Did you know Zachary’s hosts Community Fundraisers, sometimes called Dine-Out Nights, for local schools and organizations? Well, we do! We believe giving back to our local communities is a vital part of being an employee-owned, Bay Area business, and the best way to say thank you for your support!

You can host a community fundraiser at any of our locations, including our newest location on Grand Avenue in Oakland! We offer fundraisers Monday through Thursday, non holiday weeks. You will need to fill out our fundraiser application form and receive confirmation from our Community Outreach Coordinators.  Below is some useful information regarding our fundraisers:

• We require a minimum three weeks lead time to schedule fundraisers.  This is for staffing purposes.  It’s also for you! The more time you have to promote your fundraiser, the more successful it will be!
• Fundraisers are held at the location of your choosing, however we do not host fundraisers across multiple locations for the same day/organization.
• You can order for dine-in or take-out.  You will need to show a flyer (we’ll provide) to your server or host so we know you are with the fundraiser.  It can be a printed copy, or via your mobile device.
• Third party delivery orders are not eligible for fundraisers.
• Fundraisers run from the time we open to the time we close. Hours vary by location.
• Reservations available at select locations based on availability. Please call our San Ramon or Pleasant Hill location to inquire. Our Oakland and Berkeley locations do not offer reservations.
• Donation amount is based off of the pre-tax subtotal of sales generated by your school or organization.
• We are an employee-owned company and represent a diverse group of owners (and customers!). Therefore, we do not align ourselves with political organizations or positions. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Please click the link to fill out an application or email, fundraising@zacharys.com for further information.

We look forward to hosting you!

Zachary’s Fundraiser Application

 

It’s official! Our newest location on Grand Ave in Oakland is open and ready to serve you the award winning, stuffed pizza you’ve come to know and love! We had a soft opening this past Monday, October 21^st, 2019 at 5pm.  We are so excited and happy to be joining the wonderful and historic Grand Lake neighborhood and can’t wait to meet new friends and see old ones!

At Zachary’s on Grand we offer a full bar with a custom-made cocktail menu.  We encourage you to take advantage of this lovely area, with floor to ceiling windows, as you wait for your to-go orders in person or for your dine-in table. Please note in these first few months of business, we anticipate dine-in wait times and pizza cooking times to be slightly longer than normal.  In addition, it may be difficult to get through on our phones to place to-go orders.  We thank you for your patience in advance as we adjust to our latest location.

We’ll be open for dinner nightly at 4pm until 10pm Sunday through Thursday, and 4pm to 10:30pm Friday and Saturday.  Lunch service will begin in a few weeks! Thank you Bay Area for all of your support and positive energy in making our latest dream a reality!

 

3917 Grand Ave, Oakland

(510) 658-3226

Sun-Thurs: 4pm-10pm

Fri-Sat: 4pm-1030pm

 

Zachary’s is the 2019 Readers’ Choice Winner for Best Pizza in Oakland Magazine’s Best of Oakland and the East Bay!

Thank you to all of our customers and to everyone who voted for Zachary’s!  We don’t take these awards lightly and are happy to say Zachary’s has received over 200 best pizza awards!

 Our second-annual plant parties were a success!

 

On Sunday, April 14^th, Zachary’s hosted free Plant Parties for the communities outside of our Solano and Pleasant Hill locations. We began the tradition last year at the Solano parklet, and had so much fun we decided to include Pleasant Hill this spring.

Long time employee owner and plant enthusiast Suzanne Hill enjoyed the sunshine outside of our Solano Avenue location giving away an array of beautiful potted succulents and other plants to members of the community strolling by (who also sipped on cucumber water and noshed on some pizza snacks).

The employee owners of Pleasant Hill went in a DIY direction for their Pant Party, opting to let participants dig in the dirt and put together plants in adorable mini Zachary’s themed pots.

Thank you to all of the employee owners and community members who helped us celebrate the warmer days ahead and Mother Earth!

Keep an eye out for our next round of Plant Parties, coming this Fall!

We are super excited about this one! We’ve teamed up with our friends over at Oaklandish for a special edition t-shirt! And (because why stop there), 10% of sales will be donated to the Fred Finch Youth Center. Fred Finch is an amazing organization doing really inspirational work in Oakland and throughout California!

Based in Oakland, California, Fred Finch Youth Center works with young people facing multiple challenges, including homelessness, economic disadvantage, mental health and cognitive disabilities, and histories of significant trauma and loss. Committed to the notion that no one is without hope, no matter how desperate their circumstances may appear, Fred Finch offers programs in education, independent living services, housing and mental heath to provide a pathway to healing and self-sufficiency. Their 128 year history and strong track record have made Fred Finch Youth Center a recognized leader in the treatment of children and families.

For more info you can visit their website at www.fredfinch.org

These limited edition collaboration shirts are available at any Zachary’s location, as well as the flagship Oaklandish store on Broadway in downtown Oakland, and online at Oaklandish.com.

 

On Thursday 12/13/18 all Zachary’s Chicago Pizza locations donated 15% of our dine-in and take-out sales to the North Valley Community Foundation in Chico California.

Together we were able to raise and donate over $6,000 to the relief efforts!

A big thank you to our employee owners for spreading the word and the collective effort involved to make this day a success.

Most importantly a HUGE thank you to those in our communities that came in and supported the effort!

Since 1983, Zachary’s has been making award-winning pizza in the San Francisco Bay Area. When Zachary’s founders, Zach Zachowski and Barbara Gabel, decided to retire, they sold the company to the employees via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). In 2010, Zachary’s became 100% employee owned.

Our employee owners are the mojo behind the madness. They make each of our restaurants unique, fun, and delicious. This month, we are turning our attention to Antonio and Adanely Beltran, a father/daughter duo who both work at our San Ramon location!

Interview**

**Antonio and Adanely were interviewed on March, 12th 2018 by Zachary’s Project Manager, Christina Souza. All photos are take by Zachary’s Regional Manager, Kate Erickson

Christina (C): What are your hire dates?

Antonio (AN): September 27^th, 2006

Adanely (AD): For me, I don’t know the exact date, but I think it was June 2015.

C: Okay, so you (Antonio) had already been here for nine and a half years before Adanely started?

AN: [Shakes head yes]

C: What’s your favorite pizza?

AN: Hawaiian with bacon and jalapenos, thin crust

C: [To Adanely] You?

AD: Whatever he makes! [Looks at Antonio, Laughs]

C: Do you make Adanely special pizzas?

AN: Yes, sometimes… Chicken, ranch, cheese, tomatoes, onions

C: Sounds delicious.

AN: Oh yes.

AD: And he adds some spices that he brings from home.

C: Oh! What are the spices? Or, is it your secret recipe?

AN: Yes, secret recipe.

[Laughter]

AN: I just do chicken, mixed cheese (Monterey Jack and cheddar), tomatoes on top, and green onions

AD: Red onions!

AN: Red onions, and ranch… [Makes motion of swirling the ranch on top of the pizza]

C: Sound good. And where are you both living right now? What city?

AD and AN: Tracy

C: Do you live together?

AD: Yeah

C: Great. [To Antonio] How did you discover Zachary’s?

AN: My friend. We were working together in another job and he told me. He told me they needed a lot of people. You know when this (San Ramon) opened, we needed a lot of people. I talked to Kevin (Kevin Suto is Zachary’s President and CFO). He gave me the job.

C: He interviewed you? Do you remember what he asked you?

AN: Oh my gosh… He asked me, “Where do you work?” “Do you work in a restaurant?” He asked me, “Have you made pizzas?” I said, “Never!” He said, “Do you know the (ingredients) pepperoni, pineapple, cheese, and salami?” He said, “It’s okay. You got the job!” And I started. On the same day.

C: You started on the same day that he interviewed you?

AN: Yes! There were too many people!

C: Oh, that’s right. It was crazy when San Ramon opened.

AN: Yeah… crazy. There were too many people! Crazy… Almost twelve years ago…

C: Did you start right when we opened?

AN: Two weeks after.

C: What was it like?

AN: [Makes huge eyes]  Very hard! Crazy! You know, I had never made pizzas. This was my first time, so it was very hard for me. The pan pizzas… my hands hurt. Oh my God… it was painful. Too many nights… In the night time, for a month, I had a lot of pain. [Motions to his hands aching].

C: Now your hands are probably really strong.

AN: Yeah! Look at that! [Motions to his arms]

AD: Look at his arm muscles right here! [Points to Antonio’s forearm]

C: That’s pretty cool! Why did you think that this would be a good job for Adanely?

AN: Because of professionalism, the environment, there was no bullying. And there was a lot of respect between people. Especially compared to other places, it’s very respectful among coworkers. Also because we were going to be working together. I had been working a lot of years for a long time and I was away from home. I liked the fact that we were going to be together, working.

C: What is working together like?

AD: It’s fun. Uh, he helped me a lot when I first started. He told me what to do and guided me on the right track. We get to spend our breaks together sometimes, so he makes me food. Like he said, we didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him when he was working both of his jobs. Here and his other other job. So, we were spending more time together.

C: Do you have other siblings?

AD: Yes

C: How many?

AD: I have a younger sister. Right now she’s 16. And then I have a brother who is 19.

C: [To Antonio] Would you want to work with them too?

AN: Are you kidding? Yeah, why not? Yeah, she (the younger sister) started another job as a busser. Two days, Saturday and Sunday…

AN: I would like her to work here. I would like it. I want to say thank you. I am very thankful for the opportunity that Zachary’s gave us. We are growing and learning every day. I am thankful for our future. And you are giving her [Glances at Adanely] an opportunity to grow.

C: Is there anything that is challenging about working together?

AN: Ah no. We are in different positions so we if we do something wrong, we have to take responsibility for it.

AD: Yes, like he takes his responsibility, I take mine. We’ve never had a moment.

C: It seems really cool to spend a lot of time together, but then if there were any conflict or drama outside of work, I can imagine, for me, that would carry over.

AD: Yeah, but we don’t. We don’t.

C: Do you talk about work when you are at home?

AN: Sometimes.

AD: Not really.

AN: We try not to.

C: You keep it separate?

AD: Yeah.

C: (To Antonio) What is your favorite thing about working at Zachary’s and/or working with Adanely?

AN: Everything for me. I like everything. That’s why I’ve been here for so many years. A lot of places have people for only two or three years and then they move on.  There are a lot of things… the managers, the people, it’s very different (than other restaurants). And the money! [Laughter]

C: You gotta make the money!

AN: Yeah, I know! [Laughter]

C: [To Adanely] What’s your favorite thing about working here?

AD: It’s very team oriented. So, if you are having trouble with something, especially serving, there is someone right there to help you all the time. We try to make it as least stressful as possible. Helping your coworkers out too… You help them and they help you. Um… everybody gets along. The managers are pretty cool. [Laughter] I talk to everybody, even in the kitchen. It’s just very friendly.

C: Do you all cook at home together?

AD: He cooks. [Laughter]

C: Do you (Antonio) do most of the cooking?

AN: [Shakes head] Yeah, yeah

C: What are your favorite things to make?

AD: He cooks everything!

AN: Yeah, everything… pasta… Well, I don’t make pizzas! [Laughter] Pasta and steaks, chicken… oh my God.

AD: I think steaks is what he makes the most.

C: [To Adanely] What is your favorite thing that he makes? Other than that pizza?

AN: Steaks, shrimp, your vegetables, mashed potatoes…

AD: Yeah, that’s my favorite thing.

AN: Oh yes.

AD: Everything that he makes is so good. It’s delicious.

AN: Pastas…

AD: We always have friends over and they are like, “Oh yum.”

C: Your house is a gathering space for people?

AD: Oh yeah.

C: Because you are producing all of that delicious food!

AN: In my morning job, you just have to learn everything in a week or two. They just throw you in there and you have to figure it out and deal with it. You have to do what you can. You have customers in front of you and you just have to figure it out. But here there is a process. You have two or three months and then you have to know.

C: What do you all do for fun outside of Zachary’s?

AN: For fun? [Laughter] When we take vacations, we try to go places. To Magic Mountain and Las Vegas! But the days that we have off, we have dinner at home and try to get together. We always try to eat together.

C: With your whole family?

AD and AN: Yeah…

C: If you could have your ideal work situation, would you keep working together? Do you see yourselves not working together in the future? If you could dream it, what would it be?

AN: We don’t know because Adanely is in school.

AD: Yeah, I’m in school and I have a career in mind, so we don’t know. But it would be nice to work together all the time.

C: Really?

AD: Yeah. We just have a good time together. We never argue. But, he’s going to stay here until who knows… but I’m going to school, so I don’t know what the future is.

C: What are you going to school for?

AD: For nursing.

C: What kind of nursing do you want to do?

AD: Labor and delivery

C: Fun. [To Antonio] So you are not interested in nursing?

[Laughter]

C: Great. I think that’s all of my questions. Do you want to say anything else about working together? Or working at Zachary’s?

AN: I am very thankful because these past eight years, we were in a very difficult situation together. But this job keeps us together.

C: I think it’s really unique and special that you want to work together and that you are able to make it work with your schedules and all of the other stuff going on in your lives. It’s really special that you can enjoy the time that you have working together. It’s really sweet.

AN: Thank you, thank you. And many thanks to Kevin and Leandra (Leandra is Zachary’s Vice President and General Manager).

C: What was Kevin like in 2006?

AN: Kevin?

C: Was he different?

AN: No, he was the same. He is always a friendly person. He always says hi. A lot of people get nervous around him, but I think he is a friendly guy. I think because we are the same age, it’s a different type of vibe.

C: You can relate to each other.

AD: Yeah

AN: And I’m thankful that he gave me this job.

C: Do you have any pictures of yourselves when you were younger cooking together?

AD: Cooking? Uh…

AN: [Laughs] Cooking? Uhhh

AD: My mom took pictures of him cooking… but not us together. I don’t know. I’ll see.  She’s gonna be like… she never cooks.

C: [To Adanely] You never cook?

AD: No, he always cooks. Laughs.

AN: [Laughs]

C: What do you do when he is not there?

AD: I’m always working. We’re always working. Or my Mom cooks. I never cook.

AN: [Laughs]

C: What are you going to do if you’re living along?

AD: I’ll just take him with me.

C: Awww, that’s pretty sweet that she wants to take you with her wherever she goes.

AN: When she gets married, she will learn. [Laughs]

Last Friday, we hosted a plant swap at the beautiful parklet in front of our Solano Avenue location in North Berkeley. We had a blast sharing clippings, seeds, gardening books, and plants (of course!) with our community.

Zachary’s is an employee owned company via our ESOP. We have an ESOP Committee that is comprised of nine employee owners from all locations. Our ESOP Committee has a two part mission: One, educate our crew and our customers about employee ownership at Zachary’s, and two, create space for employee owners to build community and grow together. The plant swap was one event in a series of workshops based on our employee owners’ interests.

 

Two of our fantastic employee owners, Nic Crocker and Tyler Wood, know A LOT about beer. They brew, they indulge (responsibly, of course!), and they’ve spent hours and hours learning all they can about this special beverage! Since our customers frequently have questions about beer, we wanted to create an opportunity for Crocker and Woods to share their knowledge with the rest of our crew. What better way to do this than a beer tasting class!

 

 

 

Zachary’s ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) Committee is always looking for ways that it can foster community and bring employee owners together.

Inspired by all of the amazing talents of the Zachary’s crew, the committee decided to sponsor a series of classes and workshops dubbed Teachin’ Tuesdays. Topics range from wine and beer tastings to pizza making (for our front-of-house crew) to financial literacy and planning for retirement. The ESOP Committee is also planning some fun field trips to our various vendors so that our employee owners can learn a little bit more about what it takes to make Zachary’s tick!

This week, employee owners Alicia Theodos and Darren McCann led a pizza making workshop for our San Ramon crew. Everyone had a blast! Several folks who normally work in the front of the house were surprised at how labor intensive each pie can be. It takes a lot of work to make pizza perfection; this was an awesome opportunity to show off the impressive skills of our kitchen crew!