Joyride Pizza is a pandemic success story. One of few I know of, at least around San Francisco. I was fairly skeptical when it first sprung up, first as a popup, from the owners of Samovar Tea Lounge, as they scrambled to use their restaurant space for something profitable during the lockdown days. Samovar was essentially only a dine-in location, where guests lingered over tea and light meals, which didn't work really at all for rapid shift to takeout. But what does work well for takeout and delivery? Pizza of course. Did SF need another generic pizza place? Not at all. But did the owners see that Detroit style pizza was about to be a thing, and jump on it? Yup.
And so they pivoted, very hard, from tranquil tea lounge to Detroit style pizza, originally just for takeout/delivery, and eventually, once they decided to stick with the concept, to dine in. The swapped out the restaurant decor, and, Joyride Pizza became a real thing. I believe they started with just the Yerba Buena Samovar space, but then soon converted one of their other restaurants, and then from there, expanded even more. They now have 7 locations (mostly in SF, but one each in Berkeley and Daly City), which is fairly impressive for the short time horizon, in a somewhat crowded square pie space. And also, wow, a complete change in specilization.
Joyride makes classic Detroit style pan pizza, the square style, on house focaccia crust. The feature a variety of vegetarian and meat speciality pizzas, but also an extensive line of vegan pizzas with dairy-free cheese, vegan sausage/bacon/pepperoni/chicken, etc. I was surprised by how many vegan offerings they had. All pizzas can also be made gluten-free (for $4 more), and create-your-own options exist. Pizzas are all one size, 6 slices of thick rectangular pizza.
Besides pizza, the menu has a single starter (garlic knots), a couple salads, and dessert (only one of which they make in house). Pizza is clearly the focus. And it turns out, one they do fairly well. I enjoyed my meal, and would return.
All items come boxed in branded Joyride boxes, complete with the figure who seems to be their mascot. I never saw any description on the website of what this figure represents, and the images on the website show motorcycles and this man looks like he is on a bicycle, so, the branding feels a bit off to me. I guess all has to do with going on a joyride ... which is like the joy you experience eating their pizza?
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| Starter: Garlic Knots. $13 / dozen. |
"Fluffy dough knots tossed with fresh minced garlic, Mediterranean oregano tossed with parm reggiano, and chopped parsley. Includes a side of marinara."
I was craving garlic knots, so clearly had to add these to my order. They come only by the dozen and are the only starter available.
The knots were all about the same size, were lightly golden brown, and were indeed loaded with herbs and garlic. They looked great, but I found them somehow quite boring. The base dough didn't really have much flavor to it, and although they were glistening with oil, it didn't seem to add much flavor nor moisture, and the herbs and garlic, while visible, didn't have much of a strong flavor. They ate a bit dry and boring. **.
The side of marinara was quite large, more than we needed for the knots, but good to dunk pizza in as well. It was the same as used on the pizza itself. Fairly smooth style, with just a bit of texture, no hunks of tomato. Mild seasoning, but not much. Very uh, tomato forward. Sweetened most likely. Fairly average marinara for a nicer pizza place, but it was clearly house made and better than what you get at a generic pizza place. ***+.
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| Salad: Caesar Salad. $17. |
"Romaine, parmigiano reggiano, fresh cracked black pepper, Caesar dressing."
I wanted some vegetables, so opted for a salad, the Caesar. They also have an Italian antipasto or brussels sprouts option.
The salad came pre-dressed, so it was a bit soggy by the time it reached me. I thought most places do dressing on the side for delivery these days, but, alas.
It was highly average caesar. The romaine was fresh enough, torn into decent size chunks. It was well dressed, not over dressed, but, nearly. Some pieces had quite a bit of dressing. Nice big shards of seemingly good quality parmigiano reggiano. Croutons were quite large, well seasoned, but a bit abrasive.
Basically, no better nor worse than any mid-range restaurant ceasar, and I expected it to be a bit better, for the price (e.g. higher end dressing, real anchovies, croutons made from their own dough, etc). ***.
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| The Cheese. $20. |
"Mozzarella & brick cheese, topped with parmesan and house marinara."
I started with the most basic pizza, to really test out Joyride: the cheese. It is made with their mix of mozzarella and brick cheese, with the marinara on top. A very saucy slice due to the construction style. Nothing else going on - it really allowed me to taste the base product, and it was a good foundation.
The crust was crisp on the bottom and on the edges, very moist, puffy, definitely the style made with plenty of olive oil brushed on. Quite flavorful, and very good, and I'm not usually one for this heavy style of crust. ***+.
The cheese I was also a bit apprehensive about, again, I'm not usually one for this kind of heavy cheese laden pizza, but, it was very good. It melted beautifully, had Instagram worthy cheese pull, and was remarkably flavorful. I loved the crispy cheese edges it formed. Brick cheese, turns out, can be wonderful. ***+.
And finally, the sauce, the same as I had with the knots. ***.
A slightly boring slice, yes, but I was glad to try it this way so I could really experience the crust and cheese blend. I think cutting it into cheesy breadsticks would be more successful than the knots for an appetizer. My least favorite slice, just because it was the least interesting, but it was still a good cheese pizza. ***+.
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| Smokin' Hot Mother Clucker. $28. |
"BBQ chicken, Bone Suckin’ BBQ sauce, red onion, pepperoncini, mushrooms, mozzarella & brick cheese, topped with parmesan and fresh parsley."
Next up, the bbq chicken pizza, er, Smokin' Hot Mother Clucker, which I was drawn to for the bbq sauce, red onion, and mushrooms, not the actual chicken. I did try the chicken though, and it was decent - large pieces, well coated in sauce, mostly white meat. My companion who had this slice commented on the quality of the chicken too.
The other toppings were generous and tasty. The bbq sauce on top made it a bit messy to eat, but I liked the sauce. Lightly smoky, lightly tangy. Same base crust and cheese as the previous, but no marinara this time.
My third pick, but one I still enjoyed. ***+.
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| Green Goddess. $23. |
"Arugula, ricotta, sweetie drops, pesto, black olives, red onion, cracked black pepper, mozzarella & brick cheese."
Next up, a vegetarian selection, that I was drawn to because it didn't have marinara, and I was craving ricotta and pesto. While I wished this didn't have black olives, and would leave them out in the future, everything else about this worked really well. The pesto was flavorful, the tomatoes added a nice burst of juiciness, the ricotta was plentiful and creamy, and the base cheese layer was so gooey and melty and perfect. It certainly didn't come across as a veggie heavy slice, given all the cheeses, and was a bit heavy, but, I really enjoyed it. My second favorite. ****.
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Sweet Heat Pineapple. $24.
"Fresh pineapple, jalapeno peppers, sweet peppers, red onion, pepperoncini, mozzarella & brick cheese, topped with parsley, chili flakes and Mike’s Hot Honey."
And finally, the fascinating sweet heat pineapple, as I'm one who does like pineapple on pizza. The pineapple here took center stage, and wasn't standard bite sized wedges, but rather was considerably larger. I did like the juicy fresh pineapple and spicy jalapeno and pepperoncini combo. All delightful toppings, my favorite of the pizzas ... I think? Very close tie with the Green Goddess. ****.
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| Cinna Knots. $13/dozen. |
"Fluffy dough knots tossed with cinnamon, cardamom, real maple syrup."
The counterpart to the garlic knots I started with, the sweet dessert knots. Much the same shape and size as the savory versions, but, coated in spices and syrup, which is a bit different from most cinnamon knots that just use cinnamon sugar. I can't say I liked the cardamom, but, it was a unique element to add to these. They were super messy from the maple syrup, which also added a greater dimension to the flavor rather than just standard sugar coating. So, coating wise, certainly interesting, and maple syrup and cardamom go nicely together ... I just don't really care for the cardamom.
The knots themselves though suffered in the same way as the savory versions, just, really boring dough as the base, and were a bit dry, even with all that syrup and the dipping sauce. **.
They came with a side of maple ricotta ($4 separately). Neither the maple nor ricotta flavors were very strong. It sorta just tasted like mildly sweet slightly chunky dip that one couldn't pinpoint what was in it. It wasn't bad, but, if you wanted to taste ricotta, or maple, it wasn't here. I used the extra on toast one morning, and enjoyed it more that way, but it still needed the addition of either cinnamon or fresh berries to really make it desirable. **+.
Given that Joyride carries pretty good cheesecake from J.M. Rosen (which
I've reviewed separately), I strongly recommend that over the knots.
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