Under a cheery blue and orange awning on the corner of Clement Street and Arguello Boulevard, the smell of freshly baked dough and melting mozzarella cuts through the Inner Richmond fog. The neighborhood’s buzziest new addition is already drawing crowds: Rose Pizzeria served 3,000 customers in its first week.“It’s been very busy,” co-owner Gerad Gobel told SFGATE. “It’s been, so far, exceeding our expectations.”

Gobel and Alexis Rorabaugh opened the first Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley in 2021 as a tiny, adorable eatery with a patio overlooking a rose garden. The restaurant quickly gained national acclaim: The New York Times named it one of the top 22 best pizza places in the United States in 2024; last year, Italy-based ranking guide 50 Top Pizza also recognized Rose, highlighting its “fresh and seasonal, always of high quality” menu. The success propelled the couple to open Italian cafe and wine bar Cafe Brusco in Berkeley last year, and they’ve also been tapped to create the food menu for Downtime, a new nightclub from the owners of Bar Part Time that is set to open in the Mission this year.

The Pepp & Basil pizza with pepperoni, mozzarella, tomato sauce, pecorino, fresh basil and Sicilian oregano at Rose Pizzeria in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.

Co-owner Alexis Rorabaugh appears inside her new restaurant, Rose Pizzeria, in San Francisco on May 8, 2026.

But Gobel and Rorabaugh’s decision to expand to San Francisco precedes all the hype. A few years ago, the couple fell in love with this corner of Clement while visiting the neighborhood for the popular Clement Street Farmers Market. They noticed that the previous business at 1 Clement St., Village Pizzeria, had closed.

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“I drove by once a week for like two years, just waiting for a new sign to go up,” Gobel said.

The Richmond has been having a moment lately, with the New York Times dubbing it........

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