https://n2v.mv-voice.com/blogs/p/print/2013/10/31/the-early-word-on-pizzeria-delfina-in-palo-alto

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The early word on Pizzeria Delfina in Palo Alto

Interested walkers-by might have noticed that construction recently started at the old Empire Grill and Tap Room site at 651 Emerson St. in downtown Palo Alto, which will be transformed into a Pizzeria Delfina outpost, hopefully by early February, said Delfina owner Craig Stoll.

Stoll said they've "pretty much gutted the space" to allow for a different feel and infrastructure to fit the restaurant's needs.

The old bar top will be repurposed and turned into a seating area; the patio will remain as a large outdoor seating space.

This is the fourth Pizzeria Delfina location, following two in San Francisco (one in the Mission, one in Pacific Heights) and another on its way to Burlingame. There's also Delfina, the restaurant, next door to the Mission pizzeria location.

Stoll said the Palo Alto location will have a few pastas, the same pizza lineup as the other locations and brunch on the weekends.

"It's also going to be pretty vegetable heavy," he said. "Not a vegetarian restaurant by any means, but a lot of vegetables."

Drink-wise, Palo Alto will be a bit different from the other locations. It's the only member of the Delfina pizzeria empire that will have a full liquor license. They're also going to "adventure out a bit" with the wine list, Stoll said. Other Delfinas are singularly focused on southern Italian wines, but Palo Alto will feature more regions as well as California wines.

"(This) kind of follows our theme," Stoll said. "Pretty much everything we do is Italy as seen through the lens of the Bay Area ? a refractory lens, maybe. The wine program and beer programs will all follow that same format."

Delfina also has a fun Tumblr on which you can follow the Palo Alto restaurant's progress via photos. Check it out: Delfina Digest.