Gialina, Glen Park’s famed pizzeria on Diamond Street, has prospered over decades, weathering economic fluctuations, changing demographics and COVID-19.
Tellingly, no sign proclaims the popular restaurant’s name. According to owner Sharon Ardiana, the “Gialina” on a front window disappeared during repairs at the restaurant at 2842 Diamond Street, which opened in 2007.
The Glen Park News recently sat down with Ardiana to learn about her formula for success – and what it might mean for our other neighborhood’s eateries.
We started by asking about business in the wake of COVID-19. Ardiana said though business is slowly coming back, the pizzeria is much less busy than in 2019, pre-pandemic.
The stories behind Gialina’s photos
She acknowledged that COVID-19 spurred some changes. For one thing, the 34-seat restaurant now allows online reservations. The pandemic also brought an expanded website enabling customers to place takeout orders for personal pick up at the Diamond Street location.
Ardiana said that while phone and online ordering represent a significant part of her business, she draws the line at third-party delivery services. Gialina has never used apps such as DoorDash or GrubHub.
“I do not use delivery apps, because the platforms and the drivers are so disconnected to the food and what we do at Gialina,” Ardiana said.
“When you use a delivery app, the tip goes to the driver and not to the people who make your food. Gialina uses the Toast platform for online ordering. And with Toast, 100% of your tip goes to the kitchen staff who prepare your food and make your dinner.”
Gialina has operated at a consistently high standard, even as its menu keeps evolving. What does it take to maintain quality, honor tradition and keep innovating?
“I have been very fortunate that my staff, particularly my kitchen staff, have worked at Gialina for over 10 years,” Ardiana said, “and they drive the consistency of the food. My staff are a bunch of foodies. They love eating delicious food, and that love is contagious. They want to set the bar high. We taste everything as a group, talk about it and keep our food delicious all the time.”
Gialina’s menu reflects what is available from local farms. Ardiana does all the ordering for the restaurant, as well as her other pizzeria, Ragazza in San Francisco’s NoPa neighborhood. In operating both locations she has learned that “each space and neighborhood is special and if you cater to that uniqueness, they will come.”
She also learned a lot from opening and closing a third restaurant, Ardiana.
“That was a hard one!” she said. “It bore my last name and was very personal for me. I think Covid played a role. Also, it was in a funny area at the end of Church Street and not in Noe Valley’s busier 24th St. corridor.”
By contrast, she said, Glen Park comprises “a tiny neighborhood that is fierce in its restaurant loyalties!”
Ardiana is cautiously optimistic about the future for other local restaurateurs.
“Opening restaurants post-Covid is a monumental task and a huge financial risk,” she said. “I am not sure that Glen Park has the population density to support larger, splashier restaurants, though I would love to see it happen.
She also had kind words for local business leaders and residents.
“Let’s all thank the Glen Park Merchants Association for continuing to keep our neighborhood relevant and on people’s radar. And I would like to personally thank our customers. I always wanted Gialina to be a neighborhood place that served everyone. Single, married, kids, straight, LGBTQ+. I wanted it to be good for a date night, an I-am-not-cooking-tonight night, a pizza Friday night! It’s like the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ – I built it and they came! I feel so lucky and honored. So thank you!”
