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!

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

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

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

Illustration of a pepperoni pizza in a box with a red heart, set against a decorative red background. The text reads, Make Pizza Not War, in bold black and red letters.

Ian Ransley

2015

Berkeley-born and raised designer Ian Ransley loves Zachary’s Pizza!! Who in Berkeley doesn’t? But Ian has found a way to graphically express his admiration for the famous deep-dish, Chicago-style pies — not once, but a dozen times.

Ian grew up in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood (near the Solano Zachary’s). His mom still lives in the neighborhood house he grew up. Ian did spend some time away from his beloved Berkeley getting a design degree from UC Davis. In the years since he has designed for Chevron, HP, Cisco and of course, Zachary’s! For the past decade Ian has designed the stadium graphics for the Super Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and currently for the NHL Winter Classic in Foxboro.
Even though Ian has designed the stadium graphics for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos he is known as the guy who won the Zachary’s Pizza poster contest. Ian is a single Dad with two Zachary’s-loving boys, Dylan and Fabien.

SOLD in our 2018 Art Sale and Fundraiser!

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.

Colorful drawing featuring a large pizza labeled Zacharys in the center. Surrounded by playful animal figures, hearts, and phrases such as I love Zacharys Pizza! and It has cheese in it. A whimsical and fun design with vibrant colors.

Simone Gardner

2015

Illustration of a smiling figure resembling a Buddha holding a pizza slice on a string. The figure sits with a box labeled Zacharys Chicago Pizza, under a red Zen circle with the word Zen inside. Text reads Zacharys Chicago Pizza Inc.

Tom Galvin

2009

A retro-style illustration of a smiling woman serving pizza to a family at a table, featuring the text, I only feed my family the best, and only Zacharys Chicago-style pizza has vitamin Z! The family appears joyful with a large pizza in front.

Vitamin Z

2001

Danny Hauck

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.

Colorful circles with different patterns are arranged in a grid. Each circle has a unique design, including dots and lines, on a white background filled with the repeated text Zacharys in black.

Katie Jang

2011

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: http://katianovak.tumblr.com/

Pop art style image of a woman and man about to kiss. Speech bubble from the man reads, I think Im falling in love! Zacharys Chicago Pizza is written in the top left corner.

ZAK WILSON

1992
I’m a big fan of pop art and wanted to create something in that style. The Roy Lichtenstein look fit the vibe of the idea. That and I wanted to win some free pizza. (The first time I ate Zachary’s) had to be in the mid 80’s sometime. A good friend worked at the Solano store so I was turned on to Zachary’s Pizza early in the game. That same friend is now one of the owners.

I’m a native of Berkeley and have been in the Bay Area my whole life. Aside from the cost of living what’s not to like about the Bay Area? All my immediate family is here. Good weather, culture, sports, food (hint, hint…). It’s one of many amazing places in the country…but this one happens to be home.

A colorful painting features a pink background with a cat on a pizza atop a table. Speech bubbles say, cats live longer if they eat pizza, among other playful cat-related notes. A seated cat holds a drink. Text reads Pizza-Crazy Cats!.

Sophia Maria Brown

2017

Age 10

I fell in love with Zachary’s pizza the first time it touched the tip of my tongue. I loved doing the artwork and it was a bonus to win twice! I think everyone should participate. Love live Zachary’s!

Colorful mural featuring a stylized figure in traditional attire pointing toward a vibrant circular design with a sun face. The text Zacharys is above and In Any Age is below the circle. Brown background enhances the designs vivid colors.

Mayan Calendar

1990’s

Artist Unknown

Vintage-style illustration of three women in green uniforms enjoying pizza under the bold text Zacharys. Each woman holds or eats a slice, with one serving from a pizza tray. A red circle partially encircles the text.

April Galvin

2011

Rianne Myers

2015

The Capone of Pizza

2007

David Loya

Illustrated image of four circular pizza diagrams against an orange gradient background, each showing a different portion of a pizza missing. Text reads, Zacharys Chicago Pizza. The progression suggests the stages of eating a pizza.

Ryan Pera

2017

Besides my everyday fascination with the universe, galaxy, the solar system, the moon, and the sun, my piece, titled “Phases of Pizza”, was inspired from watching my nephew put in work, like a real artist, when push comes to shove, with two days to work before the deadline of this contest. While waiting to be seated at the College Ave location, my nephew eagerly asked me if I had a piece of paper and a pen. I did, since I never leave home without my small sketchbook and pen. His ideas were flowing. Everyone loves pizza, I mean everyone… but to witness a kid, at the age of eight, not wanting to finish his pizza, only because he wanted to win his first art contest (with the prize of more pizza and having his artwork hang on the walls), was honestly my true inspiration through making this piece.

Editor’s note: Ryan’s nephew, Jalen, was also one of our winners! See our blog about Ryan and Jalen for more information.

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!

Picked Fresh Daily

2005

Kelly Lee Avery