After being raised in San Lorenzo Valley, Justin Acton got a business degree from Chico State before working at a pizzeria chain. Boulder Creek Pizza & Pub was born when the previous owners offered Acton ownership. It’s a gathering spot with sports-laden TVs, large tables, comfy booths and historic local photos. The pizzas are California-style with fresh handmade dough, large and abundantly topped.
Their best-seller is the Creek Combo, with salami, pepperoni, sausage, linguica, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and olives. They also have the Mediterranean, Kung Pao Chicken and hangover-busting Buffalo Blue Cheese pizzas.
There are salads made from freshly delivered and hand-chopped produce, pastas, crispy chicken wings, hot sandwiches and bread twists. Their house made ranch dressing is wildly popular, and for dessert, there are cinnamon twists with lemon vanilla cream cheese icing.
Hours are 11am-9pm every day.
Give me the deets on your dough?
JUSTIN ACTON: It is made using our own proprietary housemade method that involves a multi-day process. We layer it with fresh handmade doughs, combining regular and sourdough in order to create the perfect texture that’s not too fluffy and not too chewy. This also gives our dough a complex flavor without overwhelming our toppings. Without a doubt, this is a really challenging aspect of our business because it requires highly trained, prideful and passionate dough artists that really know what they are doing.
What are you most proud of about your business?
JA: That over the past twelve years, Boulder Creek Pizza & Pub has really supported and become part of the local community through good times and bad. We’ve been a part of celebrations like weddings, graduations, birthdays and sports team functions. On the other hand, we have also dealt with a lot of adverse situations like the pandemic, wildfires, debris slides and windstorms. Going through so many ups and downs has really solidified our place in the community and it’s an honor to be a part of it. 13200-B Central Avenue, Boulder Creek, 831-338-2141; bcpizzapub.com
I’m a Boulder Creek local of many years, and well, this restaurant is just terrible. The people making the “pizzas” are incredibly skimpy with the toppings, the tomato sauce is over sweetened (like catsup sweet!), the crust is like cardboard, and it just doesn’t taste that good. If that wasn’t enough, it’s also super expensive. The staff is so rude, not good with kids or seniors it’s just unbelievable to me that they are still open. Do yourself a favor and either go get pizza from somewhere else (Felton and Scotts valley both have better), or make it at home yourself.