Foodie Digest

Beautiful Sunday and Big and Small are hanging in the park with the dogs. We decide it’s almost time for a bite to eat so we head over to Piccino Cafe. Piccino Cafe is in Potrero Hill right near Just For You.

We arrive just as they begin their lunch menu for the day. A little confusion as to ordering inside or staying outside at our seat. We figure it out (stay outside) and a friendly server brings us menus and water. Our two good-sized dogs fit comfortably around our table. They don’t stand out as there are many good sized dogs hanging out. This place is definitely high on the dog friendliness factor, tho no special accomodations—such as snacks or water—are provided for the dogs

Still, it’s a beautiful day to be outside. We order an antipasti plate and two pizzas. We get

• Antipasti plate This is an interesting combination of fresh peas (fresh in the pod), pickled baby carrots, olives, cheese, chickpea spread, some fatted calf speck and some flatbread. The highlights here: the chickpea spread is light and lemony. Doesn’t fall into hummus flavors at all. The olives are well flavored and rustic. The peas are a nice touch but I wanted more.
• Margherita pizza This was a very simple pizza. The crust is very homemade tasting and almost pretzel like. Rustic, again, would describe the food. The sauce is inoffensive but nothing special. The cheese is lightly applied. The pizza is almost what one would order if they were trying to conserve calories. It’s not greasy or oily whatsoever and there’s only a small amount of cheese. We both thought the pizza tasted fine, but wouldn’t proclaim it tasty or special.
• Broccolini pizza This looked very much like the margherita pizza but has small amounts of broccolini and shredded cheese instead of slices. Again, a very calorie friendly pizza. Still the two pizzas were so similar we would have been better off with one of the white pizza combos.

Overall verdict? There’s nothing wrong with the pizza here and it really is kinder to your waistline than most of our other options. The corner location was pleasant and relaxing and very dog friendly. Still, pizzas at places like South Beach Cafe are similar in size, a little bit cheaper, and offer much more flavor (and calories).

Overall thumbs Flatlined. There was nothing we didn’t like about the place, but there was nothing to rave about, either.

Tastiness rating A slight increase from flatlined. The olives and chickpea spread were standouts but not enough to lift the place up. Still, nothing was bad.

Service rating Good. Service here was very warm and friendly.

Dog friendly rating Good. Dogs are accommodated outside and have many friends nearby.