Flour + Water Is Getting Into the Garlic Fries and Pizza Game With the Giants

Big names in the San Francisco food scene are setting up shop in the growing Mission Rock development, and one more business is readying its space for the baseball season. Flour + Water Pizza Shop debuts on Monday, April 14, slinging slices and whole pies for Giants fans and the wider Mission Bay neighborhood.

This new space isn’t meant to be a dupe of the flagship Flour + Water Pizzeria in North Beach; instead, this upcoming spot is meant to be a blueprint for more pizza shops to come, with a more casual, concentrated menu. Still, it’s not the average pizza shop, either. This location has the added element of Giants game days to contend with, and chefs and restaurant partners Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow are pulling out all the stops to make those heavily trafficked days run smoothly with a slice window plugged into the side of the building for easy ordering of ready-to-go slices, a front counter with cashiers, self-order kiosks, phone ordering, and QR codes at the tables. “All of those things were birthed out of [the question of], ‘What’s the best operation on game day?’” McNaughton says.

The Mission Rock shop doesn’t stray too far from the original. The takeout window will most likely see plenty of the Big Slice — Flour + Water’s name for their large, single slices — pass through to customers’ hands, with Margherita and pepperoni options as well as a rotating third slice as a special. Red sauce fans can order full-sized pie versions of those two slices, along with the Hawaiian which pairs capicola with pineapple, and a hit of pickled fresnos and chile crisp for a bump of heat; the Meatza, which combines pepperoni with sausage and guanciale; plus the smoky eggplant option, which can be vegan-ized. Also on the menu is a basil pesto pizza, as well as the Conrad, a vegetarian pie that mixes kale and mushrooms with roasted garlic, two kinds of cheese, and red onions. The cacio e pepe pizza, meanwhile, features a mix of fresh mozzarella, pecorino crema, and fontina cheese set against specks of black pepper. All pies can also be made into gluten-free Sicilian options.

All that being said, this new shop has a few surprises in store. The group expands its appetizer menu of cheese pull-worthy mozz sticks and Calabrian chicken wings with the addition of ballpark garlic fries — an ode to the popular version inside Oracle Park — served with a cacio e pepe dip that’s also thankfully a side sauce add-on for pies alongside the ranch and marinara dips. Soft serve is also on the menu in this space with toppings like Amarena cherries and brown butter cereal crunch served atop two soft serve flavors, salted caramel and fior di latte, or cow’s milk mozzarella. On the drinks side, guests can choose between a glass of red or white wine; on tap, there will also be a choice of two beers or the Flour + Water spritz made with citrus, hibiscus, and sparkling wine. But the shop also has a full liquor license they’ll be deploying for a boozy slushie made with tequila, passion fruit, citrus, and aperitif, or a shot of Don Julio Blanco as a “cheers to the home team.” There’s no proper bar, but the additions give the shop some oomph in the drinks department.

At Mission Rock, however, it’s not all talk about feeding hungry Giants fans: McNaughton and Pollnow also considered how their pizza fills a space for the neighborhood and the locals living and working in the larger Mission Bay. Though they proceeded cautiously when first approached by the Giants and Tishman Speyer to open in Mission Rock, as the development grew and foot traffic increased, the Flour + Water team saw the potential in moving across the Third Street Bridge and into the neighborhood. “It gave us more confidence in knowing that it’s not just a development next to the Giants stadium, it’s a developing neighborhood in San Francisco,” Pollnow says. With the ebb and flow of baseball fans, the duo knows it’s important to also show up for the community — what that looks like is comfortable seating areas inside and outside on the adjacent sidewalk and plaza, as well as delivery and to-go options that are as convenient as possible.

This opening is an exciting next big step in the growing Flour + Water empire. Following the June 2023 opening of the flagship in North Beach, and as the team settles into its new routine at the Mission Rock development, already the Flour + Water team has their eyes on their next First: An inaugural East Bay location locked in for Oakland.

Flour + Water Pizza Shop (1090 Dr. Maya Angelou Lane, Suite A) debuts Monday, April 14, and will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily.

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Patricia Chang

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