{"id":311873,"date":"2026-05-12T11:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/311873\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:52:09","slug":"berkeley-pizzeria-named-by-nyt-as-one-of-best-in-us-is-now-open-in-sf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/311873\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley pizzeria named by NYT as one of best in US is now open in SF"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under a cheery blue and orange awning on the corner of\u00a0Clement<\/a> Street and Arguello Boulevard, the smell of freshly baked dough and melting mozzarella cuts through the\u00a0Inner Richmond<\/a> fog. The neighborhood\u2019s buzziest new addition is already drawing crowds: Rose Pizzeria<\/a> served 3,000 customers in its first week.\u201cIt\u2019s been very busy,\u201d co-owner Gerad Gobel told SFGATE. \u201cIt\u2019s been, so far, exceeding our expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gobel and Alexis Rorabaugh opened the first Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley in 2021 as a tiny, adorable eatery with a patio overlooking a rose garden. The restaurant quickly gained national acclaim: The New York Times named it one of the top 22 best pizza places<\/a> in the United States in 2024; last year, Italy-based ranking guide 50 Top Pizza<\/a> also recognized Rose, highlighting<\/a> its \u201cfresh and seasonal, always of high quality\u201d menu. The success propelled the couple to open Italian cafe and wine bar Cafe Brusco in Berkeley last year, and they\u2019ve also been tapped to create the food menu for Downtime<\/a>, a new nightclub from the owners of Bar Part Time that is set to open in the Mission this year.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Pepp & Basil pizza with\u00a0pepperoni, mozzarella, tomato sauce, pecorino, fresh basil and Sicilian oregano at Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE\"Co-owner<\/p>\n

Co-owner Alexis Rorabaugh appears inside her new restaurant, Rose Pizzeria, in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

But Gobel and Rorabaugh\u2019s decision to expand to San Francisco precedes all the hype. A few years ago, the couple fell in love with this corner of Clement while visiting the neighborhood for the popular Clement Street Farmers Market. They noticed that the previous business at 1 Clement St., Village Pizzeria, had closed.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI drove by once a week for like two years, just waiting for a new sign to go up,\u201d Gobel said.<\/p>\n

The Richmond has been having a moment lately, with the New York Times<\/a> dubbing it \u201carguably San Francisco\u2019s most exciting, varied and affordable food scene.\u201d Following the recent openings of cafe Hologram and gluten-free Italian restaurant Clementina, another wave of new businesses is slated to arrive soon<\/a>: the Evermore cafe and Cafe Re\u0301veille, as well as Kitchen Commons<\/a>, a culinary supply store from the owner of Liholiho Yacht Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A member of the kitchen staff spreads cheese on a pizza before it\u2019s placed in the oven at Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE\"Customers<\/p>\n

Customers dine at Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

The new Rose is twice the size of the 750-square-foot Berkeley restaurant, with a larger pizza oven that can bake double the amount of pies at once. The forest-green walls, warm wood furniture, green-and-white checkerboard tiling and wallpaper of the Via\u00a0Appia (one of the oldest Roman roads) create a cozy, neighborhood feel to the restaurant, where empty cans of crushed tomatoes double as napkin holders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cRose is a destination now, which is weird,\u201d Gobel said. \u201cBut we\u2019re really just trying to build the neighborhood pizza spot. That\u2019s all we want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stopped by the new eatery for lunch in its second week. Even on a Tuesday, the hype was far from slowing down. The dining room was close to full at noon, but I still managed to walk in and slide into a barstool overlooking Clement Street. If I turned my head to the left, I could watch the pizzas being prepared in the open kitchen, a mesmerizing choreography of cheese showers and olive oil drizzles. Throughout my lunch, piping hot pies were airlifted endlessly from the busy oven, each with beautifully blistered crusts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In the larger space, Gobel and Alexis Rorabaugh can not only serve more pizza but also expand their menu.<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Jesse Alejandrez slices up a pizza at Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE\"Kalani<\/p>\n

Kalani Cecaci places burrata on top of the She Wolf pizza at Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

For one, the San Francisco location has a new sauce: the \u201cEast Bay Grn Sauce,\u201d an ode to the tangy, herbaceous green sauce you\u2019ll find at the Cheeseboard Collective and\u00a0Arizmendi Bakery. (Both the Berkeley and SF locations offer sides of ranch and anchovies as well.) They\u2019re also allowing customers to customize their cheese pizza for the first time \u2014 you can add mushrooms, pepperoni, sausage, red onion or pickled\u00a0chiles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The dessert menu has expanded beyond the killer tiramisu to include house-made gelato; they\u2019ll also be able to accommodate more takeout orders than the Berkeley eatery.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, the menu is pretty similar: You\u2019ll find the same 14-inch, thin-crust pizzas, starters like Rancho Gordo white beans with celery and green olives, and their famous spicy Caesar. So far, the main differences that Gobel has noticed with the crowd across the bay are that San Francisco drinks more beer and that \u201cBerkeley has very leftist Berkeley servers,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A server delivers a pizza to customers at Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE\"The<\/p>\n

The champion pizza with roaster mushrooms, mozzarella, black pepper, pecorino, cream and leeks at Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

On my visit, I ordered the Champion, a white-sauce pizza with roasted mushrooms, mozzarella, black pepper, pecorino, cream and leeks ($26). The savory ribbons of leeks and thinly sliced, pepper-doused mushrooms against the rich, creamy sauce reminded me of Thanksgiving, which is to say I have a new favorite pizza. I dunked each bite in my side of green sauce ($4), cutting through the richness with a jolt of acidity. The Neapolitan-meets-New York crust was perfectly crispy and charred but had a soft interior. I only managed to eat half the pizza before I conceded defeat, requesting a takeout box for the leftovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Rose has only been open on Clement Street for a few weeks now, but it already feels like a neighborhood mainstay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe restaurant feels mature,\u201d Gobel said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like a new restaurant, even though it\u2019s only 10 days old.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The tiles form a rose design at the entrance of Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE\"The<\/p>\n

The exterior of Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because neighbors are already coming back to eat at Rose multiple times, Gobel said, and they\u2019ve hired high school and college-age kids from the neighborhood. Ultimately, gaining the trust of the neighbors is what matters to them: National press hype fades, but loyal regulars are forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m standing by a brick wall, so I\u2019m not going to knock on wood,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think we got this one right, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rose Pizzeria<\/a>, 1 Clement St., San Francisco. Open Monday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-9\u00a0p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under a cheery blue and orange awning on the corner of\u00a0Clement Street and Arguello Boulevard, the smell of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144,4991],"class_list":["post-311873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-sfgfood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}