1232 North State Street
Bellingham, WA 98225-5016
(360) 647-7547

Rudy's is a bit of an institution in this coastal Western Washington college town. It's next to a beer-bar called the Up and Up. The Up and Up features an extraordinary array of beers on tap, and (a requirement for beer bars in college towns) cheap beer by the pitcher. People would get their beer at the Up and Up and then duck next door to Rudy's to order a pizza. You'd have a fun evening with a bunch of friends, and if you split the tab, beer and pizza for very little money. A few years ago the owner of Rudy's bought the Up and Up, so now you'll see a lot of back and forth traffic between the two places.

There's a small scattering of tables in front of Rudy's on the sidewalk, two rows of small tables inside, and two rows of comfortable wide-benched booths. The light fixtures are locally made artisan glass, and quite lovely. There's local art on the walls, including mosaics. There's always a few beers on tap, including micro brews and a seasonal or two, as well as the more usual macro beers. Right now, they're featuring Boundary Bay, a local brewery's offerings, and Manny's Pale Ale. If you want something else in the way of beer, you can order next door, where the selection is huge, or one of the bottled beers. They also have a good selection of affordable wines, including Washington wines, the usual sodas, bottled water, and Washington's own Thomas Kemper sodas.

Mostly though, people come to Rudy's Pizzeria for the pizza. It's hand-made, it's fresh, the options include about fifty different ingredients, and your choice of whole wheat or white crust. It's also reliably good pizza, in part because the ingredients are fresh. Even their sauces are homemade—your choice of a classic red sauce made with red wine, or pesto. They're perfectly willing to accomodate vegetarians, too. They also make their own bread sticks, calzones, and pasta, and several side salads, as well as homemade desserts.

Specials include a generous slice of pizza, a salad, and a 16 ounce soda for under $5.00, every day, as well as a variety of other specials that depend on the day of the week. They deliver locally during specific hours (call to check; they have no Website) for free. I'm not their only fan; Rudy's really is a bit of a local institution, and you can find plenty of reviews on Yelp and on Urban Spoon.