200 Merrydale Road
San Rafael
(415) 472-7100
www.gasparespizza.com
Italian Cuisine
Dinner nightly
Entrées: $11.95-$25.50
Full bar, good wine list
Gaspare Indelicato (who hails from Sicily) and his family opened their first restaurant, Gaspare’s Pizza House and Italian Restaurant, on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco’s Richmond District, in 1985, and it wasn’t long until the place had a loyal following. The San Rafael location (with a slightly different name) opened in 2007. It features a full bar, two separate dining areas (one is great for private parties), plenty of picture windows and a warm, welcoming atmosphere.
Casual and family-friendly, the place is largely known for its outstanding pizza, but offers a wide range of Italian dishes as well, from appetizers to salads, soups, pastas, meats, daily specials and plenty of vegetarian options. A small sign above the entrance to the kitchen says “mangia!” (Italian for “eat!”). Sometimes, one word says it all.
When we visited, the adorable bartender, Courtney, served up a mean Tanqueray Gibson—perfectly chilled and just the right size—one of my favorite ways to start a meal, while our server, Jose, provided knowledgeable, prompt and friendly service.
Our first course was the butternut squash soup special, a thick purée with a dollop of fresh goat cheese and a garlic crouton. Combined with the fresh baked bread (we were served a basket of sliced sourdough and rosemary foccacia), it gave our taste buds an instant lift. Next came the insalata mista, which had mixed greens, whole kalamata olives, sliced tomatoes, pepperoncini and a touch of chopped red onions.
A Hahn Pinot Noir (Monterey) went really well with the gnocchi alla bolognese, bite-sized potato dumplings in a rich, savory and highly flavorful sauce made with meat, garlic, a bit of tomato paste and cream (just to name a few ingredients)—delicious.
The chicken piccata was thin-sliced white breast meat, cooked very tender with fresh lemon slices on top and a lemon caper sauce served with chard, zucchini, yellow squash and broccoli sautéed in garlic and olive oil.
Next came the pizza Italiana—one of the best pizzas I’ve ever tried. Its crust was perfectly thin and crisp and was topped with flavor-packed pesto sauce, mozzarella and thin-sliced tomato rounds. It’s hard to find pizza this good, but Gaspare’s has it for sure (no wonder they put it in the name). It’s my understanding that offering authentic, Italian pizza was Gaspare’s inspiration to open a restaurant in the first place.
Gaspare’s wife, Robin, makes a wonderful, thick and creamy cheesecake for dessert. So if you can, save some room for that (or take it home and eat it later). Speaking of eating at home, Gaspare’s delivers—lucky you.
