Elena: Howard Bulka might have applied the _word_ "artisan" to his very creditable pizzas before "artisan" became a trendy (and sometimes empty) cliché, but the substantive idea of quality craftsmanlike pizzas with old-world influence is hardly something he can be credited with "putting on the map!" A16 in San Francisco is among the pizzerias already recognized for authentic Naples style (by the strict trade group AVPN Web Link ), years before Howie's opened. And Berkeley's Chez Panisse Café had popularized pizzas with free-format seasonal toppings and slow-risen crusts before you were born.

Common sense: You're absolutely right; thank you for making those points. Perhaps on the map in Palo Alto or on the Peninsula is more accurate -- I was thinking locally.

It's great to see so many good restaurants going to Redwood City, which was pretty dead ten years ago. It would be even better to see more new restaurants coming to downtown Menlo Park, which is pretty dead today. :)

[Post removed.]

Howie's pizzas are often oddly shaped. I've mentioned this to them a few times, especially, when pizza looked semi-round on one side and like puffy clouds on another. They have their usual response to my observations/comments, stating that theirs is an artisan pizza. I would say more like pizza made not by an artisan but by an untrained teenage pizza spinner who is afraid to spin the pizza several times to achieve circularity. Good luck in RWC.

While the aesthetics of a circular pizza are important, more importantly, it ensures that the dough of an even thickness. Misshapen or oval hand-thrown pizzas usually mean the dough is of uneven thickness which results in uneven baking. That's the key point of hand-tossing round pizzas. The pizzeria employees can't make the excuse for misshapen pizzas that "it's artisan" precisely because of the baking issue.

Trying maybe 20 Howie's pizzas in Palo Alto since the place opened, what stood out to me was general quality. Those were GOOD pizzas. I doubt any of my companions remembers the exact shape of the pizzas. That's surely a niche complaint. Also, "tossing" isn't essential at all to good, artisanal, or even uniformly round handmade pizzas. Pizzerias certified for Naples authenticity by the AVPN trade group (linked earlier) may roughly pat the dough blob to flatten it, then stretch it to final shape on an assembly surface, before moving it to a pizza peel (paddle) for sliding off into the brick oven. AVPN allows some latitude in diameter, but if you watch closely at Napoletana Pizzeria in MV (the place that initiated the modern trend of VPN pizzerias on the peninsula), the proprietor makes them evenly round by stretching, not tossing/twirling. The peninsula even had a very early VPN pizzeria (in Palo Alto or thereabouts) -- 2004? -- I don't recall the name. It didn't last. Possibly the local market wasn't ready for it, and that is what has changed in recent years.

I think Common sense is right. Tossing the pizza isn't required to make it evenly thick. The pizzaiolo can carefully shape the dough by hand. Tossing is mostly for show, I presume, although a well tossed dough should be round and even.

We went the other night. There are a few price discrepancies where Palo Alto is dare I say, Cheaper ($9 meatball sub in PA, $11 in RWC). They really need a kids' menu. Spending $18 for a cheese pizza, even $12 stinks. My husband ordered a $12 burger + $2 Avocado + $3 side salad = $17! When my husband asked what his burger came with, the waiter told him he could order a side of fries or a side salad. My husband added the salad. I am looking at the menu online now and see that it was supposed to COME with fries. He got an empty plate with a burger to the left, complete with onions that he asked to be held (the kitchen's mistake), and we waited forever for waters. My husband also got his burger quite a while before we saw our pizza. Our waiter was very nice, but new. We vaguely remember some lunch specials at the T & C one that we used to buy for our kids. I hope those are implemented. If the menu doesn't evolve, we won't be back to this Howie's. We'd rather go to Vesta for he price for artisan pizza, or Left Bank for their burger.