Good pizza but often very inconsistent. Sometimes it's done just right and other times it's ...really not. I appreciate the quality pizza close to home but also it's expensive and I'd come here a lot more often if the margin of error was a bit lower read more

Oh man- this pizza thin like burn paper and so so so greasy. Crust like charcoal and veg cannot taste swim in greasy.. flavor so bad. I eat half then wanna throw up. Nowhere sit only outside next to garbage can. read more

We love gioia's pizza itself but the last three times we have ordered pizzas here, they haven't been ready until 25-30 minutes after the designated pick-up time. Also, their employees could really use some customer service training for in-person as well as phone interactions. No greetings, no apologies for lateness, lots of mumbling. read more

Their spinach pizza is absolute perfection. Nice red sauce which is a bit unusual for spinach pies, with the perfect spice from chili flakes and a perfect amount of fresh mozzarella cheese. Great dough as well with the perfect amount of gentle crunch. read more

rude service - totally obnoxious - won't be back. food was meh - certainly not good enough to over ride the rude staff. read more

Just like a slice from back East! Flavorful and exceptionally crispy and soft crust with the right amount of chew. Go for a slice and end up taking a whole pie home.....it's that kinda grub. read more

This place has been serving up some of the best pizza in the Bay Area for a long time. This place serves up thin New York style pizza. I honestly think that the cheese pizza here is one of the best pizzas I have ever had. It is better than their pepperoni pizza in my opinion, which is only apparent at this place. You gotta check this pizza place out, it usually takes like 20 minutes for a whole pie but they do sell by the slice. So check this place out if your in Berkeley and you want some great pizza. read more

Gioia Pizzeria - Cheese pizza - Pizza Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Love this place! Good thin crust pizzas and a great staff. Love their Julian and Funghi pizzas!!

Why do you hate your customers so much Gioia? Why do you have all these completely nonsense rules ? Do you want customers? Do you want our money ? Do you want business? Why can't you give us two half pizzas when we call ahead to order it? We called and asked for 1/2 pepperoni and 1/2 butternut squash to go. They say they can't do that. Only half pepperoni and half cheese. Or half of any kind and half cheese. Why ????? We don't want cheese! We asked if we can come in and pick up half a butternut squash and half pepperoni they said they would only sell it by the slice ! So the 8 slices would be $32 or more ! It's offensive. It's so sad. We like your pizza Gioia, but we dont like your rules and how you treat your customers. Tonight we will get pizza from somewhere else. :( read more

I do love the pizza, but I'll never order from Gioia again. I called to make a carry out order around 7:00 (they close at 8:00). At first, the phone got disconnected twice. Loving their pizza and thinking my calls were getting dropped, I called back a third time and quickly realized the guy was just hanging up on me earlier. He rudely said he's not accepting any more orders. And when I asked why, he let out an exasperated sigh as if I was bothering him, and hung up on me. I don't care how good your food is, treating customers so disrespectfully is unacceptable. read more

Use to be are go to place for pizza in the East Bay. Our family would order two pies and keep freeze the leftovers. However, over the last year we've noticed the quality in the overall pizza has declined. The crust that use to be crisp, a bit blistered and airy toward the end is just blah. Nothing unique here. The size has also gotten smaller while the prices have continued to get higher. The sauce and cheese ratio which is to be spot on is also become more inconsistent. Not sure what the story here is; new employees and lack of training or cost cutting? read more

Pizza is good, but the salad with the farro and avocado is amazing. It's hard to order over the phone, but if you walk in, you can get up to 4 slices per pizza type plus premade salads. read more

The half baked pie, delivered and baked at home at 500 degrees for ~6 min has helped me officially stop missing pizza in NY.

Best NY style pizza in the upper East Bay Area! A whole pie seems like a lot of money but then the pies are huge so it works out. We love the pepperoni pizza and the mushroom! Their salads are also really good. 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

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

Great pizza in a modest setting. My granddaughter loves the vibe of this place because she can watch tons of people come and go while we wait in line or eat at one of the two tables in front. She's only 3 years old and insists that Gioia has the best pizza. Who am I to argue with her? I talked with another fan while eating tonight and he's a very friendly pizza snob from NYC. He loves Gioia and thinks it's comparable to some of the best places back East. If you have a young grandchild, this should be a go to place. 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

SF is much better, this pizza flops like an old wizard's sleeve. Don't get toppings because everything breaks off. Also they don't have pizzas ready to put in the oven, got there at 11 & was told 30 minutes so they gave me four slices each from 2 pizzas & charged per slice, I won't be back to this location read more

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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This is the Best Pizza in California. I've eaten a lot of pizzas and this place ranks way up there. It can be a little pricey and parking is non-existent but the pizza makes up for all of that. read more

We got it to go, and I must say it kinda surprised me how good it was. We had the Farmaggio. The crust was maybe a tad too charred. Great crust texture. The combo of cheeses stood out compared to just mozzarella. I would definitely try it in house next time. read more

i have very fond memories of this pizza. i love the thin crust pizza with lots of good flavor on top, from plain cheese to mushroom. they season the mushroom super well. read more

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

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

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

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

Expensive but really delicious. I love the special pizzas but the cheese is also insanely amazing. Call ahead with your order unless you wanna wait in line forever. No seating. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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