SFReview
PizzaHacker
Viva los hackers. This town loves a hacker — we're all for those who can make systems work in unexpected ways. So the founder and namesake of PizzaHacker deserves some serious cred for his crazy pizza-engineering abilities. Before going brick-and-mortar and above-the-law, Jeff Krupman (the Hacker) sold pies from a massively modified Weber grill that he'd turned mobile. Four years later, he's finally made the grills stationary.
We tell you this not to warm the cockles of your dough-loving hearts, but to emphasize — this man is obsessed with pizza. Which is why we entered with extremely high hopes. Would the hacker make his way into the Emilia's or Una Pizza Napoletana tiers? Would we be telling tales of his hacking abilities? To spoil the ending: no. The pizza is perfectly okay, but it doesn't have the perfect chewy crust or the brilliant balanced toppings of the best. It may just be operationally too difficult to turn out the rumored PizzaHacker genius at a larger scale.
The restaurant is a bit of a trip out to Bernal (okay, who are we kidding, it's like a $6 uber, but still), which makes it tough to argue that you should be running out here. There's amazing pizza closer to the center of town, and there's PizzaHacker-quality closer as well. The room is nice, they serve pints of beer at picnic tables, and the pizza is elevated on those cool metallic circular contraptions (which must serve some purpose, right?). If you're looking for a less crowded, more neighborhoody vibe, maybe come out here?
Until then, unless you can't resist the allure of the shamelessly SF-pandering name, or just need to try a different pizza every once in a while, this probably won't make your rotation. But if you live in the deep Mission or Bernal, it's a solid option to have in mind.
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Food Rundown
Margherita/Top Shelf Margherita
There's some special tomato sauce in play in the top-shelf version of this pizza, but the regular is a decent facsimile. And, with both, the problem is the crust. We've had some cracker-like versions, some overly charred, some near-perfect. It's not good enough to count on.
Yo Vinny
Sausage, peppers, and cheese are nice to change it up a bit, but the ingredients can't take the pizza to the next level. It's good, you'll enjoy it, just not top-caliber.
