Like it or not here it comes:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inberkeley/detail?entry_id=90745

Agree, disagree? You bunch of whiny, humorless off season football whackos!

:cheer

#1 Zachary's
#2 Fat Slice
#3-10 Top Dog


GO BEARS!

Despite the grease, I'll always be partial to Blondie's, and I'm surprised that Jupiter's didn't make the cut..they have a great BBQ chicken pizza :-)

I'm going with Gioia cheese pizza which is customizable at home...fantastic! Tell them Sam sent you. Cheeseboard is #2 because it's hit and miss...mostly hit. Jupiter is excellent...and dig their brick oven. I don't dig the deepdish style, but I know most folks do. There is another new deepdish alternative place @ the foot of Solano (Stannage) that is very good. Cheers for all the Berkeley pizza places. It's art!

My vote is Bobby G's. Real good pizza, nice collection of beers on tap, salads and sports--plus real friendly owner & staff and easy to get to, on University just below Shattuck.

BearsLair72;519238 said:

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Like it or not here it comes:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inberkeley/detail?entry_id=90745

Agree, disagree? You bunch of whiny, humorless off season football whackos!

:cheer

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Actually to give credit where credit is due (and that link does give credit) it is the great Berkeleyside blog that asked its readers for the best pizza suggestions here:

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/06/03/where-do-you-get-the-best-pizza-in-berkeley-you-tell-us/


With the results posted here. (SF Gate itself didn't conduct the survey, it merely linked to the results):

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/06/10/the-best-pizza-in-berkeley-our-readers-have-decided/


Anyways, my point is everybody should check out Berkeleyside, a fabulous blog about the uniqueness of Berkeley without the political preaching.

I think Blondies should be there and I think Zach's should be there twice (and my 2 cents is College Ave is better than Solano Ave).

As someone who grew up just outside of New York, Arinell tastes like home to me. I have to stop in whenever I'm in the neighborhood. I'm a big fan of Gioia and the cheeseboard too.

Cheeseboard does one different pizza everyday and is all about vege...parsley, garlic, olives, potatoes, spinach, onions, pesto, cheeses (asiago, mozarella, feta, etc), baked and then slathered with good olive oil...no meat and no bait. It is what it is. $20.

drunkoski;519305 said:

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cheeseboard isn't pizza, it's foccacia.

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Okay, my friend, but it's great, right?

My fave, anyway. Not really a deep-dish guy and there's a pizza place at Monterey & Hopkins?

I'd rather eat pizza out of a dumpster in Brooklyn than any of these places. Arinell is the only one that is passable.

Zacks isn't pizza, it's depressione.

Pizza is available and served @ the dumpsters after 1 AM clean-up.

GB54;519316 said:

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I'd rather eat pizza out of a dumpster in Brooklyn than any of these places. Arinell is the only one that is passable.

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So what do you like in the Bay Area?

(Sorry for opening a can of worms by extending outside Berkeley, but Tony's in North Beach is really good. He had a small pizza place in Castro Valley and several years ago won a pizza contest in Italy that I think an American had never won; the publicity helped him open a new place in SF with three different types of pizza ovens so you can choose your favorite style. They don't do slices though, which for me would almost disqualify them.)

GB54;519316 said:

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I'd rather eat pizza out of a dumpster in Brooklyn than any of these places. Arinell is the only one that is passable.

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I'd rather eat Mexican food out of a dumpster in Oakland than any place in New York. But you work with what you have. Besides, while the best pizza in New York is better than on the west coast there are plenty of places in NY that serve lousy pizza to lots of people.

My Berkeley favorite is Fat Slice. My New York favorite is Patsy's, though the one time I tried to go to Grimaldi's the line was too long and I left.

great, thin crust really crisp. $5.00 for a mini that is huge with a drink.I don't want any vegey pizza. Bring on the Peperoni!

There is a certain East Coast snobbery re pizza. In Buffalo, where Mrs. Ghost was raised, it was Bucci's. Bucci's this, Bucci's that. They come as far away as Toronto for Bucci's. Why I even met a Manhattanite, who under duress of "not one more slice till you fess up", said: "Yesof course I've heard of Bucci's, you ass. I used to have Bucci's all the time when I went to school up there. It's the best."

Well, I had Bucci's too. Yum, good. But I like Cheeseboard better. And, amazingly, in an act of jaw-dropping "coastal-snobbery" treason, so does Mrs. Ghost.

I never realized how bad Fat Slice and Blondie's were while I was in college. It took graduating into the real world and tasting my first slice of Arinell (ironically at the SF location) to realize what I had been missing the whole time.

For deep dish, obviously Zachary's is solid. I remember how in the early 90's every club on campus that wanted to attract students to their meetings would advertise free Zachary's pizza, and it always worked.

D-FENS;519347 said:

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Pizza snobs kill me. Of all the things to be a snob about, they pick something with dough, cheese, and tomato sauce.

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Beats grape juice and yeast.

75bear;519362 said:

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I never realized how bad Fat Slice and Blondie's were while I was in college.

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Same with Cybelle's. I'm not even sure that's cheese.

GB54;519368 said:

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Beats grape juice and yeast.

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yeah...but our grape juice and yeast beat the French...can't get much better then that...

GB54;519316 said:

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I'd rather eat pizza out of a dumpster in Brooklyn than any of these places. Arinell is the only one that is passable.

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Seriously? A Chowda would really do that? Do you like Boston style pizza? I never knew there even was a Boston style pizza until I found here in Hawaii of all places. Good luck to your Bees, btw.

KoreAmBear;519417 said:

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Seriously? A Chowda would really do that? Do you like Boston style pizza? I never knew there even was a Boston style pizza until I found here in Hawaii of all places. Good luck to your Bees, btw.

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I defer to New York on pizza -Boston pizza is nothing special-but
Manhattan Clam Chowder is a sin against God.

there's also an old joke: whats the difference between a Fenway hot dog and a Yankee dog ? Answer: you can't buy a Fenway dog in October. Thankfully no longer true

liverflukes;519240 said:

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#1 Zachary's
#2 Fat Slice
#3-10 Top Dog


GO BEARS!

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+1

I get it on occasion coming up Alcatraz from work / running on the long way to 24 East and homeward. It's very good for the Bay Area, better than Arinell's, Blandies, etc. by a long shot.

Gioia's and Lanesplitter are excellent, but only on Day 1. Arinell is excellent cold the next day, which give it the edge. Plus, they are the only ones who saute the mushrooms before they put them on, which adds so much.

Blondies and Fat Slice are beaten out by Costco, frankly.

Cheeseboard and Arizmendi are both good but not really pizza. No tomato sauce is no pizza.

Of course, Zachary's is good for that style. Pizzaiola, and Rustica are pretty good. Oliveto Cafe has the best breakfast pizza (Pancetta, sunny side up egg on a great pie). They also have pretty good small pies for a reasonable price. But the Breakfast Pizza is great for a hangover.

Traditional Neopolitan pizza relies on flour, San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil and fresh basil. The marinara added to tomatoes, garlic and oregano make traditional red pizza, and fresh Mozzarella, olive oil, capers and anchovies.

So which of the pizza joynts uses all of these ingredients. Nada or few! Zacks is not even close, and not Cheeseboard, or any of the others. Only Gioia, but they serve some bogus things, too. It's all a cruel hoax, because there is very little REAL pizza being served. You have bitten down on an imitation of the real thing.

Cheeseboard uses the fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and olive oil and capers, but no marinara, and, of course, no anchovies or meat. Focaccia for you?

Zacks heaps alot of stuff into a crusty pie, but no olive oil. Depressione for you?

Go Gioia and thrive.