Gioia's Salsicca pie, which Patty says "satisfies."Photo: Courtesy of Gioia
Gioia Pizzeria, which made a name for itself in Berkeley and only recently opened a San Francisco location at 2240 Polk Street, gets the double-review treatment this week by both Michael Bauer, and the as-of-late web-only Patty Unterman. Bauer, always a pizza lover and long a fan of Gioia's original location, says the pizza is still good at the new location, but not always perfect — on one of his three visits, a formaggio pie came out limp in the middle and dripping with "rust-colored grease." Also, his other favorite thing, fried chicken, isn't so well done here, with too thick of a battered crust on it. Still, he likes the salsiccia and the prosciutto-arugula pies, and he recommends the stuffed shells, vegetable fritto misto, and the meatballs too. All told: two and a half stars. [Chron]
As for Patty's take, she's also a fan, but goes into a bit more detail about the pizza. She says that the pies here are "more about the topping than the dough," and adds, "the crusts ... are not as chewy, elastic or distinctive in flavor as the current crop of thin, wood-fired, Neapolitan-style wonders." She's also a fan of the meatballs, and calls out the "airy" arugula salad, and the fritto misto as well. [Unterman on Food]
