Tips: Berkeley

Posted by Adam Kuban, August 29, 2005 at 9:30 AM

Friend of Slice Cyrus Farivar responds to our last entry about Berkeley pizza hotspots:

Ok, firstly, as far as East Bay rags go, the Berkeley Daily Planet is not exactly a gold standard. This is the same paper that in 2002, following a random possible hate crime against a rabbi and his son, ran the headline "The Jews Are Attacked Near Campus." (And yes, I'm biased, I was an editor at the Daily Californian.)

The Telegraph joints (Blondie's, Fat Slice) are good given their proximity to campus, but not for much else. If you're near campus and you can't do anything else, this is acceptable, but if you can spare a ten-minute walk (less if you're on the westside of campus), then there's no reason you shouldn't go to Arinell's. Blondie's gets points for having cool décor and magazines taped up to the wall so you have something to read if you're going solo.

If you're willing to head up to Hopkins Street in North Berkeley, (which might as well be on the other side of the world for traditionally lazy Berkeley students), the place to go is Gioia. [Earlier Slice entry on Gioia.]

That said, the new hotness in town (ok, North Oakland, but all Berkeley students have free bus passes, so there's no excuse) is Pizzialo. I haven't been myself yet, but my sources say it's good.

Also the new kid on the block is Pie in the Sky (New Jersey–style pizza, apparently).

Thanks for that rundown, Cyrus. We know you know your pies, so readers would do well to take heed of this slice syllabus.

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Tags: Bay Area, Berkeley, California, Northern California, Tips, U.S.