Lompoc’s Wild West Pizza selected as finalist for National Real California Cheese Pizza Competition, honored for dedication to community service

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Jay Turner is topped with barbecue sauce, bacon, marinated chicken breast, red onions, and ranch dressing. The Central Coast DJ’s namesake pizza is also a favorite of Wild West Pizza owner David Goldy, whose pizza has topped Turner’s charts for two decades.

“I can get a pepperoni or a Hawaiian [pizza] anywhere,” Turner said. “But I can’t get a Jay Turner Pizza anywhere.”

Turner said he’s been eating Goldy’s pizza for 20 years, even before Wild West existed.

“If I ever have an occasion to go to Lompoc, I always eat at Wild West,” Turner said. “Sometimes, I look for a reason to go out.”  

Along with the artisanal sourdough crust made from scratch, the pizzeria also offers thin, crispy crust and pan pizzas, Goldy said.

“We shred our own cheese and cut our own vegetables and pineapple every day,” he said. “We’re the only place I know of that actually roasts our jalapeños fresh every day, instead of using jalapeños from a can.”

Turner said the quality of Wild West’s pizzas separates it from its competitors.

“All pizzas are not created equally,” he said. “I just love their toppings-to-sauce ratio and style of pizza. It’s crunchy on the outside but light and fluffy on the inside.”

Wild West’s combos include the best-selling Sacajawea. Bacon and mac and cheese animate the City Slicker. Extra cheese and two layers of pepperoni dot the Snake Eyes. Chicken, pineapple, ham, barbecue sauce, jalapeños, and red and green onions spice up the Haole.

Known for these combos and more, Lompoc’s Wild West Pizza recently became a finalist for this month’s California Milk Advisory Board’s National Real California Cheese Pizza Competition. 

“You can go to any pizza place in America and get a pepperoni pizza,” Goldy said. “We have a menu that offers things you can’t find at other pizzerias.”

He’s not kidding. The Annie Oakley Pizza includes fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and country gravy. The Jalapeño Popper Pizza is more for customers with daring taste buds: mozzarella and cheddar cheese on a thick layer of cream cheese with jalapeños, bacon, and a secret seasoning blend.

Calling the featured Smoke Signals and Sweet Talk Pizza “loaded” would be an understatement—raspberry chipotle cream cheese, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, smoked brisket, roasted jalapeños, red onions, are topped with a raspberry chipotle barbecue sauce and fresh cilantro.

In June, Wild West Pizza was named the 2025 Hillshire Farm Great Pizza Give Back Contest’s grand prize winner in honor of Goldy’s dedication to community service.

Along with organizing fundraisers for Shadow’s Fund animal rescue service and the Children’s Montessori School, Goldy also hosted an anti-bullying contest in 2018 and gave Lompoc police ticket vouchers for free personal pizzas to give to residents who officers found doing positive things.

“If you were to run the numbers and figure out what member of the Lompoc Chamber of Commerce gives back the most of the community, I’d bet a week’s pay that David Goldy and Wild West Pizza would come out on top,” Turner said. “I’ve never seen philanthropy from a private business as much as him. I know it’s hard to do. People are trying to stay open, let alone give away free product. But [Goldy] always seems to do it.”

During the National Real California Cheese Pizza Competition at the end of the month, Goldy will be focusing on the pies. 

The contest will take place between July 28 and 30 at Napa’s Culinary Institute of America at Copia. Goldy will compete in the On the Menu category against pizza artisans from Pittsburgh, South Dakota, and California, according to the California Ag Network. The winner will receive $5,000 and compete against the other two category winners for a shot at an additional $5,000.

“He has the best crust, and he makes it fresh every day,” Turner said. “I’ve seen him do it.”

Reach Staff Writer Reece Coren at rcoren@santamariasun.com.

This article appears in Jul 10-20, 2025.