Date Night Marin October: Pizza and a Show

For this month's date night in Marin, why not escape the little ones for the evening and take in some pizza and a show? I know… pizza and a movie is something of a date cliché, but for good reason—it can be as fun to do as grownups as it was back when you were 16.

For our October date night suggestions, we're looking at pizza from a more grownup standpoint and highlighting places that craft artisan pizza in Marin. For the show, you can take advantage of all the great local offering this October. The famous Mill Valley Film Festival is back in town, showing the best of cinema from around the world at theaters throughout the county. And both Marin Theatre Company and Novato Theater Company open new productions this month.

Do you have a favorite date night spot that you'd like us to highlight in a future post? Let us know.

Northern Marin

Novato's Pacheco Plaza is home to the original location of Boca Pizzeria, which offers Neapolitan style pizza cooked in a 900-degree wood-burning Italian oven and made with seasonal local ingredients. It also happens to be right across the freeway from the Novato Theater Company's playhouse at 5420 Nave Drive. On October 10, NTC opens its production of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy Avenue Q, which features both humans and puppets playing the roles of young adults trying to get by in New York City. Avenue Q runs through November 9, 2014.

Further north in Novato is Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant at 15 Rowland Way (read our review here), which seems tailor made for pre-movie dining, as it's right across the street from the Century Rowland Plaza multiplex. Moylan's serves up pizzas from its wood burning oven to go along with its award-winning house-made beers and ales.

Central Marin

Central Marin is where you'll find the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, headquarters for the Mill Valley Film Festival. Many of the Festival's films will be screened at the Film Center, as well as the Century Cinema in Corte Madera and the Lark Theater in Larkspur. For a full schedule of Film Festival movies, visit www.mvff.com.

For artisan pizza close to San Rafael, check out Pizzalina in San Anselmo's Red Hill Shopping Center. Run by an alumnus of Larkspur's Pizzeria Picco, Pizzalina creates authentic Neapolitan style pizza in a wood-buring oven, and offers a wine and beer bar with California and Italian libations on tap.

Right down the street from the Cinema in Corte Madera, is Brick & Bottle (55 Tamal Vista), which offers pizzas both standard (Margherita) and unusal (duck confit!) from its wood-fired oven, as well as nightly happy hour specials and handcrafted cocktails.

At 316 Magnolia Avenue in downtown Larkspur, near the Lark Theater, is Pizzeria Picco, which some critics consider the best pizza in Marin. Come to Picco for the creative wood-fired pizzas, and stick around for some organic Straus soft-serve ice cream with sea salt and extra-virgin olive oil.

Southern Marin

Mill Valley's CinéArts Sequoia is the spiritual home of the Mill Valley Film Festival. Grab a pre-show pizza at Tony Tutto Pizza at 346 East Blithedale Avenue. Tony Tutto doesn't have a wood-burning oven, but he does offer a variety of inventive vegetarian and vegan artisan pizzas.

Another option is Tamalpie Pizza at 475 Miller Avenue, which has a bicycle theme and makes creative wood-fired pizzas named after trails on Mt. Tam. Tamalpie is within walking distance of Marin Theatre Company, whose production of Samuel D. Hunter's The Whale opens tonight, October 2, and runs through October 26.

Lastly, we wanted to give a shout-out to Café Reyes, one of our favorite places for wood-fired pizza in Marin. Point Reyes Station is not exactly a place to see movies or plays (although the Dance Palace can have some great programs and live music), but this place is well worth a stop when you're craving pizza in West Marin.

Need a place for the kiddos to go while you enjoy your evening out? Marinwood Community Center in San Rafael offers a Parents Night Out event on Friday, October 24, from 5 to 10 pm. The cost is $22, with a $4 sibling discount for kids ages 2 to 10. Your child will have fun in safe environment with games, a movie, arts and crafts, and dinner, too. Register early, as this program fills up quickly. More information and reservations at www.marinwood.org.