A few years ago Gary and I took a trip to Lake Como, Italy. The Lake Como region is absolutely stunning and we got to see elegant palazzos, gorgeous villas, explore several of the small towns that span up and down the lake, experience lovely lakeside restaurants and take in stunning lake views almost everywhere we’d look. What we ate at these lakeside restaurants was pizza. We are pizza lovers by nature so getting to indulge in pizza almost everyday of our trip was one big dream come true. We can remember that everytown had their own take and way of making pizza and the ingredients would be different. If you liked pepperoni for example, your pizza would have different pepperoni (small pepperoni slices, or larger slices, or small and spicy slices) depending on the little town you were at. This really intrigued us. I wish today we had documented more of those experiences (we have a lot of photos of the beautiful locations, but back then it wasn’t as acceptable to whip out your iPhone and take pictures of your meal for social media like it is today so, only a few of those photos exist) but hopefully one day soon (when the pandemic is gone) we can re-take that magical Lake Como vacation and document all the pizzas for you.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is our love and enjoyment of pizza. And, we have quite a few pizza places right here in our wonderful city by the bay San Francisco that we can share with you. In fact, you will find a monthly series on my blog “The Great San Francisco Pizza Tour of 2021” where I’ll be sharing our pizza adventures with you all so sit back and enjoy and apologies in advance if these posts make you hungry.
First up California Pizza Kitchen at 53 Third Street in San Francisco. TIP: If you are visiting SFMOMA then this spot is about 1 block away and makes a great stop for lunch or dinner that is very close to the museum. In fact, Gary and I were at SFMOMA just this weekend when they were able to reopen to limited capacity because of COVID. None of the cafes or coffee shops were open inside SFMOMA and after spending a couple incredible hours admiring the amazing artwork and masterpieces we were starving. We headed up the street a block and saw a big California Pizza Kitchen that had outdoor dining and limited indoor dining.
California Pizza Kitchen is a chain, it is not a family owned pizzeria. The menu has a lot of options so surely if you go there with your family or with a group everyone should find something. They have extremely large salads, pizzas, pastas, sandwiches and more. Being the pizza lovers we are, Gary and I ordered a thin and crispy crust Sicilian pizza and small Caesar salad. The Sicilian pizza has spicy marinara, Italian sausage, spicy Capicola ham, salami, Mozzarella cheese, shaved Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil and oregano. Here’s some photos of our pizza that Gary took right before we devoured it. It was delicious!! The ingredients tasted absolutely premium. The Italian sausage in particular was delicious, it had so much flavor and was very gourmet. The cheeses on the pizza were not too much and just the right amount, given that we are a bit sensitive to stronger cheeses, we found the amount of Parmesan to be perfect. The Cesar salad too hit the spot without being overly garlicky or anchovy flavored. We were very pleased with how courteous the staff was and how much care they took to keep us safe as well as care in keeping themselves safe. Again, the location of California Pizza Kitchen really can’t be beat with it being just 1 block away from SFMOMA and Moscone Center as well as right across the street from The Four Seasons Hotel. Gary and I had a very pleasant and delicious dining experience.
Next up in our Great San Francisco Pizza Tour of 2021 series are some pizzerias in Little Italy, San Francisco that you won’t want to miss.
