There was a time when goats grazed the slopes of the Potrero Hill neighborhood in San Francisco (“potrero” means “pasture” in Spanish). These days it’s a haven for hipsters and the well-to-do—and the site of an iconic pizzeria that just celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Goat Hill Pizza was founded by five good friends who remained friends for decades despite the challenges posed by a business partnership: Joel and Loris Lipski, Ruthann Dickinson, Karen Clark and Philip De Andrade. They were in their 20s at the time and, after pooling their money, bought a burned-out BBQ joint in Potrero Hill.
They even owned goats and brought them to work. Hilda De Anchovy, a black goat named by a 10-year-old girl as part of a contest in 1979, and her kids, Loretta and Bucky, roamed a grassy lot behind the restaurant until the mid-1980s, when the owners added a rear dining room on the spot. Hilda remains the pizzeria’s mascot, and illustrations and sepia-toned photos of goats adorn Goat Hill’s pizza boxes, merch and restaurant walls.
Now for its golden anniversary, the pizza shop has added a mural of goats on its windows while a local studio, the Hidden Place, offers goat tattoos for fans of the brand.
Deeply embedded in the Potrero Hill community for a half-century, Goat Hill Pizza hosts a local book club, art shows, school fundraisers and other events, earning it a spot in San Francisco’s Legacy Business Registry.
Along with its own colorful history, Goat Hill Pizza owes its origin to the first slice of pizza De Andrade ever ate—and it was from Mary’s Pizza Shack, a member of PMQ’s Pizza Hall of Fame. Pizza delivery was new in Sonoma, California, at the time, and De Andrade was curious about this odd food. “I just remember sitting on the living room floor and tasting all these flavors on a piece of bread,” he told SF Gate earlier this year. “It was something I had never experienced before.”
De Andrade had planned to join the priesthood but left the seminary as a young man and became a social worker. Then, after managing a Red Boy Pizza location for a few years, he brought his friends together to launch Goat Hill Pizza. The restaurant offers about 20 specialty pizzas featuring a sourdough that undergoes a three-day ferment. They include the Hilda’s Favorite topped with pesto, tomatoes and—you guessed it—goat cheese as well as the Portuguese (linguica, scallions, black olives and garlic) and the Saltimbocca (chicken, bacon, garlic sauce, sage and lemon).
Three of the founders—Loris Lipski, Dickinson and Clark—have passed away, and De Andrade and Joel Lipski have since brought in different partners. There’s no live goat on the premises anymore either, but Goat Hill Pizza still retains its unique charm—and its dedication to the people of Potrero Hill—after all these decades.
“Even from the days in the seminary, I’ve long believed that we only operate and grow as individuals when we live within a community,” De Andrade told SF Gate. “Living in a community is what gives us our sense of individuality.”
