Recommends

eniveld

Joined 4 years ago

A former New Yorker says "Best Neopolitan Pizza in CA". To tell you where I'm coming from, the best Neopolitan style (aka "New York Style") pizza in the USA comes from Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn, NY. Google/Bing that and you'll see. Arinell's is a close number two.

You can always judge the quality of a pizza by its plain cheese slice, and Arinell's shines here. If you need to dress up a slice with toppings to overcome the basic slice, you're starting out wrong.

And there are good quality toppings here too. Pepperoni, mushroom, onion, garlic - all the classics.

Arinell's is perfect in every way: Just the right thickness, amount of cheese, sauce, and seasoning - cooked to perfection.

You want cranberries, goat cheese, or chicken on your pizza? Go somewhere else.

TIP: Buy a pizza stone for $15 and heat your left overs the next day. Tastes every bit as good as the first slice.

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Aida

Joined 4 years ago

it's that good!. Thanks to the fans of Arinell Pizza! Here I was, craving good pizza and didn't know of any good places. I miss Pizzeria Uno's at Lombard. I loved their deep dish, cornmeal crust pizza. I Googled it, and now the closest location is in the East Bay.

Well, I got on the internet some more and found reviews of this place. Parking is always shaky in the city, but after circling a couple of times, lucked upon a spot. I walked in and proceded to eat like it was going out of style. I love their crust, the sauce was good and the service was phenomenal!

I will be going back to Arinell's, but first I'll make sure I have more room in my belly next time because it's that good!

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ersf

Joined 5 years ago

Best NY-Style Pizza in SF. As close as one will get to NY-style pizza in SF. Well worth the hassle of picking up with no easy parking.

Recommends

rcavanagh

Joined 6 years ago

Just OK. Grew up with NY Pizza. Their pizza is good, but not great. The extra crispy crust and the slightly-odd-tasting cheese they use makes it mediocre pizza at best. Also, the staff could use a few lessons in customer service. Their Sicilian pizza is really good though - try that if you go there.

-Jersey Boy

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couldnt

Joined 6 years ago

Don't Be a Pedestrian (When Walking into a Dump Pizza Joint Like This). Walked into this real dinky, hole in the wall in the heart of Valencia and thought to myself "now this is what I like to see!" Picture this, just enough from for two three stool sized bar tables and the pizza kitchen with it's ovens. One young man with tattoos and baseball cap serving the already made slices and an older man making more pizza in the background. I get to this dump and allow a yuppie couple to go ahead of me, as I am unsure how much pizza I want just yet. The female in the yuppie couple asks them for Canadian bacon... they both seem disgusted with her, which I appreciated. After awhile the older man abrasively said to her "have you had the pizza here before?" no. "then just have the cheese." The woman, intimidated and embarrassed by her pedestrian interest in pizza obliged. So after seeing his passion and confidence in his pies, I come up to bat, a real pizza snob. I shared a slice of thin and a slice of Sicilian with my girlfriend. Yeah, it was alright pizza... I mean, I've had better. I think that Sbarros (in most malls in America and gas stops) has just as good thin pizza. Not that is even bad, I'd rather have Sbarros than most places people rave about (ex: Blondies, Escape from NY). Yeah Arinell was pretty good I guess, maybe if I had a freshly prepared pie my opinion would differ. Arinell mops the floor with most pizza in San Francisco... not Nizarrio's. Nizarrio's is only better because their pies that sit out still taste fresh. So, as much as the aesthetic of this place is to grab a slice and jet... I recommend having a pie prepared for you. I plan on that in the future. Overall, I highly recommend this place because it is the best example of a purists New York style pizza. I think the whole flock of people with no idea how pizza is should at least go here for a reality check, like that one pedestrian couple.

Doesn't Recommend

jj718

Joined 6 years ago

okay pizza..terrible employees. ordered pizza for pick up and was greeting by the two biggest a$$holes ever. so my pizza came to 25 bucks. yeah 25 for one f-ing pizza. then the little d0uche bag demanded a tip.... for pick up. after he gave me major attitude. never going back, no matter how "great" people claim this place to be. ew.

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abbylax3

Joined 7 years ago

Decent thin crust.... The pizza is good, however, not a place that I would highly recommend. I just had the plain cheese one and it was okay - I say "okay' because there was something about the taste, it just didn't seem right. I'm not saying I wouldn't go back - I would, IF I were in the Mission and IF I was craving thin crust. Apologies to those who swear by it... but if you get out to the East Bay, you may want to try Gioia in Berkeley or Pizza Antica in Lafayette. Their pizzas... really, really yummy and very good.

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missionlocal

Joined 6 years ago

Best slice in SF. Hands down the best slice of pizza available in San Francisco, trust me I've tried them all. As close as you'll ever get to the best NYC has to offer and frankly better than most of the places back there.

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flathead

Joined 7 years ago

Like NYC pizza, but no cigar.. Its all about the slice. The cheese, spices(some grease required), and tomato sauce(not too much) are like a good ole NYC neighborhood slice. My biggest rant is with the crust, it is thin and has the size and shape of a good slice, but it is missing the "snap" when biting. The crunch is there but, the chewy snap is missing. The crust texture may be a closer match if they let their pies sit for a few hours longer before reheating and serving(just a thought).

The full NYC pizza experience does include walking in and ordering a slice on the fly. No parking necessary.

I will return for my cravings, which is more convienient than flying to NY.

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nybrn

Joined 7 years ago

Pizza good, staff bad, parking NOT. The pizza was good but not so good that we would deal with the strange staff and non-parking. Given the quality of staff, we were concerned with the quality of the food, thus we will continue to search for great NY pizza.