Elite Event: Pizza Party @ Duboce Park Cafe

These days, when one is lacking experience in a specific subject, they are dubbed as a, ‘noob.’ Yep, I got a tad bit too excited and took redundant snapshots of anything and everything at the venue. Even captured my very first selfie with a CM… Schhweet! I wistfully stood out like a sore thumb during my first, personally legendary, Elite event at the charming Duboce Park Café. Shout out to esteemed San Francisco Community Manager, Abby S. and café owner, Rachel Herbert, for hosting the über cool adult pizza party event that featured:
+ Wine by Portalupi Wine Co. located in Healdsburg, CA
+ Craft beer by Fort Point Beer Co. located in SF
+ Live entertainment: Unilocaler’s showcasing their mad DJ skillz
+ Savory appetizers and pizza exclusively from Duboce Park Café
The modest café venue ambiance was intimate, the frolicsome crowd was thrilling, and the gracious café management and staff were remarkably hospitable. What I appreciated most about the café is that it actively supports the community by solely working with local, family owned businesses. My fiancé and I were immediately approached with an enticing platter of caprese salad samplers when we entered the venue. In addition, we sampled delectable spoons of meatballs, gluten-​free bacon mac n cheese, and delightful bread pudding. We were served yummy pizza, served straight out of the oven, as well. Our favorite pizza served that evening had to be the Prosciutto Pizza with goat cheese, tomato, and mozzarella, topped with arugula. Thank you to café owner, Rachel Herbert, for you and your staff’s warm reception!
Many thanks to Jane Portalupi for giving us the opportunity to taste your red and white wines. Their exquisite 2012 Red Vaso di Marina, a rich and dry wine (my favorite of the night), is uniquely packaged in a one liter milk bottle, which testifies to their passionate family belief that great wine ought to be shared and enjoyed with friends and family. She also provided glasses of their Pinot Noir, Barbera, Zinfandel, and White Vaso di Marina. Shout out to Fort Point Beer and Co. for serving your KSA (Kolsch style ale) and Westfalia (German Rotbier). Their brewery is housed in the quintessential Presidio building and you can find their distinctive beer at bars and restaurants around San Francisco. #sfprideYO
Once again, thank you Abby and Rachel for an impressive event. And thank you Adam D. for capturing the memories. Looking forward to the impending events! NOOBS UNITE.

Appetizer spoons for days/​harder-​to-​come-​by pizza supplied by our host Duboce Park Café, two types of beers from Fort Point Brewery, and an exclusive set of red and white pours from Portalupi Wine were what I stuffed in my mouth. Pint glasses and frisbees were the Unilocal shwag I stuffed in my purse.
I was a bit distracted by the NLCS Giants game going on at the same time, but I did get in a couple of conversations with other friendly folks at the party. Snaps to those brave Unilocalers showing off their DJ skills for the first time, especially to whoever was spinning Hall & Oates ;).
Duboce Park Café is a cute little spot, and I’d definitely come back if ever in the neighborhood to get more of their yummy, creamy pizza. It was cool that we were allowed to hang out on the sidewalk outside, right across the street from the doggie park.
I enjoyed myself at my first elite event back in SF in what’s been ages. Thank you to Abby S. for planning this intimate gathering!

It’s great to see Abby in her new city doing what she does best. This particular location for a YEE is sweet. It’s a local business that I’d love to support if I’m back in town.
Duboce Park Café feels very local. Warm and inviting. Awesome staff. Attentive and genuinely eager to make us feel welcome. They treated us with their tasty pizza freshly made that just kept coming.
I love their pizza. They serve them after five now as a new addition to their changing menu and schedule. Five kinds of pizza after five! What a better way to nosh after work? The crust was crunchy and yet it retained that chewy quality that I look for.
Potalupi wine from Healdsburg was there to treat us with their awesome wines in milk glass bottles. What a refreshing take. It paired very well with the tasty pizza, meatballs, mac n cheese and lastly the amazing bread pudding.
Flowing wines, tasty treats, meeting a few new elites and seeing a couple of old faces made for a very enjoyable night!
Thanks Dubuce Park Café. Abby and the rockin’ Unilocaler DJ’s. Till we meet again!

Wahoo! Unilocal Elite Pizza Party? Ode to being a kid again, but not a kid, instead a grown up, eating all the things, drinking all the drinks.
Another great Unilocal Elite Event! Duboce Park Café had great pizza; we had the pesto pizza and a prosciutto pizza, along with Meat Balls and Mac N Cheese appetizers. The food was stellar, and delicious enough to make me thankful I went to the gym, because seconds were had on everything. Zero Regrets.
Portalupi wine was served out of milk jug style containers which made the event even more hipster and that much more enjoyable. The Barbera was my personal fav and a trip to their tasting room in Healdsburg is on my agenda.
Weeknight Night Life is coming back: and you can find it at Duboce Park Café.

Yet another fabulous Elite event thanks to Abby S! From the adorable café setting, to the unique wine and beer vendors, to the creative djing component, and fantastic food, this event was executed flawlessly.
The café, while small, was incredibly cute with great artwork and a cool outdoor area with tables and string-​lit trees. The servers and restaurant management were all super friendly and helpful and there was never a shortage of food to snack on. I especially loved the array of appetizers served in spoons — each was extremely flavorful and being served in spoon was a fantastic idea considering we were all standing around with limited hands and tables. The pizza was also great. Even my pizza-​snob boyfriend was impressed and wanted to return for it!
I also loved how Abby used our own Unilocal Elite community to help dj the party! What a creative and special touch. (Apologies if I destroyed anyone’s ears with my djing attempts.)
All in all, this was a lovely evening and I look forward to returning to Duboce Park Café for more pizza and good times!

In the mix.
Pizza from our host café.
Drinks from Portalupi Wine and Fort Point Beer Company.
Tunes from yours truly. Which would not have been possible without a lesson from DJ Chucky Brown at the Washburn Studio DJ School:
For a brief moment lived the dream:
1. Boom Jinx + Jaytech — Milano
2. Andrew Bayer + Boom Jinx — To The Six
3. Solarity — Terminal 6
4. Caps + Something Good — Remember
5. Above & Beyond — Blue Sky Action (EDX’s Indian Summer Remix)
Pizza, drinks, lessons, songs, community manager Abby S. and Unilocal all get five stars.

I had a great time at my very first Unilocal Elite event! It was my first time at Duboce Park Café, and it was a great setting for the party.
The café was warm and inviting, yet also featured some cool, edgy art. The owner seemed down-​to-​earth and quite welcoming, and the wait staff was excellent (friendly, attentive, and accommodating). I was particularly impressed when one waiter brought out a bacon-​free order of mac and cheese just me for me and my guest (and any other non-​bacon eaters)!
The food at the event was quite good. The passed appetizers were tasty (meatballs, mac and cheese, pesto and feta (?), and olives), and the pizzas were excellent. We also enjoyed the bread pudding for dessert! My friend enjoyed her beer from Fort Point brewery, and we really liked the Portalupi wines (and I got a kick out of drinking wine poured from a milk bottle)! I particularly liked Portalupi’s white wine blend, as well as the two pinot noirs they were pouring.
It would have been nice if the guests had been a bit more social (my friend and I definitely went and introduced ourselves to different people since we didn’t know anyone, but we had to be proactive about it)…maybe planned ice breakers would be a nice touch?
Overall, the party was lovely, and I am looking forward to attending more Unilocal Elite events in the future!

First event in the city, and it was a blast! Good drinks, yum eats, sweet music, and free stuff – who could complain?
The wine was divine, and I really enjoyed how they gave small tastings for the first glass we had. Then, once you knew you liked it, you could get a full glass. The bottling was also awesome. I saw people leaving with their own empty bottles because they were so neat!
Fort Point beer: I really enjoyed your German ale and can’t wait to taste more of them at local bars and at your brewery. And you were so right. I did like the beer you chose for me! Not very hoppy at all, and crisp without being pungent. Thanks!
The food was also great! I can’t wait to come by for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the future. I’m really glad we could find a nice little café nearby that has a nice outdoor area, craft beer, and all-​day food. The gluten-​free bacon & jalapeño Mac and cheese – amazing! The caprese salad and meatballs were also delicious bites. And the pizza was so good! Crust wasn’t too thick, sauce was on-​point, and it was baked just right. We will be back, DPC!
While AT and I didn’t really meet many other Elites, we did enjoy people-​watching and talking with the guy from Fort Point and meeting Abby! And getting our photos snapped by the talented Adam D. Plus, now we know three more establishments that we will be frequenting in the future!

Now that is how a pizza party should be! Mad props to Abby for putting this event together. The party was on and popping with music from Unilocal Elite Dj’s — bravo everyone, you all rocked the house! For such a petite café, this place managed to maintain the crowd of servers, DJ’s and Unilocalers. Outside seating and spectacular Indian summer weather helped spread the party to the tables & chairs in front of the café.
I can’t tell you how much I love a place where the food & bev flow uninterrupted. There was a steady rotation of meatballs, pesto salad, macaroni & bacon salad, and of course pizza. I have to say the pizza was such a hit I missed the first oh 7 serves. Defeated I gave up. Wouldn’t you know a server found me sitting outside with my peeps and said «I’ve been looking for you, I know you kept missing the pizza so here you go!» Blown away, I could not thank him enough!
First sampling of the red from Portalupi was velvety and smooth. Then my glass runneth over with libations from Fort Point Brewing, over and over again. It was light, refreshing and a perfect compliment to the pizza. There was a rotation of a Pesto & Tomato, Sausage & Kalamata olive then finally a Pepperoni. I was totally surprised when the servers came out with dessert! Whaaaat?! A bread pudding that was fluffy, sweet and delicately filled with caramel. Superb!
Duboce Park Café is close to home, so you best believe I will be back!

What a great night I had with all you lovely Elites! Abby S., true to form, put together a fantastic party last night. The DJs were folks like you and me, the food was grand and there was plenty of it, and the hosts were awesome.
I had a very nice time filling up on locally brewed Fort Point Beer, Portalupi Wine, Meatballs, Caprese Salad, Bacon Mac N’ Cheese (yum!), various types of pizza, and killer chocolate chip Bread Pudding.
You know guys, sometimes even I get hardened by my restaurant experiences, and it shows in my ratings and reviews. If a hostess is rude to me, if a barista rolls her eyes at my order or takes forever to make it, if the busser spills water all over my lap, if my dinner is all wrong, it can add up to a bad rating and review for a restaurant that was just having an off day or night. These things can make a real «C yoU Next Time» out of me.
But occurances like this Unilocal event give me perspective, and show me that the folks who start places like Duboce Park Café (and the family of cafes: Precita Park and Dolores Park Cafes) are just people with a vision. They wanted to start a business that would, yes, make them money, but also serve the community, bring people together, and let them enjoy the great food and drinks they’ve made.
It was awesome to hear owner Rachel tell us about her dream last night, rave about the newly installed pizza oven (that produced some pretty bitchen pizza), and that all food is made from scratch, in-​house. It was a delightful time and I will surely be back for more.

Another gigantic win for Abby and her «A» team, they hit it outta the park (Duboce Park Café that is). An adult pizza party with beverages on hump day had Elites flocking to Duboce Triangle. Unilocaler DJ’s showed off their skillz =) My «Journey» song request was played, no sighting of Steve Perry, as he was probably at AT&T Park enjoying the Giants’ victory! I’ve enjoyed Unilocaltoberfest! thusfar, haven’t you?
Thank you to Duboce Park Café for hosting us with such warm hospitality and attentive staff. Scrumptious pizzas kept coming out of the oven. Love the cozy, inviting space and outdoor seating. The bread pudding with caramel sauce is heavenly; I was ready to hit the sack after dessert.
Portalupi wines from Healdsburg paired nicely with all the tasty bites. I love the adorable wines in milk glass containers. I will make a trek up to Healdsburg to see Jane for more wine tasting. Grazie to Jane Portalupi for sharing her passion and bringing people together to enjoy delicious food & wine. I can’t wait to try their extensive portfolio of Italian wines via their tasting room. I truly enjoyed the Vaso di Marina in honor of her grandmother ~ touching story of a unique bottle made with love.
I will return real soon for more delightful pizzas and bread pudding. Let’s Go Giants — clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!!!

Ah, spectacular. Beautifully run. The food was great — caprese salad, meatballs, jalapeño bacon mac & cheese, and 4 different kinds of pizza! Not to mention the to-​die-​for bread pudding with melty chocolate and butterscotch bits. The food just kept coming, and at a great pace too. I’m feeling happy and fat right now.
A couple of nice Unilocalers let me sit at their table and made me feel right at home. Thank you guys!
There were twinkle lights strung in the tree outside, and tables where people sat and talked. I liked the DJ, who I hear was trained at a previous Unilocal event — great work! I even got «I [Yelp symbol] California beer» beer glass.
Best of all, I loved the pizza and will be back with all my glutton friends.