Pizzeria Delfina

Let me start off by saying the pizza here is amazing. Food not the problem. Service was excruciatingly slow. I think we saw our waitress twice the whole meal. Maybe it was an off day but poor service makes me not want to come back.

Swung by here around 3pm for late lunch with a friend. I’m a self-​proclaimed pizza snob and I definitely don’t just eat any pizza. The calories need to be OH SO worth it, and given how many times I had heard about Delfina, I decided today would be judgment day. Yes, this is how dramatic I get when my friends let me pick the restaurant.
Ambiance/​Décor: My initial reaction was «oh wow, this is more casual than I thought». No I wasn’t expecting fine dining, but I was expecting something more like the ambiance at Little Star — dim lighting & obviously trendy. This spot definitely appears more chill and underrated. Lots of natural lighting and super casual CPK-​like atmosphere. Not a bad thing whatsoever — it made for a great environment for a friend and I to catch up. but I def would not want to be brought on a first, second or even third date here.
Food: Okay, so here’s where things get good. I was debating over the arugula and proscuitto pizza and the salsiccia and ended up going with the latter. I don’t know what I don’t know, but I do know that the salsiccia was amazing! I really enjoyed the fennel sausage and the chewy consistency of the crust. It wasn’t crispy at all, but deliciously chewy without being soggy. Subtle but important difference! My friend ordered the margherita pizza and there were little three shriveled sad looking pieces of basil on the entire pie. Say what?! That was absurd to me.
Service: Decent. Nothing stands out here, but there was no shade thrown either.
Tl;dr: very solid thin crust pizza. basil looking a lil sparse on the margherita but the salsiccia is golden.

Delphina pizza was the one craving request that my wife had through pregnancy and the first thing that you wanted after childbirth. I suppose it’s not much of a craving as we’ve been regulars there for years. Having studied abroad in Italy and through through Naples, this is truly authentic Napoletan style pizza. The salads are a perfect palate cleanser and always well balanced, And the warm olives are a great finger food starter. You can go with the traditional margarita pizza or try their special of the day which you can never lose with. The weight can be a little bit long with limited seating and no reservations, but well worth the anticipation. While you are waiting go walk to Dolores Park or shop around at the local Bi-​Rite market.

Let me begin by saying… I’m still trying to figure out how I can at this place every day. Not joking!
A small, family oriented, homey, and welcoming restaurant with big flavors! We visited the restaurant today for lunch, and when we arrived around noon, it wasn’t too busy which was very nice! We ordered a number of places to share: the Citrus & Walnuts Salad, the mussels, meatballs, the Panna Pizza with sausage and the Salsiccia Pizza. All ingredients were very fresh and flavorful. Everything was amazing! I honestly have no complaints about any part of our visit to this fine establishment! The only thing I will say is that it is slightly more on the expensive side, but I believe this just comes with the territory. The customer service was friendly, warm, inviting, and prompt. The food was delicious, yummy, fresh and amazing. Like I said, I’m still trying to figure out how I can eat at this place every day! We will be back — you can guarantee that!

Great experience here a couple weeks ago. We tried the arugula salad, fresh mozz, and the sausage pizza. So happy there is one of these in Palo Alto so I can get this pizza on the regular. Hands down best za i’ve had on the west coast!

Stopped by for a late lunch around 3ish and the restaurant was still a bit busy. Sat at the bar for pizza and beer. Really good and attentive service but unfortunately the pizza is just so-​so.
Neapolitan style has overtaken NY as my favorite style, and while the ingredients seemed of high quality, the prep was poor. I ordered the margherita. Too much char left the crust overly stiff, and somehow the mozzarella was not well melted and tasted rubbery and congealed. Pizza was not terrible but I was expecting much better based on what I’d heard of Delfina.

I love this place just as much as the Mission flagship. I love the small interior, quick delivery of pizza to table, and of course, the delicious fresh ingredients that make this pizza so special. The crust is thin but remains chewy and soft, and I’m a sucker for the prosciutto pizza. Pro-​tip: eat it all and don’t bring it home, doesn’t reheat well. You can use that as your excuse to the table for polishing off this delicious, delicious pie.

Go early! Skip the wait time.
Ordered: fried brussel sprouts (so freakin’ good. They put parm on them when they are piping hot — tastes like the top burnt part of a bomb mac and cheese.)
Marinated beets: goat cheese. Wish they had a more vinegar-​y taste but still good.
Margherita pizza: Very yummy. Crust was good and chewy, tomatoes were tasty, cheese was solid — just wish they had some fresh basil on top.
For those minor things I would set it at a high 4 stars.
Service was fast too — even when they started to get busy. Always a plus.

Is it acceptable to like one relative more than the other? Guilty as charged! I’d done the Mission location for years — so conventional wisdom would suggest, «if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.»
Well, I happen to be with others (yeah, I was following the crowd) they wanted to try the location on California Street.
What a pleasant surprise. There are MORE families at this location, but it isn’t a bad thing — because there is also MORE space!
And yes, the same great dishes found at my Mission location are found here, with a few extras!
Parking is as much a challenge here as it is at the other location — but at California you’re guaranteed to have more «elbow room!»

I’d gone to Pizzeria Delfina in the Mission years ago. I’ve been meaning to go to their Pacific Heights’ location ever since they opened, but never really had the opportunity. On Tuesday, October 6^th, my pizza craving and the roommate’s affinity for take out brought me here for dinner. I placed an order online at their website (
) around 5:15pm. It was ready for pick up at 5:45pm when I got to the restaurant.
*Belfiore Burrata ($ 12): w/​arugula, crostini & extra virgin olive oil
*Neapolitan Meatballs «In Sugo» ($ 16): Pork, beef & veal meatballs w/​tomato sauce & crostini
*Margherita ($ 14): Tomato, fior di latte mozzarella, basil
*Salsiccia ($ 18): Housemade fennel sausage, tomato, bell peppers, onions, mozzarella; add Arugula (+$ 3)
I adore thin crust pizza. Especially if it has a nice chew. Luckily, that’s what you’ll find here. I loved that they packed the arugula separately so it stayed nice and fresh. Went well with the Salsiccia. Their Margherita was good as well, but I wish it had more basil. Since we got take out, the crust in the middle of the pizzas suffered a bit and were soggy. The toppings kept sliding off. Still, they were some of the better pizzas I’ve had. The Burrata was amazing! Rich, buttery and creamy! I ate the whole portion myself! The Meatballs were a touch dry, but I loved the sauce. Yum!
One of my favorite thin crust pizza places close to home. Pizzas do suffer a little from take out, so I’d suggest eating the pies there! Next time, I know I will!

It was an absolute gift to the pac heights neighborhood for Pizzeria Delfina to open this location.
Have you seen the families waiting & dining here every single day?
Where on earth were they eating pizza in this neighborhood before?!
Pizza Inferno?!
I hope not.
They probably don’t even remember.
Blocked it out. Yep.
Who wants to remember a time when there wasn’t Delfina’s fabulous pizza salsiccia, fantastic pizza margherita, or stellar meatballs, right around the corner/​down the street/​or just a block or 2 away?!
WHO?!
Perish the thought, right?
The prosciutto pie is great, too. The tenderest prosciutto, the freshest arugula. Flavor bliss.
This location is actually significantly more relaxed than the mission location; even when it’s packed.
Not sure why, but I do appreciate.
You should always order an extra side of red sauce. It’s fantastic.
It’s all about the sauce, right?
Well, the crust & the sauce.
Delfina nails them both.
5 stars.

The Margherita pizza. Perfectly zesty tomato sauce, chewy but crispy thin crust. Soooo good. Pancetta arugula pizza was also delicious and well balanced in texture and flavors. Also very attentive service and cute atmosphere.

If you are looking for a nice pizza spot, this is it. They have fresh, unique personal sized pizzas.
I recommend getting it to-​go; I didn’t give it the full 5 stars because I am not crazy about the atmosphere of the restaurant. There is also always a bit of a wait which makes taking it to-​go an even better option.

I’ve had this place delivered often at work through Caviar but this was the first time I’ve been to the restaurant. Tried almost every pizza on their menu and everything is really good. Very nice attentive service and only a short wait if you visit on an off hour. Otherwise it can be a long wait since they are so popular.
I like that they have bread sticks at the table for free. The waitress recommended the roasted corn with chili butter ($ 7) for an appetizer. The sauce was soo creamy and not too rich. We really liked it! The two of us shared a panna pizza — tomato sauce, cream, basil, cheese ($ 14) and it was enough food since we weren’t too hungry. Its one of my favorites on their menu. Note that it’s very saucy so if you’re looking for more toppings try something else they have. I’d recommend getting your own personal pizza if you have an appetite.
Overall consistently good pizza but not the best I’ve had.

I’d give them 3.5 stars.
We were visiting a friend living in the Pacific Heights neighborhood and she recommended going to Pizzeria Delfina for dinner one night! No reservations are taken, and everyone in your party has to be present in order to be seated. The atmosphere is casual — very busy with a young vibe.
We enjoyed the Margherita pizza, Prosciutto Pie and meatballs for 4 people. The pizzas were great– delicious with fresh and authentic ingredients, but by no means were they the best I have ever eaten (which some people claim on Unilocal). The crust was thin and crispy.
We found that the service to be slow and below average. We had to flag down the serves multiple times for water refills, and they mixed up one of our pizza orders. In addition, when I checked my credit card balance the following week, I noticed that the restaurant charged me for the whole bill even though the dinner was split four ways. I quickly called the restaurant and they issued me a refund. This was the first time I encountered this sort of billing error, so I am glad that I check my credit card statement to catch their mistake.

On Saturday, 7÷25÷15, my girlfriend and I ate at Pizzeria Delfina for dinner. A few of my friends said Pizzeria Delfina is the best pizza place ever and a lot of the reviews on here say the same thing. I had very high expectations for Pizzeria Delfina.
Atmosphere/​Décor:
The restaurant is very small and cluttered. Everything is way too close to one another. You fill totally boxed in. I didn’t like the set up of the restaurant. When you enter the restaurant you’ll see a chalk board on the left which is basically the menu and the waiting list. I waited in line for about 10 minutes before one of the employees told me I had to write my name on the chalk board. I didn’t like the chalk board waiting list concept at all. I saw a lot of people that were unaware of writing their name down on the chalk board.
Food:
My girlfriend and I ordered our own pizzas. I went with the Salsiccia (house made fennel sausage, tomato, bell peppers, onions, mozzarella). The Salsiccia pizza was mediocre at best. There was nothing spectacular about it. It barely had any mozzarella cheese on it. The bell peppers weren’t even cooked. They still had a hard texture and tasted like a raw vegetable. The only good tasting thing was the house made fennel sausage. Everything else was pretty weak.
My girlfriend felt the same way about her Margherita Pizza. She didn’t really like it. The dough was really soggy and the tomato sauce tasted kind of weird. We weren’t a fan of the pizza crust as well because it was so burnt.
Service:
I thought the service was pretty bad from start to finish. Like I said previously when we got there I had to wait in line for about 10 minutes until an employee told me I had to write my name up on the chalk board in order to be seated. It seemed like everyone working there was too busy to acknowledge people waiting in line. I thought our waitress did an okay job. She took our order and that was really it. We didn’t see her or hear from her until she dropped off the check. She didn’t even check up on us throughout our dinner or ask if we liked the pizzas.
Overall:
I don’t understand how people on here can say that the pizza crust and ingredients at Pizzeria Delfina are the best they’ve ever had. They must not know what really good pizza tastes like. Tony’s on Stockton Street is way better and blows Pizza Delfina out of the water. Don’t waste your time at this place. Hit up Tony’s instead. The wait is actually worth it there.

Definitely one of the highlights of my trip! This place was jam-​packed on a Sunday evening at 5:30pm. I was part of a party of 9, so we waited about an hour for a table. The food was delicious and didn’t weigh you down like other pizzas do. I didn’t feel lethargic after eating it or feel the need to take a nap. The service was good and pretty fast, especially for how busy it was. It is reallllllllly tight in there but not as bad as other places in the area.
FOOD: 5 stars.
For 9 of us we ordered 5 salads to start and then 8 pizzas. We probably ordered way too much food, but after a day of traveling and waiting an hour for a table, it was perfect. The Margherita pizza with arugula on top was delicious. Thin crust and everything tasted very fresh. We also ordered the Prosciutto pizza with arugula and prosciutto on top and that was also excellent. I think we ordered each of the 3 salads they had on be menu and each of those were delicious. A little heavy on the salad dressing, but I’m someone who doesn’t like dressing on my salad haha.
SERVICE: 4 stars.
Kind of slow, but expected with how busy it was. They were all very friendly and down to Earth.
LOCATION: 4.5 stars.
The space is very tight but it works. It’s right next to Smitten’s, so it definitely attracts a lot of people. I would recommend getting here early because we waited a loooonnngggg time when we arrived 20 minutes after they opened.
I’m not a big fan of pizza and having lived in NY, I feel like I am a very tough critic. This pizza was well-​crafted and not too heavy. The toppings were very different and unique so I feel like it is very customized to this place. I would recommend making it a point to come here if you’re in SF and looking for amazing pizza!

Delfina was one of the top places to go to when I first arrived in SF. I put it off since it doesn’t take reservations and I live at the bottom of the hill and didn’t want to risk a tough hike up the hill and faced with a long wait. So luckily I was at the right elevation and had time to kill during the Fillmore Jazz Festival to put my name on the chalk board and wait.
The wait was about 30 minutes but it was a nice day so wasn’t too bad. There wasn’t enough room inside for our stroller but the staff happily offered to take it and put it out of the way. They have high chairs and free breadsticks (keeps the toddler and me happy till proper food arrives!).
We got the classic margherita pizza and the salsiccia pizza. The margherita is very simple but really nice. I found the salsiccia to be a tad boring although still nice. It would be nice to see a spicier pizza on the standard menu.
The soft drinks are unlimited refill but served in smallish glasses filled with ice. It got a bit frustrating flagging down a waiter for a refill every couple of sips and after a while I just gave up.
Overall good pizzas, you won’t be disappointed but not sure if the hype I built up for it was worth it.

Les pizzas sont très bonnes, bon accueil, bonne ambiance, nous somme aller manger a 14h c’était rempli de monde donc plutôt encourageant de faire 10−15mn d’attente afin d’être assis.

One of my favorite regular places in San Francisco. Low key, super friendly staff. Smaller menu but they are always changing up the vegetables with what’s in season. The pizzas and vegetables are always cooked to perfection. Claudio, one of my Italian friends who came to the states in his 20’s, took his aunt from Rome here (a bold move!) who commented that this is just like the pizza in Italy.
Salsaccia pizza, yummy sausages cooked just right. Thin crusted pizza.
Chard.- I don’t love chard but want to eat more of it. Delfina’s chard is never bitter. Never overcooked. As delicious as chard gets.
Peas and peas — one of the newer things on the menu and just love it. The burrata is soft and more American style (vs their Italian counterparts). Sweet peas justapositioned with the crunchy texture of the snow peas. Definitely a winner and a must try.

Came here last week with a friend. We were pretty excited to try this place since there are rave reviews. But we weren’t let down, just one of the pizzas we chose was somewhat disappointing.
Fungi pie:4/5: definitely tasty! I love the mushroom variety mixed with the cheese. It had a nice crispy crust. I think it would have been even better if I had added sausage. But overall a pretty tasty pie.
Clam pie: ³⁄₅: I read rave reviews about this pie. First bite it kinda surprised me by how clammy it was. The sauce and the clams had an overwhelming clamminess that I didn’t really like. Don’t get me wrong, I love clams but I wasn’t the biggest fan of this clam pizza. Would not get it again.
Overall a decent pizza place. Would definitely come back here again for more pizza and to try the appetizers.
Total for 2: $ 45