Restaurant: Sammy's Woodfired Pizza / Sammy's Cafe Location: Chain, mostly in San Diego, CA Price Range: $7.95-$16.95

Number of visits: Many
Last visit before review: June 9, 2001

Randy has had: Mushroom pizza, rotisserie chicken, Norwegian salmon filet, grilled lamb chops, grilled shrimp salad (with alterations), grilled chicken salad, messy sundae, iced tea.

Jeff has had: Mushroom pizza, rotisserie chicken, chicken tequila fettuccine, grilled lamb chops, grilled shrimp salad (with alterations), gilled chicken salad, messy sundae, iced tea.

Entrees such as the rotisserie chicken, grilled lamb chops, and Norwegian salmon come with cheesy mashed potatoes and green beans with mushrooms and roasted garlic.

Rating 9 (of 12) Good

Jeff says: The mushroom pizza is just packed with garlic, which completely ruins it for me.

Randy says: I don't mind some garlic, but the mushroom pizza has too much garlic for even me. We have asked them to go light on the garlic, which they have done, but once we forgot until it was too late. The rotisserie chicken is respectable, but as is often the case all the seasonings are on the skin (which we don't eat) and the meat can be dry and bland.

Jeff says: It's hit and miss with the rotisserie chicken. When its moist it's wonderful, but when it's dry it isn't. What's consistently wonderful is the grilled lamb chops. They are very nicely seasoned. I love the cheesy mashed potatoes. The green beans are good too.

Randy says: The lamb chops are tasty and not overly fatty. They have a tendency to be over cooked, as is very common with lamb chops. I like the Norwegian salmon because it's marinated. I don't care for the cheesy mashed potatoes that come with these entrees; they're way too cheesy. The green beans and mushrooms are good but much greasier than I prefer, but if the garlic doesn't get well roasted it can be a bit much.

Jeff says: I expected the chicken tequila fettuccine to be creamy as the same dish is elsewhere, but at Sammy's it's got a dark, flavorful sauce that's just wonderful. The bell pepper, cilantro, and red onion give it a delicious flavor. We like to get the shrimp salad, but substitute chicken for the shrimp. The reason we do that instead of getting one of the chicken salads is we like the ingredients in the shrimp salad better than those in the chicken salad. The mixed greens, bell peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, scallions, cilantro, grilled chicken, and balsamic basil dressing make a nice combination of flavors and textures. The only thing I don't like about it is that there is white cabbage in it, which is hard to eat around.

Randy says: The chicken tequila fettuccine is yummy, and I like that it isn't creamy. I like the grilled shrimp salad with chicken substituted, and I don't mind the cabbage. The grilled chicken salad, which consists of mixed lettuce, walnuts, gorgonzola, and balsamic basil dressing is good too, but we both really like the other one better.

Jeff says: For a while Sammy's ran ads for a free messy sundae with purchase of any two entrees. A messy sundae is a glass goblet full of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, nuts, and fudge overfilled so that the fudge and nuts drip all down the outside of the glass, where you scrape them off with your spoon. It's a delicious dessert, but after a filling entree it's just too much.

Randy says: The messy sundae is just too much and over the top. It's enough for 5 people. They go way overboard to make it messy. The iced tea at Sammy's isn't bad. Their dinner bread isn't bad either.

Jeff says: I think the iced tea is very good. It's got a nice flavor and obviously isn't from a mix. I usually love bread with a meal, but the dinner bread at Sammy's is a hard, twisted roll which I usually skip.

We usually avoid chain restaurants, but that's because they serve food that is formulaic and mediocre at best. Not so at Sammy's. The locations tend to be small and in popular shopping centers, so there is usually a crowd and a wait to get in. Once in, if it is crowded service can be slow, but there have also been times where we got in and out quickly, even on a saturday at 7:30. The small dining rooms consist of hard masonry surfaces, and can get noisy. There are also heated outdoor dining areas. Sammy's is on the expensive side. Even though we know this, we are always amazed at how much we have spent when we have each had an entree and a beverage, and shared a large salad. We have taken family and friends to Sammy's, and all have shared our appreciation for the good food.