Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Zachary's in Oakland. Zachary's is wildly popular in the Bay Area for its Chicago-style stuffed pies. Bauer says: Crust: The stuffed pizza had a thick crust, almost like dried toasted bread with raw floury underpinning, at least on my visit. The stuffed also has a second crust that's laid on top of the cheese, then covered with a thick layer of chunky tomato sauce. As it bakes, the crust melts into the cheese. The thin crust was... More

Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Piccino. Piccino makes an ultra-thin-crust Roman-style pizza: Bauer says: Pizza tried: The Margherita is slathered with a sauce as thick as tomato paste, puddles of mozzarella and a few shards of basil. The waiter recommended the house-made sausage pizza, with restrained dollops of mozzarella on a background of thin slices of roasted gypsy peppers and delicate whisps of chives that added fresh depth to the other ingredients. Hmm. I can't tell if he liked it or not... More

Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Pizzaiolo in Oakland, California. Pizzaiolo makes a Neapolitan-style pizza and is owned and helmed by Charlie Hallowell, a longtime pizza-maker at Alice Waters's famed Chez Panisse: Bauer says: Crust: The thin crust has well-formed blisters that shatter into a dozen pieces on contact, and a chewiness that gives the jaw a good workout.Pizza tried: The classic Margherita has a restrained swipe of savory tomato sauce, pools of buttery mozzarella and shards of intensely flavored basil. We also... More

Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Pazzia Caffe & Trattoria in San Francisco. Pazzia makes thin-crusted pizza in a "Roman Tuscan" style: Bauer says: Crust: The thin crust has blisters that crumble like crackers; the light color often belies the crispness. What we had: The Margherita had a great sauce made in-house from fresh tomatoes, a slick of Polly-O mozzarella cheese and basil, which was missing from the blend on my visit. Still, it was a satisfying combination. The flavor of the mushroom... More

Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Pizza Azzurro in Napa, California. Azzurro makes thin-crust Roman-style pizza: Bauer says: Crust: One of the thinnest crusts I've encountered, with a chewiness at the center and a blackened edge whose rim shatters into a half dozen bites. It takes about five minutes to achieve this texture.Pizza tried: The Margherita has a judicious slather of acidic tomato sauce, with seeds, stringy mozzarella and thick shards of fresh basil. It was a perfect complement that didn't overpower the... More

Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to the Little Star location in the Mission. Little Star is known for its deep dish–style pies. Bauer says: Crust: The deep dish offers a crisp crust (about 3/8 inch at its widest point) made with butter and oil with the taste of cornmeal. It takes about 20 minutes to bake. The thin crust, which takes about 10 minutes, stays vertical when picked up, even with the generous toppings.Pizza tried: The Little Star thick-crust pizza offers spinach, cheese... More

Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Dopo in Oakland, which makes an thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza: Bauer says: The well seasoned dough is hand formed on a marble surface to create a rustic crisp chewy base, with a rim that has a ciabatta-like taste and texture. Most are meatless, so we tried the version with gypsy peppers and red onions, which nicely balances the tomato sauce that makes Dopo's efforts stand out. It has a clean, bright flavor with a pleasant acidity. We also... More