Pizza and Pasta in San Francisco, California: A Restaurant Review

At $2.20 for a cheese slice, or $2.40 for one topping, the pizza slice prices at Pizza and Pasta (located in the San Francisco State University Student Center) are a touch below city average, but you also aren't getting a whole lot in return for your dollar either.

I'll grant that the pizza slice size is adequate for the money, and toppings do seem to be generously distributed. The taste is that of your most generic frozen pizza from straight out of the Safeway freezer, however, and they don't toast the slices up in a toaster oven prior to handing them over to you. They simply leave them under a heat lamp to keep warm, which seems none too adequate, giving you half cold and greasy pizza most of the time. This can be somewhat remedied by hitting the microwaves hidden over in the corner of the food center, but you really shouldn't have to go to that extra trouble for a discount price of a quarter or two.

Really, the only good thing about this place is the low price, and the attractive girl who often works the counter on the weekdays. The pasta is likewise uninspiring and has a "reheated from the grocery store freezer" taste and texture to it. On the menu are spaghetti, fettuccini, penne, linguini, lasagna and vega pasta which can be accompanied by marinara, meat sauce, pesto, alfredo or vegan marinara sauces. You do get a choice of garlic or herb focaccia bread on the side with all pasta orders, which is a nice touch but doesn't really justify the $4 to $5 price for medium sized portions of what tastes like generic CostCo food.

Whole pies are available (carry out only of course) at about $10 for a small cheese to around $20 for a large with three or four toppings. I've never had occasion to try a whole pie here, and I'd be curious to know if they bake them up fresh when you order, or if they just have more sitting around under heat lamps somewhere in the back.

I really don't care for lukewarm pizza and I try to avoid microwaving food as much as possible, so I don't stop off at this place anymore. It's really a shame, as a good pizza outlet would be most welcome in this area, with the only other option within almost 1/2 a mile being the equally crappy (and even more expensive) Sbarro at the Stonestown Galleria mall next door. They've got the pricing right, with $3 being more the standard San Francisco price for a plain cheese slice these days, but the quality is just too lame to make it even a desperation fill-up spot. When stuck in Ingleside, I guess delivery is what it's gonna have to be, or a trip to the Safeway to grab a Digornio's or something instead ...