http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Blondie-s-Pizza-closes-San-Francisco-and-Berkeley-7954878.php

Let's be honest with ourselves. Their pizza sucked. So does Fat Slice. The only reason anyone ever ate there was because of location and because it was cheap.

Good.

hanky1;842696686 said:

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Let's be honest with ourselves. Their pizza sucked. So does Fat Slice. The only reason anyone ever ate there was because of location and because it was cheap.

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Pretty much it

hanky1;842696686 said:

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Let's be honest with ourselves. Their pizza sucked. So does Fat Slice. The only reason anyone ever ate there was because of location and because it was cheap.

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Blondies used to be great; there are certainly a ton of Blondies fans who would disagree. It was a destination location for many, nothing to do with cost. I preferred it to Top Dog, 100%. Too bad, I bet there suburban location is a big hit!

All true, but it was better than, say, Carolina Pizza with the fat guy running the store three doors from Manuel's on Durant.

oskigobears;842696683 said:

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http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Blondie-s-Pizza-closes-San-Francisco-and-Berkeley-7954878.php

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Quote:

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severe cockroach infestation

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So, all these decades, their closely guarded secret crunchy ingredient was roach fragments.

Nasal Mucus Goldenbear;842696708 said:

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So, all these decades, their closely guarded secret crunchy ingredient was roach fragments.

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Aka, their combo with capers

nm

How hard is it to keep a place sanitary when all you have cheese, flour, meat and sauce?

Good news is that this will reduce pressure on our fragile health care system and will enable local emergency rooms to shift resources from food poisoning back to alcohol poisoning.

>"...The only reason anyone ever ate there was because of location and because it was cheap..."<

...and the cockroaches were piquant and chunky. It was a tropical experience.

1979bear;842696704 said:

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All true, but it was better than, say, Carolina Pizza with the fat guy running the store three doors from Manuel's on Durant.

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Was trying to remember what that place was called. Don't think it was Carolina, but do remember it was Hunger Pang level crappy. Gourmet Ghetto was in its infancy then, but Southside had some horrifically bad spots.

My best friend insisted on going to Blondie's every time we were in Berkeley for ten years after graduation until he finally admitted it was crappy. Cracked me up because he's now a foodie snob and refuses to go to the Center Street Top Dog because it's not old school enough.

First time I ate Blondies was the last..minus one drunk episode where I had three bites then spit it out. Man it was bad and the cheese smelled bad at the door. Never figured how they stayed in business. I thought Fat Slice was better but that was almost 30 years ago...Jesus.

I was married to a LSU grad before I realized what they were calling 'water bugs' were cockroaches. I used to work with Navy entomologists,
San Diego had some of the biggest I have ever seen; they followed the fleet.

joe yaks;842696791 said:

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>"...The only reason anyone ever ate there was because of location and because it was cheap..."<

...and the cockroaches were piquant and chunky. It was a tropical experience.

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Nasal Mucus Goldenbear;842696708 said:

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So, all these decades, their closely guarded secret crunchy ingredient was roach fragments.

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I think it says the cockroaches are at the SF location. Don't know about the Berkeley one, though.

Why did they close in Berkeley by the way? I know Pieology has completely taken over the pizza market for hungry students, but getting late-night grub should have kept it as a niche.

sp4149;842696800 said:

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I was married to a LSU grad before I realized what they were calling 'water bugs' were cockroaches. I used to work with Navy entomologists...San Diego had some of the biggest I have ever seen; they followed the fleet.

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Did they fly, swim or scurry?

Once upon a long time ago we had one who lived in our office and it would sit on top of my monitor and watch me eat my lunch.

Aaron might have to refresh his commercial.

I haven't had Blondies since the early '90's... and I still have gas from it.

barabbas;842696701 said:

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Blondies used to be great; there are certainly a ton of Blondies fans who would disagree. It was a destination location for many, nothing to do with cost. I preferred it to Top Dog, 100%. Too bad, I bet there suburban location is a big hit!

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LOL at how many of these Berkeley places are finding success in the (mostly Contra Costa) suburbs, home of many 30- and 40-something Cal alums who want to relive their glory days.

sp4149;842696800 said:

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I was married to a LSU grad before I realized what they were calling 'water bugs' were cockroaches. I used to work with Navy entomologists,
San Diego had some of the biggest I have ever seen; they followed the fleet.

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SoCal/OC/SD has water beetles, which makes cockroaches look like ladybugs. They're about 3-4x the size and look like they have Darth Vader armor on and if you step on them, they stink. First time I saw roaches in NorCal, I laughed.

sp4149;842696800 said:

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I was married to a LSU grad before I realized what they were calling 'water bugs' were cockroaches. I used to work with Navy entomologists,
San Diego had some of the biggest I have ever seen; they followed the fleet.

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I lived near the Coronado Bridge for a few years. I have never seen any larger. And faster... over long distances too. Almost impossible to catch manually without bait. They possess the speed force or teleportation powers. I would throw a shoe at one near the kitchen and it would instantly appear at the far end of the long living room... facing me... with its taunting antennae... in plain daylight... daring me to try again... a battle of wills... a war of attrition.

Redhead's Pizza is taking over the Berkeley location.

http://www.berkeleyside.com/nycgobears-opening-redheads-pizza-on-telegraph

okaydo;842696862 said:

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Redhead's Pizza is taking over the Berkeley location.

http://www.berkeleyside.com/nycgobears-opening-redheads-pizza-on-telegraph

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Please, some of us are at work.

Nasal Mucus Goldenbear;842696860 said:

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I lived near the Coronado Bridge for a few years. I have never seen any larger. And faster... over long distances too. Almost impossible to catch manually without bait. They possess the speed force or teleportation powers. I would throw a shoe at one near the kitchen and it would instantly appear at the far end of the long living room... facing me... with its taunting antennae... in plain daylight... daring me to try again... a battle of wills... a war of attrition.

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If it was so big and fast why didn't it throw your shoe back at you?

okaydo;842696862 said:

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Redhead's Pizza is taking over the Berkeley location.

http://www.berkeleyside.com/nycgobears-opening-redheads-pizza-on-telegraph

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Lol

+1

In general, pizza is the most overrated food

dajo9;842696884 said:

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In general, pizza is the most overrated food

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Yeah, burritos are better.

Here's the first commercial for Redhead's Pizza.

LINK

sp4149;842696800 said:

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I was married to a LSU grad before I realized what they were calling 'water bugs' were cockroaches. I used to work with Navy entomologists,
San Diego had some of the biggest I have ever seen; they followed the fleet.

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Not all entomologists are that big. I dated one from San Diego years ago. She was barely 5'.

:bluecarrot:

BearDevil;842696796 said:

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Was trying to remember what that place was called. Don't think it was Carolina, but do remember it was Hunger Pang level crappy.

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I definitely remember it as Carolina Pizza, three doors down from Manuel's going counterclockwise. I liked it better than Blondie's because they had a thinner crust. In the mid-'80s its name changed to something like New York Pizza or Empire State Pizza.

As for Blondie's closing ... well, that's another institution from my time at Berkeley in the first half of the 1980s disappearing. What's next, Kip's?

Last time I went to Blondies was back in spring 2003 - freshman year. The worker used a metal spatula to scrape cold pizza cheese off the metal counter (from presumably another customer's pizza slice), then used the same spatula to grab my slice of pizza. Didn't eat the slice then, and stopped going there altogether.

They weren't even trying to hide their disgusting dirty ways...