Extreme Pizza

Yes, I'm reviewing a chain pizza joint.  And not talking about their pizza.  Let's just get past that to start.

I had no intention really of reviewing Extreme Pizza, but, well, I was impressed.

Extreme Pizza is a pizza franchise, that did start in San Francisco (only back in 1994).  Their model focuses on efficiency and throughput, known for a bake time of only 4 minutes for a full pie, but while offering a "unique premium menu" with "high end" and "exotic" ingredients.  However, this is nothing like the pizza places in Sydney that offer alligator, kangaroo, etc, and nothing like the pizza place where I went to grad school that had things like ravioli on top.  They *do* have far more unique toppings than your average pizza shop, no question.  And of course, plenty for vegans and gluten-free diners too.

Apparently they are successful though, awarded “Best Pizza Coast to Coast“ (by ... someone?), and have spread nationwide, mostly on the coasts.  The locations in my area get decent reviews, and shockingly many mentions of excellent service.  And excellent salads.  Which is what drew me in.

It was many weeks in to COVID-19 staying at home, and I just wanted to pick up a salad while I was out running errands.  Remembering randomly reading reviews of Extreme Pizza's salads, I decided to give them a try.  I had *zero* expectations.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of pickup and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes ...

• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]

I ordered on delivery.com, it was easy, my order was prepared quickly, and, yes, as the Yelpers all say, the staff really, truly was quite friendly.  I was very pleased with my entire experience, and hope to return sometime to try more items (perhaps pizza, definitely some of their desserts ...)

Setting

Extreme Pizza has several locations in San Francisco, including nicer areas like Pacific Heights and the Marina, but I visited the Soma location, right near 6th Street.  It did have a nice park right across the street, but, walk in nearly any direction and ... yeah, it is 6th Street.

Folsom Street Entrance.

Does this Extreme Pizza storefront have curb appeal?  Nah.  This ... is the 'hood.  Inside was much nicer.

Covid-19 "Seating".

Since this visit was during Covid-19 days, the restaurant was closed for dine-in, all chairs up on tehe tables, but I was impressed with the space, it had a nice feel to it, lots of wood, elements of a ski lodge, with Adirondack chairs (not pictured here) on one side too.  It looked fairly spacious, far bigger than I expected.

They also had a reasonably clean bathroom (key required).

Ordering Counter.

The ordering area was well laid out, large menu boards on the wall, cookies on display, and I appreciated the clear showing of pizza sizes available as well.  On the side, not in the frame here, was a self-serve cooler for beverages and grab n go salads.

Food

Extreme Pizza is, obviously, a pizza shop, with pizzas offered in 5 sizes (Individual 8", medium 12", large 14", X-Large 16", and Huge 18"), with 3 different crust options (regular, wheat, or vegan gluten-free).  They have a large line up of "Gourmet Signature Pizzas" that really do have fun names, some again showing off the ski lodge feel (e.g. "The Bunny Slop", "Yard Sale", "The Boar'der") and all far, far more creative than you standard slice shop.   You can build your own from a plethora of toppings as well, and, I mean it when I say they have a lot of toppings: Starting with sauces, you have 14 choices, running the gammut from basic tomato, pesto, sweet bbq, tangy ranch, buffalo wingand Alfredo, that you might find at other places, but also there are choices like Tandoori, spicy hoisin, even ... hummus.  Cheeses are equally full of options, 12 total, multiple vegan options, plus every standard cheese you can imagine, and fun ones like mascarpone and ghost pepper.  Move on to spices (5), meats (12, including 3 types of chicken - bbq, thai, or just grilled), fruits & nuts (7), and of course, fresh veggies (20 - do you want your onions caramelized? Or just raw red? Or how about green?  What about your tomatoes? Heirloom, vine-ripe, or sun-dried?).  Incredible line up.

As I waited for my order, was overwhelmed by how good the pizza smelt.  I am really not a pizza person, but it smelt so very, very good.  I'd honestly consider it sometime ... 

They also have calzones, a slew of subs (hot or cold), and things like wings (plus pizza chips and hummus?), and their version of breadsticks "Extremely Twisted Sticks", which are twisted with Swiss and fontina cheese, coated in garlic and herbs, and served with fun dipping sauces.

And desserts of course, including a sweet version of the twisted sticks too, "Pow Pows", twisted with hazelnut sauce, powdered sugar, and chocolate sauce, a dessert pizza with mascarpone and more, cheesecake (from the Cheesecake Factory no less), and cookies.  I mean, really.

And salads.  Which, sure, every pizza place has some kind of token salad, but they have a full salad menu, 12 different designed salads, all with different bases (not just mixed greens!  They have kale, romaine, arugula, spinach, and more), and, as you'd expect, all sorts of fun toppings.  Available in several sides, side salads, entrees, and larger share style.  Interestingly, no option to build your own, but you can add on basically anything else from the menu.

Spinach Salad (Side) with Mods. $5.25.

"Spinach, fresh mushrooms, caramelized onions, mini heirloom tomatoes, artichoke hearts and candied walnuts." 

Since I couldn't build my own, I selected the one most like what I wanted, and added notes the instructions when ordering online:

"No artichokes please! Could you add anchovies or the crispy Chinese noodles instead?"

I hoped it would be honored.

Since I arrived before it was ready, I was asked which I'd like, or, the cashier said, he'd just add both if I wanted both, no charge.  I obviously said yes.

When my order was handed over, I was blown away by what I saw.  The reviews telling me this place had good salads, well, they looked legit.  It was clearly a fresh salad.

The baby spinach was perfectly crisp.  No wilted piece in sight, no discoloration.  Just, fresh, crisp, quality spinach.  The mushrooms you can't really see here, but they were sliced button mushrooms, pizza toppings, clearly, and it turned out, not really what I wanted (I plucked them off and grilled them later at home and threw them on to another salad), but they were fine, and it was a generous portion.

The caramelized red onions I enjoyed, nice big slices, good flavor, and again, good portion.  The mini heirloom tomatoes were the only real downfall, only 4 halves, and just not particularly good.  They looked fresh though.

I skipped the artichoke hearts, and replaced them with anchovies (because I could!) and the crispy Chinese noodles (not a pizza topping, they but come on the "Flying High Thai Chicken Salad".  The anchovies were fabulous, full fillets, briny, salty, fishy, and, well, they made the salad.  And again, a nice portion size.  The crispy noodles were perfect for crunch.  I'm so thrilled I added them.

And finally, the very best part, the candied walnuts.  Perfectly glazed, sweet walnuts.  Again more crunch, and again a great portion.

The salad was balanced, it had fun things, and really, those walnuts, caramelized onions, anchovies, and crispy noodles were fantastic.

I ordered just the tiny side salad, and found the value high for $5.25, given the fact that it was >50% toppings.  I'm curious how the entree size ($10.25) compares.

Homemade Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette Dressing

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Of course, I also had to select dressings, and I had many options: Homemade Vinaigrette, Homemade Ranch, Homemade Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette, Apple Cider Vinaigrette, Caesar, Low-fat Red Pepper Italian, Sesame Oriental or Bleu Cheese.

I was tempted by the sesame oriental, or just standard Ceasar, but I wanted to try something homemade, and at last minute, swapped out my ranch decision for their lemon thyme vinaigrette.  I'm not a vinaigrette girl, but, it sounded interesting?  (I also had my own honey mustard dressing I adore with me, and I knew it would go great with spinach, onions, tomatoes, and walnuts in particular anyway).

It was ... yup, vinaigrette.  I'm sure fine, but not my thing, so I was glad I had my own.  I'd love to try their homemade ranch next though.