Olivers Pizzeria - (Near San Rafael, CA)

5 /5 Laura Kocourek: Simple menu, great quality food. We ordered the winter salad, sausage pizza and Margherita pizzas. All super flavorful and with obviously fresh ingredients. The sausage had a yummy kick and the mushrooms were delicious. Yummy crust. Fresh delicious cheese.

5 /5 Nicholas Barisone: This place is already a point of pride for downtown San Rafael - its easily some of the best pizza Ive ever had. The craftsmanship of each pizza is hard to replicate. Gripes? Its going to get way too popular and people are going to come from all over the bay area to eat here, just like Sol Food. Great job, Oliver & Team. I hope you stay here for many years to come. Also - love the unpretentious wine by the bottle menu. Under $50 is key.

3 /5 Cameron Matthews: FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not an artisanal pizza connoisseur. I was raised on Shakeys Pizza and normally get my pizza from a nearby Dominos. So, having said that and keeping in mind the high marks everyone gives Olivers, my sausage pizza experience was completely unexpected. When it arrived, it looked good. When I went to separate a piece, the thin crust seemed gummy and limp and I literally couldnt pick it up and eat it out of hand. Maybe youre not supposed to, like not good pizza eating etiquette, but the only way I could have picked it up and eaten a piece would have been to roll it up from tip to crust and eat it that way. Instead, I used a fork and knife, which is fine with me, no complaints there. The flavor was good but even with the first piece I knew it was too spicy hot for me. Again, I dont know how its supposed to be but for comparison purposes, if I go to a Vietnamese or Indian place and they ask me how hot I want the food, Im a 4 or 5 guy. This was more like an 8. Only got about halfway through it and then just ate the crust and picked off the sausage pieces. In the first photo, you can see how the tip just rolls over and in the second you can see how limp the piece is (Im partially supporting it with my 2nd finger). Again, not the serious pizza eater but this isnt my kinda thing. Im going back to low brow, pedestrian-level pizza.

4 /5 Amar: First time there a couple of months ago, I asked for pizza to go and they said it would be 1.5 hour wait. Table was gonna be 40 minutes or so. There was an empty seat at the bar so I asked if I could sit there. Ordered a drink and pizza to eat there and a pizza and salad to go. Pizza arrived in 10 minutes. Salad and takeout pizza arrived in another 5 minutes. The pizza and salad were delicious. My favorite place in Marin has been Picco and their caesar has been my favorite - until now. The Caesar here is different and unique. I love the breadcrumbs instead of croutons and the red lettuce was really nice. Picco is an awesome traditional upscale caesar, Olivers is unique. I ordered a margherita pizza and it was so good. I was instantly thinking this is my new place. Cocktail was really good too. Service was kind of meh, though. They were busy and I was happy to have gotten to eat and get a pizza to go for my mom. But I was brushed off at first and it took them a few minutes to decide if I could sit at the empty bar counter seat. The host was nice enough to check. 2nd time, took my mom, there was a wait, which I expected. Ordered a drink while waiting and sat in the waiting area which is really nice and comfy. I wish we could have just eaten there. After about a half hour they told us they were running out of dough (there was a problem with the pizza oven temperature) and werent sure if they would have a pizza for us. I appreciated the heads up. They comped my drink, which was nice. We went downstairs to Vin Antico and had a great meal that included awesome focaccia from what tasted like the same dough, and amazing fish. 3rd time, today, showed up and they were closed. Nothing on their website noting both restaurants are closed. Unfortunately theres no phone number that you can call to contact Olivers so it would be extra important for them to put a note on the main page of their website. When I arrived and looked up from the back entrance the lights were out, so I walked around to the front and the signs of the door said that they were closed until January 13th. Luckily a new pizza place at the corner has just opened up and we had an equally good pizza with little hassle and great service (Fratm, where Casa Mañana used to be). On a Saturday night they were busy but got us seated in 15 minutes. The speakeasy vibes at Olivers are pretty cool and the food and drinks are definitely really good. Im not sure its worth the hassle to try to eat there, though, especially now that there is a new place on the corner that is just as good, maybe better. Ill definitely go back to Vin Antico downstairs. Same owners but feels less pretentious and more welcoming. Ill still give Olivers another try if I dont have to wait an hour for a table. It is definitely some of the best pizza in Marin.

5 /5 Dumnoi: We’ve been waiting to go this place for a while. Since they don’t accept reservations so we had to go early to avoid the crowds. We got there a bit after 5 pm and we were about the second or third customers but after sitting down, people kept coming and the whole place was full in no time. Their menu only contained 5-6 pizzas with one salad. We ordered 2 caesar salad for 4 people but I liked it so much I had to order one more just for myself! We ordered 3 pizzas, TOMATO PIE (Tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, parmigiano reggiano, olive oil), MARGHERITA (Tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil) and SAUSAGE (Tomato sauce, pork sausage, calabrian chilies, parsley, herb cream, parmigiano reggiano). We liked all of them a lot, the crust was thin and all the ingredients tasted very fresh. I also had a cocktail, BOLOGNA MIND (Gin, lemon, grapefruit, bitter aperitivo, soda, cucumber) and it was refreshing. The place felt very cozy and even there was only one waitress when we were there, but she did a great job. We definitely go back there again soon!