Build Pizzeria Roma

The pizza at Build has been hit or miss for me. Build is just like Pieology in that you can customize your pizza with any and all ingredients offered and it is freshly baked and brought to your table, but Build’s pizza is at a higher price point and the restaurant offers more variety of gourmet ingredients. I am a creature of habit, so I always order the same thing when I’m at Build which is a pizza with bianca sauce base and topped with goat cheese, pulled mozzarella, spinach, basil, and an egg in the center. I love the flavor profile of this pizza, but I have an issue with the consistency of the bake. It’s been about ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ when my pizza has come undercooked, and this is after quite a bit of time of waiting since ordering. My other issue is that the pizza is really expensive. Unlike Pieology, Build charges by the ingredient, so if you ask for more on your pizza you will be charged more. Even though the pizza I order has minimal ingredients, I still end up paying $ 20 for it after tax and tip. Pieology charges a flat rate for your pizza, so it is actually to your advantage to get more ingredients, and I walk away paying less than $ 10 for my pizza after tax and tip. While I did enjoy the gourmet ingredients and high end feel of Build, due to its issues in consistency and expensive price point, I can’t say that I will miss it now that it has closed.

I only went twice, and the pizza was decidedly underwhelming. And now, if the rumors are to be believed, I’ll never get a chance to go again because Build has gone belly up.
On both visits the pizzas were improperly and/​or unevenly cooked. I read recently that Build began to offer a «guarantee» — meaning if you didn’t like your pizza they’d make you a new one. I’d be very reluctant to take a restaurant up on such an offer because having a new pizza made implies having the old one thrown out, and I’m just not comfortable wasting food. Maybe not quite as bad as the SF steakhouse that offered to replace the porterhouse they brought me with one cooked the way I had ordered, but you get the idea. I’d a thousand times rather that Build had trained its staff to cook the pizzas right the first time, and I’m betting there are many others who agree.
Anyhoo, the «beverage program» and vibe were really nice and the concept not bad even if now ubiquitous and less expensively achieved elsewhere (Pieology, MOD, 800 Degrees). I have no idea what caused Build to fail, but do know I was reluctant to return because they couldn’t reliably deliver a properly cooked pizza.
Seems they should have had that down, no?

Checked out Build for the first time this weekend before a movie. Waitstaff was very nice, but a little slow. Would’ve liked a second drink during my meal, but she never checked in with us from taking our order until the end. My first drink was good, though pretty weak. I eventually did order a second drink after my meal and asked for «less ice» and the drink came back all alcohol so that was… Well… Good but kind of annoying.
We had truffle fries as an appetizer and they were good. We got a gluten free Hawaiin pizza and it was very delicious. Only complaint was that for a $ 20+ pizza it was on the small side. If you’re going to split you for sure want to get an appetizer as well. But overall with the appetizer, pizza and two drinks we left pretty full. All of this was about $ 60 including tip.
The one thing that made this visit a 3-​star instead of 4-​star was that while we were sitting there a group of blind people came into the restaurant and sat down at a table. They sat there for probably about 30 minutes and not once did anyone offer them a menu or even talk to them! The restaurant filled with people and the waitstaff would just walk by them and around them to serve everyone but them. I was just mustering up the courage to say something to them or our waitress (if she ever came back) when they finally left. I don’t know if this is like a thing and they know these people or if this was a blatant example of how people with disabilities are treated. I actually thought I was going to be on a hidden camera show! Whatever it was, it was burned into my memory and I wasn’t able to shake it all night. :(

This. place. sucks.
I will not be back. So many reasons.
I went here with a group, and we had a reservation for 12. They seated us at an 8 person table, then crowded everyone else around. We ordered at all at the same time, but they brought our food one person at a time over the course of 40 minutes. When the food finally did come, the pizza was soggy and bland. The people who got their food first were finished and left by the time the last person got theirs. We also ordered appetizers, which they never brought. Some people never got their drinks at all. When it came time to leave, we were ignored for so long that I had to get up and go find the waitress to bring our check to her. I asked for a box and they only had large pizza sized boxes, which meant I didn’t get to take home leftovers since i was on a bike.
Over priced mediocre pizza and terrible service. I have no interest in going there again. If you want good pizza and a beer go to Jupiter.

People complain about the portion of the pizza. THANK YOU BUILD FOR DOING YOUR PART TO REDUCE THE GLUTTONY OF AMERICA!
The portion of pizza is just right if you are to eat the amount that is healthy and good for you. Any bigger and you are over eating. The thing that makes this pizza great is the non existence of grease and the super fresh ingredients. You know it’s fresh because they change seasonally, and once they are out they are out. No giant bins of old mushrooms hiding under in the kitchen. Plus, being able to watch your dough tossed and pizza built to your liking adds a level of comfort you didn’t know you were missing.
The Truffle Arancini were freaking amazing, which means I am sure the Truffle Fries and Brussel Sprouts are great too.
The owner is super nice and really cares about her business. Match customer service with good food and you have your self a great establishment. Good wine and beer on tap helps :)

I came here with two friends on a Friday night. I believe this place is better for lunch than dinner, or so as my friend tells me.
FOOD: I got a beer and shared a Accra pizza. The pizza was solid, good, but it was really small. I guess I was expecting a lot. The ingredients were good, but maybe a little larger portion would have been ideal.
BAR: We sat at the bar for a bit, but a lot of things were not available on tap to our dismay. A little shocking for a Friday night, but I would hope the beer selection would be stocked for the weekend.
SERVICE: It was what was expected. The service was good.
Overall, the price was something of a downer, especially for the portion size. The lack of beer too available was also disappointing. But with quality ingredients and service, the place is not bad.

This is still one of my favorite pizza places! I ordered the margharita pizza with itslian sausage on a gluten free crust. Today’s crust was pretty dry and stiff. I wanted more of the wild oregano on the pizza.
I’ve always loved the atmosphere here. The music
is really nice. The benefits of coming during the day is that parking is plentiful.

Slightly confused on how to order. The hostess seated us, but then the server told us we could also order Subway-​style elsewhere if we wanted to take a look at the ingredients. We went up to try that, but people behind us had numbers so we just went back to our table and ordered there. The server told us they were changing that process so I’m not sure if that has happened already.
The pizza, though, was delicious! I got the Rossa sauce on half, the Bianca on the other (gotta try both). Both sauces were bomb. I also recommend the fresh pulled mozzarella cheese; I love how it melts on the pie. I added sundried tomatoes, basil, broccolini.
The toppings are fresh, and the broccolini wasn’t raw but had a well-​seasoned taste and the perfect crunchy texture. Definitely a yummy pizza.
Go for lunch though, where the toppings are unlimited for one flat price. I went for dinner where that was not the case, so adding more toppings got pretty pricy compared to other Berkeley pizzerias.

Amped up on my recent pizza fix, I had dinner with a friend at BUILD on Sunday (after pizza for lunch). Waves of nostalgia hit me as soon as I saw the new setting of the old Shattuck Down Low.
It was a group of five of us and seating around 6:30 pm was instant; there was no wait whatsoever, which I LOVE. The concept is essentially creating your own pizza from scratch. It seems fun to watch this being done-​I thought it would be more geared towards kids but apparently it appeals to adults too.
Food: I had the mac’n’cheese with added mushroom (adding additional ingredients is $ 1 each) and bread crumbs. It was served piping hot and in a stone dish on a wood board (rustic). It wasn’t the best mac’n’cheese I’ve had but it held its own. The others at the table ordered two different types of pizzas (both looked good), salad, and another pasta dish. For appetizers we had the truffle fries which were amazing and the brussels sprouts with bacon (a bit too sour). The food was good but overpriced-​$ 9 for a small mac’n’cheese and $ 15 for a personal pizza.
Atmosphere: I found this to be a bit confusing as the intention is to be an upscale place but it just isn’t. The bathrooms were club-​ish which seemed odd; the sinks were shared which is a common in bars. I’m guessing they didn’t change it since the Shattuck Down Low days.
Another star docked because our waitress was very rude and all of us noticed. I’d consider coming back but it wouldn’t be my first pick especially with Jupiter right across the street.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about BUILD. It’s definitely a more swanky pizza place that seems to pride itself on the ability to create your own pizza using an array of fresh toppings. It’s a little quirky in that you order at the topping «bar» and after assembling, your pizza only takes about 90 seconds to cook in the oven.
A few friends and I stopped in to order a pizza to share as a snack. We opted for the Piccante, which was something like $ 17 – 18. This is pretty steep for what is essentially a personal pizza of 6 slices. If you are really light eaters, you could maybe split 2 pizzas between 3 people. The pizza was indeed cooked very fast and came out piping hot with a good looking crust with a little bit of char. The ingredients were very fresh and you could really taste the individual toppings. The center of the pizza was really soggy and floppy causing pretty much all the toppings to fall off when you lift a slice. Granted, we got the pizza to-​go so it sat in a box for 10 minutes, but the crust could still probably be a little thicker to support the toppings and cheese and sauce.
Overall, the pizza was good, but I simply can’t justify spending that much money on it. Starting with a basic cheese pizza starts you off at $ 12 and each additional topping is at least an additional $ 2. You can easily rack up a $ 20 personal pizza. When there’s places like Cheeseboard that do $ 20 for an entire pizza that can feed 4 people, or The Star which does $ 9 personal pizzas, it’s hard to justify coming to BUILD and shelling out premium $. I would consider throwing this place in the pizza rotation if the prices were just a bit cheaper.

Too expensive. Nice pizza but definitely not the best at all. Cesar salad was just some tossed lettuce leaves with a few bread croutons, grated cheese and a single 1 inch long anchovie piece :(The place is big and nice, though. There was a missing ingredient in one of our pizza, so they had to take it and came back to the table slightly burned … There are tons of excellent restaurants to choose from here in Berkeley, so I guess I will not come back to Build.

BUILD Pizzeria – this has been amongst my bookmarks of places to try. On Monday of finals week BUILD Pizzeria posted on their Instagram account that «Pizza is brain fuel! Cram for your finals with an $ 8 lunch pie from 11:30 to 3p today!»
After working out and studying at the RSF, it was time for more studying and get some lunch before the trek home on the bus. Pizza is brain food (and a food group) for college students. And I want my pizza my way since I am in my usual selfish mode! And BUILD Pizzeria it is going to be.
When I walked in, it was virtually empty. There were about four customers/​party of two at separate tables eating their bespoke pizzas. BUILD Pizzeria used to open for lunch on Fridays only, now BUILD Pizzeria is open for lunch for lunch everyday. (Check out their website for more information.) It was a bit of a walk to the pizza building area from the entrance. I guess it serves as a holding area for the queuing traffic.
I was informed that someone would be with me in a moment. I glanced at the options available. The pizza chef came out to BUILD my pizza to my specifications. I was delighted to learn I could have all the toppings I want at no extra charge since it was a special promotional deal – I was going to go just for mushroom pizza. Since it was going to be my bespoke pizza, let’s go high on the hog here. So first up was the classic red tomato sauce. Then mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Mushrooms-​lots of it – basil, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, and top top it all off – prosciutto!!! Six paper thin slices of prosciutto would be placed on after the pizza was baked. I had to tell the pizza builder to put on lots and lots of mushrooms.
After placing my order, then go to the till to
pay and be given a number. The associate was kind enough to get me a glass of water since I was laden with a backpack, purse, and a big/​thick raincoat. Then the next step is for the customer to find a seat and wait for the bespoke pizza to be delivered to them. I was able to find a table to be cocooned in so I could study my exam notes, and not underneath the speakers where a variety of popular music was playing.
Cor! The pizza was delivered to my table in under five minutes. Paper-​thin layer of six prosciutto slices on each slice of pizza. And it was so good. I savored every bite of it! Lots of veggies – oh so good – underneath the prosciutto. Just right pour moi while perusing exam notes and revisiting readings.
I am quite delighted that BUILD Pizzeria is open for lunch now five days a week. And that there is another lunch option available in beautiful Downtown Berkeley. I will be back when I am able next semester for sure.
Buon appetito! Ciao!
SYOY!

The Lunch Special was $ 7.99 for unlimited toppings. Such a bargain. The crust was soft and chewy. Other pizzas I saw looked wet and soupy. The jalapenos were super hot, so be careful.
The Caesar Salad was average with white anchovies costing extra.
We ordered at the counter and the food was brought to the table. There were self-​serve carafes of water for the table.
I will be back.

I recently went on a gluten free diet and find sometimes gluten free options are limited. This place was very accommodating. The waitress was also really sweet and passed out appetizers to everyone waiting. When the waitress heard I was gluten free she went to try to have a gluten free appetizer made for me. Very nice!
On top of the great service the pizza here was honestly the best pizza I ever had! I ordered a bianca sauce (olive oil based) with basil and prosciutto. The crust was thin on both gluten free and regular crust. Also their salted carmel with soft serve … Amazing!!! I wish they had one closer to Walnut Creek! Great pizza place!

My pizza-​loving husband took me here on a date before leaving for his fishing trip with his dad. He loves pizza and this place has the kind of pizza he likes! Their pizza has a thin crust but doesn’t flop over like most thin crust pizza do. He ordered the Carni pizza and loved it. The pizza was definitely enough for two. I only had a couple of slices as I was getting full from the appetizer and salad. My husband was happy to finish the rest of the pie!
We also ordered the truffle fries and calamari for our appetizers. Loved the truffles fries! So crunchy and flavorful! The calamari was good too. It was crispy and the aioli was perfect with it. We also shared a large Caesar Salad. The dressing was good and was nicely distributed on the greens and came with anchovies anchovies on the side. Would order this salad again next time we’re here. We ordered the warm chocolate cake with Crème Fraiche and Raspberry Coulis for dessert and that was good too.
As for drinks he had a Sauvignon Blanc and I had one of their specialty cocktails. I’ve been on a ginger cocktail obsession lately so the Tazza di Pimms really hit the spot.
Service was very attentive. Everything came out at the right time and they were always refilling our water. We will definitely return here!

Finally was able to try this place after hearing all the great things about it. When I walked in, it was beautifully decorated. Very modern. The hostess was very friendly and sat us promptly.
SERVICE:
Our waitress didn’t exude the same friendly demeanor as our hostess. Maybe she was having a rough day, but I felt a bit of anger coming from her. Although, she was still very professional. It was our first time here, so she explained what our options were — either build our own pizza or order one of their signature pizza.
Another note: It was quite difficult to communicate with the chef behind the counter. She mention that it was quite loud in the kitchen so I needed to speak up. But I felt like I was screaming at her to be heard. But she was friendly and didn’t seem to mind my screaming.
FOOD:
Build Pizza — We opted to build our pizza. It came out pretty decent, but there were a few slices that were on the edge of being burnt. It was nice that all their ingredients were high quality, which gave the pizza more flavor.
Truffle Fries — Decent. Half our fries were crispy and the other half were limp. The flavors of the parmesan and herb came through nicely though.
Spinach Salad — They had a unique way to presenting the salad. It’s more like a deconstructed salad, but it works. The dressing was my favorite part — not too heavy but the flavors were there.
Overall:
It’s definitely worth a try. The pizza wasn’t anything that really wowed me, but it was a good experience to have.

Not sure why this place gets 4 stars… I think «meh» describes it best. Let me start with the positives:
— Big and clean inside
— Nice beer selection (although they have 16 drafts and only list their 6 favorites on the menu… so unless you walk up and look at the taps, you won’t know the other 10)
The negatives:
— The concept is odd. It’s all about «Building your own pizza» — how is that different from any other place? Just about any pizzeria lets you pick your topping… that’s nothing new.
— You have to get seated, then a waitress comes and takes your drink and appetizer order. If you want a custom pizza, then they give you a ticket and you walk up to the pizza counter where the stuff is laid out like chipotle/​subway — you pick your toppings there — and then you go sit down again and have to wait for them to bring it. I don’t really get the point… is it supposed to be more fun when you see the toppings? I wish they would just take my order — I dont need to go to the counter
— The pizza itself was just ok… nothing special.
— They ran out of a ton of stuff when we got there at 6pm… a little early to be out of everything… no?
— Service was meh…
Not enough positives to come back. I would deal with it all if the pizza was amazing… but it’s just ok… and a personal pizza with a decent number of toppings is going to cost you $ 14−18…so not cheap either.
There are tons of great pizza places in the area… so I’d rather just go to one of them instead.

I met up with Jacob E. for a beer, but the beerhaus with the planetary name on the corner of Shattuck was overflowing with thirsty patrons. We wandered around Berkeley for a while, until we stumbled upon Build Pizzeria. We decided to grab a beer at the bar (which quickly turned into two beers for him) and each of us ordered a pizza as well.
I ordered mine with the Rossa sauce. I told the pizza maker fellow that I was vegan (just to be on the safe side), and he asked if I wanted the gluten free crust. I felt like indulging a little bit, so I decided to stick with the regular crust. Hey, sometimes I like to live on the edge! Also, some gf crusts aren’t vegan, so I erred on the side of caution.
I chose the Daiya dairy-​free cheese, as well as bell peppers, raw red onions, eggplant, and zucchini. I felt like the eggplant was sliced way too thin, so I would not order this topping again. I couldn’t even taste it.
Nicholas the bartender/​server dude was stellar. He provided us with some much-​needed entertainment and comic relief, as well as the suggestion to use some of the spicy pepper oil on the table. Yum!
Was it the best pizza ever? Hmm, not quite. The crust was a little too thin and limp for my liking, but the bell peppers were wonderfully crisp and fresh, as were the onions. I would definitely recommend choosing these two veggies to build the pizza pie of your dreams. They do offer a full bar with many delightfully boozy concoctions (including a drink with absinthe (!), which I will definitely try on my next visit), several craft beers, and four different beer flights.
I almost feel like the whole experience of watching your pizza being built was over too quickly. Mine was assembled in a speedy manner that only lasted a minute or two. Maybe one day they will have a hibachi-​style pizza restaurant, one where you can watch the pizza baking right at your table. Wouldn’t that be something?

I came to Build for dessert and drinks on a Saturday night. Usually this place is packed but thankfully my friend and I were able to be seated immediately.
We had Jose as our waiter who was so friendly and charming! He was very attentive and checked in with us multiple times to make sure everything was okay.
*I would recommend Jose as your server*
We ordered the fruity beer flight, Moroccan nights cocktail, and a coconut cocktail. The drinks were great! We also ordered the Tiramasu, which was delicious.
We also spoke frequently to another server, Rachel, who had a wonderful sense of humor and was very friendly. I would recommend her as well.
Come to Build for a fun and relaxing atmosphere!

Stopped in at the bar for a drink with a friend. their cocktails here are tasty… Creative themed drinks that are mixed up by an expert bartender. They really are good.
I had the Moroccan Nights drink which was delicious, citrus-​y and strong. and my friend had the Scottish Folk Hero which was an excellent blend of whiskies and flavors reminiscent of an old fashioned but with a modern feel.
We both left quite happier than we arrived.

Fantastic! Went there on Christmas Eve and had warm, friendly service and amazing food. We brought our own Fre (dealcoholized wine) and appreciated the zero corkage fee too. OpenTable made reservations a breeze.
Definitely coming back!