Pyzano’s Pizzeria

SAD! Tony Gemignani, I guy who owns a pizza place in CASTRO VALLEY, goes to Naples, Italy in 2011 and wins Best Pizza Margherita at the World Pizza Cup, the FIRST American to EVER do so! On the Food Paradise television show, they insisted on saying he was from «San Francisco», but on that show, he still acknowledged he was from «CASTRO VALLEY»!
I only recently went had the opportunity to finally go to one of Tony’s restaurants… have you seen HOW MANY restaurants he has now (despite abandoning Castro Valley)? Sadly, it seems to me that he has decided to exchange his fame and QUALITY for dollar signs. The ‘restaurant’ that I visited did not even have all the ingredients to make one of their ‘standard’ menu items at mid-​day. My wife and I ended up leaving without eating.
It’s really disappointing when you THINK you have gotten a genuine impression of someone from seeing them on TV, then learn the truth is FAR different…

Don’t order delivery… they have so much business they just don’t care if you get hot pizza. I gave them 3 chances and I only live 5 to 7 minutes away and my cheese was cold. 45 dollars for 2 med pizzas and they are cold. They wont get my money again.

Saw it on the Travel Channel «Best Places I’ve Been»
Best Pizza very Yummy!

A shame that this pizza place has shut down. Their huge calzones were stuffed with quality vegetables, sauce and meat; even the dough was a treat.
I’ll miss their pizza slice and salad lunch deal, too.

I am stunned that Pyzano’s closed down. Like others have said, this is a CV icon. I really don’t understand. I’ve lived away from CV for almost a decade now, but every time I come home, I go to Pyzano’s.
Too many memories of going here to pick up a combo pizza for family dinner, or after soccer practice.
What’s next, Golfland closes down!!!

This place, their pizza, their calzones, their breadsticks, their big screen TV’s, and beer will be sorely missed. I’m so sorry to see this place leave Castro Valley, it was definitely a CV icon.
This place had the best pizza, hands down. True, it was on the pricier side, but if you want cheap shit, either call Domino’s or go warm up a DiGiorno or a Hot Pocket.
There’s plenty of rumors going around about why it closed. I prefer to remember all the good memories of it being there in the first place.

Officially evicted as of 6÷21÷2012 by order of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. The pizza here was mediocre at best. I guess Tony Gemignani forgot where he came from and spent all of his time and money with his other place Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in SF. Okay, technically this was his brother’s place, but whatever.

Two stars for the pizza itself, if you ever get your order.
The first time I came here, it was right before closing, so I didn’t expect much. However, I was surprised that they took our order without complaint, and our beautiful pizza with a huge amount of toppings with super fresh veggies arrived in short order [it appeared to be without extra ‘gifts’ from the closing crew, too].
I was ready to give them 5 stars. Then I visited again.
The next time, just after the dinner rush, we placed our order with a girl who was more interested in continuing the conversation with her coworker than our toppings, and sat to wait for our pie. We continued to sit. And sit. And sit. For 45 minutes. Finally we went back up and asked if there was a problem with our order, and [shockingly] the absentminded order-​taker had not put in our order at all. We were told this unapologetically and without offer of any compensation for the inconvenience. We did at least get our money back, and left.
Just reliving that experience while writing this review is making me want to bump this back down to a one-​star, but really, if you get them on a good day the pizza is pretty good.

Was incredible, in the beginning, several years ago.
Food, and service, slowly declined over the years.
Now they are closed, supposedly for repairs,
I have heard, from those who should know, that the owner’s
personal problems caused him to run the business into the ground.
Too bad…

FYI they are currently closed for at least a month so far,?
Dont waste your gas driving here unless they pick up the phone when u call

This is a review by a vegetarian
3.5 stars rounded up.
I hab pissa mouf afta eabing a hah pissa here.
It’s thicker than thin and thinner than thick. People go topping crazy here but it’s not necessary.
This is not destination pizza but it’s a good food option if you’re passing by the Crow Canyon /​580 interchange.
Order at the counter and put the number on the table.
One HUGE projection screen and two regular 42“ish flat screens for game watching.
0 ambiance and they need to be more diligent in wiping the tables after a party leaves.

Best pizza around!
I had first seen the owner, Tony Gemignani, on the Food Network. He was competing in the pizza tossing competition, and also the taste competition. I fell in love with the pizza that was featured in the taste round and was delighted to find out that his restaurants were in my area.
About the restaurant:
— Located in Castro Valley, the restaurant is located in a small strip mall.
— Typical pizza place vibe, but great for casual gatherings or sports viewing nights.
— Expect a fun, yet noisy atmosphere… and expect a long wait!
— To-​go is always a great option too.
The good stuff… aka…my two favorite pizzas in the whole world:
— CAL ITALIA: Gorgonzola, aged asiago, parmesano reggiano, mozzerella, sweet figs, prosciutto and basalmic. UN-​BE-​LIEV-​ABLE. (this was the featured pie on the Food Network).
— THE SOPRANO: Sliced meatballs, garlic, mozzerella, NY sauce, and parmesan. The meatballs are tender, flavorful and unlike anything you’ve ever had!
GO THERE. DO IT.
(they also have a higher-​end restaurant in SF where you can get these, along with other great pizzas including a version with black truffles… yum.)

Unilocal is telling me that I’ve never reviewed Pyzano’s. I find it hard to believe, but it must be true. Would Unilocal lie to me? Okay, maybe every once in a while. But not about something like this.
They have some good pizza. And you can’t beat their pizza tossing claims to fame! It’s fun to actually see chefs tossing pizza in a pizzeria. My favorite pies are the Godfather (I’m a sucker for New York style), the true Italian (two of my favorites, pesto and tomatoes), and the Genoa (feta, pesto, chicken, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes… perfecto). The only reasons we don’t eat here more often are a) it gets pretty busy sometimes and the wait can be long and b) we can get dinner for about half the price with coupons for nearby places that are almost as good. But every once in awhile we splurge. And we are never disappointed!

Berkeley Cheeseboard. MOVE OVER. Pyzano’s just stole your crown for best pizza ever. Came here with two friends and we ordered the Supreme Large (which was supposed to feed 4 – 6 people). For the size of the pizza, and the generous, generous amount of toppings that they had on it, it was definitely worth the $ 33 we paid for it. In addition to the pizza, we also ordered 12 wings for $ 6.85 — not cause we thought we would be hungry, but cause one of my friend is a wings fanatic: P
The pizza was DELICIOUS. The crust was thick, the tomato sauce was very fresh with tomato chunks, and the toppings were definitely a huge step up from your standard toppings (fresh pan fried bacon, half cut slices of tomatoes, lean lean sausage mean, etc).
Though the pizza was intended for up to 6 people, my friends and I almost finished, with two pieces left. Too good to not eat: P
I would highly recommend this place for people passing through Castro Valley. Fast service, good food.

As you get older, sometimes your tastes change and you realize that the things you ate when you were younger are absolutely disgusting. Well, I’ve been eating at Pyzano’s since I was a kid, and 20 years later I still love their pizza!
Came here on a Sunday night and had the Primo. Great chewy crust, definitely generous with the toppings, and not too heavy on the sauce. Over the years, I’ve tried a number of their pizzas and especially love the Stromboli when I’m in the mood for meat, the veggie when I want to feel healthy, and the BBQ chicken. Bonus points for all the TVs showing different sporting events!

We had a little «end of the semester class party here» after my microbiology class. My teacher said she first heard of this place on food network and since then she’s love the place.
I walked in and there was an abundance of people for a weeknight, so that must be a plus good food on a weeknight.
We ordered a couple of pizzas, I tried about 3 of them and they were quite tasty. The pesto sauce was really flavorful and they don’t skimp on the toppings. Every bite there were toppings falling off.
You go up to the counter and order and they give you a placard with a number and deliver your pizza. Midway through we ordered more pizzas and the servers were very nice. We had a good time and didn’t realize it was near closing time so it’s understandable that they kind of pushed us out… no one wants to stay past their shift.
Overall it was a good place and I would come here again.

Me and My girlfriend stopped here for pizza one night when we were looking for a place out of the rain. The pizza here was just as fantastic as it was in highschool when it was my friens working there. Well the workers still make the BEST pizza in CV.
The Large beer was fantastic, and They have a huge screen in the back and we saw a good portion of a football game, 5 stars!

Random Pizzeria in a dead Castro Valley plaza along 580. (PetCo plaza)
I was originally craving Mediterranean food, which lead me to this Plaza for Palomares Café. Unfortunately, they were not open. So Pyzano’s caught my attention. Having not to Unilocal this place before hand, we order their Pizza of the Day — «The God Father» by the slice at $ 4.
The slice is quite small compared to slices you’d get form a New York Pizza place. I’d say, Costco size slice? A tad smaller? The pizza was just like a combination pizza but with Italian Sausage. It was pretty good. I’d come again, if Palomares was close. Haha.

Always a fam favorite. The nephews and nieces love it too. Came here last week and we had 3 large pizzas along with salads. The vegetarian pizzas are really good and the cheese pizzas are Delicious as well. Coupons really help. Yes I did say coupons. Look them up and ck out their prices and you’ll see why. ha ha Love this place.

Since we were in the area, my roommate and I stopped by for a late lunch today. A nice ‘local’ pizza place type of environment, clean and homely.
Now the pizza… Since it was our first time here, we asked the person at the counter what’s the most popular one. She actually recommended a number of them, but we decided to go with «The Primo» (all meat one).
Very good pizza I must say. Not too too oily, right amounts of cheese and sauce, and a good amount of meat toppings. Now we were also hungry, so obviously it made it even that much better. Why not 5 stars… I’ve had pizza at other ‘local’ type places that were just as good. But still, if you’re ever in the area and craving for pizza, definitely Pyzano’s would be a good first choice. I’ve uploaded a picture taken from my mobile phone of «The Primo pizza. We ordered the X-​Large one, but only half of it was left for the shot.
PS. The people at the table next to us had a pizza with half size meatballs that were HUGE! It looked pretty good I must say. Another table next to us ordered I believed were calzones, which were also HUGE and looked pretty good. Maybe on the next stop, we’ll try those.