I believe there is an undelete but it probably expires after an hour.
I had a half of a pepperoni Detroit style pizza from Joyride in the Mission yesterday. Pretty good, buttery crust. It’s all takeout but they have a parklet outside. You order on a kiosk.
There has been a proliferation of Detroit style pizzas in SF recently, my personal unofficial tier list:
Tier A
Square Pie Guys - really good airy crust with crispy bottom, good pepperoni distribution.
Tier B
Pizza Squared (haven’t gotten pizza from here for awhile but I remember it being on par with the others)
Cellarmaker House of Pizza
Joyride
Tier C
Sunset Squares - not bad but I don’t like their crust as much, maybe a little too dense for me. They do have interesting toppings, e.g a okonomiyaki pizza with bulgogi and kimchi.
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And today I had a slice from the Arizmendi in the Mission, SF. Arizmendi follows the Cheese Board (Berkeley) model of one vegetarian pizza a day. And also like the Cheese Board, they add a little bit extra too - a lagniappe as they say in New Orleans.
Today’s pizza:
Hit the spot.
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It looks like the SF Valencia St. branch of Arinell’s has survived their rough patch and is still open. Things didn’t look good for them in April.
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It’s a little far afield, but I feel I should add a link to Pizza Supreme Being out here in Sacramento. Solid plain and pep east-coast foldable slices and whole pies, PLUS focaccia-style slices (detroit/sicillian/whatever)
Here’s my post about 'em:
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A Tavern Pie from Outta Site in Fig & Thistle natural wine bar in Hayes Valley. Sausage, pepperoni, pickled jalapeños, red onion, mozzarella (thin, crispy, cut into squares).
I think this is supposed to be like a Chicago style thin crust tavern style pizza, as it was cut into squares rather than slices. I think the crust was not as cracker-like as those, but it was still a very good pizza.
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it’s definitely not Chicago tavern style. That sort, as you said, has a much thinner crust (it’s either rolled or put through a dough sheeter) and very little, if any, crust edge. the sauce and cheese often go up to (and occasionally over) the edges. Certainly, a puffy cornice like Neapolitan or NYC isn’t usually a feature.
But whatever you wanna label it, it looks lovely.
I think you should mention the prices at Joyride.
I had a slice there that cost me about $15. And although it was very pretty, it wasn’t heated through properly.
“Chicago tavern style.” Say what now?
Chicago-style thin crust is often called ‘Tavern’ style, because it’s traditionally cut into small squares (about as big as can fit in the palm of your hand), which made for easy bar snacks and allowed you to not have to set down your beer. A lot of local places will ask if you want it in ‘slices or party/tavern cut’.
It is, as mentioned, usually characterized by being rolled, rather than stretched, usually quite thin, though it’s still a yeasted dough. Depending on the place (Barnaby’s, in particular), it’s especially known for a coating of corn meal or semolina used to dust the peel, which gets transferred to the oven and becomes a crunchy, toasty little bonus on the underside. Ingredients are carried to, or over, the edge, so crispy cheese edges are an occasional bonus. Usually cooked 'til the cheese has ample brown spots (i.e. “our pizzas aren’t blondes”)
More information than you could possibly want to know can be found at
I have no affiliation with this website except being an admirer of the depth of his research. The recipes he gives out are really solid starting points. I’ve used both the deep dish and thin crust at home with excellent results.
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Yeah I figured as much. I’ve not tried the tavern style pizza in Chicago proper, but I’ve had a few of this style from Capo’s in SF which is Tony Gemignani’s Chicago style pizza place. Those I remember had a more cracker like crust.
Checking my receipt - it was 9.75 for half a pizza (two slices) for the pepperoni. Plus tax and tip.
They’re opening their own spot on Larkin which I walk by sometimes. Last week I was peaking in to see how the space is looking and they saw me so had me come in to try a slice (they were doing testing with their new oven and whatnot). Space looks nice and pizza was good (was a ‘regular’ triangle piece from a circle pie and they never mentioned anything about Chicago). And the guys are cool, really into making it work in the neighborhood. Supposed to open this week.
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Cool, I read about their new slice shop. Will have to check it out once they are open. I wish they had slices at Fig & Thistle! Only whole pies there now.
Arinell’s in San Francisco has closed.
The Berkeley location stays open, and has raised their slice price to $5.00.
Ah that’s unfortunate. What’s left for “pure” NY style in SF? Pizza Shop? Tony’s?
I do like the Pizza Shop (24th at Folsom). I’ve never been to Tony’s.
Hope you’re not down to figs, arugula, goat cheese, walnuts and balsamic! (I jest!)
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Individual slices are now available at Pi Bar (I’ve only gotten whole NY style pies there in the last year and their crust on average beats Pizza Shop imho).
Not what this suburban-raised NYer craves, but I’ll add that Tony’s has the advantage of having NY style coal oven pizza, which I assume only it does in the SFBA?
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