Our History
It was 1977…when Chuck Woodstock opened the first Woodstock’s Pizza near Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon.
His goal was to create a fun, student-oriented pizzeria that dished up amazing pies using a unique, zesty marinara recipe. From the beginning he focused on fresh, hand-tossed dough with a unique folded-over crust with sauce inside. He insisted on putting more toppings on the pizza than any of his competitors, so you get a taste of every topping in each bite.
He quickly gained a loyal following, and partnered with Mike Chew in 1980 to build their next restaurant in San Luis Obispo.
Meanwhile back in Corvallis, Jeff Ambrose was a recent college grad without a full-time job. Delivering pizzas seemed like a good way to keep from starving. But it turned out to be much more than he expected —
In 1982, Chuck and Chew (as Mike was called) asked Jeff to help open a new Woodstock’s in Isla Vista (Santa Barbara). Chico came next, and then a restaurant near San Diego State University.
Chuck Woodstock always wanted to open a pizzeria in Davis. Along with Chew, they found an ideal location in the historic core of downtown Davis. They bought a building that was almost 100 years old and transformed it into a college-oriented pizza parlor.
The store was almost ready to open when Chuck and Chew flew a private plan from California to Las Vegas. Sadly, they never made it back – the remains of the plane were found near Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The restaurants were left in the hands of their families. Eventually the families promoted Jeff to President of the company. In 2001, Jeff and his wife, Laura, purchased all five California restaurants. (The original Corvallis restaurant is solely owned by Chuck’s wife, Carol Lee Woodstock.)
Since that time, we have added two new restaurants, in Santa Cruz and Pacific Beach, San Diego.
Woodstock’s has an employee stock ownership plan, and encourages all managers to become owners. The company is currently ranked #2 among independent pizzerias nationwide. True to Chuck’s legacy, we are still committed to offering the highest quality ingredients, making our dough fresh daily in-house, keeping our signature sauce a secret, and working hard to create loyal customers and team members, while having fun in the process.
Giving back is the backbone of our business.
Awards
Named #1 Independent Pizzeria in the Nation
– Pizza Today
Best Pizza
– Enterprise Readers Poll
Best Pizza
– The Aggie
Best of Davis
– California Aggie Readers Poll
Award of Quality
–National Academy of Restaurant Evaluation
Our Mission
Our mission is to earn loyal customers
and team members who uniquely regard
Woodstock’s as the Ultimate Pizza Experience.
To earn the distinction of being the Ultimate Pizza Experience we will:
- Prepare every customer’s meal with individual attention.
- Use the freshest, best tasting ingredients.
- Consistently create outstanding, unique pizzas and accompaniments that are widely-regarded as the best ever, anywhere!
- Treat each and every customer with friendliness, respect and courtesy.
- Provide outstanding value that keeps customers returning with uncommon frequency.
- Be recognized as a fun and outstanding place to work.
- Provide a fun-filled festive atmosphere.
Woodstock’s will encourage our team members to work hard and have fun!
We’ll strengthen the communities we serve by giving back and fostering partnerships with local non-profit organizations.
And we’ll always make sure you get the tastiest pizza around, any way you like it.
California grown, fresh from the vine tomatoes are enhanced with a secret blend of spices to give Woodstock’s sauce a unique, zesty taste.
Our freshly baked crust has sauce inside.
