Best thin crust pizza in Bay Area?

[doxxie lover]

Message

[doxxie lover]

All,

We've been on a pizza binge in the last 2 days. Dopo, Pizzaiolo and Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur and give the GOLD STAR to Pizzeria Picco. It was shatteringly crisp and tasty. The toppings were varied and interesting. It is definitely worth the drive to Marin. Try it.

[Morton the Mousse]

Picco serves my favorite pizza in the Bay Area. Great salads, and the strauss soft serve is amazing (especially the version with maldon salt and extra virgin olive oil). Do they still have a city imposed ban on seving beer and wine outside?

[alfairfax]

Wow. Here I am a virtual neighbor and I never knew there was a ban on outdoor beer and wine service in Larkspur. To answer your question: I was served wine there, sitting at a sidewalk table on my last visit. Local gendarmerie were not present. Glad others second Picco's pizza preeminence.

[Robert Lauriston]

Don't think it's the city. I believe they had to install a railing or something around the area covered by the liquor license before the ABC would permit it.

[alfairfax]

Two Marin places I would add to thin crust destination list. One is branch of already listed Pizza Antica, definitely good pizza. In a shopping mall right off 101, large, fun, active, lots of kids during the early hours, gas-fired. Good build-your-own ingredients. Some good wines, several by the glass. Surprisingly good apps--chopped salad, fried green beans on creamed corn coulis, and more. But even better is Pizzeria Picco in Larkspu--great pizza. Tiny, wood-fired oven right there (nice in winter), excellent ingredients, brief but good wine list, all can by by glass. Good salads. Did I say great pizza? Now I am hungry.

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Pizza Antica
3600 Mt Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA 94549

Pizzeria Picco
320 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, CA 94939

[Robert Lauriston]

There are also branches of Pizza Antica in Mill Valley and San Jose.

[Nancy Berry]

I really like Gialina in Glen Park. They make a thin crust pizza that has a bit of pull in the crust and they use excellent topping ingredients.

http://www.gialina.com

Some Chowhound discussions re Gialina:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/398544
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/363817

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Gialina
2842 Diamond St, San Francisco, CA 94131

[Glencora]

Amici's has a very thin crust. I found it too floppy. They do have a wood oven, though. At least the one in San Rafael does.

[foodeye]

I like Dopo, but it may be too Neopolitan (A-16 like) for your tastes.

I love Gioia which bills itself as NY-style. Their quality and creativeness is way greater then you'd guess by the hole-in-the-wall shop. But then you do have to pay more than, say, Blondies.

[Robert Lauriston]

Gioia makes them thin and crispy, and they use good toppings, but I find the crust weirdly flavorless, undersalted or something. Definitely worth a try.

[chemchef]

Piccino!

[Joan Kureczka]

I second Piccino. Nice crisp, thin crusts. Not heavy toppings. Love the Bianca with lots of garlic.

[SteveG]

I've only been once so I don't know if I'd say it's the best, but Piccino was quite good when we wandered in yesterday for lunch. Salads were particularly good, with nice fresh Mariquita Farm produce. My drip blue bottle coffee was excellent--I should have asked which beans they were using.

The pizza crust had great flavor, was nicely cooked but could have been a hair more cooked. I can't complain, since I didn't order the crust well done and their default is more cooked than the average joint.

[Robert Lauriston]

Link:

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Piccino Restaurant & Coffee Bar
1001 Minnesota St, San Francisco, CA 94107

[orezscu]

San Carlos may not be a sexy food city, but Speederia Pizza on Laurel (check the board for praise) has a fantastic reputation for excellent thin-crust, cracker-crisp pizza.

[PekoePeony]

I *love* Speederia -- it's one of the reasons I moved to San Carlos :) However last time I went, the pizza was rather greasy -- hopefully it was just a one-time hitch!

[Robert Lauriston]

Which style of thin crust are you looking for? Or do you just mean not deep-dish?

A16 does very traditional Neapolitan-style, which means some people don't think it's crispy enough, especially with a lot of toppings (which is not so traditional). Wood oven.

Pizzaiolo does sort of a California variation on Neapolitan-style. Usually not quite as thin as A16. Wood oven.

Nizza la Bella in Albany does a somewhat eccentric variation on thin-crust New York-style. Wood oven.

Pizzetta 211 has the thinnest crust I've found hereabouts, closest to Roman-style as it comes in these parts. Gas deck oven.

Lanesplitter does basic thin-crust New York-style. Helps to order crispy, otherwise they sometimes take the pies out too soon. Gas deck oven.

Pizzeria Delfina does what they call "Neapolitan-influenced." Slightly thicker and crisper than A16. Gas deck oven.

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Pizzaiolo
5008 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609

A16
2355 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA 94123

Lanesplitter Berkeley
2033 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702

Pizzetta 211
211 23rd Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121

Nizza La Bella
827 San Pablo Ave, Albany, CA 94706

Lanesplitter Temescal
4799 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609

[ceekskat]

Thanks for the break down Robert! Your post explains why I didn't care for the pizza at A16 (went there when it first opened) & why I have always been dumbfounded as to others liking it. Perhaps I should try Pizzetta 211. I second Speederia Pizza for its thin crust but don't think it has the flavor of a Roman-style pizza.

[Robert Lauriston]

Speederia claims to make New York-style thin crust.

If there's Roman (Baffetto)-style around here I have yet to find it. Pazzia used to make a fairly decent gas deck oven version before Maurizio Bruschi (from a Trastevere restaurant family) sold it and moved to Ristorante Ideale. I believe the current owners are Tuscan, regardless the crust's not as thin and they don't bake it dark unless you special-order it "scotta." Worth trying if you're into that style.

Cinecitta's owned by a charming Roman who says she got the recipe from her grandfather, who owned a pizzeria in Rome, but the crust's not very thin and the pies are not remotely like any pizza I had in the three years I lived there.

[Kristine]

A16