Spooky Season is here! And all those goblins, ghouls and ghosts are going to be hungry…We recommend the following tips for Halloween ordering success!

ORDER & PICKUP HALF-BAKES EARLY

Our half-baked pizzas last 4 days in the refrigerator. Beat the crowd by ordering and picking up pizzas the days leading up to Halloween! Easy-to-follow instructions come with each order. Wondering just how easy half-baked pizzas are to finish off at home? Check out our Instagram Story. 

PICKUP EARLY HALLOWEEN DAY

 If you have to pickup on Halloween, we still recommend ordering half-baked pizzas and picking them up early that Monday morning. We open at 11am at all locations. 

ORDER PIZZAS IN ADVANCE

 If you are ordering fully cooked pizzas for pickup on Halloween Day, place your order now to ensure your preferred pickup time. You can order days in advance and have your pizzas delayed for Halloween (or whatever day your event is!). We anticipate a high volume of orders over Halloween weekend and some pickup times may fill up, which is why placing your order early is highly recommended! 

Please note delay orders must be placed over the phone.

When it comes to comfort food, few dishes evoke the same level of universal love and satisfaction as pizza. It’s the ultimate canvas for culinary creativity and capable of satisfying a variety of tastes and preferences. That’s why we’re excited to be unveiling the five winning pizzas from our first ever pizza contest on March 21st! The crews at each of our five restaurants selected a winner for their respective locations after a taste test of finalists. Below are the five winning pizzas- each one as unique and amazing as the individuals that created them- with their chefs! Each pizza will start at it’s winning restaurant this Thursday, March 21st. Visit all five Zachary’s to taste each winning pizza and see which one is your favorite!

Special thanks again to everyone who participated in this contest and congratulations to all of our winners! We had so much fun and we think our communities are going to love these pies as much as we do 🎉🤗

NORTH BERKELEY-

PIZZA BAYOU, by Kenny Khan
Blackened seasoned chicken, sliced Andouille sausage, red and green bell peppers, garlic and mozzarella cheese.

Kenny being chosen as the winner at Zachary’s North Berkeley just felt right. Born and raised locally and having gone to elementary and high school in El Cerrito, Kenny literally grew up eating at and sharing special moments with us at Zachary’s North Berkeley, including his first date with his wife! Even his time away during college at UC Santa Cruz couldn’t deter his love of Zachary’s- he just made sure to stock up on half-baked pizzas to take with him. For Kenny, Zachary’s is more than just a pizza shop. It’s community and family. We couldn’t agree more and are so grateful and thankful to be a part of both. Having a strong knowledge of our pizza composition and flavors, Kenny was able to build his recipe from there, knowing exactly what flavors would pair perfectly with our sauce and crust. And let us tell ya, he didn’t miss. Cheers to Kenny, and cheers to many more years to come of sharing special moments and meals! Can’t wait to see the kiddos in wearing their Zachary’s t-shirts for pizza night soon 😊

PLEASANT HILL-

INDIAN SUNRISE, by Sheetal Randev
Tikka masala seasoned chicken, roasted red peppers, garlic, onions, mozzarella, topped with fresh cilantro. Available stuffed or thin crust.

When you meet Sheetal, the first thing you notice is the joy and enthusiasm she radiates, which made sitting down to chat with her a real treat! The inspiration for the Indian Sunrise came from her mother, Mama Randev. Thinking of how Mama Randev expresses love through food and how her food brings family and friends together, Sheetal wanted to connect her favorite American pizza to her mother’s home kitchen in London. With a “from our kitchen to yours” concept, she did exactly that with this delicious and comforting pizza, successfully merging our kitchen with Mama Randev’s. Our favorite part of the interview though? FaceTiming with Mama Randev in London to show her her award winning pizza recipe! Congratulations, Sheetal and Mama Randev! We can’t wait for everyone to taste this love imbued creation.

PLEASANTON-

LOADED BAKED POTATO, by Cristina Solano
Sliced russet potatoes, crumbled bacon, Monterey Jack & cheddar cheese, topped with fresh green onions and swirl of crema after baking. Available stuffed or thin crust.

Cristina’s love of Zachary’s spans an amazing 26 years! She fondly remembers date nights at Zachary’s in Rockridge with her husband when they first began dating, and when they moved away from Oakland, they became regulars at our San Ramon restaurant before it relocated to Pleasanton. That relocation didn’t stop them however, they followed right along with us to Downtown Pleasanton where they remain loyal regulars. The motivation for Cristina’s pizza was combining a little of everything her family loves and enjoys into one savory and mouth watering pizza. And may we just say, well done Cristina! If you’re questioning potatoes on pizza- don’t. This masterpiece proves why potatoes absolutely belong on pizza.

ROCKRIDGE-

HONEY TRAP, by Finn Liss
Salami, serrano chilies, onion, roasted red peppers, mozzarella cheese, and finished with a drizzle of honey after baking. Available as a thin crust pizza only.

GRAND LAKE-

TO BEEF OR NOT TO BEEF, by Yui Ueno
Seasoned ground beef, green bell peppers, giardiniera, mozzarella cheese, sliced pepperoncinis. Available stuffed or thin crust.

Finn and his brother Yui won the pizza lottery by BOTH being chosen as winners! Finn won at Zachary’s Rockridge and Yui won at Zachary’s Grand Lake. So, it only felt right to sit down to chat with the two brothers together. Yui and Finn have a mutual love of cooking that works well with Finn’s creative focus and Yui’s technical angle. When Yui bought a house in Oakland with a brick pizza oven in the backyard, it only seemed right to start experimenting with pizza! When the brothers cook together they like to incorporate and think of the diversity of Oakland with bold, standout flavors that push boundaries while still maintaining deliciousness.

Finn’s first time at Zachary’s was in middle school where he tasted and fell in love with our classic Spinach & Mushroom pizza (can you blame him? 😉). His inspiration for the Honey Trap was to create a pizza that made you stop and think of flavors- especially how the combination of spicy and sweet flow together. You’ll notice this right away with the heat of the serrano chilis and the sweet honey that comes in to both add to, and minimize, that heat.

Yui went to school in the Midwest and Chicago areas, where the Italian Beef sandwich reigns supreme. So, obviously, creating a Chicago-style pizza that incorporated those flavors was the natural direction for him to go! The end result is a pizza that has a perfect blend of acidity and brine from the pepperoncinis and giardiniera, a mild touch of heat, and a delicious melding of seasoned ground beef with our signature chunky tomato sauce. But hey, don’t take our word for it, try it out at Zachary’s Grand Lake and taste for yourself!

Announcing the winners from the first ever Zachary’s Pizza Contest!

Recipe submissions were tasted by our awesome crew who then chose one winner for each Zachary’s location. We had so many amazing and creative submissions, and it was a tough (but delicious) challenge choosing just 5 winners. Super huge thank you to everyone who participated- you’re all winners in our hearts!

And now without further ado, the winners are…

ROCKRIDGE:
The Honey Trap, by Finn Liss
Calabrese salami, Calabrian peppers, roasted red peppers, red onion, finished with a honey drizzle. Thin crust only.

NORTH BERKELEY:
Pizza Bayou, by Kenny Kahn
Blackened chicken, andouille sausage, green and red bell peppers, red onions, garlic. 

GRAND LAKE:
To Beef or Not to Beef, by Yui Ueno
Roast beef, provolone, mozzarella, giardiniera, pepperoncini.

PLEASANT HILL:
The Indian Sunrise, by Sheetal Randev
Tikka masala spiced chicken, onions, garlic, roasted red peppers, cilantro, mozzarella.

PLEASANTON:
The Loaded Baked Potato, by Cristina Solano
Potatoes, goat cheese, bacon crumbles, cheddar jack blend, fresh green onions.

Each pizza will be featured for a limited time at its winning location in the coming months. The winning chefs and their creations will also be spotlighted on our social media. Stay tuned for the official launch date of each pizza in the new year. Congratulations to our five winners! We can’t wait for folks to try your yummy masterpieces!

All locations will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.

Be sure you order half-baked pizzas to finish baking at home those days since we’ll be closed! We highly recommend the following tips to make it as seamless as possible for you!

ORDER & PICKUP HALF-BAKES EARLY: 

Our half-baked pizzas last 4 days in the refrigerator. Beat the crowd by ordering and picking up pizzas the days leading up to Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Easy-to-follow instructions come with each order. Wondering just how easy half-baked pizzas are to finish off at home? Check out our Instagram Story. 

ORDER PIZZAS IN ADVANCE: Place your order now if you have a preferred pickup day and time. You can order days in advance and have your pizzas delayed for your chosen date. Some pickup times may fill up, which is why placing your order early is highly recommended! Please note delay orders must be placed over the phone.

Jay Firestone’s, Zachary’s University, tee is now for sale!

This is the second of four shirts we’re releasing from our first ever t-shirt contest, with winners voted on and chosen by you, our amazing communities. We (and we’re guessing you!) loved this design for multiple reasons, one of which being the color scheme nod to our Cal neighbors around the corner from Zachary’s Rockridge and North Berkeley! (#calbearsgreat 🐻)

All four shirts will be limited-edition, single runs – meaning once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. So if you like one, or think a Zachary’s (or Cal 😉) fan in your life might, be sure to snatch one up before they sell out.

These shirts don’t just look great, part of their sales is also being donated to two great organizations! To help celebrate our 40th Anniversary this year, we’re donating 50% of the profits from these limited-edition shirts to the Alameda County Community Food Bank and the Monument Crisis Center in Concord. Click the link below to purchase, or visit any Zachary’s location.

$25+ tax

Adult Unisex: S, M, 2XL (Sold out of sizes L & XL)
Shipping & handling not included in price.

CLICK TO PURCHASE

The Solano Stroll is back Sunday, September 10th and we can’t wait! We’ll be selling thin-crust Cheese and Pepperoni slices, as well as stuffed Spinach & Mushroom slices, out of the front window of our North Berkeley location from 11am to 4pm.

Solano Ave will be closed to traffic from 10am to 5:30pm that Sunday. Our dining room will also be closed during that period of time. We will be open for phone and walk-in takeout orders though! Our dining room will reopen for dinner service at 5:30pm.

The year is 1983. The scene. College Avenue, Oakland California. The players. A young couple from Wisconsin. The dream. To open a Chicago-style stuffed pizza restaurant with a California twist. Enter- Zachary’s Chicago Pizza.

Four decades, innumerable hours, thousands of pizzas, and a whole lot of hard work, and here we are celebrating our 40th Anniversary! From that first Zachary’s, a tiny little restaurant on College Ave in Oakland, to today with five East Bay locations, over 225 ‘Best Pizza’ Awards, and 100% employee-ownership, we couldn’t be more grateful for the love and support from our amazing communities and customers.

Join us on July 25th as we commemorate 40 amazing years! To show our appreciation and mark this momentous milestone and our birth year, our ready-to-go, small, stuffed Spinach & Mushroom half-baked pizzas will sell for just $19.83! Stop by and pick one up to finish cooking at home for dinner. Or better yet, stock up for the week or weekend and (pizza) party like it’s 1983! 😜

All five Zachary’s locations will be participating from 11am to closing on July 25th. Limit of 3 pizzas per person. Small, ready-to-go, Spinach & Mushroom half-baked pizzas only. No preorders or holds. Third-party delivery and online orders are excluded. First come, first served and while supplies last. 

Note: Our dining room at Zachary’s Rockridge will be closing at 4:30pm that afternoon for a private event; that location will still be open for takeout (and those $19.83 half-baked pizzas!) all day. All other locations will be open for both dine-in and takeout during normal hours. If you were planning to dine at Zachary’s Rockridge on July 25th after 4:30pm, we recommend visiting Zachary’s Grand Lake instead! 

Additional Special Events on July 25th!

Dine-in at Zachary’s Grand Lake, Pleasanton, and North Berkeley Tuesday evening and enjoy live music from three Bay Area high schools!
Jazz ensembles from Amador Valley, Berkeley, and Oakland High Schools will be performing Tuesday evening. All three groups are incredibly talented and we are so excited to have them performing for our anniversary! All performances are slated to start around 6pm. 
Zachary’s Grand Lake is featuring a jazz duo from Oakland High Jazz Band, Zachary’s North Berkeley is featuring a jazz trio curtesy of Berkeley High Jazz, and Zachary’s Pleasanton is welcoming Amador Jazz Collective from Amador Valley High Jazz on the patio! Come for the pizza, stay for the ambiance 

Dine-in for dinner at Zachary’s Pleasant Hill for the chance to win a free pizza!
That’s all you need to do! We’ll be drawing a random dine-in table number at 6pm, 7pm, and 8pm on Tuesday, July 25th and the winning table receives a free pizza! You must be dining in with us at the time of the raffle for your table to be included.  

Thank you for your unwavering support, and here’s to another four decades of serving the best customers and communities ever. We can’t wait to celebrate with you on July 25th! 🎉🤗🍕

This is a pure, genuine, heartfelt, customer appreciation post to say THANK YOU for voting us ‘Best Pizza’ in Diablo Magazine and the East Bay Express’ annual Best of the East Bay polls!

We are so honored and humbled by your love and support and so incredibly appreciative of both. We love doing what we do, but being able to share it with all of you is what makes it special ❤️ We say it all the time, but it can never be said enough, we truly have the best community around!

We also want to take a minute to thank our incredible and hard working team. They’re the foundation that allows us to do what we do, and do it with such a commitment to excellence.

Now back to work making those delicious pizzas for you, cuz it’s the weekend, it’s going to be beautiful out, and y’all need some pizza to enjoy with it! 🤗🍕😋

The Zachary’s Art Contest may be officially closed, but the fun has just begun for us 🙂

We spent a fun (albeit very challenging) week voting on all of the amazing and creative artwork we received, both in person and online, for this year’s art contest! We were blown away by your creativity, humor, and skill, and had such a hard time narrowing down the submissions. Narrow them down we had to though, and the winning pieces have finally been chosen and their artists contacted as of last Friday!

We wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who participated in this year’s contest. The Zachary’s Art Contest is one of our most cherished traditions and we love the ability to connect with you in such a fun and engaging way. Pieces not chosen as a winner can be picked up at the location it was submitted to until June 3, 2023. We plan on getting all the new art up over the course of June!

The Zachary’s Art Contest 40th Anniversary Edition is HERE! After a 3 year hiatus, we’re bringing the contest back to help celebrate our 40th anniversary this year. Now through Wednesday, May 3rd submit your best, most creative, fun, and unique Zachary’s inspired artwork for the chance to be featured on the walls of our restaurants!

The Zachary’s Art Contest is open to all ages, and can be individual work or group collaborations- including school classrooms! Artwork should be inspired by Zachary’s and include our name and/or logo. We encourage you to incorporate our 40th anniversary into your creative vision, but it’s not mandatory. Artwork can be turned in at any Zachary’s location.

Submissions must be in one of the following sizes*:
36″x48″
32″x32″
26″x26″
24″x36″

Artwork submissions must also include a completed Art Contest Rules & Entry form. Forms are available at all locations, or you can download one HERE. Paper must be heavy enough for matting, but please do not mat artwork yourself. Zachary’s will mount and frame all winning entries.

Submissions must be received by May 3rd to be included in the contest. Graphic designs can be submitted to artcontest@zacharys.com. If chosen as a winner, the artist will be responsible for printing their artwork.

Winning artists receive a $100 Zachary’s Gift Certificate and two Zachary’s T-Shirts, plus bragging rights ???? For complete rules please refer to the Art Contest Rules & Entry form. To view examples of past winning artwork, you can visit our Pizza Art section under the About Us tab. Please contact artcontest@zacharys.com if you have any questions.  

View or Download Art Contest Rules & Entry Form

*Due to supply chain issues we’ve been unable to source art paper. Our apologies to anyone who’s been waiting. There is still a limited amount at all locations, but size availability varies by location. We’ve tried to spread what remaining paper we have out as best as possible. You can also submit artwork on your own paper, or email your graphic designs to artcontest@zacharys.com.

Stay up to date with all things Zachary’s by subscribing to our newsletter! You can expect to receive 2-4 emails a month and can unsubscribe at any time. Subscribe HERE.