New pizza restaurant opens in the Haight

  • 2016-12-18
Tony Gemignani, a Bay Area pizza creator, is opening another restaurant.

This time, his venture is near the Haight/Ashbury intersection made famous during the “summer of love”, the period in 1967 when thousands of young people came to the city to enjoy music and a new lifestyle.

Gemignani hopes to connect the new restaurant, a Slice House seating 25, with the history of the neighborhood. The connection begins with the restaurant's address, 1535 Haight Street, where Ron and Jay Thelin's Psychedelic Shop once stood.

Gemignani says he hopes his restaurant will pay homage to that period, which is unique in the history of San Francisco. In order to take diners back to that summer, Gemignani has hung portraits of 1960s and 1970s pop icons like John Lennon, Jim Morrison, and Jimi Hendrix on the walls. He has also included pop-art works of Mr. Spock and Wonder Woman, created in the style of Andy Warhol.

The restauranteur is also using the era as inspiration for some of his menu items, such as the specialty pizza ‘Love Me Two Times’, inspired by The Doors hit, and featuring double garlic. The ‘Honey Hippie Veggie Burger’ piles on red onion, peppadew peppers, mozzarella, arugula, and honey.

Enterprises like this can benefit when owners work with flyer printing companies, which can create handouts for distribution during and immediately after the opening.