Tony Gemignani's Slice House in North Beach has become a San Francisco institution, showcasing a diverse range of pizza styles and embodying the city's risk-taking culinary spirit. From humble beginnings, the pizzeria's offerings have expanded to a towering display, reflecting the evolving tastes of the city.
In North Beach , there are corners that feel like they’ve always been there — even when they haven’t. Step into Tony’s Slice House and you can watch time stack up — literally — in the glass case containing ready-to-go pies.
“It was originally about three shelves,” Tony Gemignani said, gesturing at the display of what is now a tower of options tall enough to block the tattooed pizzaiolo behind it. Since opening in August 2010, the pizza case at Tony’s has risen with The City’s appetite — and with Gemignani’s own ambitions. It’s common to find a line down Stockton Street for both the sit-down Tony’s Pizza Napoletana — which opened first in July 2009 — and the adjacent Slice House, even though Gemignani himself had to essentially introduce slice culture to San Francisco. “In New York, you're eating pizza on the street, hanging out, going on to your job or to meet friends, but that didn't really exist unless it was 2 a.m. and everybody was drunk,” Gemignani said of The City’s initial reaction to his lunchtime walk-and-go slices, which was mostly confusion. “There was a lot of, ‘Why are you doing that? Could I get a box?’” What makes the West Coast a premier food destination, he said, is its refusal to be beholden to traditions that define cultural identity elsewhere. “We're always ready to take risks,” he said, inspired by chefs Ed LaDou and Alice Waters with their chef-driven, farm-to-table approaches. And often those risks, like finishing a pizza with burrata, become gospel.That’s where Gemignani’s particular approach lives: He collects different styles and presents them side by side, rather than staying in one lane. “It's not often that you see a grandma, a Detroit, a New York, a California style, Sicilian all in the same case,” he said. Those risks have paid off. Blending traditions and flavors and global pizza types has earned him meteoric success in the industry, with worldwide recognition, awards and best-of lists, and an ever-growing presence across the United States via franchises and collaborations. Of course, none of it came easily.But thanks to his mom’s early encouragement and his wife’s support, Gemignani broke through the chorus of doubt to build the pizza empire that is generally regarded as a proud hallmark of San Francisco cuisine. Ex // Top Stories What 6 years of overdose-deaths data reveal about SF drug crisis San Francisco’s crisis is abating, but not equally Is measuring SF homelessness becoming an ‘apples and oranges’ comparison? Advocates for the unhoused express both optimism and reservations over changes to The City’s biennial tally Carpenters, construction unions commit to new Bay Area city projects Billionaire-backed California Forever taps union labor for conversion of 110 square miles of rural land into new municipality For Gemignani, food has never been separate from The City’s larger identity — especially its obsession with sports. His pizza is now part of the gameday fabric: The homes of the San Francisco Giants, Golden State Warriors and Valkyries, and even the San Francisco 49ers all sell his pizza. “I'm lucky to have locations in them all,” said Gemignani, who grew up in the Bay Area as a huge fan of the local teams. That sports-to-pizza pipeline is about to get a new chapter, and here’s the scoop: Tony will cook in the owner’s suite at Super Bowl 60 for celebrity attendees such as 49ers owner Jed York, York’s good friend San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie, and, “hopefully Joe Montana.”“There’s a new pizza we’re launching with Chef Emari, E-40’s son,” Gemignani said. It will be called Tonee-40 — a portmanteau of Tony and E-40, plus an extra E for Emari — and will still be available in Tony’s locations after the Super Bowl has left the Bay Area.“I'm not a big fan of Seattle — you know, Seattle is not a big fan of ours,” Gemignani said, coming to a conclusion to which many of us can likely relate. “So maybe the Patriots.” Even with Slice Houses in major sports arenas and casinos, 25 franchises opened in the Bay Area and several western states, and another 100 in the pipeline, Gemignani remains a neighborhood fixture in North Beach, bantering with guests and chatting with locals. During our interview, retired SFPD Assistant Chief David Lazar walked by, and the two took the opportunity to catch up. And when the sit-down restaurant, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, opened a few minutes later, the barstools were immediately filled by locals, including longtime San Francisco bartenders and old-schoolers who welcome Gemignani as one of their own. In a city that loves to argue about authenticity, Gemignani’s success offers a different thesis: Tradition matters, yes, but so does risk. So does joy. So does being the person willing to put the weird idea in the case — whether it’s Detroit slices in 2011 or burrata on a pizza before anyone was ready for it — and keep going when someone says it won’t work.
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