Pazzo

The best Margherita pizza in the peninsula — there, I said it.

There’s a lot to love about this place. My boyfriend and I have been coming here once a month if not once a week since they first opened a few years ago. Though it should come as no surprise by now, we are consistently blown away by just how incredibly delicious the food is every single time. Wonderful service as well. Attentive, accommodating, and totally down to earth.

Pazza isn’t your typical zero zero style pizza. While they serve thin crust pizza, it has a more homemade texture and flavor. What sets them a part is the generous amounts of cheese and incredible homemade sausage.
Also tried the rigatoni sausage pasta, and it was pretty good but I would order something else next time.
Beet salad was excellent, LOVED the dressing!
Overall, Pazzo’s is a great, popular neighborhood Italian restaurant serving rustic, homemade Italian food. Highly recommend the sausage pizza!

Better service needed
Attempted to dine here and was greeted by minimal staff. When we were greeted the wait staff didn’t know what todo with our party (party of 8). So then he proceeded to talk to the group behind us (party of 5). Keep in mind both parties didn’t have a reservation. He then disappeared for a few minutes and came back telling us that it would be an hour wait. But then told the group behind us that they could seat them! He didn’t do much to also explain things and was just pretty cold overall. Said they had reservations, which I get but It was 5:30 and the restaurant was about 25% full! We even offered to squeeze. If you can seat 5 you really can’t seat 8 with more than half your restaurant empty? I see great reviews here but the this visit left a lot to be desired. Won’t be going back for sure.

Wow – holy cow! If you have not been to Pazzo – what are you waiting for? Get there for one of the best wood-​fired pizzas in the Bay Area. We arrived last night about 8 with a party of 4. We were quickly seated in an otherwise crowded restaurant – thankfully there was a table open.
We decided to order a bunch of things so that all could enjoy a bit of each. Started with the Homemade Fennel Sausage Pizza. Let me just say that it is OUT OF THIS WORLD good. Andy, the owner originally from New Haven, Conn knows how to build and cook a pie. Wow!
We also enjoyed the fried cauliflower, beet salad, spicy shrimp and grits, and the wood fired Sea Bass.
I was so pleased with the flavors and vibe of the place, I asked about expansion into other areas. But do one thing – if you like wood fired, really delicious pizza – get to Pazzo!

I have to let people know one thing. Do not order through third party venders. Call the restaurant directly so they do not need to pay a service fee and you will be in better luck not to get your order messed up. If you insist on using a third party call before you pick your food up to make sure it is ready. Please stop taking your bad experience with the third party vender out on the restaurant that has no control over their mistake. I am so annoyed with seeing people leave bad reviews for stupid reasons.
WE LOVE PAZZO.

Service awesome. Pizza fresh and delivered to the table right away. Crust was very yummy. Grits and shrimp appetizer was awesome. Ordered bread to slurp up the sauce!
A little bit noisy but hey it’s a very popular relaxing place to eat and enjoy with friends.

Great pasta, excellent pizza. Came here for an anniversary dinner. Good value in terms of what you get for your money. Location is a little out there for San Carlos. Not much to do nearby while you wait. I would’ve given them a full 5 stars, but minus one star for the fact that they made us wait until our reservation time to seat us even though there were empty tables and others without reservations were being seated ahead of us. It felt like a Seinfeld episode.

I came here with a friend on a Wednesday night. I’m glad I had the foresight to make a reservation even if it was on the same day. This place was packed and there were people waiting for a table — always a good sign.
My friend and I ordered the beet salad and Bianca pizza. I’m not a huge fan of beets, but I thought I’d give it another shot. I’m glad I did! This salad was delicious. The flavors were well balanced and the beets were not overly earthy tasting. The pizza was great. I loved a little of the blackened crust.
We got the Tiramisu for dessert. How can you not at an Italian restaurant?! It was great — light and fluffy, not too dense.
We moved pretty quickly through the restaurant, but we didn’t feel rushed. A good thing to keep in mind if you haven’t made a reservation.

Pazzo was highly recommended to us, and now we HIGHLY recommend Pazzo to everyone! My whole family and I have been dining here for a few years, and it is definitely my to go place for plenty of reasons: Starting off with how delicious the food is, from simple pizza, pasta down to all the desserts. Andrew is a sweetheart, he knows our order by heart, and our soufflé cake always arrives a few minutes after we have finished eating without having to order it, LOVE IT! It is always busy here, just goes to show how great this place is!!! Don’t forget to try the housemade bread, and soufflé cake at the end!

Let me start off by saying DO NOT ORDER THROUGH A THIRD PARTY.
So, we placed our order through Unilocal at 6:50. It said our order would be ready between 10 – 30 minutes so we arrived at 7:10. When we told the first server that we were there for pick up he told us that they just received our order and it would be 5 – 10 minutes for our food to be ready. So we went outside and waited.
At 7:30 I decide to go back in and check on the status of our order. The second server who I believe was pointed out as the owners son approaches me. I ask about our order and he tells me the same story as earlier how they just received it and they were working on it. I ask for another estimate and he says 5 – 10 min. I mentioned that’s what the other guy told us 15+min ago and then he tells me that pizzas take about 30 min. I can tell he is now irritated at me questioning him and tells me how obviously they are busy right now so it’s going to take some time. He also mentions how I should have ordered directly through them over the phone. We ended up leaving with our food around 7:40ish.
So here are my issues.
Do not blame me for ordering through a third party and that’s the reason why you didn’t get our order, maybe you should keep a better eye out on your togos.
Do not tell me some time frame that you think I want to hear then get mad when I check in after the time that you told me.
If we had gotten there and they would have been like «we just saw this order I’m sorry we will get this as soon as we can, it can be up to 30min» I wouldn’t be this upset. I’ve worked in restaurants for 10 years I appreciate sincere honestly, especially when the ball was dropped on the restaurants end. But don’t be a jerk when it’s something that you messed up on.
The food was actually pretty good (two pizzas, meat balls, and the melted cheese app) but given how the owners son handled the situation and treated me I doubt we will be back.

The bf and I made a reservation here for a Friday or Saturday night… I can’t recall which day.
When we arrived, they were actually quite busy, so I was glad we made reservations. I ordered the Cacio e Pepe pasta which was on special, and the BF ordered a potato pizza. We also ordered the fried cauliflower as an appetizer, per the waiters recommendation. I liked the appetizer, more than I thought I would. I also thought the pizza was interesting. My dish (cacio e pepe), was not as interesting. I didn’t feel full after eating it, and it was too basic. I’ve had this type of pasta before, and it has been amazing. Often times these pastas are garnished with some crispy Asiago or Parmesan cheese on top, or has a slightly more interesting sauce, but this was for whatever reason a little more on the plain side. It was still tasty, but not as tasty as I’ve had before.
I liked that the restaurant was packed on a Friday night, but wasn’t too loud. I also noticed there is quite a mix of patrons, from families, to people on a date, to groups of friends.
Overall, I did enjoy this restaurant, and I will certainly be back to try some other options!

(vegan/​vegetarian)
I was very pleasantly surprised when the waiter cheerfully helped me alter some menu items in order to create a very satisfying vegan meal. Specifically, he pointed out that the crispy cauliflower could be served vegan (just hold the parmesan), and that they can serve any of the pizzas without cheese (while the dough itself is vegan). I ended up getting one of their pizzas, minus the cheese, with extra bell pepper and mushrooms. It was delicious.
I wish they had vegan desserts. I wish also their menu stated clearly which items could be made vegan or vegetarian.
All in all, a very good experience. Lovely place, friendly staff, good food — not much more I could ask for.

I have been going to Pazzo’s since it was called Gambardella’s. Since the name and location change they have down sized the menu, focusing on hand-​made pastas, wood-​fire pizzas and some good beers on tap. The environment is much more casual compared to the former white table cloth presentation. With this comes a much more moderate price, but the best part is the quality of food still speaks for itself… it’s what I would call a «Win, Win»!
Now onto the food itself. Everything is made in-​house (pasta, meat balls, smoked bacon, you name it) so you really can’t go wrong but here are some of my favorites.
Appetizers:
Roasted Shiitake Salad: My go-​to every time. light vinaigrette salad with fresh ricotta and crispy shiitake mushrooms on top!
Mozzarella Fritta… pretty self explanatory, I mean who doesn’t like fried cheese o₀ drool
Shrimp & Grits (this is a must if it’s your first time) It’s a spin on regular shrimp and grits but with fried polenta replacing the grits, all covered in a slightly spicy creamy testarossa sauce (Should probably get the bread to soak up that extra sauce too… just saying)
Meatballs — handmade and come with 4 so you may want to split them… or not if you’re like me
Cauliflower — Now I wouldn’t normally order cauliflower as a starter, but I can almost guarantee you haven’t had cauliflower like this… so I would recommend trying it at least once and you can be the judge
Pasta’s:
Simple, I ask Andrew (my server) what the special is and get that! There is always a rotating special, usually with a different style of pasta they recently made, and Andrew knows food so he knows what to suggest. I am partial to their bucatini pasta though so if there is more than one special I will choose that one.
Pizza:
Pretty much can’t go wrong. New Haven style pies cooked with fresh dough and in a wood-​fire oven giving it amazing flavor.
Oh, and they customize as well :)
My go-​to in case you were curious: The white gulf prawn with 3 pigs added (bacon, pancetta, guanciale) and some sweet calabrian chili peppers to top it off!
Dessert:
Cannoli — Just do it!
There you have it! I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Very average.
The fried cauliflower is super greasy, couldn’t finish it. Before you start saying «well it’s fried, what do you think it’s going to be?» There is way to make fried items not too greasy.
Meatballs were fine, I think the overall was «fine». Nothing special and wasn’t my fav and I am not sure if I would go back…

Sat at the bar, watching the guy make pizza which was pretty sweet — but he seemed so stressed, which kind of negatively affected my dining experience.
— Halibut special: $ 26, not super flavorful. served over a large bed of cannelloni beans which I wasn’t huge fan of. glad it wasn’t creamy, but could still be a lot more flavorful.
— Linguine: pasta was nice and chewy, home-​made but could have been a little more chewy/​textured. Overall, this one was too heavily loaded with cream and the shrimp didn’t taste very fresh. Didn’t like addition of beans to it either.
Overall, it’s not a bad place around here — the food was decent, but for the price, would definitely hit up vesta over pazzo.

I LOVE this place! Been here twice — once with my girlfriends — loved it so much had to bring my family — and I’m already planning another dinner her with another group of friends…
WHY do I love this place? It’s the food, service and atmosphere… Their clam pizza is SO good! got it both times — and it was delicious both times. actually the 2^nd time was better as the first time the crust got a bit soggy — but the 2^nd time it was perfect, even the left overs! My kids loved the fennel sausage pizza with the egg on top — it was very different with egg — and it was SO GOOD! Like a breakfast pizza! :)
Had the beet salad — they serve it with two kinds of beets, arugula and some shaved cheese and nuts… very light — very good. I love beet salad so can’t go wrong but unfortunately my favorite is in St. Helena and so far no place has knocked that one out of 1^st place! :)
The two things I absolutely LOVED and it’s a MUST order — is the crispy cauliflower and their shrimp and grits! we were fighting over the cauliflower — the crispiness — with the flavor on the cauliflower was SO GOOD! If we didn’t order so much we’d get another order of this! But the Shrimp and grits, so different — had an Italian spin on the southern concept — Grits made from polenta — it was crispy on the outside, creamy on the side, smothered in a creamy sauce with perfectly cooked big shrimp! Not your typical shrimp and grits! A MUST try!
The dishes that prevented the 5 stars was the specials we got — we got some noodle dish with shrimp and their lasagna… the noodle dish lacked flavor — we should of just got the linguine dish with shrimp as I know that one is good — as I got that with my girlfriends but we wanted to try the special. and the lasagna wasn’t anything special… I actually make it better myself. and such a small portion for the $$ you pay…
And what was VERY YUMMY and must order again is the ricotta cheesecake — SO GOOD! not very heavy — with hazelnuts — perfect way to end the meal…
A must try — LOVE this place and will definitely keep coming back! And I got the same waiter twice. he remembered me and he was great! very attentive but not overly so…
OH and before I forget — the first time I came I also had the pork ragu pasta! Definitely ON POINT and the BEST EVER! All of us girls loved it! didn’t order it the 2^nd time so we can try other things but definitely recommend… pasta cooked to perfection and the pork ragu — flavorful and tender!

Surprised by all the positive reviews. Food was average, service was terrible at first but admittedly got progressively better.
Arrived around 6:30 on a Wednesday evening and the place was packed so expectations were relatively high.
The Good:
* Although we didn’t have reservations, we got seated quickly
* Great vibe and nice décor
* Shrimp and grits — best dish of the night. Fresh shrimp and cream sauce served over polenta.
The Bad:
* Fennel sausage pizza had nice flavor but who likes a soggy crust?
* Pork ragu cavatelli just lacked flavor and I was hoping the pork would be more tender
The Ugly:
* Waiting five minutes for a waiter to come to our table from the time we sat down is not acceptable
* Waiting eight minutes to get menus and that was after being asked for them
* Not filling the water even though we attempted twice to hail our waiter.
But there’s hope:
* Once waiter took our order, he was friendly and became a bit more attentive
* Glass of red wine was good although a stingy pour
I would’ve given this place two stars but my BF thought they were at least deserving of three so consider this review jointly rated.

We came here to meet two other couples for dinner — and it was delicious! Loved the small restaurant feel with the open kitchen. You could see the chef kneading and throwing the dough around! We each brought a bottle of wine to drink. They do charge a corkage, but it is still worth it. Since apparently every single item on the menu was recommended, it was hard to pick! We did share the bread, (which is homemade focaccia and sourdough I think, with the roasted red pepper hummus spread). Additionally, we shared the crispy cauliflower and the crispy beans with the lemon aioli which were both good. I had the pork ragu pasta which was quite flavorful. Wish the pasta was a little thinner (almost gnocchi like but in pasta form), which I think took away from the pork ragu sauce flavor, but still was good.
Lastly, I shared the molten lava cake. It was good– but wish it was a little bit hotter. =) I liked the vanilla custard sauce it came with, but almost with there was a vanilla gelato with it since I think the hot and cold contrast would be a bit better.
Overall, I would definitely return to this restaurant. It looked great for families, but as well as meeting up with friends.

Solid Italian place with easy to get tables on a Monday night. Split two appetizers, a pasta, and pizza with two friends.
Shrimp and grits — I love southern style shrimp and grits. This was a nice Italian spin on the concept. Grits were crispy on the outside, creamy on the side, smothered in a creamy sauce.
Crispy cauliflower — No idea how they get the cauliflowers so crispy, but this was my favorite dish of the night.
Clam pizza — Good pizza crust here but there another pizza places in the Bay area that are better. A bit bland so not my favorite clam pizza.
Rigatoni — good, but sauce was a bit watery. Pasta was nicely al dente.
Overall food: 4 (but a bit slow)
Service: 4