Over the 4th of July long weekend, that changed. Square Pie Guys celebrated the grand opening of their new location, right on the waterfront in Place Ghirardelli. Best of all, the 3,300-square-foot space offers food service — the first Square Pie Guys location to do so properly in over two years.

Square Pie Guys hit the jackpot with the new space, with Alcatraz visible from the patio seats. Entering the sleek, modern space tucked away in a historic brick-walled building, I ordered my usual: the “How Mush-Room?” (a roasted mushroom pizza with white sauce) with a side of Green Goddess dressing for dipping.

I had been worried it would be slammed – when the Oakland location opened in early 2021, trying to order pizza on opening day was a wild ride. But it was not at all difficult to find a place for lunch on this cloudy Saturday afternoon. Either everyone was out of town for the holiday weekend, or people just hadn’t figured out the new restaurant yet.

Just a few minutes after taking in the pretty view of the bay (and putting on my hat to protect me from the wind), my pizza arrived. While Square Pie Guys pizza usually translates pretty well to takeout, something about biting into those cheesy edges of an actual plate made it even better. And the beautiful setting certainly didn’t hurt.

“We haven’t had tableware in any store since March 2020,” said Square Pie Guys co-founder Danny Stoller. “So to see our food on plates again, it’s like, ‘what?’ It’s nice.”

As part of a long hunt to add a third location to their arsenal, co-founders Stoller and Marc Schechter were looking for a location that would give them easier access to delivery to folks in the west end of town.

“We didn’t expect to open a location in Ghirardelli Square,” Stoller said. “Beyond the fact that it has a reputation for being a bit more touristy, it just wasn’t really on our radar as a neighborhood.”

But after checking out the waterfront space at 845 Beach Street and hearing the owner of Ghirardelli Square Jamestown’s vision for the area — a curated collection of businesses that represent San Francisco, for locals and tourists alike — they have been sold.

Over the past few years, Place Ghirardelli has started to develop into a foodie destination in its own right, losing its reputation as a tourist spot. Lively dim sum restaurant Palette Tea House and Latin pub Barrio both attract locals, as well as the San Francisco Brewing Co. and Cheese School. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Experience Store was even recently renovated by the Bay Area design firm behind Apple retail stores.

With Square Pie Guys now in the mix, Ghirardelli Square is sure to get even more of a trend.

“We want to attract people who live in Russian Hill, the Marina, Fort Mason, North Beach; we want them to come and enjoy our patio,” Stoller said. “Ideally, you go for a hike in Marin, you come back on the Golden Gate Bridge, you go down, you come to Square Pie Guys, you sit on the terrace, drink a beer, eat a pizza, watch sunset . Life is Beautiful.”

While settling into the new restaurant, the Square Pie Guys team are already planning an even bigger expansion.

“We’re all going to take time to recharge and refresh, but I think the goal is to get back to growth,” Stoller said. “We have East Bay, we have two SF locations. What other counties do we think we could fit into? Is it Marin, is it South Bay, is it the Peninsula, is it deeper East Bay? These are the conversations we’re starting to have right now.

Square Pie Guys, 845 Beach St., San Francisco. Open Sunday to Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday to Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.