Michael Bauer, well known as a pizza fiend, gave up a chance to try all the pizzas at Mozzeria (3228 16th Street), and Janny Hu pinch-hits on reviewing the eight-month-old restaurant. She says the pizzas, particularly the margherita and the funghi, are pretty solid if not astounding, and she recommends the housemade burrata and “Mozzeria bar” (a block of fried mozzarella) as well. Of the pastas, she recommends the fava leaf tagliatelle, but says you can skip the Japanese pumpkin ravioli. As for the service, from the mostly deaf staff, she says it can slow, and pizzas can take an awfully long time to show up. All told: two stars. [Chron]
Instead of indulging in pizza, Mr. Bauer was stuck going to San Mateo to check in on Kingfish, the eleven-year-old New Orleans-themed restaurant that once upon a time held two and a half stars. And boy, is he unhappy. With everything. He notes safety pins holding curtains together, cheap plastic Mardi gras beads gracing the dining room, stained seat cushions, and a bunch of bad food. He picks apart a farmer’s market salad, calling it “one of the most inexpertly put together collections of organic vegetables I’ve seen in a restaurant.” He’s none too pleased with any of the other dishes either, finding gummy risotto, poorly cooked mussels and fish, and a $29 plate of baby back ribs that were doused in an over-sweet sauce. All told, he spent $175 on a bad meal, and he dings them with one and a half stars. [Chron]
