Review of Slice House Restaurant
Slice House is the newest of pizza boss Tony Gemignani’s growing list of restaurants in San Francisco (and beyond). A few short blocks from AT&T Stadium, the world-famous pizzaiolo serves slices of cheese, pepperoni, and Sicilian style pies, as well as a list of specialty pizzas, pasta, and panini. I’ve been a huge fan of Tony since my first bite of his Neapolitan pizza over in North Beach. One of my favorite parts of his philosophy is how he doesn’t discriminate against different styles, and while he pays homage to the classics, he’s not afraid to experiment with new flavors. Slice House restaurant is a good addition to Tony’s pizza empire, with a great location, but I hope he can continue to keep up the quality that we know and expect across every one of his pizzerias.
The Location
Slice House restaurant is located in SoMa, just around the corner from AT&T Park, so it’s a great spot to hit up for a slice before a game – or if you don’t have time, just head to the Slice House counters at the ballpark, where they offer the cheese and pepperoni slices. There seems to be a decent amount of parking in the neighborhood, but not on game days.
Address: 680 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
Phone: (415) 872-9680
Opening Hours
Monday – Friday- 11:00 AM- 10:00 PM
Saturday- 3 PM- 9 PM
Sunday- 11 AM- 7 PM
The Ambiance
The Slice House restaurant has vibes that remind me of a New York loft. The two-story space features exposed brick, metal, and lots of wood grain, with polished concrete floors for a clean industrial style. The walls that aren’t covered in brick or wood are tomato-sauce red with framed photos of Italian food and fresh ingredients. Upstairs, the mezzanine is small but they fit a lot of seating up there, with its own water and condiment station. The restaurant is nice, but very casual, with a few flat screens showing sports.
The Service
You’d expect a place called Slice House to have super quick service, but it took quite a while to get our order. We did order a whole pizza, but it was pretty slow moving in there for everyone, even though it was not busy. Slice House restaurant gets really busy at lunch time during the week when the work crowd from SoMa floods in, as well as on game days, so be prepared to wait. The cashier was polite, though not particularly friendly, but the other staff we encountered were more pleasant. The place is still pretty new, so I’d give it a chance to improve on service and speed.
The Price
Price per slice is $5-6, and full specialty pizzas $22 each (13 inches, feeds 2-3 people). The focaccia panini are $12-13 and salads are $8 or $9.
They also have a few happy hour deals on weekdays from 3 to 5:30pm: $2 slices, $4 drafts, cheap wings and garlic bread. Sunday brunch is $20, all you can eat, with an additional $10 for bottomless mimosas.
The Food
As its name suggests, Slice House restaurant sells pizza by the slice – huge, as-big-as-your-head sized slices. There’s a display case of pizza by the register, sliced up and ready to eat, but the selection of pre-made pizza is a little limited with cheese, pepperoni, and some Sicilian style and maybe a couple other options. However, there’s a whole menu of pizzas made to order, as well as some other Italian dishes like pasta and meatball subs. There’s also a few beers on tap, a short wine list, and some sodas.
The slices looked good, if a little greasy, but I wanted mine piping hot and a bit more inventive, so I chose one from the specialty menu. One of their featured pizzas is the Cal Italia (also available at Tony’s in North Beach), which they note won the gold medal on the Food Network’s Pizza Champions Challenge. It sounds a little strange – no sauce, but a combination of asiago, mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Gorgonzola, topped with prosciutto and sweet fig preserve, then drizzled with a balsamic reduction. However, I love a good savory-sweet combination, and this one was a world champion, so of course I ordered it.
The combination of flavors was quite good, but I (surprisingly) found it too sweet. Who am I to argue with the pizza judges? But I felt it needed something to counter that fig jam, like some arugula or another vegetable. It was kind of like toast with jam and ham. That said, I did enjoy it, but I’d order something different next time (and there will be a next time).
As always, Tony’s pizza crust is perfection: nice and crispy, but a little bit chewy inside. It’s really the best. Here, it was thicker than the Neapolitan style, and thick enough to hold the toppings, but not too bready. Slice House restaurant specializes in the ancient grain crust, using 00 flour, as well as some whole wheat, semolina, and sprouted grain.
I split the pie with one other person, and we both had slices left over to eat cold. The pizza held up really well as leftovers, and I found it interesting that the Gorgonzola flavor came through a lot more once the pizza was cold (I hardly tasted it when it was hot).
Though I still prefer Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, I’d definitely come back next time I’m in the area for a slice, and I may have to come get that brunch pizza very soon.
Website : slicehouse2ndst.com
Phone : +1 415-872-9680
Nearby Tourist Attractions– Fisherman’s wharf, Alcatraz Island