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Sforno Pizzeria Napoletana quietly opened in January 2026, offering Neapolitan-style pizza just off Hayes Street. Owner Silvia Veronese hails from Verona, Italy, but has lived in the Bay Area working in tech for the last 20 years. This is her first restaurant, and she’s running it with her two sons and two pizzaioli who grew up in Napoli, one of whom apprenticed at L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Naples, Tablehopper reports. It’s a pizza shop steeped in Neapolitan tradition, so much so that Sforno is looking to be certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, a group which regulates the rules that distinguishes Neapolitan pizza from other styles.
The shop quickly became known for its street food-style of pizza, the portafoglio (or wallet pizza), a pizza folded into fourths and wrapped for eating on the go — a tradition in Italy, but a rarity in the Bay Area. The shop also serves panozzi, or sandwiches that utilize baked pizza dough as the bread. Sforno serves about 10 to 12 kinds of pizza each day, mixing Italian ingredients with local produce. The dough is fermented for two days, before it’s shaped, topped, and slid into the dome-shaped, wood-fired oven for 60 to 90 seconds. It’s a traditional Italian pizza counter plopped right into Hayes Valley, serving streetside snacks and bites for the neighborhood…