ZACHARY'S AWARD-WINNING PIZZA
Recognized locally and nationally with over 100 Best Pizza Awards, Zachary’s offers 2 styles of pizza: a Chicago-style stuffed pizza (also referred to as deep-dish) and a traditional thin crust pizza. We take great pride in using the freshest, highest quality ingredients possible to create Zachary's pizzas.
OUR HISTORY
Zachary's founders Zach Zachowski and Barbara Gabel both grew up in small towns in Wisconsin. After living in Chicago for several years, they developed a taste for deep-dish Chicago-style pizza. In 1983, they found themselves in the San Francisco Bay Area with dreams of opening their own restaurant. They spotted a funky little lampshade shop in the East Bay and envisioned this spot as the location for their own pizza restaurant—with a California twist.
As luck would have it, the lampshade shop owner was ready to retire. So it was here on the corner of College Avenue and Oak Grove in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland that they opened the original Zachary’s. After much planning and jack-hammering, the first Zachary's on College Avenue opened its doors for business on July 25, 1983. There were 30 seats in just 900 square feet of space—the size of our current waiting area!
Business took off immediately. To meet the growing demand, Zach and Barbara opened a second store in nearby Berkeley on Solano Avenue just over a year later on September 16, 1984. After two decades in the Bay Area, we opened our third location in San Ramon, California on September 13, 2006. In 2008, with three locations and over 100 Best Pizza awards to our name, we celebrated our 25th year in the Bay Area.
ZACHARY’S AS AN EMPLOYEE OWNED COMPANY
In 2003, after 20 years of hard work establishing a solid business and bringing together a top-notch dedicated crew, the founders Zach and Barbara decided it was time to retire from the restaurant business. They didn't want to sell the business outright. Instead, they found a way to transfer the business to their employees by way of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
Zachary's appeared in a feature story in INC. Magazine about ESOPs. Contra Costa Times ran a story about Zachary's and how an ESOP works. Oakland Tribune also detailed Zachary's ESOP.
Through participation in an ESOP, employees are motivated to think and work like owners, and long-time employees gain the opportunity for financial security. As of year-end 2008, employees own 55.65% of Zachary's stock, and that number climbs up each year.
As employee owners, we continue the Zachary’s tradition. We are committed to making the highest quality pizza possible while providing genuine care for our guests. We are truly honored that people choose to eat at Zachary's. It is our sincere hope we can make our customers happy, that they will enjoy our pizza and their experience with us.
ZACHARY'S ART
One-of-a-kind works of art decorate the walls at our three restaurant locations in the Bay Area. These unique pieces of art are created by our enthusiastic and talented customers.
We started an art contest in the mid-1980s and have continued the tradition every two years or so since then. The fun pieces you see on our restaurant walls are from our art contest winners. We display art from the latest contests and also rotate pieces among our restaurants. We've collected hundreds of pieces of art over the years. See a selection from the Zachary's Chicago Pizza Art Collection. And come see them in person on our walls! |
