Pazzo Reopens for Dining.

A Long Awaited Return

Pazzo Restaurant in San Carlos has quietly become one of the best restaurants in San Carlos. I say “quietly” because Pazzo has never benefited from a north Laurel Street location that draws the majority of the dining crowd that descends on San Carlos every night. In fact, you could drive by their location at 1179 Laurel Street between Brittan and Greenwood Avenues and easily miss it, it's that non-descript from the outside.

But that does not matter one bit to Pazzo's loyal and growing followers. In fact, many loyal patrons like myself relish the diversion from the packed north-Laurel blocks and enjoy the quiet and quaint ambiance of Pazzo. Sitting at the high-top counter and feeling the heat emanating from the pizza oven while you enjoy their incredible gnocchi or fresh pizza is simply a sublime dining experience.

The pandemic put an abrupt end to in-house dining for every restaurant in San Carlos, and Pazzo nimbly pivoted to a take-out only model. The subsequent necessary elimination of wait staff and other overhead, combined with the elegant brevity of their menu, allowed them to still operate profitably while numerous other restaurants in the city could not.

As the local economy slowly emerged from Covid-imposed restrictions, literally every other restaurant in San Carlos reopened for in-house dining. Some restaurants like the ever-popular Town actually have more seating capacity after the pandemic than they did before, thanks to the construction of parklets that facilitated outdoor dining — a very popular dining option on warm nights. But until last week, Pazzo stubbornly resisted the trend back toward in-house dining, sticking to the lean but still profitable takeout model.

But two significant factors made it obvious that Pazzo would need to revert back to in-house dining. The first and most obvious was the beer and wine revenue, which evaporated when people could not dine in. That proved to be too significant of a hit to ignore. The second, and probably less obvious, is that their remarkable food is best enjoyed right when it comes out of the oven. If you've ever eaten one of Andy Gambardella's famous New Haven pizzas with the singed crust (they were actually featured on Guy Fieri's Diner's, Dives and Drive-In's) you know that they are at their very best at the table.

For you die-hard fans of the restaurant, you'll find that the place will look a little bit different when you to back in. Andy and team took advantage of their time doing take-out only to upgrade the dining area. The high-top (my favorite spot) has been rebuilt and pushed back a bit to allow more space for the pizza oven. And the plan longer term is to expand their outdoor dining by adopting the popular parklet model.

Regardless, I'm just thrilled that this San Carlos gem is once again open for dining. If you've already been to Pazzo, you don't need any additional selling. If you haven't been there yet, you owe it to yourself to go. The ricotta gnocchi literally melts in your mouth, and if pizza is your thing, my favorites are the baby clam pizza (if you like white sauce) or the fennel sausage pizza for the traditional red sauce fans. And if you listen carefully, you'll notice the music soundtrack is heavily infused with electric blues — a nod to Andy's other passion as an accomplished guitarist.

Bon apetit!!