Steph C.
Yelp
We took a quick trip to the Bay Area a couple weeks back and met up with our friends who live in Redwood Ciy. We needed a place to get dinner without reservations on a Friday night, and they suggested Pazzo, a New Haven-style pizza joint in San Carlos.
The place apparently gets busy, so my husband and I went early and camped out at the bar, enjoying a round of beers while we waited to claim a table. The staff wouldn't seat us far in advance, but we were in there before 5:00 and they said we should be good for another half hour. It turned out we could've walked in whenever we wanted. The dining room filled up while we were there, but never to capacity.
The space was comfortable and inviting, built around an impressive pizza oven. We watched the pizzas take shape while we sat at the bar, then moved to a pleasant table that looked out onto the street. The New Haven pride was apparent, with posters and pizza boxes from Sally's, Pepe's, and Modern. There was even a potato pie on the menu, a probable nod to Bar. (I spent a few years in the area and got to know the pizza scene reasonably well.)
The vibe was casual but lively, and service was good, helpful and attentive. There was a pretty robust beer and wine list. We went for the beers, mostly localish brews that we don't see in Southern California. I had the Little Beast Hot Break, a dry-hopped sour ale, and the Ghost Town Scaredy Cat, a Brett saison. My husband had the Moonraker Captain Mo pale ale and the Ghost Town Lecherous Haze, a hazy IPA. All nice, and well suited to a pizza dinner.
The food was excellent. We started with several non-pizza offerings, and they were all winners. The housemade focaccia was fresh and warm, flecked with herbs and salt and served with an addictive sun-dried tomato spalmare (I guess that's an Italian word for spread). The meatballs al forno were hearty and delicious, bathed in tomato sauce with mozzarella and a side of toasted garlic bread. The crispy cauliflower was a pleasant, unexpected dish, tangy with citrus, almost like orange chicken. The cauliflower was lightly breaded and fried and served with currants, pine nuts, honey, lemon, champagne vinegar, and parmigiano. We also shared one pasta, the lovely, rustic cavatelli with slow-braised pork ragu and pecorino romano.
We ordered two pizzas for the four of us and this filled out our substantial meal, with a few slices left over. The pizzas were in the New Haven style, with thin, almost crackery charred crusts. The margherita was classic, a red pie with fresh mozzarella, parmigiano, and basil. The New Haven clam pie took me back to Pepe's, chewy nuggets of clam on a white pizza with pecorino, parsley, mozzarella, and plenty of garlic.
This was a fun dinner, with great food and drink in a charming, cozy environment. I'd recommend Pazzo if you're looking for a noteworthy restaurant in this part of the Bay.