This Tuscan Pizzeria in "Dogpatch" left Rosalie and me disappointed. I read lots of reviews, after the fact, and maybe we just missed the plot on this one. It appears to be a neighborhood favorite, famous for it's thin-crust Tuscany-style pizza, as well as many other small plates. ( I do mean "small"!)
Piccino is located in a large, corner building, that looks like it belongs in downtown Mountain View, not a quaint, artsy & light industrial area of San Francisco.
This structure is often referred to as "the yellow building". The restaurant itself is fairly large and has a very modern and "spa-like" contemporary style. The "yellow building" also houses a clothing boutique, a wine shop and a separate coffee bar (owned & operated by "Piccino") where "Sightglass" coffee is featured along with various pastries, prepared daily by "Piccino's" pastry chef.
Natural and organic fare is the theme, but the portions are small (encouraging you to "taste" numerous dishes) and the food, frankly was bland. Soft drinks are served in little jelly jars which was cute and although we didn't imbibe that day, the wine list is supposedly excellent and extensive.
I ordered the pork and beef "polpette" (little meatballs), served with crushed tomatoes and Parmesan. Though the portion was small, the meatballs were good and the crushed tomatoes were deliciously sweet. Thankfully, I had requested crusty Italian bread with olive oil (delish.........), which I consumed in it's entirety. Rosalie ordered the "prosciutto panini", mozzarella, braised radicchio and tomato chutney. Unfortunately, it was served on an organic roll that was sooooo hard, our staff photographer was unable to eat it without losing her two front teeth! The waitress offered to replace the sandwich, so Rosalie ordered the "asparagus salad", hard cooked egg, pickled mustard-seed vinaigrette and breadcrumbs. The salad was mediocre and starving Rosalie was once again left hungry and disappointed.
We looked at the fully-booked tables and decided to give "Piccino" one last shot. 
Since we were far from stuffed, we decided to order a couple of "Piccino's" highly renowned pizzas "to go". I discussed the options with our waitress and chose the "funghi pizza", roasted mushrooms, stracchino, and shaved garlic. Rosalie, decided to go with their "margherita" pizza", tomato, mozzarella and fresh oregano, taking no chances with her 3rd "Piccino" dish of the day.
You guessed it. The pizzas were not good.
My "funghi" was loaded with mushrooms, but also with tons & tons & tons of garlic and Rosalie's "margherita" was tasteless. How ironic that the only picture of the food that came out that Wednesday afternoon was the "polpette".
"Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry" spooky!!!!!
Well, we did try..........really tried, to the tune of $80.00, including tip (no charge for that panini). Rosalie and I know that any place that is that packed with diners and has that many good reviews can't be as bad it seemed, but "Piccino" gets no recommendation from these famished food bloggers!
Rosalie and I have blogged 23 restaurants and over 80% of them were delicious and very reasonably priced. Please look back at the previous posts that include some of "the best" we've found in San Francisco.
Don't worry, your "food PI's" are back on the streets next Wednesday and WE ARE HUNGRY!!!!!!
Ciao e grazie!
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