SFReview
photo credit: Erin Ng
Shuggie’s Trash Pie
Included In
Shuggie’s turns trash into food. Blemished and surplus produce become toppings on grandma-style pizza, meat off-cuts are fried and dipped in buffalo sauce, and wilty chimichurri is poured over sexy little shareable plates. According to this pizza and natural wine place’s website, “40% of all food in the U.S. is trashed,” and Shuggie’s is doing its part to keep the planet in orbit. And while not every dish is a total hit, this Mission spot is still a worthwhile conversation starter. It’s also a funhouse-like setting to ponder sustainability's great conundrums and/or have a raucous group dinner over pizza and fried gizzards.
This place is a kitschy fever dream, a hallucinogenic rabbit hole we actually want to go down. If you’re over Scandinavian design and rustic farmhouse minimalism, you’ll appreciate the highlighter green and yellow walls, the cheetah mural with a long, grotesque tongue, and giant, pea-green chairs in the shape of hands that look like they might crumple you whole. And when you put down your blemished strawberry slushy to head to the bathroom, you’ll encounter a replica of Michelangelo's David as tall as a My-Size Barbie. This spot is one hazy all-nighter in ‘70s viva Las Vegas. Elvis, where you at? (He’s in lamp form behind the glittery bar in the back.)
photo credit: Erin Ng
Some of the food is as dreamy as the space. Standouts fall in a category we can only describe as “make do with what you’ve got.” Focus your attention on the pizza. Paper-thin squares (the crust is made from whey and spent oat flour) are topped with things like delicious salmon belly conserva and pickled relish (from their upcycled pickle company Ugly Pickle Co.), ground beef, tomatillos, and Takis. The menu also includes a random but satisfying Vietnamese-style jumbo salmon head and salad skewers served in anthropomorphic dishware, because, why not? At Shuggie’s, anything goes.
However, balance and consistency are an issue. And we get it. Shuggie’s is making do with whatever ingredients they scrounge up every week to put a menu together. Still, the pizza crust can come out overly crackery or so soft that the tomato sauce, no matter how nice and tangy it is, transforms the bottom into a floppy mess. And that salmon head is overpowered by too much sticky fish sauce caramel.
photo credit: Erin Ng
At some point during your meal, skepticism might rear its head. You might wonder how a dinner at this self-proclaimed “Food Waste Paradise” is helping to “save the f*cking planet,” or just how sustainable Shuggie’s is, really, since their website leans largely on vague, idealistic language like “climate-friendly restaurant” to describe itself. Hypnotize yourself in the marbled green and white tables and slip into the existential spiral. Does the onus to solve climate change fall on one restaurant alone? Of course not. How is eating Taki-topped pizza doing our part? (How does one upcycle Takis, anyway?) Our food system is terribly broken, so every little bit counts. Especially as our great oceans rise, fires burn, and in 12 years we might all internally combust from too much UV radiation. Shuggie’s is taking action. What have you done today?
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photo credit: Erin Ng
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photo credit: Erin Ng