Holy crap, San Fran was freeeeezing when we were there (I know I sound like such a whiner right now haha). Like I was telling everybody when I got back, the locals had on fall jackets (saw a guy with a down jacket actually) and wool hats, and the people with T-shirts and shorts were the ill-prepared tourists. And this was August people....AUGUST!!! Where did their summer go??? The locals said this year is messed up in terms of weather, yeah tell me about it, it was only around 12 degrees Celsius when we got there and what made it worse was the crazy gusty wind.
Anyway after checking in to the hotel, we just wanted some good food nearby. Nearby is the key because it was way too cold to venture far. The concierge suggested a Japanese restaurant, a Thai restaurant, a pizza place, and a steakhouse nearby. Since we already had Thai yesterday night, and weren't feeling Japanese or steak, we decided on pizza. The concierge recommended Patxi's, which he claims is the best pizza in the area.
Patxi's have four different styles of pizzas:
1) Chicago "Stuffed": Their flagship pie. A hearty deep dish pizza with a layer of crust on the bottom, followed by layers of of cheese and toppings, all covered by another thin layer of crust, topped with homemade sauce. Prepared and cooked in a deep dish pan. 35-40 minute cook time.
2) Chicago "Thin": This lighter deep dish pie features a crunchy cornmeal style crust, with cheese and toppings covered by sauce. Prepared and cooked in deep dish pan. 25-30 minute cook time.
3) Thin Crust: Classic pizza, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. 25-30 minute cook time.
4) Extra-Thin Crust: Minimalist crust highlights the toppings. 20-25 minute cook time.
And of course you can pick your own toppings as well. Notice the many mozzarella cheeses that you can choose from.
What's cool about Patxi's is that the pizzas are available half-baked for delivery or take-out, which means you can finish baking it in your own oven. But I'm wondering whether the pizza will turn out as good though since I'm sure the ovens at home are not nearly as good as the ones they have at Patxi's. Nonetheless, offering that half-baked option for customers is still neat.
Some pictures of the place while we wait. The place actually filled up quickly and it was a Monday night.
The first pizza that came was the Spinach Pesto with Chicken Thin Crust Pizza.
The best pizza of the night for me. A well balanced portion of cheese and spinach. The chicken pieces were huge but not dry either. Really really liked this.
The Spicy Bacon Cheeseburger Chicago "Stuffed" Pizza came next. Humongous!!!
Look at the height of that crust. The Great Wall of China.
All that filling (ground beef, bacon, sauce, and cheese) filled the depth of that crust. This pizza was spicy.
Next up is the Veggie Chicago "Thin" Pizza. Couldn't really tell the difference from the Chicago "Stuffed" here since the crust is just as high. This picture captures the craziness of this pizzz. It is literally a "PIE".
It is only when you slice the pizza that you can tell the difference between the Chicago "Stuffed" and the Chicago "Thin". The filling on this Chicago "Thin" is not piled up as high as the Chicago "Stuffed".
This Veggie pizza consisted of mushrooms, black olives, green peppers, and onions. I liked this one over the Spicy Cheese Burger because I can actually taste all the toppings in this veggie pizza, whereas for the Spicy Cheese Burger I could only taste the jalapenos and the homemade sauce.
We did not finish the pizzas, the two deep dish pizzas really did it for us. In hindsight, we probably should have only ordered two pizzas, probably a thin crust and a deep dish between the four of us. But out of group I was the only person that had deep dish pizza before so I can't blame the others for wanting to try both the Chicago "Stuffed" and Chicago "Thin". I'm not a big fan of deep dish pizza and much prefer thin crust, but if you like deep dish, Patxi's is the place to go.
Note: Patxi's has three locations and none of them are in Chicago.
Patxi's Chicago Pizza
511 Hayes Street, SF, 94102
415.558.9991
My Virgin America Trip to Los Angeles, Caifornia
