Pizzeria Review: Pizzahhh in Berkeley, California

When you think of college campus pizza, your expectations are usually pretty low. Personally, I remember ordering large plain cheeses from Mr. Pizza from my dorm room phone at two in the morning. But the kids at UC Berkeley have it good: they have Pizzahhh.

Located at Hearst and Euclid just across from campus, Pizzahhh offers more than just late-night munchies. Out of their small, unassuming shop, they’re serving up gourmet combinations that are way tastier than anything I consumed while cramming for finals.

The Pizzacraft team decided to head over for lunch for inspiration and, of course, something to eat. We ordered one of each of their specials. The first is topped with sausage, pepperoni, pineapple, roasted garlic, and fig glaze. The second has artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted walnuts (which we nixed, due to an allergy), feta, porcini glaze, and a swirl of pesto.

We sat on a green picnic table in the shade of the food vendor alley that extends past Pizzahhh’s storefront. Appropriately, Special #1 was the first to come out. I had my doubts about it – I’m iffy on sweet and savory together, and I’m definitely not into hot pineapple – but I put on a brave face and had a slice. The pizza is pretty thin and the toppings weighed it down, making it floppy and hard to bite, but it was dang tasty. The sausage and pepperoni coated the pizza in that good kind of grease, and the fig glaze added some tang to the pie’s overall salty flavor. The small hunks of pineapple didn’t overwhelm, and instead played nicely with the other ingredients. The roasted garlic were full cloves, but for some reason their taste didn’t come through as much as the others, which was a bit of a disappointment for this stinking rose-lover.

Special #2 was lighter, but also delicious. Artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes are two of my favorite toppings; the pieces on our pie could have been larger, but I still enjoyed what was there. It was really the pesto swirl that stood out, giving it that great umami taste. Finally, for both pies the crust was thin and crunchy, with some mouth-watering sauce-sogginess toward the center of the pizza. It had good flavor, but I could have done with a bit more chew.

For only twenty bucks for the two, creative pies like these are an absolute bargain. If you’re in between classes or just nearby, I highly recommend stopping by for a refreshing slice of Pizzahhh.