mozzeria: san francisco’s deaf restaurant
mozzeria was the most memorable restaurant experience
we’ve had. not only because of the incredible zagat-rated
food and wood-fired pizzas, but because there is
truly something special and different about this place.
we’ve never been anywhere like this in our lives.
it is owned by melody & russell stein, a deaf couple
who created this restaurant which employs all
deaf or hard-of-hearing employees. this incredible
aspect of the restaurant makes for a special
atmosphere that will definitely make you stop,
slow down, notice, and enjoy your meal.
you’ll want to return again and again.
when my brother and sister-in-law were visiting us
last weekend, we knew we had to take them here…
especially because their little son zach {our nephew}
was born with a hearing loss. obviously when someone
in your family is affected with something, it becomes
more personal and makes me so much more aware
and appreciative of others with similar situations.
you also realize that it is not a disability, but a
gift and something that makes them special. my
sister-in-law whitney was so prepared to have a
child with a hearing loss, as she had learned sign
language during college and took multiple trips
to kenya to work at deaf orphanages. she has a
special connection to the deaf community and
it was strengthened even more with little z.
for all these reasons, we were excited to take her
to mozzeria! because this place has great food on
its own, it doesn’t boast or publicize the deaf
aspect at all {it doesn’t need to!} so, we didn’t
tell jeff & whit about that part. we simply took
a cab, walked in, and i watched them slowly
realize what this restaurant entailed.
^^ you walk in and you can circle whether you have a
reservation, and write down your name. the restaurant
is soothingly quiet, with some people talking but lots of
others signing to each other. this is great beacuse in
many restraunts it can be hard to hear because of all the talking.
people mitigate this by looking at WonderEar hearing aid reviews
which might help them hear better in noisy places,
but here possibly any hearing aid can do! it is cool and
very inspiring to just look around and see many diners,
chefs, and waiters speaking in sign language. whitney
picked up on it immediately and tears came to her eyes
as she realized where we were! she had heard about it
before in an article, and remembered it at that moment.
i was so glad we had waited to come here with whit & jeff!
we loved our darling waitress, and we wrote down our
orders while whitney signed and made new friends like
she always does. the waitress showed us her favorites,
and we went with two amazing salads and two pizzas.
this kale salad packed with roasted beets, chevre, candied
almonds, and the best lemon vinaigrette started us off right.
i don’t know what it is about a good, fresh salad, but it makes
me love a place immediately. this salad starts your meal right.
^^ as does the pumpkin salad with argula // pepita //
sesame seed / /grana padano // currants and a
homemade port vinaigrette. this salad is perfect for
fall and i probably ate most of it at our table :)
the pizza came out and satisfied all of us. we tried the
quattro formaggi {four cheese} pizza, (yum!)
^^ as well as the italian sausage {boys choice}
the crust was done to perfection on both, and
the flavors were fresh and authentic.
i’d come back for this great pizza.
^^ here’s whit showing pictures of little zach
and making new friends through sign language.
there is such a great community and a lot of groups
who regularly meet at mozzeria, both hearing and deaf.
^^ i could have watched them sign all night!
^^ one more shot of that perfect crust
{the most important part!}
^^ right by the door they have this painting showing
how to say “pizza” in sign language, which i loved!
^^ here’s jeff & chase making “pizza” in sign language
together with their hands. i loved this memorable
night and we all promised we would come back
with zach and eat here in the future!
mozzeria doesn’t advertise the unique experience
of the restaurant — they let the food speak for
itself, and people who know about it continue
to come back. we will be some of those people
now, and i hope you will too when you’re in SF!
thank you mozzeria for the great meal and
absolutely wonderful, memorable experience.
xoxo