Anna and Jo's Pizza

Anna and Jo's never seems to be open when it claims it is. On three occasions, we have consulted the Facebook page (website is still under construction) and headed that way during lunch hours, only to find it closed without explanation!

Despite this, I would recommend this place to friends who want a bite to eat in a chill setting before a night out. The pizza is probably the most "American" to be found in Paris, with a great crust and okay cheese (we preferred the margherita to the pizzas with toppings).

Pizza à la californienne ... sort of.

3.5 stars to be exact. I'll definitely go back, but I have some reservations. First off, because if you're going to bill yourself as coming out of San Francisco, you'd never use the descriptor "très Brooklyn" for yourself. And it is très Brooklyn, in that irritating Parisian-New York-wannabe way: subway tile, Brooklyn Brewery signs, hipster tattoo graphics...

BUT: The owner, having trained under Tony Gemignani of San Francisco's legendary Una Pizza Napoletana, has learned how to make the BEST PIZZA CRUST IN PARIS, hands down. Delicious.

AND: The toppings are pretty fuckin' good, too, and often properly American: i.e. pepperoni, which in Italian would be a pepper but in American Italian is delicious, greasy, spicy sausage, something every meat eater from across the pond misses. And the Italian sausage? Fantastic. Better yet, the pizzas even come in two sizes, which is almost unheard of in Paris. Excellent.

BUT: You can scream "San Francisco!" or even "Brooklyn!" (gag) all you want, this pizza joint is still very Parisian:

A) There's a wide range of pre-set pizzas on the menu, but no option to build your own. In America, the customer is always right, no matter how wrong they may actually be. I'me the one paying you.

B) Speaking of money, you're definitely paying Parisian prices. They'll fool you by having a cheap "Rosso" with only tomato sauce as the basic (€8.50) pizza, then a Margarita which isn't really a Margherita because it's just tomato and mozzarella (€10.50) and then call an actual super basic Margherita (tomato, mozzarella di buffala, basil) a "San Francisco" and charge €13.50 - and it goes up from there.

C) If you complain, it doesn't fix anything. I found my food excellent, but I pointed out to the waitress and the chef that I had to spit out many bits of cartilage from the bacon on my pizza. The response was, "Hey, that's how speck is. What're you to do?" You take 12 seconds to stick a boning knife in that fuckin' piece of smoked pork before slicing it is what you do, sizzlechest.

Seriously, though, the bar is so low that if you want a place with good mostly-American style pizza and some decent beers, you will NOT be disappointed with Anna & Jo's. Just don't go looking for an American experience.