The best pizza in the U.S. is… right here in Berkeley?
If you want to taste one of the best pizzas in the country, you don’t have to go to Brooklyn. No, not because people are WALKIN’ OVAH HEAH, but because a nationally ranked spot is right here in Berkeley.
Or at least so says The New York Times in the recent article, “22 of the Best Pizza Places in the United States.” Its food writers selected Rose Pizzeria, a restaurant that opened on University Ave. in 2021, as one of only two pizza joints in California serving all-time top pies. Here is some of coauthor Brian Gallagher’s write-up:
“In a place where you can’t swing a pie without hitting a fermentation-happy sourdough pizza joint, Rose stands apart. The pies put out by the married couple Gerad Gobel and Alexis Rorabaugh, who worked together in Chicago for seven years, draw from both the New York and Midwestern tavern traditions. The crust is sturdy enough — no point flop here — that you can single-hand your slice. The toppings aren’t flashy, but options like the She Wolf, with burrata, garlic confit, olives, capers and oregano, are deeply delicious.”
Other national spots included on the paper’s list that might come as eyebrow-raising to some include In Bocca al Lupo in Juneau, Alaska, Leña Pizza & Bagel in Cleveland, Miss., and The Lincoln Winebar in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
Rorabaugh and Gobel worked in San Francisco at the James Beard award-winning Bar Agricole (now closed) and the highly regarded Italian restaurant, Delfina, before following their dreams across the Bay Bridge to open Rose Pizzeria. They acknowledged the NYT nod in a June 25 Instagram post, writing: “Waking up to see our little pizza restaurant in the @nytimes…. Can’t say thank you enough to our amazing staff, our super regulars, friends near and far, @cairnspringmills for the flour that makes our pizza what it is and to everyone that has checked us out on our little slice of University Avenue.”
For folks who’ve never been, Rose serves a small menu of starters — arugula salad, pickled anchovies, gigante beans and raw oysters — and just under a dozen types of thin-crust pizzas, which range from $18 to $22. They are nicely charred and feature interesting toppings like goat-horn peppers and truffle cream — and that’s all you are going to get, as there are no slices, no half-half requests and no substitutions.
Coming on the heels of the NYT naming Berkeley’s Bageltopia as having bagels just “as good as Brooklyn’s,” you’d think the paper might have a weird food fetish for the granola-y city. What’s next for Berkeley to steal from New York, best cheesecake or street meat?