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About Goat Hill

HOW IT BEGAN

Back in 1975, five twenty-something friends—Joel & Loris Lipski, Ruthann Dickinson, Karen Clark, and Philip De Andrade—gathered a little cash and took over a burned-out BBQ joint in Potrero Hill. Sit-down spots weren’t so common in the area at that time, and Goat Hill quickly became the spot where neighbors just hung out.

De Andrade told SFGATE that he had enrolled in seminary school, but changed his mind at the last minute. His path to Goat Hill was a winding one, working for a nonprofit for years and doing community work before realizing his dream of a neighborhood pizzeria.

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SF to the Bone

San Francisco’s legacy is baked into Goat Hill’s DNA. The City has been famous for sourdough since the Gold Rush, and since 1975, Goat Hill has been dedicated to keeping the tradition alive with handmade sourdough crust that is crisp yet chewy. It’s part of what’s set Goat Hill Pizza apart from day one.

Another magical tradition is all-you-can-eat Mondays, which dates back decades. It’s just $19.75 (a nod to the year of the pizzeria’s opening) and has become a ritual for many folks. Every Monday, people who grew up coming to Goat Hill can often be seen with their kids and even grandkids sharing pies and making memories.

Why Goat Hill?

Potrero Hill was once a pastureland. Early photos unveiled in the building’s basement showed goats roaming the slopes. That became part of the name’s origin. The restaurant owners adopted a beautiful black goat named Hilda De Anchovy and she and her kids Loretta & Bucky roamed behind the shop until the mid-1980s.

You’ll still see Hilda on our boxes, walls, and in our merch. One of the most tangible reminders of Hilda lives right outside: goat hoofprints embedded circa 1920. In 2019, when sidewalk crews threatened to obliterate them, staff intervened and had them removed, preserved, and reinstalled. “History is important; it takes you back to your roots,” said co-owner Philip De Andrade. potreroview.net

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More than Just Pizza

We like to think of ourselves as a part of the community, a neighbor, not just a restaurant. We host community events, art shows, school fundraisers, local history nights, and even a book club with Christopher’s Books. Because of this deep local footprint, we were honored to be nominated in 2022 for San Francisco’s Legacy Business Registry.

We’ve endured through booms and busts and we plan on sticking around. We’ve been lucky to grow our community by adding our West Portal location in 2012.

Our menu and offerings have grown since the early days while staying true to our roots with handmade crusts and house-made sauces.

In the media