Gioia on Polk, San Francisco

Gioia on Polk, compared with the pizza I had earlier in the day at Rosso, I’d honestly say Gioia came in a distant third. Yes, third place. Not because it was a bad pizza, just not a well-balanced or technically proficient as Rosso. And sorry, no pics.

We ordered the Julien and the spice on the pizza was actually a bit hotter than expected. My range of heat goes fairly high and when I get a whack of heat in my first 2 bites, I’m put a little off-guard. As for the blister on the crust, there was none. That’s just plain disappointing. Sure, the crust was an even brown around the entire dough and there was both a hint of crack in the crust and elasticity in the dough, but nothing near Rosso, not even close. 

Conditions at Gioia on a busy Friday night, versus a regular  lunch crowd in Santa Rosa are vastly different, but my guess, the ovens at Gioia run just a little cooler and the crowd a little less sophisticated (and perhaps a little too much hipster youth on Polk St.) to understand what a true blister on a pie should look and taste.

A good offering at Gioia, just not great. Cool atmosphere though and a nice addition to Polk St.