Location: San Francisco,CA
Website: tonyspizzanapoletana.com
Recommended by: danae
Summary:
After my first heavenly experience with Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, I became a pizza snob. I no longer could handle greasy cheeses, flavorless dry crusts, or sub-par quality ingredients. Nope, an awesome pizza became all about awesome cheese, perfectly crispy yet chewy crusts, and top of the line ingredients. i tried many a pizzeria in the bay area, but none compared to Grimaldi's until Tony's came along.
I first heard about Tony's when ooj sent me a link about a new pizzeria opening in San Francisco. I immediately recognized Tony's name, having watched the food network pizza challenge episode twice (I know, I'm kind of a loser like that). And it lived up to everything i hoped for - their margherita pizza is AMAZING. first of all, the crust is awesome. i think I've read that their pizza oven for this particular pizza (Tony's has 3 different pizza ovens on locations, all to create different types of pizzas) heats up to 900 degrees, and they cook the pizza for 90 seconds. 90 seconds!!!! They have mastered the perfect balance of a smoky charred crust without it being *too* crispy. It's napoletana style, which i understand typically has a somewhat soggy middle... which I don't totally mind so much, though I would prefer it to be a little less soggy. The cheese and basil are perfect and amazing, but what really sets this pizza apart is the sauce. I am usually not a tomato sauce fan - I usually find it too acidic and a lot of times it overwhelms the other flavors. However, the pizza sauce on Tony's pizzas is absolute perfection. No hint of the typical sourness, and it's in fact slightly sweet. The sauce here makes the pizza, which is a testament to just how good it is.
Big thumbs up for the margherita. The fig pizza is ok... I find it a little too sweet and just a little *too* unconventional for my tastes, but j enjoys it. However, stay away from the new haven style clam pizza. It's just not good.
