Sammy's Woodfired Pizza
www.sammyspizza.com
Last verified 4/11
Reminder: You must take the responsibility of being vigilant by always reconfirming the GF status of a menu item and addressing cross-contamination issues each and every time.
Sammy's Woodfired Pizza has a gluten-free pizza crust as an option for an addtional charge of $3. They use the GF Toovaloo pizza crusts made here in San Diego.
Sammy's also provides a full gluten-free menu at each restaurant. The menu includes not only their GF pizza, but a soup, tapas, salads, a wrap, and more. It is not available on their website as of 4/8/11.
Ms. Burrell from Sammy's in 2009 stated:
"Our Corporate Chef has trained all kitchen staff with the
preparation in regards to cross contamination. Although the staff
is informed and properly trained, there is always the possibility of
cross contamination due to the fact that the restaurant is a non-
gluten free establishment. The chefs are extra careful when
preparing all items on the menu and we have made them full aware of
the dangers of cross contamination. I would mention that you have
Celiac Disease to your server just so they can alert the kitchen
staff.!"
Carol S., 4/11
"I ate at Sammy’s in San Marcos last week. They have a nice GF menu. I contacted them tonight to recommend that they improve the pizza crust, I suggested that they research how Brick Oven pizza and Long Island pizza make their crust. That would be a definite improvement! It was nice to be able to order a pizza while everyone else had their regular pizza, the topping were good, but the crust was so thin and crispy, I hoped I wouldn’t break a tooth while eating it!"
Tim M., 8/10
"I had a gluten free pizza at Sammy's Pizza downtown. I sat at the counter and watched the preparation. I was pleased to see that they put my little pizza on a separate pan to put into the oven. I also noted that there was wheat flour all over the place. The cook's hands were covered with it. I assumed that there was a lot of it in the work area, and I wondered how contaminated my pizza would be. Sure enough, I had a reaction. I have been awake since 2 AM with diarrhea, as I type this.
According to the server, Sammy's can serve just about any menu item gluten free. But with all the wheat flour on their hot line, I am surmising that the only thing which might be safe would have to come from the cold side, a salad of something like that.
I sent a comment to Sammy's corporate office in La Jolla. I'll let you know what they say."
Tim M., 8/10 "There is a sequel to this. I informed Sammy's of my experience, and they responded quickly. One of their corporate people named Michael called me, and we discussed their procedures. He told me that while they can't guarantee anything, that their procedures had been developed in consultation with some experts to minimize the possibility of cross contamination, while being able to do business. For example, they put the pizza in it's own pan in the oven (which I observed). While they use the same source of tomato sauce, they take the precaution of using a clean spoon to apply the sauce, rather than the ladle which is in the sauce but which has been used on other pizza's. They don't slice the gluten free pizza's on a regular cutting board, but rather keep them in their own pan for slicing.
It sounded to me like they make a genuine effort to minimize contamination. I guess it just depends on how sensitive you are."
CE, San Marcos, 7/10
"I would love to recommend Sammy's Woodfired Pizza in the Las Posas shopping center in San Marcos. Every time I go there, the gluten-free awareness gets better and better! Most recent visit was 6/28/2010, the best yet.
Three visits ago: GF crust for $3 extra, no Redbridge, no artisan pizzas. I asked the manager to consider carrying Redbridge so we could have beer with our pizza.
Two visits ago: Redbridge had been added to the menu! Still can't get anything but the basic pizzas, but a great improvement.
Most recent visit: They had an entire printed GF menu (not a little card, but a full-blown menu) adapting their appetizers and other menu items to be GF. We got the hummus and they served it with hearts of romaine instead of flatbread, AND the artisan pizza that they weren't able to do before but now have on the GF menu. They totally get it! We were so pleased, the entire table ordered GF even though I'm the only one who needed it, just to show our support for the changes.
Will definitely return and suggest others do too! Vote with your dollars!
P.S. -- The Las Posas shopping center is a little GF slice of heaven -- Sprouts Farmer's Market has their gluten-free sale circular, Pei Wei and Sammy's are there, etc. It's like being "regular people" again!
Roxie J., 10/09
"My sister and I both eat gluten-free and went to Sammy's for lunch on Saturday in Carmel Valley. We shared an artichoke GF pizza and the small-sized Chopped Chicken salad. Both were delicious!"
Mel, 9/09
"We tried Sammy's Woodfired Pizza in Carlsbad last month for Sunday lunch. I had Four Onion Soup and the gluten-free Goat Cheese Pizza. The waitress was very friendly and offered to personally make sure the chef knows it is for gluten-free. Service was great and the food tasted great.
In addition to the ingredients listed for each pizza, they also put mozzerrella which I don't think agrees with me. When I chew it, instead of starting to digest it, it grows into a bigger and bigger ball! The food tasted great and it was a pleasant experience. But after coming home, I got sick and didn't feel well for four days. I don't think it was an exposure to gluten, however, as they seemed quite knowledgable and willing to please. I think the mozzarella they use doesn't agree with me.
Someday I would like to try the Four Onion Soup again as it was delicious and it is hard to find onion soup that doesn't have a chunk of bread as well as other gluten in it."
K. De Mill, 8/09
"We have been back to the newly re-opened Sammys in Carlsbad. They are having trouble cooking the gluten-free pizza crust without burning it. Also, they are now omitting tomato sauce on all GF pizzas unless specifically requested."
Debbie Toon, 3/09
See a review on Debbie's blog "glutenfreeinsandiego.blogspot".
Carlsbad
5970 Avenida Encinas, 92008
760-438-1212 |
Mission Valley (San Diego)
1620 Camino de la Reina, 92108
619-298-8222 |
Costa Verde (San Diego)
8650 Genesse Ave., 92122
858 404 9898
|
Point Loma (San Diego)
2401 Truxtun Suite 102, 92106
619-222-3111 |
Del Mar
12925 El Camino Real, 92130
858 259 6600 |
San Diego Downtown/Gaslamp
770 fourth Ave, 92101
619 230 8888 |
La Jolla
702 Pearl Street, 92037
858 456 5222 |
San Marcos
121 South Las Posas Rd., 92078
760-591-4222 |
La Mesa
8555 Fletcher Pkwy., Ste. 104, 91942
619-460-8555 |
Scripps Ranch (San Diego)
10785 Scripps Poway Pkwy B, 92131
858-695-0900 |
