Straw Hat Pizza

This isn’t award winning pizza.
It’s not Neopolitan-​style with goat cheese and artichoke hearts, or homemade mozzarella, or anything like that.
What it is is affordable, decent pizza in a friendly atmosphere, with kind staff. That, itself, is worth plenty to me.
I went to Straw Hat specifically because they had a salad bar, which I enjoy at lunch. While the options were limited, all the produce was fresh. They had lettuces, a few mixed veggies, four dressings, two pasta salads, jello (does anyone, anywhere, with a full set of teeth eat jello?), chickpeas, and shredded cheese. Everything looked clean and like people hadn’t stuck their fingers in the food, which is nice.
They had pizza out on the buffet but there were only a few pieces, and a scattering of potato wedges. However, I was there at 11:30, so I think the employee was waiting for more people to arrive to make fresh pizza, which made sense to me.
I ordered the lunch special of salad bar, breadsticks, and a soda for around $ 8.00. I was taken aback by the breadsticks: they were delivered fresh from the oven, and a huge portion of garlicky, cheesy, crispy bread twists. They were amazing, and enough for three people if they weren’t so good I wanted to keep them to myself. For the price, I got a great amount of reasonable quality food.
The place itself was silent, but I’d assume it starts jumping later in the day and on weekends. They had TVs strewn across the ceiling, with news, sports, and Sponge Bob playing. There’s also an arcade for kids to pester their parents about, if you’re looking for other entertainment. I have to say, the women’s restroom was out of soap, and the men’s reeked of urine, so that was unpleasant. The rest of the restaurant, however, seemed clean.
The front counter employee was friendly, attentive to needs, made fresh pizzas for every customer who walked in the door, and seemed genuinely happy to be helping us. I appreciated his smile.
For value, and as a place to take the family or a bunch of kids, I’d definitely recommend this place.

Always great delivery service to our vet hospital! Thanks!

If you are into watching TV and drinking beer this is your place! 30 TV’s and 21 different beer on tap.
If you are looking for good pizza, run over to Safeway, pick up a Digiorno’s frozen pizza and take it home.
The pizza isn’t worth the bother. Poorly made with mediocre ingredients. Straw Hat corporate & franchisee you are in need posting pictures of your advertised pizza in the kitchen area so your pizza builders know what they should look like.

Our family LOVES this place! Delicious crust… consistently perfect pizzas and excellent counter personnel, we will definitely be coming back!

Great pizza, great atmosphere and great people! Perfect for watching any sporting event or hosting kid’s parties.

I really enjoy coming/​going to Straw Hat pizza in Freedom/​Watsonville they have outstanding customer service whether it is greeting you with a smile or taking your order. I love the great beer selection on tap and a extensive menu of good food. The staff keeps the dinning area very clean and helpful. Did I mention watching sports is just a dream over 20 flat screens tv’s on every wall it is a great atmosphere and family friendly. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone for parties or just to go grab a bite. I also enjoy that the owner Raj is always greeting and talking to his customer. Kudos to everyone on the staff. This is the spot to watch UFC fights an octagon of tv’s.

What an amazing pizza place they had TVs on every wall!!!
Staff was very friendly and the place look very nice!!!
And now for the best part the pizza was amazing I couldn’t get enough I end up eating a medium pizza all by myself!!!
Anytime I’m coming from LA back to the bay area this has to be my stop place from now on

Had delivery to KOA once again and this time I don’t have a rave review. Was told delivery would be in 30 – 35 minutes and they took 90 minutes. I got a stale pizza that was almost cold. Not a happy camper!!!

great food and great customer service. owner is very nice and so are his employees. I was in there one day and they messed up on my order I went back the next day ordered the same thing and ask can u make sure no onions cause they messed up on my order the day before. and they gave my order for free. now that’s good customer service thats why I always go back and have been going there for the past few years. there never ever rude. My son and I love straw hat pizza and will be going there for the years to come.

I love this location! We stop off every time we head out to Santa Cruz and always get great food with friendly service.
Great place to host parties or watch sporting events also.
The owner, Rodger, and staff are very helpful and make you feel at home!

The owner Roger is the best. Polite and friendly. The pizza on the other hand lacks flavor. Crust and pizza are dry and the ingredients lack flavor. Wish the salad bar had more offerings. The atmosphere is fun and has lots of TV to see your favorite sports.

This place definitely worst place for pizza! Pizza tasted like crap crust felt like cardboard. Pizza is made before hand and kept heated nasty as hell. Service very bad never had such a bad experience! AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Round table by far so much better! The health department should shut this place down!

This Place is Great. Best Pizza place in town to watch any sports game. The food is good and the employees are very nice and helpful. The owner is really down to earth and easy going and always up for suggestions for improvement. Great Happy Hour specials. Also the Owner is very generous in holding Fundraisers for Sports activities, or other personal donation activities. If you are in town Make sure to check out this pizza place especially on the weekends to watch NFL games with a lot of Flat Screens. Overall Great Customer Service

Ok let me start by saying that Roger who is the owner has treated me like family from the first time I came here years ago. Asides from the great pizza and tons of big screen tv’s every time I bring my family here I know I am at a place that I’m welcomed and my business is appreciated.
The great thing about dining out is being able to know you have gotten great service and you are appreciated as a customer this place is it!
I know that it is not only I who is treated this way, but plenty of his customers. This place make our community a better place… gracias Roger keep up the great work!!!

I was never a huge pizza fan until eating here. Great food (love the salad bar too) and really friendly employees. There aren’t many places like this left. Will definitely return.

I was curious to try this place and I’m glad I did. I took my family and ended up having a great time! The pizza was delicious and the salad bar was fresh. Straw Hat is a cool place to enjoy a delicious pizza and watch a football game on one of many big screens.
The owner and the employees are courteous and professional.

Like to start by saying WOW! So many tvs. Again, amazing! Love going there, love ordering pizza for my work. Made a huge order and the staff really liked it. Love that Straw Hat supports their local schools and community. Really great people, never had a bad time there when we dine in the restaurant. Any game that’s on, they got it. The owner is very active in the community with fundraisers. Great customer service & Pizza!

Staying at the Santa Cruz /​Watsonville KOA campground, we ordered two pizzas for delivery. The pizzas were delivered cold and the crust was like cardboard.
It tasted like Straw Hat made the pizza before hand. When they received an order, they added the toppings and reheated. My 6 yr old refused to eat the pizza after one bite as it was that bad.

I like this place! The staff is always friendly and the pizza is good. I especially like the lunch specials because they are cheap and they taste great! The bathrooms aren’t perfect but they work! I suggest the Hawaiian pizza! Yum!

Food is good, not great. They have a ton of flat screens in the back and a good arcade. Perfect place to take kids or a team after a game.
I ordered garlic cheese bread and was told a few minutes later they were out of bread. So I’m guessing it is frozen?!?