Gioia is my go-to pizza spot in this area... and Zachary's... but I feel like they are almost like two different types of cuisines, though still in the same family; like lions and calico cats... but I digress. In any case Gioia Pizzeria serves up some amazing pizza. With the aforementioned qualifier out of the way, let's talk about what Gioia Pizzeria does well. Like most good pizzas, in my opinion, it starts with the crust. Gioia's crust is crisp in all areas exposed to direct heat, and tender within, while holding up to the toppings well. It seems that they have figured out how to maintain some of the great qualities of a neapolitan pizza--substantial hole structure, slight charring on the edges; while still allowing the pizza to stay sturdy, yet pliable, but not too elastic, thus allowing for optimal New York-style foldability. The sauce is bright and flavorful enough to make its presence known, rather than flat, thick and tomato pasty. Moreover, their blend of grana padano and mozzarella combines the best salty, fatty, stretchy qualities of both cheeses. My personal favorite of their seven standard pizzas, is the Acciughe, which may be polarizing, as I know that not everyone likes anchovies. That being said, I think the calabrian chiles bring a smoky fruity heat that chili flakes do not. While the mild slight bitterness, and aromatic qualities of the fresh oregano set the stage for the studs of intense salty brininess that the anchovies bring to the party. I also love the Funghi, as it is warm, earthy, and does not skimp on a the cremini mushrooms. The Spinaci Aglio has a nice bittersweet quality that, while garlic-forward, is still balanced. Seasonal offering range from butternut squash/blue cheese, to asparagus/ricotta; and I have yet to have a sub-par slice. I would be remiss not to mention that the other items on the menu are quite good. I feel that all the salads are solid. Yet, maybe the most overlooked item on the menu may be THE CANNOLI, which is frickin fantastic! I am pretty sure they make it to order (at least they did when I went). They are not overly sweet, the filling is super thick and creamy, and the shell is crispy, yet just sturdy enough to hold the whole thing together. Chocolate chips can be found within, and the filling spilling out is generously crusted with pistachios. Maybe I have not had enough good cannoli's in my life, but for my money, Gioia's are the best. To sum it all up, Gioia is a great spot to grab a slice, or pick up a whole pie (or two... or five). The pizza is outstanding, and you can't really go wrong with anything on they serve, but the hidden gem on the menu is the cannoli. read more

Had a slice of the mushroom and it was totally solid, though not mind-blowing. They do a good job of not having the toppings or sauce overpower the crust, giving the slices good structural integrity. I'd like to come back and try some of their sandwiches. The chicken parm excites me (as they all do). This is the ideal spot for "I'm walking down hayes and would like a snack to eat at the park on Octavia." read more

To be honest st first glance the pizza didn't look like anything special but once I tried o my gosh I was in love I wished I bought 2 more slices. Under $5 too read more

Great pizza but to expensive It's a treat when we get it. However they are the best pizza around

GREAT slice of thin crust pizza! Randomly passed by this place when I was headed to Monterey Fish Market and saw people happily eating slices of their thin crust pizza and also people ordering several whole pies to go for parties. Decided to pop in to check it out. Got a slice of their funghi pizza for $4.25. They heated it back up for me and I ate it then and there. Even though I was still half full from lunch earlier, I was surprised at how incredibly flavorful, aromatic, and simply delicious this slice was. The thin crust was crispy, airy, and buttery, it's very thin but also thick enough to hold on to the sauce and toppings. The tomato sauce was incredible and fresh, sweet yet a strong tomato flavor, together with the savory melty cheese and mushrooms was just a flavor bomb in the mouth. I can understand why people lined up for this little neighborhood pizzeria! Will be back soon to try their other flavors! read more

Gioia Pizzeria - Fungi slice - Pizza Near Me - Berkeley, California

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One of the best slices in the East Bay. Love this place. I go there whenever I'm in the area.

After many years eating pizza around Berkeley this place always delivers, It's definitely in the top 3 slice shops i've tried around the bay. Quick and efficient service as well. I usually stick with cheese or pepperoni but honestly all the slice options are great I've tried them all, cant go wrong. read more

Man-o-man, thank goodness I moved a couple of miles away because this place is just the best. Consistently delicious! Staff is great...tip big!! read more

Probably the best pizza I had in NorCal. Very much NY style pizza! They have a good ratio of sauce:cheese, good seasoning, and good thin crust. read more

Especially coming back from 6 years in the NJ/NYC area and totally can't stand the West coast cardboard crust. These guys are really true to the flavors of toasted crust, not too much cheese and oh so succulent toppings. I don't give out very many 5's but its that good. I left looking for the Spring St. station and my metrocard to catch the 6 train downtown. read more

I used to like this place... It's been a couple of years since my last visit and we felt like pizza tonight. Ordered on line: 1 cheese pizza, 1 mushroom pizza and a César salad ("Acme Levain Croutons, Grana Padano, Lemon-Anchovy Vinaigrette on the side"). The pick-up order was ready right on time, actually a couple of minutes early. Got straight home and that's where it started to fall apart. The cheese (on the cheese pizza) was chewy, and salty. No subtlety at all. The mushroom pizza was a little better. But, also salty, soggy, and generally heavy. And the salad? First, you can't really call it a César salad when you don't have César dressing. But, then they forgot the croutons. So, what do you have left, a bunch of lettuce, an oily insipid dressing and two tablespoons of grated cheese... FOR $10! So, I called to see what they could offer to at least try to compensate for the missing croutons. First, you can't call direct, you go through some voice app run by "Slice" that announced 4 time it was connecting me. Finally got an answer, said I didn't get the croutons, and was immediately disconnected. Called back, same wait, finally reach the order guy who says basically, tough luck. He didn't suggest I could come down and get the croutons, he didn't offer to comp a salad next time, he didn't offer a buck off my next pizza. Just, sorry. Well, I am sorry too. I used to like this place. But, with service like this, and lot's of other options, they lost a customer tonight. read more

I wish I could give them 3.5 stars. Their pizza is better than a lot of California pizza - but if you're from the east coast don't get*too* excited. What's the saying: The one-eyed man rules in the kingdom of the blind -- or something like that?? The crust is chronically undercooked, even when you ask it to be extra crispy... it's wet and soggy in the middle. But, the sauce is decent, and the crust that gets cooked is pretty good. Try to avoid busy ordering times like Friday evenings. They don't manage the orders well. Multiple times they've gotten out order wrong when it's busy. One time, they forgot to make it...twice. First, we show up at the time given to pick up the pies. I am told that we came early, so our order is not ready yet (we didn't come early, I showed her my email confirmation because I was a bit worried at how disorganized things seemed). So, she looks at the confirmation, says she'll personally get the order fired immediately, and tells us to come back in 20 minutes. We walk around for 25-30 minutes and come back. The same woman who spoke to me earlier at first snippily tells me the order doesn't exist. I had to insist it did, and reminded her we spoke and what she said. I could see when she realized she couldn't talk her way out of this; they clearly forgot to make the order a second time. She then tells the kitchen the pies she needs. I could hear them talking in Spanish. They just gave us someone else's order because they never made ours. --This is not a knock on the folks cooking; the issue seemed to be all with the woman "managing" the front. In retrospect, they must've either forgotten to make our order, or they gave it to someone else... That was the worst visit we had. Since then, we've ordered again (the pizza is ok for what's in Berkeley), but we order to pick up early (seriously, hours early) before we actually want to eat and we just cook it at home so the crust is actually done and edible (btw, we order fully cooked pies, this is just our way of addressing the chronic undercooking issue they have). read more

While the pizza is great, the customer service is SLOW, non-sensical, and rude ("our shit don't stink" - other recent reviews have expressed the same disappointment - they are in no hurry and don't really seem to care about customers). If you order your pizza by phone instead of online, their policy is that you have to wait in line (usually a very LONG and SLOW line) behind everybody who hasn't even ordered yet. Even if your pizza is ready, their "policy" (what they told me) is that you have to wait on that long line for everyone to order AND pay (and again, it is a PAINFULLY SLOW line, at least with current staff). Most other places have separate lines for those who are ordering vs those who just need to quickly pay. The one way around this unappreciative policy is to order your pizza(s) online. Only then - if you've ordered and paid online - can you get your pizza without having having to wait for everyone in front of you to ask questions, decide what to order, place their orders, and pay. Note to GIOIA: please make it easier for customers who order pizza by phone. If our pizza is ready, please offer a separate line for customers who just want to pay for it and leave! Tonight, we had a $70+ order and the line was so long that we left because my wife said the kids were starving and we couldn't wait that long. Such disappointing customer service! read more

This has historically served the best pizza in Berkeley, and the arugula avocado salad is out of this world! Unfortunately in the past 2 years every time I come to pick up an order it is insanely disorganized and often takes an additional half hour past when the order is supposed to be ready. In addition the counter staff seem like they couldn't care less. I'm now searching for my new favorite pizza place because this has become too much of a hot frustrating mess. read more

I am not happy to say that unfortunately the customer service has went to Sh*t within the last few months. i miss the diversity here. while the pizza is great the people that work for the establishment just are not tasteful. they have high school students working the register that act like this is there first job EVER and rude employees that seem to not care about customer service AT ALL. Now there was an employee there that kept me going to this establishment he was so full of life and he knew everybody's name even mine and had great customer service unfortunately he's gone now so i have no reason to come here anymore; besides greasy pizza and SAD employees. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND KEEP YOUR GAS it's not worth the disappointment anymore. DON'T COME HERE. read more

Will, great pizza from the days of delivering the original shop in Berkeley. Staying OG with that NY style.OMG

Small joint were you order inside and pick up at the outside window. The fungi is my favorite. Affordable and delicious this slices.

The place is really small and it's mostly for a to-go type of food outing. I came here on a Saturday- late morning/early afternoon and the place was packed. I felt like I had to squish for people to come in and out of the place. I definitely recommend coming in earlier if you don't want to hit the rush of people. Pizza was A+ ! It was a little oily, but the flavor and how thin the pizzas are was worth it. They ask you if you want your slice heated or not- I assume this is if you want to take it home and heat it there. I think the price is worth the size of the pizza slice you get- not so sure if I'd spend for a whole pizza though. If you are hesitant, I would eat a slice first before you decide! If you love thin pizzas, this is THE place for you. read more

Omg this pizza place was so good, and I'm a pizza enthusiast. They nail the east coast crust style that's thin and tasty. I got the pepperoni slice and the pepperoni was the best part of the pizza. They curl up and get a good crisp on the end and are pockets of oil. You can hate on the pizza saying "it's too greasy" but good pepperoni is going to have grease, it's just science. Go grab a slice! They won't disappoint. read more

The most slow service in the area, always takes 30/40 min extra, they have never done in time, and the staffs just busy talking and pulling pants, what kind of service you guys are giving? Slow right? And what about food hygiene? Staffs are busy pulling pants all the time. I hate coming here read more

I came here for my lunch break. I ordered my 3 slices as usual and waited in line. And I waited as people around me came and went, but still no order. I went back up to the counter to check the status and the person looked confused. He turned and asked the server if my order had been placed, she replied no and went back to her duties. At that point I told them I needed a refund because this caused me to miss my lunch break. A simple apology would have prevented this review. read more

Buttery, cheesy goodness. Best pizza in the East Bay. Just as good or better heated up the following day.

Let me give you a pizza my mind about Gioia. Needing a quick and hearty dinner and in the mood for pizza, I luckily stumbled upon Gioia while out with my cousin. In the style of New York pizzerias which offer you the goods by the slice, you have a selection of pizzas in the display waiting for you to pick them. Once you've made your selection, the staff will toss it back into the oven to heat and and get all deliciously warm for your consumption. Among the four of us, we were able to sample four different types of pizza. The absolute standout of the bunch was the Funghi slice with it's hearty roasted mushroom topping. I love meat on my pizza, don't get me wrong. But you certainly don't miss it when you're taking a bite into succulent pieces of shrooms. Affordable cost, tasty slices, and friendly staff. Solid pizza that I'd definitely come back for again. read more

Delays, deliberate misdirection, miscommunication, and cold pizza, all for the tidy sum of $36 and change. Thanks, Goia.

Good quality pizza, I love their funghi pizza! Quick and easy in/out joint, but not at the expense of the taste and texture. The dough was hot and crispy, and the ingredients were plentiful and fresh. Price is fair. Will return! read more

I've loved pizza almost my whole life. I grew up on it in NY, and I've had pizza all over the world including many times in Italy, but there's no better pizza anywhere than Gioia. If you haven't had a slice here, you are missing something special. Put it on your bucket list. read more

Pizza on the west coast that can make a NYer smile. New York crust. Perfect crunch, perfect cheese. Great toppings, some totally California. read more

Gioia Pizzeria - Buy a pie - Pizza Near Me - Berkeley, California

I don't know what happened to my previous review of Gioia's Pizza on Yelp, but I'll reiterate what mysteriously disappeared. Best slice of pizza ever. Mushroom. Sayonara Cheeseboard. read more

Love their slices, always! Not to be negative... but what happened to the size of the slices? Haven't been for a couple years. Quality is definitely still just as consistent as it was back then when I would get my haircut across the street at the Elixir Salon. My favorite is still the Funghi as well as the Kale & fennel Sausage. read more

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This pizza is delicious, a large generous cut when you order by the slice, and best of all, hella cheap!!! My favorite is the Italian sausage, just the right balance of savory and spicy. My only complaint is how SLOW this place is during lunch or dinner hours. There doesn't seem to be a sense of efficiency when it comes to taking the orders and getting customers in and out of the door. Other than that, this place remains my favorite pizza in Berkeley. read more

Honestly, probably the closest I've found to an NY slice... plus, you can actually get a SLICE! Only thing, it's $4 a slice...way more than you'd pay in NYC. But, alas, it is the Bay Area and everything is twice as much. read more

Gioia Pizzeria - Pizza Near Me - Berkeley, California

ordered my pie online, very annoying. drove all the way from Walnut Creek to be told they didn't see my order & would I like to wait while they made my pie...pardon me? no refund my money please. very disappointing John read more

Best pizza in East Bay. We love this place. Wish they had more non spicy options. Reliable for large orders.

This was our second time back because the pizza is amazing!! The Butternut Squash is slightly sweet, I've never had anything like it. My brother loved the Funghi (got two of those!), and I enjoyed the Julian. I love how simple the restaurant is, but there aren't many seats. We squeezed into the seats next to a couple and had a friendly conversation with them. read more

Gioia Pizzeria - Butternut Squash (left), Julian (right) - Pizza Near Me - Berkeley, California

The pizza is good but, the black bubbles were crispy and made those slices taste burnt! Still searching for a place that can cook pizza without burning it! I'm from the east coast and I'm spoiled! read more

Gioia Pizzeria - Crispy bubbles... - Pizza Near Me - Berkeley, California

We love Gioia, and this is coming from a born and bred New Yorker and an Italian. It is not Neapolitan style, it is more New York style, crust is crunchy not chewy, sausage and pepperoni are on point. read more

Very good pizza, but I wish the slices were larger for the price tag. You can also get huge salads here which is nice.

Excellent food but frustrating customer service ! On a rainy afternoon several of us waited outside in a line as 1 unfriendly & very slow moving server helped us. Regardless of calling my order in 45 min prior to pick up I was told to wait in line with others ordering then. Only one person served us while several others watched her & us in line. The one server lacked eye contact & some of the simplest expectations such as a basic hello. This is disappointing as the Hayes valley location is not run this way. read more

Came here after having some serious cravings for pizza. I looked on yelp and this place popped up and decided to check it out. The inside of this place is very small so usually you'll see a line coming out the door but don't worry it just because its very small inside. Finding parking will be hard since it is next to a busy street with a lot shops around. I tried the regular pepperoni pizza, the Formaggio (three cheese pizza), Julian (house sausage, lacinato kale, red onions, garlic and chili flakes), and lastly the Salsicca (house made sicilian sausage, pecorino). My favorite one was Julian i really liked the crips of the kale. Honestly this place has some killer pizza i am definitely gonna start coming more often. Highly recommend. read more

Gioia Pizzeria - Pizza Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I've lived in Berkeley for 12 years, and I've eaten a lot of pizza. Cheeseboard, Zachary's, Lucia's, Little Star, Emilia's -- all excellent in their own way. I've had good pizza in Oakland, in San Francisco, and also had a few good pizzas in Italy. The Julian at Gioia is the best slice of pizza I've ever had. Super thin, crisp crust. Delicious tomato sauce with a bit of sweetness and acid. Light cheese. Very thinly sliced ham and a bit of rosemary. A bit of red pepper flakes. Insanely delicious. The Julian changes sometimes -- I've had it with sausage and kale and that was good too. But the ham and rosemary version if just the best. Thanks guys. read more