On San Francisco Pizza

I’ve read frequent complaints that San Francisco’s pizza is lacking. While it’s true that we don’t have a tradition like Chicago or New York, SF has wholeheartedly embraced classic, rustic, dare I say slow-food inspired pizza. A whole batch of thin-crust, high-heat places have opened in the past couple of years. While I haven’t been to all of them (Brad and I showed up at A16 in matching Ning hoodies and were told it would be an hour and a half to sit in the bar), I’ve been to a fair number. Here’s my list of where I like to go, from best to worst. Keep in mind that “worst” is still pretty delicious.

Flour + Water: Beautiful crust — chewy, just slightly charred, a light hand with toppings, and always crisp on the bottom.

Contigo: I’m not sure if this counts as a pizza; they call it a “cocques” I believe. Because theirs is more of a flat bread, it doesn’t have any sauce, so it’s not surprising that theirs is light, crisp and all about highlighting the toppings.

Delfina Pizzeriea: I need to give Delfina another try. I went last night and had the broccoli raab pizza. While it was delicious, too much broccoli and cheese meant that the middle was soggy, almost watery. I hear that the Margerita is the way to go here.

Piccino: Simple, rustic and less than a block away from Dan’s apartment. Sold. Particularly fond of the sausage pizza that is red-sauce free.

Beretta: They have the best of all toppings (potato, rosemary and gorgonzola is a favorite). However, their crust doesn’t compare to those listed above. They do, however, have amazing cocktails that are not to be missed.

To complete out my list, I’d like to also check out A16 (this time w/out a hoodie on) and pizzeria nostra.