Hi Hat opened in about mid-2025 in the space of former pizza parlor, Pi Bar. 

Since I’d never actually eaten inside Pi (having only been the recipient of slices brought to nearby dive bar, the Dovre, waaaaay back in the day), I can’t say if the decor has changed much, but the pizza — mamma mia! — the pizza’s pretty danged good.

Hi Hat employs a magical being that our server called “the Wizard;” its very own pizzaiolo, throwing pizzas by hand, as in ye olden days, spinning the pliant dough far into the air. Dinner and a show!  

We started out with the arugula salad: Shaved fennel, roasted delicata squash, pomegranate arils, and za’atar chickpeas in a ras al hanout vinaigrette.

A salad with arugula, roasted squash slices, pomegranate seeds, and chickpeas is served on a metal platter next to a glass of dark beverage.Hi Hat arugula salad. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz.

With all of those ingredients, this should have been a salad full of flavor, no? Unfortunately, we found it inexplicably bland, to the point that we even asked for additional dressing, And still, even after adding salt, the flavors just didn’t come through.

Next, we shared the cauliflower fritters.

Three pieces of fried batter, garnished with green onions, are served on a plate with a small cup of dipping sauce and a side of greens in the background.Hi Hat cauliflower fritters. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz.

Served with a sweet peanut sauce, I enjoyed this very crispy treat, although the sauce skewed more honey-mustard than peanut. Perhaps this would have been better with a blue cheese sauce, or something else a little on the savory side.  

As for le pizze, we shared the spicy vodka and stracciatella:

Large pizza topped with dollops of ricotta cheese, fresh basil leaves, grated parmesan, and tomato sauce on a wooden table in a restaurant setting.Hi Hat vodka and stracciatella pizza. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz.

Spicy vodka sauce, garlic confit, basil, chili flakes, mozzarella, Parmigiano, and the lovely stracciatella. Wonderful, full of flavors that played together nicely, on a crispy, thin crust.  The ultra-creamy stracciatella really makes this special. Definitely merits a do-again.

We also split the mushroom pie:

Large pizza topped with mushrooms, cheese, herbs, and grated parmesan on a wooden table with cutlery, plates, and people sitting nearby.Hi Hat mushroom pizza. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz.

Again with garlic confit, porcini cream, mushrooms aplenty, mozzarella and Parm, lemon ricotta, oregano and parsley. There was no skimping on rich, cheesy goodness on this one, and the lemon notes made this pie sing.  And we had leftovers to take home.

There’s a lot more on offer at Hi Hat and, despite the glitches with our starters, I’m looking forward to trying the French onion dip with house-made chips, the classic eggplant Parm sandwich, and their banana pudding.

Both of our pies were vegetarian, so next time I’d try the pepperoni, although the Jersey Pie is very enticing. Hi Hat also serves burgers and Buffalo wings. They’ve got beer on tap and a very decent wine list, as well as various ciders and seltzers, and non-alcoholic cocktails, too. Besides full pies, they offer $3 slices after 9 p.m. every day, plus delivery.

A solid neighborhood joint that won’t throw you off budget, with warm and friendly service, and a fun music playlist (though I hear they’ve had a DJ at times, too.)  Good pizza, good beer — what more can you ask for?

Hi Hat
1432 Valencia St.