Shotskis

More staff standing around than clean tables. Pizza was under cooked, service inattentive and slow. Great location that could be a gold mine. I miss LEFTIES!

After reading mixed reviews we were skeptical to this place. However, I tend to like and make my mind up based on my own experiences so we gave it a shot anyways.
Have two kids who do not like to sit down long. Luckily they had a small selection of srcade games and plenty of space for then to roam around. With that being said, I would not say this is a pizza parlor intended for families. It has more of a happy hour/​lunch/​date night feel to it although kids are definitely welcome. As a suggestion, maybe make certain arcades free to keep kids entertained. I have seen this before at other pizza places before.
Decent selection of beers on tap with their feature brewery being Rusty Truck. Prices on beer are average at around $ 5.50 a pint.
One thing to note about all the mentioned below, all dough is homemade.
Ordered cheese slices for the kids and they were adequate. Also got garlic bread sticks which should have been served with sauce but wasn’t until requested. Sticks we’re a bit doughy which was strange but the sauce helped. The sticks could have been cooked longer.
We also ordered two calzones; The Italian Stallion and the Mighty Meaty. Both delicious and came out HOT. Calzones are the same price as the pizzas which for the small size was roughly $ 10. Incredients are really good and everything tastes fresh.
If you don’t like thin crust, don’t get a pizza, get a calzone. Was going to order wings but their fryer was broken.
Overall it was a good experience. Probably won’t come back with kids but most definitely be back to try another calzone.

This was basically what I was expecting. They can turn any pizza on the menu into a calzone, which was average. Overall there was nothing at all bad about the pepperoni, mozzarella, parmesan*, sauce, or dough. It all seemed fresh, but could benefit from a garlic butter/​sauce/​parmesan before baking. The ranch dip/​sauce was great and they didn’t charge extra at the time for a side.
It was a little lacking to be honest, though. I spoke with the waiter about a couple things I didn’t like-​joking comments about other staff members that were a little off putting-​he was amazing about it and i saw him go and tell the kitchen staff thank you. That really resonated with me. It’s hard to take criticism and I appreciate what he did.
On another note, the interior was cool, but there was no uniformity to the tables, there were napkins on some-​not on others. The paper beer menu didn’t look thoughtfully done as it had weird indentations on some items and incomplete names of beers. For instance jazz session hef was session hef.
Understand, I am merely being picky from a consumer stand point and these are things that hopefully come over time. The hostess didn’t get up to seat me and said sit wherever, which came off as uncaring, though I can see why she did it. They should also be mindful that with the open kitchen, customers can hear everything, so if someone is using words that maybe children shouldn’t hear that could be a consideration when operating a family joint (though I don’t mind personally).
I think every interaction has to be special when competing with sassy onion directly next door. I think they will really have to learn to go above and beyond to offer a great SERVICE because people don’t go to restaurants for food alone!
I will probably return for the convenience and quick service, but there would absolutely be a benefit to even putting on a fake smile and pretending to be excited, as shallow as that sounds. The price isn’t worth the food alone if there isn’t a little something extra. Hopefully they find their niche.
*not actually sure if parm was in there but didn’t make much of a difference

First off, major kudos to the new owners for significantly investing in this place. The new décor is «industrial-​chic» and a major upgrade over previous incarnations. Unfortunately, Lefty’s and Roxy’s never made it, but hopefully this place will. As to the food and service, I came in for a slce and it was unclear whether you order at the counter or get table service for that. If they want to sell quick slices at lunch, which they seem to want to do, it would make sense to have counter-​service.
The «plain» pizza (or «cheese,» as folks call it around here) was quite good. Every other slice available had multiple toppings on it. From a quick look at the menu, my constructive suggestion would be to allow one to buy a plain pizza with a topping or two, rather than only pre-​set multiple-​topping pizzas. I like a pie with just mushrooms or olives, for instance, not with every vegetable the place has in stock. Unfortunately, like most pizzerias around here, they only seem to offer an overloaded veg pizza with tons of topping (they call it «Veggilicious»).
Anyhow, I wish them well and hope they figure out the kinks as they move forward. I’ll be back.

Came here around 12pm expecting a lunch rush, but the place was almost deserted, and it wasn’t tough to see why. I doubt they have many returning customers. First, they are definitely overpriced for what you’re getting. Paid almost $ 3 for a glass of Coke, which I couldn’t even order until 15 minutes of waiting for a server. It’d be one thing if they were slammed with customers or understaffed, but there were about 3 occupied tables, total, with at least 2 waitresses on the floor.
This would be generally overlookable if the food was worth waiting for. It was decidedly not. I’ll not list every minor flaw, but what killed me the most was the «sausage» on my meat lover’s personal pizza. It was literally a sliced up hot dog. Not in a snobbish «it wasn’t authentic Italian sausage» sense, but in the sense that they actually went to Safeway, bought a package of Oscar Meyer Wieners, cut it into thick, pink circles, and used them as a topping.
The restaurant/​bar also couldn’t seem to decide what it was. The décor was sparse and disjointed (plain, white window frames mounted on blank walls?), the lighting was uncomfortably dim for lunch on a weekday (a complaint I see echoed in some of these other reviews), and all the tables sat on 2 elevated wood platforms pushed against the walls (one on each side of the restaurant), presumably to make room for the long, vacant strip of concrete floor space in the middle that would supposedly turn into a narrow sort of dance floor when they play live music. There was the classic small, elevated bar stage in the back corner to host said music, but I couldn’t really see it from my table. I describe this dynamic just because it made everything seem kind of distant and uncomfortable.
Other than that, there were just a bunch of little things that would be negligible on their own, but start to add up the more you sit there. The beer list, for instance, is just a sheet of printer paper shoved in with the condiments at your table. A minority of the tables actually had Parmesan shakers or napkin dispensers (which would be nice because you don’t get napkins or silverware when you sit down). They don’t list drinks on the menu, the waitresses can be seen walking around texting, they forgot my salad altogether, the display cases up front were all but empty, long strings of power and cable cords run down the walls to support 2 little tvs mounted 20 feet up against the ceiling, and they set an iPad on your table when you’re done eating so they can add up the bill while you sit there waiting.
They did have an excellent mix of classic rock quietly playing in the background, which was nice, and they offer free refills on soft drinks.
I really, REALLY hate to say this, because I love supporting local businesses, but if you want a better thin crust pizza, for less money, in a brighter, friendlier, warmer atmosphere, there’s a new MOD Pizza on Commercial street that beats out Shotski’s in almost every category.

This was a pretty good place. I ate the special which they just started. 2 slices and a side salad for $ 9.95. Not bad. The pizza slices are large. The side salad wasn’t overly complicated. It was a nice mix. The salad dressing was phenomenal. Strawberry vinegarette. The pizza was good. Thin crust, crispy on the edges. Mild sauce with what seemed the right proportions of toppings.
The staff were fast and friendly. I got to chat with one of the owners, Josh, a friendly and enthusiastic person. Nice to talk to and into use local companies and products. He gets bbq for some of his pizzas down the block at Adam’s rib. That to me speaks volumes about what kind of business he runs.

Went there for lunch with my family for my birthday. With a party of 11 we were expecting a wait but got seated immediately and waited on very quickly. The waitress, Andrea, was super friendly and attentive. The pizza was extremely fresh and tasty! We ordered 5 along with 2 appetizers and has plenty left over. The décor was very quaint with all the reclaimed items making it very homey.

I consider myself a pizza diva. I’ve had pizza from about 300 pizza places in Oregon. I know pizza. I know service. It’s my favorite food of all time. Pizza is objective. I will give facts here. I give this place two stars. Here’s why. The flavor of the pizza is a 3.75 outa 5! It goes downhill from there unfortunately. The really thin crust is their signature. I get that. Here’s what’s not going right with that. The pizza is put into a metal tray. The thin crust does not hold heat for beans. Our less topping pies were ice cold with-​in 10 min. Not good when dining in.
I really think they need an option for a thicker crust, leaving the signature thin as well. A thicker crust will increase length of heat retention. It’s hard to put much sauce on a dough that thin. The sauce flavor is really good, but hard to find it with there being so little.
The toppings were fresh and tasty.
But now to value perceived. We were a party of 6 and our bill with $ 10 tip came to $ 98!!! That’s a lot of mulla for pizza for 6! I DID NOT realize this was a tip restaurant until a waiter showed up at our table. I wasn’t planning on spending 29 bucks a pizza when I walked in. Combine that with the thin crust, and the value drops drastically. I actually spent a little less per pizza because I left like an 11% tip. Not 15% like I usually do for good service. Our waiter was very nice and did a decent job. He forgot a drink (tried to impress by not writing anything down.) I can remember two diets, two orange, mt dew and root beer. Not hard but he apologized and was right on getting another. He got the pizza order correct. When my salad came, it had no dressing! Ever have a Cesar salad without Cesar dressing? The waiter should have noticed this prior to serving. Five bites into the salad, I bit on something extremely hard. I thought I chipped a tooth. It went CRACK! I had to eat the rest VERY CAREFULLY. Drinks were refilled with out asked but after they sat empty for 8 – 10 min.
The serving plates were pie tins. Nice touch. B+ Again not something that retains heat in the pizza. Heated ceramic plates would definitely help the pizza stay warm longer.
The tables were all hand made thick wood. A+ Very nice. The metal braces holding them D+! Too close to seat/​bench! Hit knees on them two times of the two times I ate at this establishment.
The lighting was tooooo dark for family eating. Great for band night. Not for family dining. Difficult to get bill paid. Waiter could not see credit card numbers to enter into his phone. Yesssss! The bill was paid on his phone. My credit card info was entered into his phone. I felt a little uneasy about that. I realize this is a new business, but still a bit cheezy, pun intended. Not very professional in my opinion.
Bathrooms were clean. There was a dirty fork under our table. Could have been seen had there been more lighting. The last thing is… calzones are offered but NOT on the menu. Had to go ask about them! (This was before I realized we had a waiter)! No signs saying wait to be seated. We thought it was like Pietros when we walked in. Buy and dine. Get your own stuff. Not that clear. So over all, I give it 2 Stars. I prob won’t go back. I don’t make enough money for what I’m getting. Can’t perceive enough value. At least until some of my points are attended to. Was tasty though, while it was hot. The first 7 bites. I never was offered a receipt for my $ 98! Prob because his phone doesn’t print them. Also was not offered to be emailed one.
In response to Josh…
Thank you for addressing my concerns. That’s more than many owners would do. You are a very new business. I’ll give ya that. The fact that you are fine tuning and trying to get things better, is commendable. I will reiterate the salad did have zero dressing on it. Not light dressing. No biggie. I went and asked for a side and everyone was very nice and helpful about it. The only reason we were able to go was because of the groupon. We couldn’t afford it otherwise. I didn’t know you had another payment system. That wasn’t mentioned. I however, was grateful you helped right away and got us out of there ASAP due to an illness. I’m not a huge calzone eater, but I would like to come back and try it and check the place out again. I’ll give it a month for things to settle in a bit. If I have a great experience, I’ll be more than happy to revise my rating. Thanks so much for being a caring business owner in our community.

Go try it!
Some reviews have called the pizza crust «cracker» thin. Yes it is. So? Pizza can be done more than one way! My own preference is for a thicker crust, but I’d get bored if everyone did the same thing. I enjoyed something different.
Service was fast and super friendly.
My only suggestion for the place: Maybe add to the menu an option for a thicker crust, only to please your market who seems to prefer thicker crust. But keep doing what you do well, too.

Came in on a Tuesday afternoon with my wife for an early dinner. She had the Groupon for the place and decided to give it a shot.
I of course read the reviews immediately and was dismayed to see that there were many negative opinions. So, keeping in mind that this place has only been open for three weeks. .here we go.
The rustic décor and re purposed materials is very inviting and relaxing. The atmosphere is classy without feeling snobby. I found the staff friendly and welcoming. Lindsey, our server, was very attentive and gracious. Full bar and 15 beers on tap.
As for the food. .if you don’t like thin crust pizza, try something else. I hear the calzone is good. The crust is excellent for what is, I loved it. Plenty of toppings and cheese. We will definitely be back. Oh yeah. .the tables are recycled bowling lanes.

I went here on a Sunday afternoon to a practically empty restaurant. The toppings are fresh and tasty and that the only reason I’m giving 2 stars. The crust is awful, wood fire pizza with paper thin, flavorless cracker crust… What’s going on, guys? The pizza was a major let down so we decided not to take leftovers. The waitress then proceeds to grab the pizza off the table without asking if we were finished! Then came the wait… There is maybe 5 other tables eating at the time we asked for the check, we waited and waited, watched our waitress talking with coworkers, walking to other tables, maybe she forgot we were waiting? She took our pizza so we were kind of just sitting there. I decided to go to the counter and ask for the check where all 5 – 6 employee walked right on by without even looking at me. I finally had to say «excuse me» to get someone attention. He then set a tablet in front of me to sign my recipient, no «thanks for coming in», «no how was your food», just dropped it off and walked away.
I had really high hopes for the place as pizza is the best food ever. With there tasteless pizza and awful service, definitely not worth your time. Treating customers poorly on a empty slow day is very bad practice. I hope they get their act together!

Really great pizza spot for downtown. I love Mod out South, and Shotskis had some really great and unique options. The «bracon bad» was so good. I wish they had some coffee and dessert options bc they have a neat chill spot with a leather couch and fireplace that I would have loved to have spent some more time at. I wish they had someone closer to the door to greet customers as soon as they come in bc the space is so large it’s a bit intimidating to seat yourself. I will be back.

The pizza: cracker crust. What’s the point of bragging on their ovens if you don’t have good dough?
Minimal toppings and sauce for such expensive pie.
Service: okay. Never got refills on drinks and staff could be heard making fun of a picky bar patron from the previous night while they should have been refilling our drinks.
Décor: in the making but the best part about this place. Rustic Handmade feel to tables.
Even if you like a cracker crust, for the $ id go elsewhere. In fact little ceasers is better.
If they got better recipes I’d go back.
For the meantime I make better pizza at home.

Every time a new place for pizza opens around Salem, I have hope that maybe there will finally be decent pizza here. Yet again, I was disappointed. The crust is wood-​fired but didn’t have enough sauce and not much flavor. All I tasted was cheese. It’s a bit over-​priced for what you get. The pie tins for plates was a creative touch.
On the positive side, even though the interior is still a work in progress, all the staff we came in contact with were very pleasant & friendly. Not sure if it will change but it’s seat yourself right now. The inside is huge with high ceilings. There’s a lot of potential.

Disappointing
We just had lunch and ordered a 9″ personal pizza.
It was a cracker with marginal amount of material that somehow claimed to be something more than a small appetizer costing nearly $ 10.00
There are safety issues with the angle iron borders on the tables as well being extremely sharp. The corners are going to hurt someone if they aren’t taken care of.
In their defense they just opened and hopefully will fine tune their menu (cost per plate vs value) and fix those sharp edges.

Among the very worst pizza I’ve had in my life. Seriously, Little Caesar’s is better than this, and I won’t eat that garbage (anymore). This was practically a hate crime.
Cracker crust, minimal sauce and sparse toppings… for $ 9 to $ 11? Not a good combo. And my friend Amy is right about the unfinished wood tables, also not a good choice. Throw in some mediocre service, and it was an all-​around waste of $ 40.
I’m used to much better quality pizza in Portland (Apizza Scholls, Ken’s Artisan, Mississippi Pizza). The quest for a quality pizza in Salem continues.

Mamba on tap! Oh yes! They are working out the kinks with service! Nice guys! Pizza is thin crust! I had the Greek Goddess! So yummy! My hubby had the Mighty Meat! Amazing food! Wings are unlike any in Salem! Food is really good! I’ll be back! The waitstaff were nice but have patience they are still working on the new restaurant busy groove!

Cool little hideaway and location. I liked the wood décor and rustic feel. The benches are made of logs and «homemade wood». The issue I had was the price for the thinnest crust ever. The ingredients were fresh and very tasty, but I was left with wanting more. The waitress didn’t offer a drink menu but recited from memory what they had on tap. With gratuity, two beers and two nine inch pizzas, the bill was around 36 dollars. I am hoping they add more appetizers and perhaps offer a happy hour in the future. Overall, worth trying!

I reserve the right to update this review, after a second try. :)
Lunched there last week, during a period of soft opening as announced on their Facebook page. I’m keeping that reality in mind as I write this review.
In my opinion, you should post a sign clearly stating it’s a soft opening, and explaining what that is for people who might not know. The construction both out front and as we walked in made sense to me (having seen the Facebook post). But to others who approached, they were confused, and continued to make statements of disbelief as they saw things incomplete inside. I’m afraid there are a few in that grouping who probably won’t bother a second try. Very bad for a new place.
Great potential; the space is shaping up nicely. I like the overall feel — rustic, earthy, etc. One worry, however, are the unsealed butcher block style tabletops and benches. Unsealed wood. Not even oiled. A few spills and sneezes and these surfaces will be some prime breeding ground for who knows what. They may soon learn how what seems like a cute cheap idea will turn into a maintenance headache, and get fugly, FAST.
Our waitress – I don’t think she’d ever worked as a server before. While they weren’t busy, she moved around with a lack of motivation that was… amusing? So say service was slow would be an understatement. When she delivered our pizzas, she just plopped them down and started to walk off. «Um… excuse me?» I gently asked. «Napkins? Utensils?» Oh, yeah, she said, as if this was a revelation. Napkins soon appeared, along with a little plastic holder with tiny take out packages of red pepper and parmesan. But never any utensils.
The menu had a variety of options, and of course you could make your own. Pizzas or calzones! My dining partner and I ordered two pizzas, an Italian Stallion (red sauce) and an Alfa Chicken (house made alfredo sauce). If you’re going to charge $ 9.95 for what amounts to a personal sized pizza, attention to detail is key. That seemed to be lacking here.
The toppings were very sparse, and not well distributed. Neither were creations worth their price of $ 9.95, even if perfectly executed. Most of the Alfa Chicken was without toppings, with a small pile of things in the middle. But pretty tasteless. And the crust… it was a very, VERY thin, a completely dry and crisp cracker with absolutely no texture, crumb, or flavor. It wasn’t a pizza crust, in my opinion. It was so bad, that I honestly think someone made a mistake in the making. Others have said good things about the crust, but their depictions have no relation to what we experienced. So, as far as I’m concerned, the pizza gets zero stars — but frankly, it had to be a downright mistake. Wait, that’s too harsh, the Italian Stallion had good flavor, if you were lucky to get a bite with toppings on it.
I’ll give them a few weeks to get into their groove, and try again, and will update accordingly!

Just opened so some things are likely to improve.
Pros: Taste. The sauce and crust were terrific, toppings seemed fresh and well portioned.
Cons: Service was slow and presented as inexperienced. Personal pizza took 30 minutes with 0 check ins by the server. No uniformed staff and hair was down (a no no for most restaurants). Atmosphere is lacking at the moment and smells of construction. Offered reward card program but didn’t know how to use it or just didn’t work. No signage, even on the menu.
I’ll be back just for the taste though and hopefully the other issues get resolved.