Every so often, a listicle pops up on the internet about the best pizza in America or even the best pizza in the world. Usually, these lists mention one or two buzzy Bay Area pizzerias as worthy competitors. But this year, the Bay Area seems to be having a mini pizza moment, as Food & Wine magazine’s most recent pizza list, “28 of the Best Pizzas Places in the U.S.,” features five of the region’s pizzerias.
Coming in at No. 2 on the list was A16, specifically the Oakland outpost, at 5356 College Ave. The original A16 restaurant is in San Francisco, but Food & Wine highlighted the Oakland spot because of “the massive Stefano Ferrara wood-burning oven — which cook[s] pizzas in 90 seconds.” The highlight of the menu, according to the magazine, is the Montanara Rockridge, for which the pizzaiolos lightly fry the dough before topping it with burrata, basil and a special smoky tomato sauce.
The Rockridge area is a bit of a hotspot for quality restaurants and bars. Just up the street at 5812 College Ave., Ramen Shop is known for hosting two pop-ups that have become minor sensations in the Bay Area with Egg Pals and Molly’s Refresher. However, the most notable restaurant near the Rockridge BART Station is probably Zachary’s Chicago Pizza, which serves some of the most authentic deep-dish pizza in the Bay Area.
San Francisco’s Del Popolo, at 855 Bush St., took the No. 5 spot on the list of best pizzerias in America. The pizzeria has been a brick-and-mortar restaurant since 2015, but San Franciscans might remember the shipping container that moved around the city on the bed of a truck making pizzas out of a wood-burning oven. The restaurant has become so successful that it now makes frozen pizzas that you can find at stores like Whole Foods. However, it’s always best to try the pizza at the source. Under the direction of owner Jon Darsky, the brand was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation and named one of the 100 best restaurants in the City by the Bay in 2019 by the San Francisco Chronicle. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
The third Bay Area pizzeria to make the top 10 was Casey’s Pizza. The brand was started in 2010 by an East Coaster, Casey Crynes, and claims to have launched San Francisco’s first pizza truck, according to its Instagram account. In 2017, the company shifted to a brick-and-mortar business, at 1170 4th St., a stone’s throw from Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and Chase Center, which houses the Golden State Warriors.
The last two Bay Area pizzerias on the list were Flour + Water and Pizzeria Delfina at Nos. 16 and 19, respectively. While Flour + Water is known for extravagant pastas, the pizza is cooked for only two minutes in an Italian-imported wood-burning oven. The restaurant is regularly fully booked, even on weeknights, and commonly listed on “best of” lists for San Francisco restaurants. On June 28, co-chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow plan to open their highly anticipated Flour + Water Pizzeria in North Beach, which will feature a “dough room” that allows people to watch the dough-making process.
Pizzeria Delfina is an offshoot of Delfina, which recently reopened with a new interior after merging the next-door storefronts into one. While the original Mission location is now part of the larger restaurant, diners can still call in for pick up orders there, or they can check out one of three brick-and-mortar locations in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood, Palo Alto and Burlingame.