Free Mochi Pizza For National Pizza Day? Yes, Please

A few months ago, my wife — who, like me, is an avid pizza head — sent me news about an interesting new style of pizza we’d never heard of, but wanted to devour: mochi pizza.

Served at Mochiko in Burlingame, the rare, rectangular pies use mochigome — a form of Japanese glutinous rice that is steamed then turned into a chewy paste — instead of traditional flour dough. Though we haven’t been able to make the trip out to Burlingame yet (it’s not always easy getting out of the house with an infant), it’s on my short list of foods I’m willing to pay my share of gas money to try.

With Japanese-inspired flavors like chicken curry (which features chicken karaage and Japanese curry) in addition to classics like pepperoni, Mochiko appears to be carving (slicing?) out a niche lane as what they claim to be the first ever mochi pizzeria. The idea, it seems, is to create a gluten-free crust that combines crispy outer edges with a stretchy, chewy interior.

Now, the restaurant is making it even easier for Bay Area eaters to experience the mochi fusion by introducing a second location — essentially a new menu available inside the Palo Alto branch of Sushirrito. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, the owners of Mochiko are also the ones behind that hybrid sushi burrito chain.) 

Having soft-launched at the end of January, Mochiko’s new outpost will celebrate its official grand opening on Friday, Feb. 9 — which also happens to be National Pizza Day. To add extra sauce to their deal, the Palo Alto shop will serve free slices that day, from 4 to 6 p.m. 

Since it’s easier for me to get to this location, expect to find me finally checking mochi pizza off my things-you-can-only-eat-in-the-Bay-Area bingo card. I’m sure I won’t be the only one.

Mochiko Mochi Pizza (448 University Ave., Palo Alto, inside Sushirrito) will host its grand opening on Fri., Feb. 9, when it will serve free slices from 4 to 6 p.m. Moving forward, the restaurant will be open daily from noon to 8 p.m.