These 12 Pizza Places In San Francisco Are So Good That Your Mouth May Explode
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Stephanie Garr
Author
New York vs. Chicago-style? Who cares?! This is the West Coast! We do whatever we want here and when it comes to the best pizza places in San Francisco, we’ve got an incredible variety, from stuffed crusts to clam pies to simple slices made to perfection. Let your mouth water… before it explodes.
This Valencia Street classic serves up New York Style slices with no frills and certainly no BS. It has been satisfying Mission locals and partygoers since 1992.
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To be a true San Franciscan you must wait in long lines for your food. This Mission (and Pac Heights) favorite is worth the anticipation. The Neapolitan-inspired pies come together with fresh ingredients. Try the clam pie or the lamb sausage (with dandelion greens) for something a little more adventurous.
Get your classic Chicago-style pizza in style at this North Beach joint covered in brick and outfitted with snazzy red booths and photos of ol' gangsters. The crust selection alone is impeccable, from "Stuffed" to deep dish to "Cracker Thin." Try The Dillinger, which was given the title of "World's Best Pan Pizza" at the 2014 International Pizza Challenge.
Another pop-up success story, PizzaHacker graduated from a Weber grill to its own brick-and-mortal spot in Bernal Heights. They naturally leaven their dough (mmm, sourdough!) and get their juicy tomatoes from local farms. Get the Yo Vinny! (with marinated onions and house-made hot Italian sausage) or the Rocket Man (topped with a farm egg and lemon juice). Both are as good as they sound.
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This SoMa haunt is strictly about the pizza – Neapolitan style and baked in a wood-fired brick oven. Simple. Heavenly.
Want to take that hot date out for pizza? This SoMa spot is a good bet with its snazzy cocktail bar. The wood-fired pizzas (some with special SF-inspired names) will impress just as much. Oh, and there's a soft serve ice cream bar (with ricotta doughnuts, too).
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Get your slightly blackened wood-fired pie out of a truck (one that's worth roughly $180,000 — that's how serious these people are about their pizza) or at the cozy Bush Street location. The Butterball Potato with hot honey is our favorite.
Sure, this is in North Beach (aka Little Italy), but it's a bit of a global affair at Tony's, which offers classic New York, Italian, Jersey, Sicilian, and California-style pizzas. Tony Gemingnani (THE Tony) was the first American ever to win the title of World Champion Pizza Maker at the 2007 World Pizza Cup in Naples. So, yeah. Real deal here.
When you see an old photograph of the Leaning Tower of Pisa hanging on the wall, it's typically a good sign… right? Maybe?! Well, it works for this cozy (i.e. tiny) spot in Glen Park that specializes in thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizzas. Try one of the seasonal pies or the chili-topped Atomica.
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Another Valencia Street standby, Pauline's makes their dough every morning and it becomes a perfectly crisp-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside base for their local garden-grown ingredients. Pro tip: Follow up your meal with some beers at Zeitgeist.
This joint has been serving the Outer Richmond masses (the pizza places out here are severely lacking) since 1999 and is almost always packed (because it's tiny and adorable). And, oh yeah, the pizza is mouthwatering on every level and there's a rotating cast of specialties that include ingredients like almond picada, English peas, and garlic chili oil.
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Get your thick, chunky, tomato-oozing Chicago-style deep dish at this Mission and Western Addition fave. The cornmeal crust is a lovely touch. Come with an appetite, or, if you must, go for the thin-crust.
Wow. Ridiculous, right? We’re like Pavlov’s dogs over here, salivating like crazy. Of course, we still probably missed a few of the city’s other must-savor pies. What are your picks for the best pizza places in San Francisco? Let us know in the comments!
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