Pizza Art

We started an art contest in the mid-1980s and have continued the tradition every few years or so since then. We now have over 300 pieces of Zachary’s pizza art from the past three decades! The winning artwork decorates the walls in all five of our restaurants. We love the art and the artists and are excited and honored to be able to share some of the art on our website!

A colorful illustration featuring red heart-shaped slices of pizza against a purple background. Theres a white text box in the lower right with the words Zacharys Pizza in bold black letters.

Wesley Jensen

2009

A painting of a black and white dog sitting on a pink armchair, holding a slice of pizza in its mouth. The background is green with the text: Harrys a lucky dog he gets Zacharys!.

Lisa Hayle

2005

“I heard about Zachary’s Pizza through friends who also mentioned the awesome annual poster contest, which they had won in the past with an entry featuring their two adorable poodles. Soon after, I tasted the deep-dish yumminess for the first time…. I first saw Harry in 2002, while working briefly at the East Bay SPCA in Oakland. It was love at first sight.” – Lisa Hayle

A mermaid with flowing blond hair reaches up toward a floating slice of pizza, with the words Hooked on Zacharys? above. She has a shimmering blue tail and is set against a dark, underwater background.

Katia Novak

2011

I grew up at Zachary’s Pizza. It was the first solid food I ever had as a baby, and it is an unspoken tradition in my family to go at least once a month. Since Zachary’s always had a special place in my heart, I thought I’d endear myself in return by contributing some of what I’m best at—art. I drew inspiration for my poster from my love of the sea and my childhood obsession with mermaids and magical things. I still respect my painting for what it taught me in terms of shadow and scale, but since its creation I’ve evolved. I’d like to showcase my new skills in another painting for Zach’s sometime in the near future.

See more of Katia’s talents here: https://katianovak.tumblr.com/

Colorful poster for Zacharys Chicago Pizza featuring a handprint-designed pizza in the center. Bold text reads Hands Down Best Pizza in Town! against a swirling red, blue, yellow, and green background.

Lisa Clark & Play and Learn Butterfly Classroom, ages 3-4

2012

A colorful artwork featuring a green scooter with a pepperoni pizza slice as a wheel. The background is yellow with vertical stripes in red and blue. Text reads, Not just a pizza... A lifestyle. A circled arrow points upwards.

Stew Ellington

2017

My painting was inspired by a dual love for Zachary’s deep-dish spinach-and-mushroom pizza and vintage Italian Vespa scooters. I thought it would be a good idea to connect the two by making the front wheel of the scooter a deep-dish pizza. I had a lot of fun using bright, primary colors to imitate the style of Italian Vespa ads from the 50s and 60s. It’s so awesome to take part in this community tradition! Thanks, Zachary’s!

An Egyptian-themed mural depicts ancient figures with a modern twist, incorporating pizzas and vegetables. The top reads Zacharys, and the scene features vivid colors and hieroglyphic-style art blending history with modern elements.

Pharoahs

2005

Michelle Petherick & Richard Cooluirs

Colorful underwater scene with a dolphin, pufferfish, purple fish, and pink seahorse surrounding a large clam with a pearl inside. Text reads Precious as a Pearl and Zacharys with bubbles and seaweed accents.

Naumi Emoto, 13 years old

2012

Illustrated poster titled Zacharys Deep Dish Pizza features a muscular man holding two steaming pizzas with World Famous and Champion on his belt. The background is red and orange with cartoon style typography.

Weightlifter

2005

Chuck Waite

Cartoon of a person in blue overalls and a cap walking with a large pizza on their head. They are next to a brick wall with a Zacharys Chicago Pizza sign, and the text Keep on Cookin is above. A yellow fence and houses are in the background.

Larry Holstrom

2007

Illustration of a red bridge and hills on a blue sky background. A bold red circle surrounds Zacharys Chicago Pizza in the center, with the phrase I left my heart at written above in cursive.

Kirstin Ineich

2012

I always like looking at the different posters created by Zachary’s patrons. When the opportunity came to create my own, I had just come back from San Francisco, and I knew I wanted to incorporate it into my piece. The Zachary’s logo integrates well with the Golden Gate Bridge, so, I chose to paint the iconic bridge. When I think of San Francisco, I always think of Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” playing after a Giants’ home-game win at AT&T Park and the way it makes me feel. And, every time you eat at Zachary’s, you get the same feeling. So, I tied the whole thing together with the tagline “I left my heart at Zachary’s.”

Astronaut floating in space holding a pizza with lit candles. Wearing a birthday hat, surrounded by floating candles, Saturn, spaceship, and text saying 1983-2013 and Happy 30th Zacharys Chicago Pizza. Bottom text reads 30 years of out-of-this-world pizza.

Ian Ransley

2012

Ian Ransley is a single of father of two Zachary’s-loving boys. Ian is a Berkeley native and a professional graphic designer. He splits is time designing Zachary’s posters and designing for professional sports teams and events including the NHL Winter Classic and the NFL Super Bowl among many other events. He is a dual-citizen of the U.S. And Great Britain. Growing up in a British home he never had pizza so Ian can’t get enough of it now. Ian annoys his two sons using them time and again in many of his art projects.

A childs drawing with a princess wearing a green crown, holding a pepperoni pizza slice. Text reads: Zacharys pizza I love you, I love you!!! Princesses love pepperoni pizza! Signed Eva Joseph, Age 4.

Eva Jaeger, 4 years old

2005

When I created this piece my family had moved from Berkeley to Manhattan for a year. When I look at this piece now it conjures up all the emotions of those moments: a longing for home and familiar things like Zachary’s, the excitement and adventure of being somewhere unknown and the joy of knowing that I’d be back to have some pizza soon. And of course, I was 4 and loved Princesses!

My inspiration for this piece was all the things I loved. Princesses, pink, big art and pizza. I actually didn’t really like Pepperoni (truth be known) but the alliteration was too good to pass up! The process I used for this piece was to draw it on a smaller piece of paper and then spread out on the floor, with all my markers tossed around, and the paper taped down. Shoes off and spread across the whole thing I sketched by pencil and then dried out just about every marker pen filling in the spaces. My brother, who was in 1st grade at the time, was also drawing next to me. His poster actually was awarded an Honorable Mention and I was happy to be creating our pieces together.

This may be the peak of my artistic recognition. Since that time the pieces I’ve created are much smaller and much more private, rarely venturing into public space. I like to express my creativity in crafts, writing, on the stage and on the soccer field. And my love for Princesses and pizza have also become a bit more subdued as I pursue higher ambitions than just being royalty. The thing I haven’t changed since then is a love for Zachary’s pizza. Just finished one a minute ago!

Illustration of a cartoon character holding a slice of pepperoni pizza. The background is blue, with the text ENJOY at the top and ZACHARYS PIZZA at the bottom in stylized letters. The character appears joyful and anticipatory.

Pete Docter
I like to draw and paint yet don’t do it often enough. The allure of winning free pizza was strong and I made a few posters.
Influences: 1950’s poster design, especially Paul Rand, Cassandre, and Raymond Savignac. Also children’s book illustrator Roy McKee (he illustrated the Dr. Seuss books “Ten Apples Up on Top” and “Snow”).
My whole family loves Zachary’s Pizza, though we’re divided over which is best: stuffed pesto mushroom or stuffed pepperoni. Actually thin crust sausage onion is pretty good too. When both of our kids were born, we smuggled Zachary’s into the maternity ward.

Childrens drawing of two dolphins jumping from the water, each with a girl in a rainbow swimsuit on their back. A red pizza slice sun is in the sky above Zacharys Chicago Pizza Inc. Blue sky and water background.

Elena S, age 9

2012

My name is Elena and I am currently 10 years old. I was born in Tokyo, Japan, but moved to America when I was 4. I now live in San Ramon, and am about to graduate from Coyote Creek Elementary School.

Martial arts, drawing, and painting are my favorite hobbies. I also like singing and music and will keep continuing it until I am too busy. In martial arts ( karate),I am a brown white stripe belt. If I have any free time I would love to read, draw, or play video games (until my parents stop me).

I entered the Zachary’s art contest in 2008 and again in 2010 because I love drawing, painting and eating Zachary’s pizza. I was so happy when my school received the $1,500 for the award in 2008. That money was spent on the art program at Coyote Creek, and helped make the art very exciting all through out Coyote Creek.

Thank You Zachary’s!

A colorful poster for Zacharys Deep Dish Pizza features a muscular, cartoonish character lifting two steaming pizzas like weights. The words Amazing, Stupendous, World Famous are above Deep Dish Pizza. The character wears a Pizza Champ belt.

Chuck Waite

2005

A colorful painting depicts cartoonish figures eating pizza at a table. One figure has green skin and another wears sunglasses. A large pizza with various toppings is shared, and the setting appears to be a lively pizza shop.

M. Yamagata

1995

Childs drawing of a cowboy on a rearing horse, lassoing a pizza in the sky. The text reads Lasso a Zacharys Pizza! The background features cacti, a sun, and desert hills. The artists name and age, Emma Jones, Age 10, are noted.

Emma Jones, age 10

Hey, thanks for scrolling over my artwork! Waiting around for your food to come isn’t fun unless you’re at Zachary’s Pizza and gawking at all of the colorful, original artwork. So when I saw my shot to bring some joy to the casual diners, rolled up in this huge blank piece of paper for a contest, I couldn’t wait to get going. The paper really is huge, so one of the tile hallways in our house was promptly converted into an art studio (my Mom is legendary)! Over time I lost interest in finishing my piece, despite walking past it every day, however I was encouraged to finish it and now I’m so glad I did. Thank you again to Zach’s for this honor, and for bringing the taste of sweet home Chicago to the Joneses on their California detour.

A colorful illustration of a green alien with large yellow eyes standing in front of a spaceship. Text reads Take me to your pizza. A crescent moon and stars are in the sky. Artwork by Nadira, age 9. At the bottom, it says Zacharys is out of this world!.

Nadira Berman, age 9

2005

A man in a suit and bowler hat holds an umbrella, standing with his back facing the viewer. He gazes at an abstract artwork featuring dynamic red, black, and white swirls. The name Zacharys is at the top, with Its a matter of taste below.

Hannah de Vries

2015

My name is Hannah de Vries and art has been my passion from a very young age. My entry was inspired by a famous Norman Rockwell painting called “The Connoisseur.” I alluded to the uniqueness of Zachary’s Pizza by making comparisons to the historical context behind Abstract Expressionism of the 1940’s, a subject that I have studied in school. I worked tirelessly for about three days at a wonderful art gallery called ArtU4ia in downtown Martinez to complete this piece. The most fun I had working on it was by far doing the drip pizza; I loved getting messy and wild with the house paint!

I always loved seeing the art that hung on the walls at the Zachary’s College location, and I aspired to enter their art competition for years! Once the Pleasant Hill location opened up closer to my home town, I finally took the opportunity to create something that I was proud to call my own.

A blue background with the name Zacharys in large white letters at the top. A cartoon character on a ladder reaches for a pizza slice among many red and orange pizza slices and circles hanging down.

Nikola Bachman

2012

Hi my name is Nikola. I just graduated from high school this past June. While attending high school, I was also taking art classes at Berkeley City College. I’m currently enrolled in my fourth art class at BCC. I’m drawn to Japanese animation and graphic novels. Someday I’d love to visit Japan. Drawing older architectural buildings using a realistic cartoon flare, is one of my styles as small details are important to me. I’m a cat lover at heart therefore the kitty in the painting that I drew for Zachary’s was inspired by my own cat Jackson, even though they look nothing alike. It was the first time that I’ve entered one of my art pieces into a contest. I was happily surprised to have won! This was the third time however, that I’ve had my art up for public display. Another important project of mine is writing a graphic novel. The title, story line and illustrations are all my own and I hope to be published someday. I like going out to eat with my family. Our favorite spot for pizza is Zachary’s. We always order the Chicago deep dish, with mushrooms and spinach. Yummy!