You’ve likely been celebrating all month — Congress declared October official National Pizza Month back in 1987, after all. But if you haven’t yet had your fill — or have grown bored with the same old, same old — you’ll find some distinctly unusual pies at hot spots across the Bay Area.
With flavors hailing from New Haven, to India and beyond, these pizzerias and their eclectic pies are sure to make you think twice next time you consider ordering plain cheese. And while you may think there are some ingredients and flavors that have no place on pizza, these seven pizza joints would not agree.
Curry Pizza House, San Ramon, Pleasanton, San Mateo and other locations
It’s Friday night, and you’re ordering takeout, but you can’t decide between Indian and pizza. What do you do? Curry Pizza House answered that question for customers when it was founded in Fremont in 2012, and since then has opened more than 20 stores across the Bay Area, even expanding into Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Texas.
Founded by first-generation Indian-American Gursewak Gill, Curry Pizza House offers pizza that tops a gooey, fluffy dough with distinctly unexpected flavors — chicken tikka, for example, and paneer. They don’t sell pies by the slice, but their personal, 8-inch pizzas are small enough for one person. Combine it with a soda for the $10 lunch special.
The pizza to try: Forget marinara. The Aloo Gobhi ($24) is topped with curry sauce, marinated potatoes and cauliflower, red onions, cheese and fresh cilantro.
Details: Hours vary by location; currypizzahouse.com.
Mateo Pizza, San Mateo
This pizza spot opened just last month and already has racked up more than 100 five-star reviews on Google, with some customers claiming it’s the best Turkish pizza they’ve ever had. A Reddit post on /seriouseats summed it up like this: Sujuk, a Turkish pepperoni, “is to Turkish cuisine what chorizo is to Spanish cuisine; what salami is to Italian cuisine.”
The pizza to try: The Ottoman ($24.75) combines pomodoro sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, oregano, sujuk, peperoncini, arugula.
Details: Open daily at 851 N. San Mateo Drive in San Mateo; mateopizza.com.
Nick’s Pizza, Oakland
Apples on pizza? Why not? Nick’s likes to mix it up with seasonal ingredients to top their thin, chewy, sourdough crust. The “Oakland-style” pizza joint recently became a worker-owned co-op and continues to offer regular community meals that provide free food and drinks to the neighborhood.
The pizza to try: The Mutsu Apple ($35) layers apples, ricotta, shallots, mozzarella and arugula on sourdough crust.
Details: Open Wednesday-Sunday at 6400 Shattuck Ave., Oakland; oaklandstylepizza.com.
Mochiko Pizza, Palo Alto
Now here’s a new one: mochi pizza. Created by Sushirrito cofounders Peter Yen and Ty Mahler, who claim to have the world’s first mochi pizza shop, Mochiko opened inside Burlingame’s Sushirrito eatery in November. The gluten-free mochi dough is made with rice flour. The rectangular pizzas look like flatbreads, with topping flavors that range from soy-braised beef to spicy pork and classic pepperoni.
The pizza to try: Chicken curry ($13) makes its mark with chicken karaage, mozzarella , corn, jalapeño, Japanese curry and fresh cilantro.
Details: Open daily inside Sushirrito in Palo Alto and San Francisco; mochipizza.com.
The curry chicken pizza from Mochiko is served on a mochi crust and topped with chicken karaage, mozzarella cheese, corn, jalapeño, Japanese curry and fresh cilantro. (Courtesy Mochiko)
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Pazzo, San Carlos
Northeasterners who made it this far west find it easy to romanticize our favorite pies of the past. And for many New Englanders, those favorites hail from New Haven. Made famous by the century-old Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, New Haven pizza involves a thin crust that is wood-fired to a crisp. At Pazzo, New Haven native Andy Gambardella is re-creating the originals, right down to the baby clam pie.
The pizza to try: The New Haven clam pie ($25), of course, which features baby neck clams, pecorino, parsley, mozzarella and garlic.
Details: Open Tuesday-Saturday at 1179 Laurel Street in San Carlos; pazzosancarlos.com.
Square Pie Guys, Oakland
The Detroit-style pizza spot known for its crispy bottom, fluffy middle and cheesy edges has collaborated with popular Instagram food reviewer GrubWitMike to create De Grubby Pie, a spicy, Asian-inspired pizza that looks like a stomach ache-in-the-making but might be worth it. They’re donating 3% of sales to The City Eats, which feeds the unhoused.
The pizza to try: Da Grubby Pie ($23.40) combines white sauce (garlic, lemon, ricotta cream), pickled Fresno chiles, gochujang-marinated chicken thighs, Alabama white sauce, green onions and spicy sesame seeds.
Details: You can order Square Pie Guys pizzas from Local Kitchens in Lafayette, Los Gatos and other cities, but with more standard toppings. For De Grubby, head for the storefront (open daily) at 499 Dr. Huey P. Newton Way in Oakland or one of the San Francisco locations; squarepieguys.com.
DamnFine, San Francisco
It’s hard to find a wood-fired pie on the west side of the city, a key selling point for Damnfine when it opened in the Outer Sunset in 2021. Now the place is packed nightly, its light-soaked patio offering a unique venue for outdoor seating that will transport you to the Italian coast. There’s a strong wine list, too, but the pizza is the star of the show, with a doughy crust that will ensure you leave nothing on your plate. The Dad Jokes pizza was recommended by a server on a recent visit, with a tip to order a side of hot honey to pour on top. The result is, can we say, damn fine.
The pizza to try: Dad Jokes ($23) is topped with grilled sweet corn, Sungold tomato, garlic cream sauce, mozzarella, provolone, basil and gremolata.
Details: Open Tuesday-Sunday at 4310 Judah St. in San Francisco; damnfineco.com.
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