Haight Street Pizza by the Slice: Escape From New York Pizza

Escape From New York Pizza, at 1737 Haight Street, has been handing New York-style pizza by the slice across its counter since 1986, long enough to earn a place on San Francisco's Legacy Business Registry. The name is a wink at the John Carpenter film, and the pitch is simple: thin, foldable slices in the middle of the Upper Haight, with a pesto and roasted potato pie that has become the shop's calling card. On Friday and Saturday the Haight Street kitchen keeps baking until 1:30 am, which makes it one of the few reliable late slices in this part of the city.

The shop's Legacy Business application, heard by the city's Small Business Commission in October 2016, says the business was begun in 1986 by the original partners Paul Geffner and Joe Goldmark. Goldmark is better known to many San Franciscans as one of the people behind Amoeba Music, the record store a short walk down the same street. In a 2016 Hoodline interview, co-owner Tim Parker put the opening at October 1986, which means the counter has now fed four decades of Haight Street regulars, skaters, students and tourists who wandered up from the corner of Haight and Ashbury.

The commission's resolution added Escape From New York Pizza to the registry that year, and the shop still prints the fact on its menu: Escape from NY Pizza is proud to be an SF Legacy Business. The tagline on the website is just as plain, New York style pizza since 1986. A second branch now operates downtown on Bush Street for the office crowd, but the Haight Street room is the original and the one with the neighborhood character, from the narrow counter to the stream of people coming in straight off the sidewalk.

The pie everyone talks about is You Say Potato. The menu describes it as our classic, with roasted potato slices and garlic cloves with mozzarella over pesto sauce. It sounds heavy, but the thin crust keeps it balanced, and the garlic softens into something sweet rather than sharp. If you only try one thing, make it a slice of this, then compare it with a plain cheese slice to see what the dough and sauce taste like without anything on top.

Beyond those two, the menu runs through the usual New York counter staples, pepperoni and mushroom included, along with a rotating slice of the day and a gourmet vegetable pie. Vegetarian and vegan eaters are well served here, which fits the neighborhood. The crust is the house signature: wide, thin and sturdy enough to fold lengthwise the New York way, with a crisp underside that holds up even when the slice has a generous layer of potato and pesto.

For a group, a whole pie is the better deal. On the menu linked from the official homepage, a Classic Cheese pie costs $24.50 for a medium, $31.00 for a large and $34.50 for an extra large. You Say Potato is $32.00 for a medium, $40.00 for a large and $44.25 for an extra large. The size chart is worth reading closely: a medium is 14 inches and cut into eight slices, a large is 18 inches with twelve slices, and the extra large is 20 inches, still cut into twelve, so each piece is noticeably bigger.

That last detail is useful when you are ordering for friends. Twelve extra-large slices from a 20-inch pie will feed more people than the slice count suggests, especially if you add a salad. The shop also takes large orders for offices, parties in the park, hospitals and schools through its catering team, and the website says it can accommodate vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free requests for those orders.

Escape From New York keeps its policies clear on its ordering pages. A supplemental fee is added to every check, and the restaurant states that you may ask to have it removed. If you are ordering gluten-free, read the warning carefully: the shop says it is not a gluten-free environment, so anyone with a gluten allergy should not order. People who simply prefer a lighter crust will be fine, but people with celiac disease should take that warning seriously.

The busiest moments follow the rhythm of the street. Weekend afternoons bring crowds walking between Golden Gate Park and the shops on Haight, and the late window on Friday and Saturday draws people after shows and bars close. For a calm visit, come for an early lunch on a weekday, when you can order at the counter, grab a stool and eat while the slice is still hot. For a whole pie on a busy night, call ahead or order online for pickup so you are not waiting at the counter.

Haight Street is made for a slow stroll with a slice in hand. Walk west toward Stanyan Street and you reach the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park, where Hippie Hill and the meadows near the children's playground fill up on sunny afternoons. Head the other way to the corner of Haight and Ashbury, the intersection that became famous during the Summer of Love, and the vintage clothing shops, record stores and painted Victorian facades along the way.

Amoeba Music, near the park end of the street, is the natural pairing with this pizzeria, given the shared history, and an hour in its racks works well before or after a slice. If you prefer green space, Buena Vista Park rises steeply just south of Haight Street and rewards a short climb with views over the city, while the Panhandle, the long narrow strip of park a block north, is flat and good for an easy walk toward the Western Addition.

Address: 1737 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117. Hours posted on the official website: Monday to Wednesday 10:30 am to 9:30 pm, Thursday 10:30 am to 10:30 pm, Friday and Saturday 10:30 am to 1:30 am, Sunday 10:30 am to 9:30 pm. Prices from the official menu: Classic Cheese pie $24.50 medium, $31.00 large, $34.50 extra large; You Say Potato pie $32.00 medium, $40.00 large, $44.25 extra large.

Getting there: the 7 Haight-Noriega bus runs along Haight Street, and the N Judah Muni line stops a few blocks south at Cole and Carl. Street parking in the Upper Haight is tight, so transit or a bike is the easier choice, especially on weekends. Ordering: walk in for slices, or order whole pies online or by phone for pickup or delivery.