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Relatively plain as far as the sauce and the crust. The New Haven style pie "Rose" was burnt. TnT had the best flavor but the Thai chilis still had the stems on them. Amazing flavor in the peppers but solidly annoying to pick the stems off the peppers and placing them back on the pizza.
Ok pizza alone would get a 5 - appreciate what they're dishing out! Just don't dine here if you can help it. They have indoor seating up a precarious set of stairs - great that they offer something since the pizza is best enjoyed immediately out the over - but the ambiance is quite lackluster (and smells oddly...cheesy??). Service was also close to non-existent. So just come for the good food!
My favs: TKO pizza with sausage, TNT (sans Thai chiles because I'm a wuss--LOL), David Mack, and fresh peach (seasonal). Since dining in has been closed since pandemic, I order half-baked pies ahead of arrival; my wait is minimal and I finish baking at home. Been a satisfied regular since 2017, when they opened.
I had seen the lines at Bare Knuckle and, with curiosity piqued, I knew I had to one day give it a try. I went back but was disappointed after walking up to take a look that I didn't see any seats, and it appeared to be solely a take out joint. I don't like taking a pie home as a first impression because I know time in the box with its inevitable steam will alter the crust and the taste. I walked away disappointed. That was a couple years ago, and since I tried just about every other highly rated pizza haunt in the East Bay, I was seriously thinking of returning to Bare Knuckle and braving the take out route. Maybe hurriedly stealing bites from a slice in my car to make my tasting verdict. As I was being pulled to this last resort, I decided to go through Bare Knuckle's yelp pics. It was then I noticed there were tables with smiling diners! All this time there was seating?? Yes, there was! Upstairs in fact. Thank you my fellow yelpers and your sweet camera work! So I headed over. It's still set up like a mid-pandemic to-go spot with it's ordering table across the door. But after asking, they did indeed have an upstairs dining area, and they let me in to head up there. Reaching it, I saw that it was relatively small, but there were open tables and seats, and I gladly took one. The narrow, spiraling-high staircase to floor two totally gave speak-easy vibes. All that was missing was a fake phone booth in front of it. My order, The Roman, came oven hot. At first, the encompassing mesh of parmesan slivers hid the ingredients and put me off because I like to see what's on my pizza. But it turned out to be a masterful culinary stroke, veiling for surprise the beauty of the enticing ingredients underneath. Usually, the protein on the pizza is the star, but not in this case. There was no one star in this cast of sausage, red sauce, onions and mushrooms, but they were all brilliant support players making the pizza as a whole the star. The crust with its pillowing fluffy edges and a middle evincing a strong hearty chew and a hint of seasoning was the perfect stage. I usually take home a slice but couldn't resist enjoying the rest of this tantalizing performance hot until the curtain call.
This was my first time trying Bare Knuckle Pizza. They are open Thursday to Saturday from 5pm to 9pm, so it's a fairly small window in order to try them out. I was thinking, I wish that was how much I could work secularly with the same pay, I think I'd be a pretty happy person. That being said I ordered three pizzas: Margherita: tomato sauce (from locally grown tomatoes), fresh mozz, parm, extra-virgin olive oil. DAVID MACK: sauce, fresh mozz, pepperoni, prosciutto, parm, and fresh basil. Sweet Revenge: sauce, mozz, pepperoni, chili, and honey. All the pizzas were solid. Pizzas were prepared quickly. Very small for close to $20 per pizza but I guess inflation is to blame. Overall a decent pizza but not my favorite.
First off, they make solid pizzas with a range of toppings/flavors. However, it comes with a caveat: For better or for worse, the pizza isn't greasy and doesn't feel too heavy. But you have to go in knowing this since a lot of us expect a greasy salty indulgence when we try a new pizza place. Small size for the price. Again, still delicious. Street parking only, watch your car closely since it's in downtown Oakland.
Delicious! Bubbly crisp crust with the right amount of chew, combined with a robust red sauce. The best part is that they accommodate a wide range of dietary preferences (from vegan, to dairy free, to gluten free). Our go to is their double real pepperoni with vegan cheese. Because they use Butcher's Son vegan moz and know the perfect amount to melt on top, it's literally the closest you'll get to a real cheese pizza! Their vegan TKO is really special too. Plus, super nice owner and staff! An Oakland gem!
4 months ago
Just tried one of Bare Knuckle's collab pizzas today, made with Lion Dance Cafe (a former Oakland based, Michelin-mentioned restaurant created by James Beard Semifinalist Chefs, C-Y Chia and Shane Stanebridge). Oh my goodness was this one of the best vegan pizzas I've ever had! Special Pizza Collab with Lion Dance Cafe: FLAMING PUMPKIN PIZZA - Thinly shaved delicata squash marinated with garlic and evoo, vegan mozzarella cheese, drizzled with LDC's special recipe for Fresno chili sambal sauce with ginger and calamansi, roasted peanuts, and Thai basil leaves. All the flavors and textures melded so well together and it wasn't particularly 'hot' spicy. I especially loved the marinated slivers of delicata squash and LDC's special sambal sauce - especially since it contained calamansi! (one of my favorite citrus flavors). Even though the pizza is vegan (for those on this type of diet), honestly, I think everyone would enjoy and love this gourmet pizza. The thin crust had a perfectly nice mouthfeel and was baked just right. The LDC chef duo is relocating to Singapore next week, but this Collab Pizza will still be available at Bare Knuckle Pizza until tomorrow night, Saturday March 7th, this special collab is to help with the launch of LDC's new recipe book - so get a taste of this collab pizza while you can! read more
I tried the peaches version of their pear or peach pizza, which has fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, sliced peaches, arugula prosciutto, and Parmesan, and used vegan bacon. The peaches aren't overwhelming and added a nice sweet tint. The cheese is more pungent. Overall I thought it was really good, the arugula actually balanced out well with the other sweet, salty, and savory ingredients. Bare Knuckle has some uncommon pizza flavors, but so far all of the ones I've tried have been good. read more
23 days ago
Relatively plain as far as the sauce and the crust. The New Haven style pie "Rose" was burnt. TnT had the best flavor but the Thai chilis still had the stems on them. Amazing flavor in the peppers but solidly annoying to pick the stems off the peppers and placing them back on the pizza. read more
3 months ago
Pizza was delicious. Service was fast. No complaints. I will be back before I leave the area. read more
Ok pizza alone would get a 5 - appreciate what they're dishing out! Just don't dine here if you can help it. They have indoor seating up a precarious set of stairs - great that they offer something since the pizza is best enjoyed immediately out the over - but the ambiance is quite lackluster (and smells oddly...cheesy??). Service was also close to non-existent. So just come for the good food! read more
2 years ago
My favs: TKO pizza with sausage, TNT (sans Thai chiles because I'm a wuss--LOL), David Mack, and fresh peach (seasonal). Since dining in has been closed since pandemic, I order half-baked pies ahead of arrival; my wait is minimal and I finish baking at home. Been a satisfied regular since 2017, when they opened. read more
I had seen the lines at Bare Knuckle and, with curiosity piqued, I knew I had to one day give it a try. I went back but was disappointed after walking up to take a look that I didn't see any seats, and it appeared to be solely a take out joint. I don't like taking a pie home as a first impression because I know time in the box with its inevitable steam will alter the crust and the taste. I walked away disappointed. That was a couple years ago, and since I tried just about every other highly rated pizza haunt in the East Bay, I was seriously thinking of returning to Bare Knuckle and braving the take out route. Maybe hurriedly stealing bites from a slice in my car to make my tasting verdict. As I was being pulled to this last resort, I decided to go through Bare Knuckle's yelp pics. It was then I noticed there were tables with smiling diners! All this time there was seating?? Yes, there was! Upstairs in fact. Thank you my fellow yelpers and your sweet camera work! So I headed over. It's still set up like a mid-pandemic to-go spot with it's ordering table across the door. But after asking, they did indeed have an upstairs dining area, and they let me in to head up there. Reaching it, I saw that it was relatively small, but there were open tables and seats, and I gladly took one. The narrow, spiraling-high staircase to floor two totally gave speak-easy vibes. All that was missing was a fake phone booth in front of it. My order, The Roman, came oven hot. At first, the encompassing mesh of parmesan slivers hid the ingredients and put me off because I like to see what's on my pizza. But it turned out to be a masterful culinary stroke, veiling for surprise the beauty of the enticing ingredients underneath. Usually, the protein on the pizza is the star, but not in this case. There was no one star in this cast of sausage, red sauce, onions and mushrooms, but they were all brilliant support players making the pizza as a whole the star. The crust with its pillowing fluffy edges and a middle evincing a strong hearty chew and a hint of seasoning was the perfect stage. I usually take home a slice but couldn't resist enjoying the rest of this tantalizing performance hot until the curtain call. read more
4 months ago
3 years ago
This was my first time trying Bare Knuckle Pizza. They are open Thursday to Saturday from 5pm to 9pm, so it's a fairly small window in order to try them out. I was thinking, I wish that was how much I could work secularly with the same pay, I think I'd be a pretty happy person. That being said I ordered three pizzas: Margherita: tomato sauce (from locally grown tomatoes), fresh mozz, parm, extra-virgin olive oil. DAVID MACK: sauce, fresh mozz, pepperoni, prosciutto, parm, and fresh basil. Sweet Revenge: sauce, mozz, pepperoni, chili, and honey. All the pizzas were solid. Pizzas were prepared quickly. Very small for close to $20 per pizza but I guess inflation is to blame. Overall a decent pizza but not my favorite. read more
First off, they make solid pizzas with a range of toppings/flavors. However, it comes with a caveat: For better or for worse, the pizza isn't greasy and doesn't feel too heavy. But you have to go in knowing this since a lot of us expect a greasy salty indulgence when we try a new pizza place. Small size for the price. Again, still delicious. Street parking only, watch your car closely since it's in downtown Oakland. read more
11 months ago
Business owner information
Viet N.
Thanks for the write up! We still offer indoor dining btw.
1 year ago
Delicious! Bubbly crisp crust with the right amount of chew, combined with a robust red sauce. The best part is that they accommodate a wide range of dietary preferences (from vegan, to dairy free, to gluten free). Our go to is their double real pepperoni with vegan cheese. Because they use Butcher's Son vegan moz and know the perfect amount to melt on top, it's literally the closest you'll get to a real cheese pizza! Their vegan TKO is really special too. Plus, super nice owner and staff! An Oakland gem! read more
1 year ago
1 year ago
1 year ago
2 years ago
While visiting from SoCal we got some pizza delivered from here to our hotel. I really liked that they had so many vegan options. The crusts were all a little too done, but the flavors were spot on. My husband liked the mushroom truffle one. We called to see if the margherita pizza could be just regular cheese for the kids but they must have misunderstood bc it was still the fancy mozzarella so the kids didn't want it :( the vegan margherita pizza was fantastic! read more
10 months ago
11 months ago
1 year ago
1 year ago
I've been seeing the pictures of the pizzas for sometime now and reading a few articles about these them. I'm glad I finally got around to trying a couple of them. As the articles mention--great crust. I had the Margherita and it was tasty. Crust was good--nice and chewy but not tough. The crust was slightly soggy in the middle and that may have been caused by the 25 minute trip home. I would have preferred a little more basil on it. I also tried the Roman. That one was great too--lots of toppings. The pizzas are meant to be a personal one so you wouldn't get one to share as you commonly do with pizza. Of course, you can order more than one type and share. That would be the best so that you can try the different varieties. Parking was a little of a challenge, and we ended up double parking to pick up. The address is a 12th address but the entrance is on Webster. read more
2 years ago
3 years ago
Well obviously people have a lot of different opinions when it comes to pizza because this place is rated so highly. Unfortunately I am not a fan of this place. I had the Roman and David Mac pizzas. The crust was paper thin, and not thin in a crispy good way. Like soggy and unappetizing. Once you got to the crust in was chewy but like a couple other reviews said they have a chard bottom and it's all I could taste. The other issue is there is hardly any cheese. I thought maybe I had ordered the vegan one on accident. Like I said a lot of people really liked this place but I would not go back. read more
5 years ago
Recently went to Bare Knuckle Pizza for dinner. Started w/ an arugula salad. I am a big fan of arugula. The salad was all arugula w/ a nice dressing & vegan parmesan cheese. Would have been nice to have some tomato or other salad greens or veggies to give it a bit more variety. The vegan parmesan cheese added a nice touch. Would recommend this simple yummy salad to pair w/ a pizza. Went w/ the vegan margarita pizza. It was solid. Before I went vegan went to Naples, Italy so have experienced a margarita pizza there. The margarita pizza here is authentic. Love the simplicity of this pizza. Fresh vegan mozzarella cheese from nearby Vegan Butcher's Son in Berkeley really made this pizza great. Loved the fresh basil & fresh tomato sauce. Super fresh pizza. 5 stars for the pizza. Probably the best vegan pizza in the SF Bay Area. Yet 1 star deduction for the atmosphere. Loud over stimulating music near the few seats by the bar. Opted to sit upstairs. It was really loud up there too. No doubt it was crowded & super busy w/ a family w/ a few children. when I went here. The acoustics of the restaurant aren't the best. Having said that come here for the amazing vegan pizza. For a quiet candlelight romantic dinner look elsewhere! read more
2 years ago
4 years ago
Excellent and creative pizzas, albeit on the pricey side. Strictly to-go for the 13.5 hours/week that they're open. There's a couple of small tables/chairs outside on the sidewalk which look more for waiting than for eating, but suit yourself. I miss the days when you could go upstairs to dig in. Came by this time on a Doordash pickup. I'll give them props for not inflating their online prices, but they've got a lead finger on that "ready" button. Doordash app said my 3-pie order was ready, but clearly not, as I ended up cooling my heels outside for another 5 minutes while they actually finished my order. Trying to game your metrics, eh? It's cool--I'm a sucker for your wares; I'll be back. read more
2 years ago
I've had this place bookmarked for awhile but never got around to it until the pandemic happened. I've order from them 3 times already and would honesty have ordered more often if I lived closer and if they open more frequently. I always order 4-5 pizzas each time to make my trip worth it. All the pizzas we've tried have been amazing but the favorites will be the TKO, margherita, and the newly added Nelly (spinach, mushroom, garlic, Parmesan and pecorino). Their crust is always cooked with the perfect chewiness consistency. The ingredients are always fresh and the tomato sauce has this bright balance taste that many pizzerias don't offer. Be careful of the T. N.T pizza! They do tell you that it's very spicy on the menu; to which I said "pfffttttt" because my Vietnamese part would scoff at those warnings. And boy I was so wrong.... Quick tip: Pack slices into the freezer if you over order as they reheat well in the oven. read more
3 years ago
3 years ago
8 years ago
Vegan reviewer here! We got two vegan pizzas - one pear pie and one roman pizza with the sausage replaced with pepperoni. The pear pie was interesting, probably good if that's your type of taste, but it was a little too adventurous for us with the arugula, bacon, pear, and bleu cheese. The Roman was much more classic and we really liked it with the mozzarella, pepperoni, red onion, and mushroom. I've never had a pepperoni pizza before so I was very excited to have pepperoni on pizza for the first time ever, which is why we asked for it to replace the sausage. It was definitely a momentous occasion. I liked it enough to get vegan pepperoni again in the future. Butcher's Son mozzarella is always a perfect choice so the cheese was great. The crusts on both pizzas were yummy. In the future, I look forward to exploring more of the pizzas with the different meats and some more of the classics with the cheese and veggies. I love that there is a whole vegan menu and the pizzas cost the same as the non-vegan pizzas. I will definitely be back for more. Things to know are that the pizzas are on the pricier side. I'd say one pizza is the right size for one person. It's a small location and there are about 4 or 5 tables outside. I'm grateful Bare Knuckle Pizza exists. Definitely go check it out! read more
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More info about Bare Knuckle Pizza
351 12th St
Oakland, CA 94607
Oakland Chinatown
Directions
(510) 463-1524
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http://www.bareknucklepizza.com
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Ask the Community - Bare Knuckle Pizza
Is the vegan cheese also nut free?
Our vegan cheese is cashew based. We source it locally from The Butcher’s Son in Berkeley.
What size in inches is the pie?
About 10-11 inches diameter. They put it in a 12.5-inch box.
Hey there. Does anyone know if the gluten-free crust is also vegan? Thanks!
Correct! That crust is vegan and gluten free
Can some enlighten me on prices?
Prices range from $14-$19 depending on the type of pizza. There are also a few toppings that cost extra. The prices are listed on the menu on the website.
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12 reviews that are not currently recommended
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