From Truck to Storefront: San Francisco’s Del Popolo
Winter squash pizza at the new Del Popolo restaurant.
After three years of rumbling around San Francisco, the hulking Del Popolo pizza truck — with its 5,000-pound oven hauled around in a deconstructed shipping container — has finally added a real brick-and-mortar venue.
Opened just about a month ago on Bush Street in Nob Hill in a 1,700 square foot space once used by a theater company, the new pizza joint is as full of character as its justly famous pies.
The centerpiece, of course, is the imported Italian wood-fired brick oven easily viewed from anywhere in the small dining room.
The dark gray walls enclose the space with a sense of coziness. The plethora of “Soviet-style” oil paintings hanging all over the walls add whimsy. Owner Jon Darksy apparently purchased them all online and put them on display in a nod to Del Popolo’s name, which translates to “of the people.” General Manager Essam Kardosh says the staff has so taken to them that they’ve made up back stories for each of them.
The blazing wood-fired oven.
The fun, eccentric decor.
When I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant recently, the place was already humming and packed when I arrived at 6 p.m.
You may come here for the pizza. But don’t neglect the rest of the menu, which is overseen by Chef de Cuisine Jeffrey Hayden, who has worked at wd50 in New York; Blackbird and Alinea, both in Chicago; and Boot and Shoe Service in Oakland.