Is that right? The sauce did have nice bright acidity.
Del Popolo, San Francisco
Very good caeser salad you could taste the anchovies and the capers were a nice touch. Pizzas are Neapolitan style. We sat at the counter and every pizza that came out had a black charred crust. They were fine as far as Neapolitan pizzas go, but nothing special about the quality of the toppings or combinations and the crust was pretty bland. I’m a little baffled by the praise for this place, I wouldn’t put them in the top 5 pizzas in SF, maybe not even the top 10. The pies I saw when I walked by Flour and Water’s new pizza joint on Valencia looked much better.
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Recent pizzas in san francisco proper
Zante’s outerish mission. Wow, I forgot how much I like this place. The tastes are just … different. Even if the crust is only average. Wish I could have one tonight ( but I’m down the peninsula )
Zume, delivery. I am astonished they can deliver a pizza in under 25 minutes, but that’s what they did. The idea is supposed to be by being able to move trucks around, they can optimize price and performance. However, the pizza was average at best. Sure it was pizza, but I wanted more of … just about anything. Salt, veg, char, something. It was not cardboard, the cheese was actual cheese, but it just needed a BUMP.
All Good, 3rd street, bayview. It’s a little slice of hippie encroaching into the bayview. A small food-truck-like thing, in a lot which is now a garden with tables and whatnot. Beers, panini, salad, pizza. I got a special of the day which was Brussel sprouts and sausage. Crust thin, no real char to speak of. Really pleasant experience on a warm day, although not cheap - one of their pizzas is probably for 2, I ate a whole one because I was hungry, and I think I spent $25. Worth remembering.
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Flour + Water’s are quite good. Dough had complexity and right amount of salt, and toppings seemed to determine thickness. Like a Neapolitan style, a margherita-ish pizza with Burrata (and requested with arugula) was thinner in the center than the outer rim, but sturdy and never soggy with some char on the bottom. A whitish pie had a paler underside. Flavorwise, the (I think it was) kale, fontina, and garlic oil toppings were as if from the Cheeseboard playlist, only with a much better crust.
Mozzarella sticks mix Nostalgia and good ingredients. Seemingly inspired by Georgio brand supermarket brand’s seasonings, only with better cheese and crust and a side of marinara made with a slug of red wine.
Salted caramel soft serve uses a Double 8 buffalo gelato base, and flavor reminds me of butterscotch with a hint of coffee. Possibly best “scoop” of the year.
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Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur.
The kona, with a bit of heat from the jalapeno and a bit of tartness from the pickled onion. Some might object to pineapples in pizza, but overall its a pie done well.
Magherita- pretty standard, and pretty decent.
Our last meal at Pizzeria Picco was about 10 years ago. Thought of the first meal more highly. Though I think their standards maintained during the 10 years- its more the Bay Area pizza game has upped significantly in the last 10 years so comparable or superior ‘craft’ pies are abundant now.
Couldn’t quite figure out the connection between Picco and the Japanese baseball artwork in the bathroom.
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Wow that look right on! Reminds me I’m long overdue for a Cotogna visit.
Same here. That looks fantastic!
I went to Montesacro a couple weeks ago - the pinsas were fantastic! lighter than regular pizza dough, just gorgeous. here’s a few pics:
but maybe the best thing was the dessert, made with pinsa dough; it was filled with pistachio “nutella” and dusted with powdered sugar. i’m not even a dessert person and i loved it.
we had other dishes too, all excellent. i can’t wait to go back.
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Piling on here for the love of Flour + Water Pizzeria. I’d only had the pasta at the original F+W, so the pizza here was a revelation. my review for Mission Local is here:
https://missionlocal.org/2019/08/flour-water-pizzeria-a-pie-to-be-proud-of/
We’ve eaten there four times now, and I know we’ll be back.
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Just had a meal here at Vesta after an absence of a few years. And it was a disappointing meal all around. The dough was soggy. The pies were a bit too charred, especially at the bottom. Oily pies too.
Sausage and honey. Used to enjoy this, but not this time. The honey taste was a bit too prominent, making it a sweeter pie than the much loathed Hawaiian pizza with pineapple.
The seasonal special of pistachio pesto and ham. Goat cheese flavor dominated the entire pie, even overpowering the pesto, making the flavors unbalanced.
Suffice to say Vesta is no longer my next best one after Napoletana in the South Bay. Not sure if its an off day, or if we had better pizza in the last few years and got pickier.
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Yikes, the sogginess of the sausage honey makes sense given how laden with toppings it looks— reminds me of the quantity a teenager would pile on at one of those “do it yourself” places!
Pollara Pizza opened on Fourth St. in Berkeley today. The Roman-style pizza is baked in long, rectangular pieces and sliced to the size you want, priced by the ounce. A three-inch margarita slice came to around $4.75. The crust is thick, but very light with a nice crisp on the bottom. You might have had something like it at the old PIQ
on Shattuck.
They also have something I’ve never seen before: deep-fried spaghetti carbonara Think of arancini, but instead of rice they’re stuffed with spaghetti carbonara, or potato or spaghetti in tomato sauce.
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How long was the 4.75 slice? I’ve never seen pizza peiced that way in nj/ny
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Did you by chance try the fig?
Looks tasty 
The $4.75 slice was about three inches long. It wasn’t quite enough for a meal, but the carbonara ball made up for it. For the same price, you can get a full quarter of a very good cheese pie next door at Market Hall Foods. But this will be a nice alternative.
I only tried the margarita. I was hoping they’d have smaller pieces, for sampling, but the minimum seems to be two inches.
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Just cool I think. (I agree:grin:) I agree that Picco turns out nice pies in general. Not too much char, good texture and balance
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https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/San-Francisco-trendy-pizza-spots-Bay-Area-15888090.php
Some of these spots are news to me, some on my radar already. The only one I have tried is Pollara, which I like when in the area. But it’s disappointing that they only serve take-and-bake. I like to stop by for a slice while biking. Don’t want to take it home and reheat it first.
Also, Nick’s in Oakland has already opened their new shop, just down the street.
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