Smug’s Pizza

I’m not for the area. But I’ve been coming up here for over 25 years and I come from a place of many pizza joints. Every time I make it to Arcata, my first stop is to Smug’s. I’m not going to say I’m an expert. But I
have eaten many pizza’s in my day. And I know a good slice of pizza. So I give this place 6 stars.
Petrillo’s (San Gabriel)
Angelo’s (Alhambra)

Yikes! People are giving this 5 stars??? really??? Were you high?
The only person that’s smug is whoever owns this joint and passes this off as pizza for $ 3.00 a slice!
The good: Guys were friendly.
The bad: place is dirty. Cutting surface looks like it’s from 1970 and harboring a lot of bacteria.
The ceiling looks like it’s gonna cave in any second.
This is a walk up storefront. There is no seating.
Cash or local check only.
Most of all the pizza is terrible! Where do I start?
The crust was it crisp and thin. The sauce tasted like uncooked canned tomato with no seasoning. The cheese was flavorless but the artichoke and onion were ok.
I’ve had better frozen pizzas.
I typically do not give one star right away until I have tried a place more than once but this was so bad there is no going back.

First review was 3 stars, I admit I was wrong.
This place is heaven on earth. The crust. For the love of god. The crust.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. During my college years at HSU Smugs pizza had an iconic status. In the years since it has only grown in my mind. Can a slice of pizza really be that good? Can crust be that golden and tasty? Can pizza toppings be that fresh and delicious? Can a couple bucks for a cheesy treat possibly equal the eleven years of rose-​tinted memories that built it up?
The answer is YES.

Great tasting pizza with crust that is surprisingly irresistible as well. The Hawaiian style pizza is probably my top choice of their variety of pizzas. Arguably the best pizza in Arcata.

Any business in 2015 that accepts cash and checks only can enjoy my one star. Not sure what else to say, but for real, you can’t just add a small surcharge onto credit customers? Like really?!

…a step up from ellios.

I’ve lived in Arcata for all of my life, and I have always thought that Smug’s had the best tasting pizza around.
Pros: Decent price to quantity ratio
The best crust (and everything else if you ask me)
Cons: Very small
cash only

Last week I ordered three pizzas to go. When I got to the restaurant they told me that they were out of some of the ingredients for one of the pizzas, so they give me a discount and some complimentary cookies. The service was great.
The pizzas were delicious and the snickerdoodles were out of this world.

Always there for a fast slice. Not the best in town. But the only pizza in McKinleyville IMO. Pizza can tend to be a bit hard from the heat lamps. But when it’s fresh, it’s actually not bad.

Smugs is the best pizza by the slice in Arcata. Their staff is always very curtious and friendly. Of course the buy one slice, get a 2^nd for $ 1 is a no brainer!
Smugs has THE BEST Hawaiian Pizza I have ever tasted, it is a must try, I sometimes just go in and order 2 of those.
In reality, however, you can’t go wrong with any selection. The dough is tasty, the sauce is delicious, perfect amount of cheese. And the crust is delightful. Folded over for extra thickness & crisp. And the best part is the thin layer of pizza sauce through the middle with a buttery garlic spread on top.
In Short, this place is great for a quick cheap $ 4 to $ 5.25 (depending on if you want a drink and chips or cookie) stop for lunch in Arcata. Or if you want to order a large pie for the family. Highly recommend

When it comes to restaurants, I believe that there are three primary factors that should be considered: (1) Quality, quantity, and flavored compared to expectations, (2) Service, restaurant cleanliness, and group size appropriate server interaction, and finally (3) atmosphere, location, and experience.
This is a walk-​up pizza window with great pizza by the slice deals. There’s nothing fancy about them, but they offer, great service, excellent pizza deals, what I consider to be the tastiest pizza in Humboldt.
PROS
The sauce is unique and tastes amazing! None of that Little Caesars junk sauce here. They typically pile on the cheese and toppings. Only rarely will you get a slice of pie that is underwhelming. Second slices are always a dollar — why would you ever make the mistake of buying just one slice…
CONS
The shop is very small, so if its raining outside it can get crowded inside. The pizza is so good that sometimes you will have to wait in line for 5 or 10 minutes.

The pizza here is great. I even eat the crust, which I don’t really do anywhere else. I never know what kind of toppings they’ll have when I go, but it’s fun to try new things. The only downsides are that they only take cash and you have to take it to go, both of which limit how often I eat there.

Smugs is awful, but is better than drinking paint. Pizza in Humboldt is surprisingly sketchy (who knew an area known for weed would have such lousy food?), but this local chain is worse than Big Petes, Westside, Blue Max (Closed); even Round Table & Papa Murphy’s are better.
This place won’t make you choke if you are desperate for food (and isn’t a bad idea if you are homeless), but the only reason anyone should ever give their money to Smugs is for a quick slick to eat while late to work or school. Even then, I’d still go to another pizzeria.

My boyfriend got me some sort of pizza that consisted of cheese, jalapeño, pineapple and some other things I don’t remember. I ate it cold for breakfast and it was PERFECT, I then proceeded to get another slice a few days later… ate it warm and was just as satisfied. The guy at the front counter was really chill and talkative too, Completely irrelevant but the people waiting in line were all very courteous as well… as there is only standing room and no one was a dick or being pushy/​dragging ass. I will return for sure,

So yummy.

Smugs makes the second best pizza in town in my opinion. For a while I thought it was the best, but then I got used to New York Live and now I think I prefer that. The reason that I ended up eating at NYL over Smug’s was that Smug’s has nowhere to sit!
I’m not a graceful pizza eater. My slices flop all over the place; I miss my mouth half the time; I drop pizza toppings all over the place. I need a place to sit and eat. I can’t just stand there and cram a slice down my pie hole and then run. Unfortunately Smug’s is situated in the TINIEST ROOM EVER. I don’t even know how they manage to make pizza in there. It could be Dr. Who’s pizza company or something, maybe the back is bigger than it looks or uses some sort of advanced physics spacial redistribution or something.
Anyway, if you’re in there with more than two people you better like them a lot because you’ll probably be smashed up against them. This is why I prefer to only order Smug’s as a whole pizza and take it to my apartment where I can feel free to eat pizza in my sloppy manner and enjoy it on my butt (sitting down – I don’t put pizza on my butt).
The thing I like most about Smug’s is their crust. It has sauce under it and so it tastes more like you’re eating a breadstick at the end of your slice rather than crispy stale bread like NYL or other thin crust pizza places. It’s so moist and delicious that it really makes a huge difference. Nobody likes to finish their pizza with burnt crispy leftover crust (luckily my girlfriend LIKES that junk so she eats it for me which makes me feel better).
The staff is a mix of random college kids so the service depends on who you get. Sometimes I had really nice friendly people, other times I had people who seemed high and irritable. It’s a crap shoot, but it’s never been downright negative.
If you have a place to take your pizza back to, grab a whole pie, you won’t be sorry!

Two words: Cash only.
Smug’s is delicious. They have the best steal in Arcata, 2 for $ 4, can’t go wrong!

best pizza in arcata!!! but don’t expect to eat there hahaha. My favorte: chicken, tomato, and artichoke hearts with a pesto sauce!!! to die for
really fresh ingredients and unique flavor.

One word… Yummy!!!
I went here for the first time today and got a slice of Pineapple and a slice of Tomato, Garlic, Green onion. The second slice was only an additional $ 1!
I loved the crust, sauce and cheese… it all just went so well together.
There isn’t a sit down area but grab your food and go sit on the plaza for entertainment.
If you are ever looking for some quick, delicious pizza… here it is.