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“Farina is opening a pizzeria on the corner of Valencia and 18th,” an anonymous informant informs us, “They’ve taken all three spaces.”
I don’t know much about Farina, but surely this will be a welcome addition to the out-of-control fancy pizza boom here in the neighborhood.
The location can’t be beat (you can put your name in and then go next door to Self Edge and try on jeans while you wait). But here’s hoping any further Farina-related drive-by shootings stay west of Lapidge where they belong.
UPDATE: Eater SF confirms.
What three spaces?
I wonder if they agreed to the lease before or after they found out how hideously ugly that building turned out…
what the fuck is wrong with this neighborhood?
we need another pizza spot just as bad as we need another taqueria.
we need a spot where you can get a big salad. do we have a big salad place in the mission? nope.
we have twelve…..TWELVE pizza places all within a half mile of each other.
get the fuck outta here with that shit.
totally on board with this. if intermezzo (from berkeley) opened up a location here, they’d make a killing.
Yeah, but there’s still nowhere to get a *good* slice in the mission.
This bums me out. I don’t think we need any more fancy pizza. I don’t think we need any more cheap pizza. I don’t eat pizza, but even beyond my own needs, this sounds lame.
Thinking . . . if it had to be a food spot . . . maybe cheap and simple Burmese? Soul food?
Cheap and simple Burmese? Yamo is right around the corner, dumb-dumb!
Just because I left my fish sandwich in the cupboard for three weeks and stunk up the Mission Mission office, doesn’t mean you people have to keep calling me dumb-dumb. And who left those tacks on my chair?
sorry about the tacks
Maybe if you showed up to the “office” more often this sorta thing wouldn’t happen! ZING!
ahahaha…. if all you get called is dumb dumb you’re lucky
News flash for all non ethnics, Burmese food IS supposed to be cheap and simple. I doubt any of the natives and Burma who for the most part live in 3rd world status can make something so cheap and simple into something fancy and overpriced like Americans would.
I think the point is that in The Mission restaurant owners have proven themselves able to make any kind of food overpriced and overhyped.
i agree! too much damn pizza, and no place to get: good pastries/bread, good middle eastern food … hell, even crepes would be better!
hambre, have you tried Old Jerusalem on Mission @ 25th? I find their food to be tasty. The fatta with meat is awesome.
OJ is highly recommended. Just make sure your SO eats with you or else you could be charged with using garlic as a weapon.
There is a bakery opening at 23rd and Valencia (in the same building as the new Heart wine bar).
agreed! NO pizza and definitely NOT FARINA pizza. there restaurant is over-priced and food is nothing near mission restaurant standards.
why would they try to be in competition w/ delfina pizza (just a block away!) anyways?
Maybe all the pizza j’s are teaming up to buy flour in bulk and save on costs?
I agree re: a place for good salads a la Intermezzo (although that place has changed ownership and isn’t called Intermezzo anymore). That would absolutely crush in this neighborhood.
That would be a welcome addition for sure. I always crave a good salad and end up walking my butt up to Church and market to the crepe place to get one. Another alternative closer to home would be much appreciated.
While I do agree there are is a rediculous amount of pizza joints in the hood, there are still Friday nights that I’ve gone – one by one – to Delfina, Little Star, Paulines, and Pi Bar, and every single one is overrun with an hour wait. Kinda silly, but one more shot at actually sitting somewhere to enjoy a pie and a beer might be nice on those nights…
Pizzeria is within the rotation and they’ve never actually had a customer, so I’m pretty sure they’ll seat you anytime.
Honestly- Pizzeria is one of my favorite spots around the Mission. They won’t sell you beer, which is part of why it’s empty. But they’ll let you bring your own in and drink for free, which is even better.
Their pasta is also really good and they have the most comfortable chairs in the Mission restaurant world.
Just don’t get the Habaroni- you might think you “like spicy food” but trust me, you will pay. In the worst possible way.
What are the other parts of why it’s empty? I’m honestly extremely curious about this. And I wonder what they think about Farina Pizzeria.
I’d say the rest is just due to poor messaging/marketing. The food is honestly good and is cheap.
But the lack of alco means it doesn’t generate much of a scene and that kind of snowballs into a place that most people pass right by.
I’m happy to have a date night w/ my wife where we can bring our own bottle, enjoy comfortable seating immediately, and can speak at reasonable volumes. And the best part is we’re out the door only $30 poorer.
I hope they pick up a bit since I’d hate to see them fail. But I guess I also don’t want them to pick up too much
…
Through getting delivery from just about every place in the mission/noe/bernal/castro areas, I can honestly say Pizzeria is top 3. They keep your number and info, so when you call, they’ll know you’re name and what you’ve got, and reccomend stuff.. hella tight… dudes who deliver are always legit, and the pies are always solid…
really though, if they sold beer it’d be a hit.
all you haters should note that darsky is rumored to be heading up the farina team. although i am no fan of the restaurant (defina forever) darsky makes THE best pie in the city. lets hope darsky has not gone the way of the appleman dodo bird.
http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/2010/02/new_farina_pizzeria_coming_to.html
If that’s true then consider me stoked. The Marg I had at f+w was the closest I’d been to Naples since my honeymoon. Unfortunately f+w is a pretty long walk, 18th and V is much closer.
If I remember rightly, the guy who opened Farina also owns that old corner garage/new condo development at 18th and Valencia.
This is definitely not true, he doesn’t own any of it and it’s not a condo, they’re apartments. The guy that owns the corner is an old school Irish guy…
making gourmet pizza is such a freakin’ racket, paying $25 for flour, water, tomatoes and cheese. then everyone claims it’s amazing because it was $25, so it has to be amazing, right?
and seriously, this already exists a block away. how about some palatable Thai or African food in this neighborhood? Argentinian? Brazilian? five spice chicken? why are Mission restaurateurs so unadventurous?
What’s amazing is that ever since Yum Yum moved away I find absolutely NO good chinese food along Valencia St. corridor. (yes, I know it’s the same owner as Red Lantern, but they must have changed Chef’s when they all moved over to Red Lantern cuz the food at RL sucks!) The place over on 21st St (btw Val and Mission) is awful. RL is awful. I don’t dare try any of the grease troughs on Mission St. There is every type of food under the sun along Valencia, EXCEPT chinese. WTF? Any suggestions anyone?
Yum Yum Hunan still delivers to by place from their new location (but I’m northeast of the Mission proper). Haven’t found anything comparable in the Mission itself, and I agree about Red Lantern. There are some good places in Noe, though – I like Eric’s, and they probably deliver to the Mission.
what he said….
sometimes i like Dak Win on mission between 24th and 25th. good hot and sour soup.
sorry … the place over on 22nd is awful.
I’ll stick with Arinell and Deja Vu pizza.
I dont remember where Deja Vu Pizza is. I don’t think but it seems familiar.
16th between Guerrero and Dolores, a little out of the way but they make your slices while you wait instead of letting them sit under a heat lamp all day. Their delivery pies are pretty solid too, much better than Arinell’s in my opinion.
I remember when they fucked over Delfina, Luna Park and that other place which is now Craigsplace. Those three restaurants were using the Cherins lot for customer parking (18th & Valencia) at night. Farina moved in and instead of trying to share, offered a shit load more to Cherins so they could have it all to themselves. Nice neighbors!
farina blows…I bet more than half their business is people trying to get into Delfina
http://www.farina-foods.com/farina%20pizza/
is john darsky from naples?
Anymore word on this space? It still appears to be empty. I’m hoping that the Farina folks got the smackdown and won’t be opening anything there.