In his review of Zero Zero, Chronicle critic Michael Bauer seemed to know he'd hyped too far when he busted out the French Laundry in reference to Bruce Hill's Folsom Street pizzeria. Blame San Francisco's unquenchable pizza ardor, an enthusiasm not reserved for brick and mortars alone. New pizza's also showing up on the street.

When Casey's Pizza launched two months ago, owner Casey Crynes became the city's third outdoor pizza vendor, after PizzaHacker and Copper Top Ovens. Crynes sets up his modified 18-inch Weber on various stretches of Mission District sidewalk most Friday nights. Those modifications include a high-powered propane burner, a pizza stone, an assortment of fire bricks, and foil insulation. Crynes says his rigged pizza deck can reach 900 degrees Fahrenheit, though he likes to cook pies at a deck temperature more like 750 degrees, with an ambient heat of 800.

What makes a guy who works days as a Web producer devote his free time to spinning pizzas on the street? The status of an enthusiast, says Crynes, especially for the New York thin-crust pies he grew up eating on the East Coast. “Lombardi's, Grimaldi's,” Crynes says, “and newer spots in New York like Lucali and Di Fara's. They have the hallmark of that old New York style, the char and chew and crispy-ness to the crust.”