Rigolo

My family was casually strolling through Laurel Village a couple weeks ago and we noticed that Rigolo was closed. We took note and saw they were remodeling and they would reopen the next week with changes to the menu. We went back after the re-opening to check out the remodeling and the new menu. We walked in, looked around, scratched our heads, and asked ourselves, What the heck changed? We figured they must have painted and cleaned the floors; that was about it.

Then we thought, we better check the menu. Maybe the big changes will be found there. The first thing that I noticed was the pulled bbq pork sandwich was gone. GONE. Simply vanished. My favorite item on the menu was removed. Down the hill we go, indeed.

We ordered the kid burger for the toddlers, who were dismayed to see the toys were gone. They too thought, Down the hill we go… We loved the idea that Rigolo had toys for the kids to play with. Sure, the toys were old and dirty, but they were there, and they were played with.

I ordered a pizza and my wife got a burger. Can’t go wrong with a burger, right? Actually, at Rigolo you can wrong with a burger. Back in the day, during another visit, I ordered a medium-rare burger and my wife ordered a medium-well burger. Her's arrived bloody and mine arrived mooing. We decided the chef couldn’t handle cooking two different temperatures at once…

My pizza arrived and immediately I noticed it was not shaped in a rectangle. It was a circle. Back in the day, I liked Rigolo’s pizza for the crust, which is rare for me, because I’m a toppings-kind-of-guy. But Rigolo’s pizza crust was light and flaky. Kind of like a croissant. It was good. It was the reason I used to order it. Well, they changed the crust. It’s not light and flaky anymore. It’s just a boring, regular pizza crust. Ho hum. The toppings were good though. I ordered a make-your-own with three toppings: home-made sausage, mushrooms, and roasted garlic. The toppings saved the pizza. But you don’t go to Rigolo for pizza, you go there for the mac and cheese and the bbq pork.

My wife’s burger was OK. She ate it. Really nothing more to say there. It was cooked medium-well. I tasted the kids burger and it was overcooked and dry. But that’s a good thing for the kids.

I’m sure we’ll go back to Rigolo. It’s close by and it’s not awful. Although my first choice will be Asqew. Hey, I’m a guy. I like my bbq.

Rigolo
3465 California St
San Francisco, CA 94118