Best Pizzas in the San Francisco and the Bay Area

Where to get some of the best pizza in San Francisco according to Serious Eats

The Eight Best Pizzas in San Francisco
1. Pizzaiolo’s Wild Nettle and Pecorino Pie

The window for this pie is limited, but the combination of grassy nettles with the salty Pecorino melded into the creamy, buttery, and almost nutty underlying mozzarella (some of the best around) has us thinking about this pizza all year long.

2. Pizzeria Delfina’s Magic Pie

This particular pie gets splashed out of the oven with a bit of cream—when it intermingles with the tomato and forms a thin layer of bright orange liquid at the center of the pie. Along with the fennely, lightly spicy sausage, the cream adds a richness to the sauce. Ribbons of Parmigiano, and a few leaves of basil round it all out.

3. Liguria Bakery’s Pizza Focaccia

From their oiled pans comes focaccia, redolent with olive oil and seasoned with salt. With an ethereally light body and crisp crumb, the “pizza” variety gets topped with a bright and sweet sauce and scattered with green onions that lend a sweet-tangy crunch.

4. Una Pizza Napoletana’s Filetti

In the Filetti, crust and cheese are dotted with cherry tomatoes that pop with sweetness—particularly this time of year, when just about nothing could be better than a summer tomato.

5. Pizzeria Picco’s Margherita

The sauce, made from Napoli tomatoes and sea salt, was fresh, fragrant, and simple. The creamy mozzarella is pulled fresh daily (the curds come from from Ferrante’s Dairy across the Bay). The cheese is evenly distributed across the pie, and along with the few basil leaves, seems to float above the fire-hued sauce.

6. Tony’s Pizza Napoletana’s Margherita with Sausage

Sausage, made with San Felice flour proofed in Neapolitan wood boxes, bright, pleasantly salty San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte, fresh basil, sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil. The porky, spiced meat (reported to be from a Chicago-based purveyor) is at once a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy, but finishes with a sagey, almost floral note.

7. Flour + Water’s Bone Marrow Pizza

Our bone marrow and rapini pizza with fresh horseradish seemed an odd combination to say the least, but it worked; chin-dripping fattiness with sweet sweet, nutty, lightly charred brassica and a Parmesan-esque sprinkle of Microplaned fresh horseradish root to add a spicy kick—this pie assaults all of your senses at the same time.

8. Emilia’s Sausage and Onion

The sausage is made in-house and applied in large, loose crumbles, and slivers of red noon are cooked just enough to bring out their sweetness.

Laura Crawford: The Wildlife Conservation Society

A biologist, researcher, and wildlife advocate, Laura Crawford has recently been studying gray whale migration patterns along the San Francisco coast. She also serves as a volunteer guide for school and tourists groups who wish to explore Muir Beach, Bolinas Beach, the Farallon Islands, and other coastal environments near San Francisco. Ms. Crawford strives to protect natural assets across the region through her ongoing involvement with the Wildlife Conservation Society. 

For nearly 120 years, the Wildlife Conservation Society has been fighting to save wildlife and untouched natural places all around the world. Early initiatives spearheaded by the organization included returning the bison to its rightful place of prominence on the Western Plains of the United States.

Today’s Wildlife Conservation Society has grown by leaps and bounds. The nonprofit is presently committed to preserving a full 25 percent of the world’s biodiversity. In addition to managing approximately 500 conservation endeavors in more than 60 different countries, the Wildlife Conservation Society manages five parks in New York City, including the Central Park Zoo, the Bronx Zoo, and the New York Aquarium.

Laura Crawford: What You Can Do to Preserve Wildlife

San Francisco-based Laura Crawford has been a wildlife biologist, independent researcher, and preservation advocate for more than 30 years. Laura Crawford’s research interests include wildlife biology, birds, and marine animals, especially those of coastal San Francisco and the nearby Farallon Islands. She often leads tourists and school groups on visits to San Francisco bay area and Marin beaches, just north of the city.

It is estimated that more than 1,300 plants and animals in the United States are endangered or threatened, There are things the general public can do to help preserve these endangered species. Plant vegetation in your yard. Planting bushes, trees, and flowers in your yard can provide shelter and food for native wildlife. Planting can also help to preserve native species, which often compete with invasive species for habitats and resources, and has the added benefit of attracting native insects such as butterflies and bees that can help pollinate your plants. Be aware while driving. It is estimated that animal-vehicle accidents cost the country $1 billion each year in property damage and that an animal is hit by a vehicle every 26 seconds. Animals such as bears, bobcats, and moose need a wide area of land in which to roam in search of food. However, many of these areas intersect with human communities and are criss-crossed by roads, which can pose as a hazard to these animals.

About the author:

An independent biologist who holds Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and History from the University of Alaska Anchorage, Laura Crawford pursues her passion for wildlife preservation as a volunteer tour guide and grey whale researcher in Stinson Beach, California. Additionally, Laura Crawford leads tour groups from the San Francisco area through the 1,000-acre Martin Griffin Preserve maintained by Audubon Canyon Ranch. These tours often include shelling expeditions along Marin beaches. Outside of her efforts to preserve the wildlife in the greater San Francisco Bay area, Ms. Crawford pursues a wide range of activities that include bicycling, reading historical fiction, and coordinating volunteers in guided hikes, nature education, and trail work. A dedicated philanthropist, Ms. Crawford supports a number of nature-related nonprofit organizations, including the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Wildlife Habitat Council.

The Wildlife Habitat Council

The Wildlife Habitat Council

Laura Crawford is an independent wildlife biologist and preservation advocate in San Francisco. On both a professional and personal level, she has a profound love for the Farallon Islands, and other natural spaces in and around the greater San Francisco metroplex. Ms. Crawford fights for the preservation of these spaces as an active supporter of the Wildlife Habitat Council.

A non-lobbying nonprofit organization comprised of individuals, corporations, and other conservation groups, the Wildlife Habitat Council has been committed to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitats since 1988. One of the first charities to unite conservation efforts with the business community, the Wildlife Habitat Council works hand-in-hand with corporate landowners to create a series of targeted, voluntary wildlife habitat initiatives.

The Wildlife Habitat Council supports its mission of conservation through two core platforms organized under the titles Wildlife at Work and Corporate Lands for Learning. Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, the organization is a certified Montgomery County Green Business and a Four Star Rated Charity with the independent nonprofit review group Charity Navigator.

Wildlife Preservation: Q&A with Laura Crawford

Wildlife Preservation: Q&A with Laura Crawford Marine Biologist and Conservationist

Question: What are some particularly interesting areas in the San Francisco area, in terms of wildlife?

Answer: The Farallon Islands are especially interesting. They are 27 miles off the San Francisco coast, and are visible from Stinson Beach. The Farallon National Wildlife Refuge is one of just 66 National Wildlife Refuges with congressionally-designated wilderness status. The island is not open to the public to preserve the integrity of the wildlife, but the area is full of interesting flora and fauna, seabirds, seals, whales and sharks.

Question: Laura Crawford, can boaters from San Francisco visit the area, without walking on the island?

Answer: Yes, and the journey is lovely but it is important to be very cautious. In April 2012, there was a deadly accident involving a yacht that capsized while racing around the island. More than half of the crew perished, despite wearing life vests. The area is extraordinarily beautiful, but can also be quite dangerous.