Cappy’s Pizzeria

I was so excited to try Cappys for the first time! I arrived at 845 and stood in line for a few minutes. When I reached the server he said «kitchens closed we are no longer taking orders» even though it was 8:50. There were still people eating at the restaurant, and almost 4 employees saw me and said nothing while I was standing there. I said all we want is a cheese pie and he replied «I can only make you a salad.» He was very rude and clearly didn’t care to make the extra 20 bucks at the end of the night. Stinks for his boss and his business! I am truly disappointed in their customer service, I can’t say anything about the food because I never got any. Will never return to this establishment again.

Atmosphere is casual unassuming kitsch — FL and 70’s memorabilia, pew seating, homemade display tables, adorable rocket ship signage, and nifty lite palm trees in the parking lot. Great patio area too. Each Cappy’s location is different and has its own personality — neat.
Love the simple ‘pizza and salad’ places and Cappy’s does a great job with those offerings. Greek salad is delicious and NY style pizza has that old school (70’s) style. Do not come here expecting gourmet coal oven fig and brie pizza, it’s just regular old pizza. I’ve never tried the deep dish because I’m a thin cruster but I’ve heard it’s got sauce on the top a la old school Chicago style (which makes me want to try!)

Best pizza in town as far as I’m concerned, plus they have beer. Friendly staff as well. Great pizza and beer, nothing more to add.

The absolute best. A Seminole heights treasure. Get the Greek salad and the Chicago style Cappy’s pizza. You’ll die happy.

The New York style isn’t really New York Style, it is better. Perfect combination of crisp and chewy.
I like what they do with their beer options, for bottled beer, they have a beer fridege, and you pick what you want, and just tell the server. **** awesome idea ****.
Our server was very good. Accomodating, knowledgeable of the menu, and the right level of attentiveness and leaving us alone.
The booths off privacy with the high walls, but if you have a group, then long tables in the middle may be more suited.
Cheese bread was fantastic too. Solid 4+*! My wife would give this place a 5.0*, but this isn’t the 1800’s, she can get on Unilocal and give her own rating now they women have suffrage as well.

Let me say I WILL be back to this restaurant, however, how in the hell does a Chicago style pizzeria run out of Chicago style Dough. UNACCEPTABLE. I guess they spent too much money on beard oil, fixie bikes, and Hopps for their at home brewing setup. Ruined date night but again I will be back just very very disappointed

Great ambiance. Very casual and eclectic. Pizza is very good. And the Greek salad is fantastic.

Seated right away on a Friday night. Excellent Greek salad, bread sticks, and Cappys style New York pizza! Soooooo good! Dare I say best in Tampa? First visit was a success!

We happened upon this place by accident, after trying to get Ramen just down the street, and facing an hour wait. My wife was in a fit of mad hunger, and we needed to find a place STAT, or the world would soon collapse around us.
So we quickly found ourselves right in front of Cappy’s. Maybe I wasn’t wearing my glasses, but I would have sworn it said «Crappy’s», and I thought what an unfortunate name, but I digress…
We walked in, an the place seemed totally cool. It seems as though it has been there since the 40’s, with old worn down wooden booths, glass tops with interesting artifacts underneath, and all kinds of stuff on the walls that was once called «junk», but now makes for cool 40’s and 50’s décor. And the train! I mean, they have a model train high on the wall that circles the whole place, and who would not love that, right?
So when we got our menus, we were a bit confused, as they were old album covers (each different), with the menu items printed along with the album text. A little confusing, since each was also different, and it was blurry (Hmmm, maybe I wasn’t wearing my glasses after all).
Nonetheless, they basically offer New York Style Pizza and Chicago Style. We ordered one of each, plus breadsticks and a Greek Salad.
To start with the pizza:
The New York Pizza was good. Not in a «I can’t wait to go back there to have it» way, but in a «if others want to have it in the future, I won’t complain» way.
The Chicago pizza was, in my opinion, better. The crust really reminded me of some of the places I have been in Chicago. It wasn’t as deep dish as traditional Chicago, but given the choice between the two types, next time I am here, it will be Chicago for me. But pizza is a very personal thing, so take my opinion lightly.
The breadsticks were actually fantastic. We got two orders, not expecting how big one order was. A mistake, as one order would have been more than enough. Nonetheless, LOVED THEM!!!
I’m leaving the Greek Salad for last, because that was my favorite thing there. Let me get out of the way that this was not a «Greek» Greek Salad, but an «American» Greek Salad. That is, have a real traditional Greek Salad, and you don’t have lettuce and some of the other ingredients here. But that said, it was really, really good. Enough that I would go here just because I am in the mood for a salad, but we would still end up getting pizza, of course :-).
On a last note, this place is CASH ONLY. Sorry everyone, no Apple Pay, let alone plastic accepted. I’ve seen other reviewers complain about this in their reviews, but REALLY? Good for them. They save on all the credit card fees, and I’m sure you can hit up an ATM before coming here, right? If that is a problem for you, I would take a long and serious look in the mirror and have a little talk with yourself about what is important in life.

Classic, historical pizzeria in the center of the Seminole Heights scene that does not seem to have changed in 40+ years. The pizzas come as either NY or Chicago style: as my gf is from the former and myself the latter city, we get both. The pizza is Tampa’s closest to authentic for either style imho. Also, the calzones and salads are enormous and at least as good as the pizza here.
The dining room is like walking into the past: mostly 1950s furniture (complete with model train encircling the ceiling circumference) yet also with 80’s video game machines, toy action figures, etc. The overall scene is definitely family oriented and very local to Seminole Heights.
One key note: they are cash only (with ATM on site) and service is not the fastest (yet quality is outstanding). I suppose this is keeping with the authenticity of the overall experience, but I still like my credit card dining rewards points.
I can’t give them than 5 stars based on location, food quality, and experience.

I’ve been here a few times and have always had great service and even better pizza. The atmosphere is spunky and you feel like you’ve traveled through time. The menus are on record covers, pretty cool. The tables have vintage games underneath the glass tops and there is a train that goes around the top of the seating area.
The restaurant only accepts cash, but there is an ATM machine inside for your use.
I’m partial to NY style pizza, all that cheese! I’m by no means a pizza expert but this pizza is pretty yummy! We usually order the NY Cappy’s pizza which is loaded with sausage, ham, pepperoni, green peppers, onions and mushrooms. You can’t forget to order the cheese bread. I have yet to try the Chicago style pizza, maybe next time.

This is a super awesome restaurant! First off, the atmosphere is adorable! The decorations include an electric train around the perimeter of the ceiling, and old records and board games. There is a beer fridge and you can help yourself to drinks and use the bottle opener next to the fridge.
The pizza is absolutely delicious! You can choose between NY style and deep dish chicago style. Both are excellent. The deep dish uses a true deep dish crust (but with wheat, not corn meal flour). I’ve been to Chicago many times, and this is the closest to true deep dish I have found in FL. The salads are excellent as well! Definitely recommend the greek salad, and it comes with potato salad underneath in true Tampa fashion.
Just FYI, it does get crowded on weekends and they don’t take cards so bring cash. They do have an ATM on site.

Only thing I’ve had here is the deep dish, so I can not give feedback on anything else. However, I think they’re deep dish is GOOD. Granted, I’ve never been to Chicago, but one of my best friends says this is the closest you’ll get to authentic deep dish in the Tampa Bay Area. You need to be prepared for a wait (the pizza takes a bit to cook, so don’t come too hungry) and to pay in cash. The décor is cute and I love the little train that wraps around the perimeter near the ceiling.
If you like deep dish, this is a place to try!

Great atmosphere, but the pizza is very poor. I would rather eat franchised pizza joints like pizza Hut or domino’s before cappys. I don’t know what the hype is about. Also, bring your cash because they don’t accept cards.
I recommend ABC pizza house on Hillsborough as an alternative. Their pizza is so good. One of my favorites around this area.

Awesome décor.
Cash only, what year is it?!
Pizza sauce flavorless.
Crust was bland and served watery.
The salad may have been the best part and even that was whack.
Super expensive if you were to try and build your own pizza at $ 1.50 per topping totally a waste. Staff was mildly interested in serving us, impossible to get refills. Cappys pizza is crappy pizza. Pizza from a can.
There’s a frigging dog in the kitchen!!! Totally unacceptable, the pizza chefs were feeding it.

Yum-​um. If that was a word, it would sum up Cappy’s.
They have the BEST salad, the best cooler full of beer, and the best NY style pizza.
Hipster cool and located in Seminole Heights, this pizzeria is the real deal.

I think I found a new pizza spot! While not the best Chicago style I have had its one of the best pizza spots I have found in Tampa so far ;-) I’m still a newbie to the area hehe. Anyway I ordered a medium with mushroom and pepperoni it was enough to feed my boyfriend and I. The only thing I didn’t like was how hard the crust was other Chicago style pizzas were softer crust and I prefer that. But it is still good! I liked the cheese on the bottom and I didn’t think it was too much sauce because I like sauce. They seemed really busy and they only were open an hour. We got take out and they had our order ready and right. I would like to try their NYC style next time and their salad. Caution this place is cash only! I will come back here again.

So, I have heard both good and bad things about this place. I decided to give it a try and here’s what we experienced.
I don’t like the cash only rule as who uses cash in 2015? Knowing that in advance we made sure to have the money with us. The place was pretty empty at 6:00pm on a Monday night. Our waitress sat us down and room us to the only table that had visible food droppings in plain site on the floor. I figured she would come back and clean it… nope. Salad was great and so was the Chicago style pizza.
It did take a long time to receive our pizza, but we chalked that up to the style we ordered. The place plays loud music which my partner hates, but I don’t mind. Restrooms were clean and waitress was nice. We are going to go back and try a regular style pizza before we decide to become regulars or not.

3.5 Stars, but rounded up solely for sentimental reasons.
I love the interesting building, the train that goes around the top of the restaurant, and getting my own beer or soda from a wide selection in the coolers. I love their Greek salad, and the delicious dressing they put on it. I love the trivial pursuit cards on the tables, the cool vintage items on display under the glass at each table, and the fact that the menus are on album covers. I love the vintage candy cigarette machine, even though it doesn’t work.
I like their pizza. They offer both Chicago deep dish style pizza and New York style traditional pizza. Deep dish comes out with a nice crunchy crust, loaded with the pizza sauce on top. The New York style has a thinner crust, with the toppings buried under the cheese. Both style pizzas are tasty, but I would say the deep dish is my favorite here. I like their pizza sauce, but I need to start ordering ‘light sauce’ on my deep dish, because it’s a tad too soupy.
I dislike the fact they only take cash. Truthfully, it has stopped me from ordering from them many a time. Service can be hit or miss, although the past few times I have dined in it has been excellent, so perhaps they got rid of the surly servers.
Most importantly — I appreciate that they have been in Seminole Heights for a very long time, and took a chance on the area when it was still pretty sketchy, so, cash in hand, I’ll be back.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding… We have a winner, sports fans!
Cappy’s Pizzeria has been a Seminole Heights institution for years, and they serve up some mighty fine pizza inside of a fun, kitschy, throw-​back-​to-​the-​50s funky Florida roadhouse kinda place. You’ll find Cappy’s on Florida Avenue, south of Hillsborough Avenue and right before the Florida Avenue «split». This local pizzeria chain also has locations on Bay-​to-​Bay in South Tampa, St. Petersburg, Brandon /​Riverview, and most recently up into Tampa Palms. Most of the locations don’t open until 5pm, except for those folks in Tampa Palms who wanted Cappy’s open for lunch as well.
My business partner and his wife invited me to join them for dinner at Cappy’s tonight, and we were also joined by their daughter and her husband — all of them are Cappy’s regulars and they knew the drill about signing your name onto the clipboard as you walked in the front door. We got there about 6:30 on a Friday night, and I had just enough time to click a couple of interior photos before we were being shown to our table back near the open-​air kitchen.
As other have described, the décor is very fun with advertising pennants from old Florida roadside attractions, old license plates, and crazy antiques hanging on the walls. Additionally the tables are built like shadow boxes with glass-​covered tops displaying board game playing pieces, and nostalgic memoirs of days gone by within Florida. Oh, and let’s not forget the train that circles the ceiling of the dining room while you’re eating your dinner. The menus are printed on the backs of old cardboard covers for vinyl record albums, and that just adds to the charm of the place.
Speaking of the menu, Cappy’s offers a Greek salad, Caesar salad, or regular tossed salad, along with breadsticks or cheesebread for you to inhale (I mean, daintily nibble upon) while waiting for your pizza to bake. You can order either NY-​style thin crust pizza, Chicago deep dish pizza, or a calzone. The list of toppings includes anchovies, bacon, chicken, ham, meatball, sausage, pepperoni, artichoke hearts, banana peppers, basil, black olives, broccoli, feta cheese, garlic, green olives, green peppers, mushrooms, onion, pepperoncini, pineapple, spinach, sun-​dried tomato & fresh tomato. Whew!
You can «build your own» pizza from the list above, or select one of their two special pizzas, «The Cappy» which is made with sausage, ham, pepperoni, green pepper, onion, and mushroom, or «The Veggie» which is green pepper, onion, mushroom, black olive, and tomato.
Now let me be perfectly honest… I’m not a huge fan of Chicago-​style deep dish pizza, as I prefer to enjoy the tomato sauce and toppings atop a thin crust rather than munching on slices of pepperoni perched atop a wad of Parker House dinner rolls, but hey… it’s your choice, and Cappy’s offers both styles of pizza.
Since there were five of us we started with a large Greek salad and two orders of cheesebread, followed by a large «Cappy» NY-​style pizza, and just to be sure that no one went home hungry we also ordered a second large Pepperoni pizza (also NY-​style). Let the oinking begin now!
I won’t bore you with the ooohs and the ahhs that followed each bite of food, so I’ll just say that everything was delicious, and we did walk out with a box of leftovers for them to enjoy tomorrow while I’m busy working the Gasparilla parade.
Remember to bring CASH for your dinner at Cappy’s as they do not accept any plastic, checks, or IOUs. CASH only, and there is an ATM on-​site. Remember to also bring a hearty appetite as the portions are huge, and the food is amazingly tasty.