Starbelly

“great back patio”

I really enjoy the back patio even on colder days since it's covered and has heat lamps. The pizzas are excellent and I love the salad options. It's a go-to spot for lunch meetups. Dinners are quite good too.

A visitor · Over a year ago

“Unfortunate.”

It takes a really bad experience for me to walk out of a restaurant, but Starbelly managed that. I want to like it, and I know friends have enjoyed it and I've had decent meals there, but twice I've ordered pizza and the whole restaurant system reveals a deep lack of understanding. The first time, I got a cheese pizza with cave-aged gruyere, thyme, mushrooms, and roasted onions. They name the beef as 'Prather Ranch' and hazelnuts as 'Oregon' and the gruyere as 'cave-aged,' but they can't say what type of mushrooms are on the pizza. Anyway, when I finally got it, it was nauseating. Gruyere is an oily cheese, great in fondue, but on this pizza, maybe with the roasted onions, it created a slimy mess that dripped with oil. The pizza was sitting in its own oil. The slimy gruyere and onions slid off when you picked up a slice, so you had to reassemble it with utensils to eat it. I touched a slice and my fingers got coated with unpleasant greasy oil like melted Vaseline, somehow coating my body like a special effect from 'The Matrix.' Nauseating. I decided to give the restaurant another chance and another time tried a different pizza: margherita with fresh mozzarella and basil. Simple, what could go wrong with tomato and cheese on bread for $15? I risked it and even added chorizo. After a long wait, the pizza came. I picked up a slice, expecting a crisp crust with thin tasty tomato, warm brown bubbly cheese, fresh basil, and chorizo. Instead, it was like a can of tomato soup served on a flat wet bread round with a cheese crust, like a tomato version of onion soup gratinée, with the croutons around the soup instead of in it. When I picked up a slice, the whole tomato/cheese/chorizo/basil topping slid off into a pool of tomato soup. I know it's a lot to ask, but if you offer pizza on the menu, you should be able to serve edible pizza. My guest and I got up, laughing, took the pizza to the register with the poor waiter, and said we had to leave. We gave $10 for the iced teas and said the pizza was inedible for a second time. They were confused why I didn't find it delicious until I pointed out it was tomato soup on a flat metal plate disguised as food. When they saw the soup pool on the pizza pan and the sad pizza slice like echorché, they apologized with sad eyes for their inability to serve food. The mystery remains unsolved for me. How could the cook mess up something as basic as pizza, over and over in different variations? Didn't the waiter notice the pool of oil or tomato juice on the pizza slopping in the pan? Didn't other patrons think the pizza slice echorché was unacceptable? Had no one ever complained? Didn't the front-of-house staff think to call a manager about pizza soup? Alas.

A guest · Over a year ago

More than a year ago, sit in the back outdoor patio area.

A recent visitor · Over a year ago

“Best food in the 'stro”

Simple new American food. Limited menu, but everything is delicious. Great gluten-free and vegetarian options. Cute wait staff and right around the corner from the gayborhood. What more could you ask for?

A local visitor · Over a year ago

“yum”

The Starbelly bacon pizza is incredible!

A visitor · Over a year ago