutes just to place our order ⏱️ • No one checked back for napkins, straws, or how things were tasting • We weren’t offered dessert or anything else 🍰 • They didn’t even check me in on OpenTable 📅 • Getting the check dragged on, and no manager was available when asked

Not being offered dessert or a second drink—or even a quick “How’s everything?”—is table stakes. The whole experience felt flat, like we were just another few seats to get through, not guests to delight. One star is being generous—and only because the food was genuinely good. 😞

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I’m very disappointed and feel like I was short‑changed on the experience, especially since it didn’t match my first visit at your San Mateo location. I truly hope you’ll reach out to me to discuss this further and see how the Santa Clara team...