Great Slice 'o Pie!
On a random Tuesday night (one of the many things that I *love* about our Oaktown Crawls), 5 of us (we missed you, Colleen and Wanda - hope all is well!) met up for a "slice" (or two) at the newly-opened Jules Thin Crust Pizza on College Avenue - directly across from Zachary's (some restaurants - as people - only need a first name).
There is something quite refreshing about a pizza place that tries to be a pizza place, and nothing more. It's super casual, meaning that I would feel comfortable coming here in whatever I happen to have on. But it's still "designed" (and I think that the architects and artists in attendance tonight would agree), so even though it's casual and inexpensive (dare I say, inexpensive?!) and quick, this is definitely no fast food, nor fast-food ambiance.
And what's even better, the artwork displayed behind the seemingly-never-ending display of by-the-double-wide-slice pizzas was painted by none other than one of our own - Shari Arai DeBoer! The food is all organic (what a plus!) and the artwork seems to me to be an extension of that theme - from Shari's subtly-colored rows of produce-in-the-ground and on-the-branch to the eclectic mix of small, almost old-fashioned (in a Polaroid) and new-fangled (pure Instagram filter) kind of way photos on the opposite wall, the place virtually breathed of wholesome farming and healthy food, in a low-key sort of way.
There were SO many by-the-slice pizzas up for grabs, that I virtually forgot that we also had the option of ordering a whole (long, thin, basically-rectangular) pies. We were thrilled to be able to order a plethora (definition: 7) of slices. I think there were 4 meats and 3 veggies, but I lost count (love it that everyone just stepped up and ordered what looked good to them, so we could try a true variety). We paid for 6, and they comped us the 7th (good luck, our unending charm, or standard protocol, I'm not sure, but I'm going with the charm one). As some of you might be able to anticipate, I was hanging out at the veggie end of things, so am not even sure what meat-festooned slices we enjoyed. Here's my best attempt at what we ate: a) portabella, mozzarella, tomatoes, and salt; b) pesto and tomatoes; c) butternut squash, apples, caramelized onions, and mascarpone cheese; d) buffalo chicken (this one had quite a kick to it!); e) ???; f) ???; and g)??? Sorry for the lack of specificity, but in my defense - "you've seen one meat, you've seen 'em all!"
And how much, you might ask, did all this food set us back? Are you ready??? Four bucks. That's right. The 7 slices of pizza (6 cost us, 1 free) cost us a whomping $20. Divide that by 5 (people), and that comes to a grand total of four bucks. Heck, my beer (which was recommended by a couple of my friends, as well as our server/bartender) cost more than that, at $4.50 - and it was on draft (which I'm coming to learn, as beer-newbie, is a pretty darn good thing). I wish I could remember the name of it - it was an IPA (which I knew going in that I would probably like), and I believe it had two parts of its name - the first a word and the second perhaps a number - something like "Bear 5"? Someone, anyone, please help!
Ratings. Yes, in true Susan Style, I distributed the infamous rating cards (right after I asked for the infamous group shot - it wouldn't be a full-fledged Susan Event or Oaktown Crawl without one). Here are the results: (and to be honest, out of all of us, I was perhaps the harshest)
- Food and Drink: 3.8 average (range: 3-4)
- Ambiance: 3.8 average (range: 3-4)
- Service: 3.5 average (range: 3-4, with one abstention)
- Overall: 4.30 (range 3-)
- Comments: Like this for the casual atmosphere; very affordable; good, interesting flavors; will come again; a bargain for good healthy food; quiet enough to talk (a rarity!); very friendly staff (even if the salads were EXCEPTIONALLY long in coming)
I have to admit that I don't eat much pizza (not as young as I was when I was in college!), so I'm coming from the outside, but even then, I may come back. I definitely favored some varieties (mushroom, pesto, etc.) over others (butternut squash), but I guess that's only natural. They also do at least one vegan pizza, which is fabulous for pain-in-the-butt folks like me, who not only try to avoid meat but who also aren't great at handling real cheese, and if I were to come again, I would definitely try out one of their vegan pizzas. They also have different crust options (whole wheat, gluten-free, etc.), so in additional to be organic and free-range and all that jazz, they are also extremely accommodating to our varied eating preferences, requirements, decisions, and lifestyle choices.
And speaking of accommodating. Wow, the folks working here were just about as friendly and accommodating as you could imagine, in an Oakland sort of way (which is the ONLY sort of way that I would want). You have to remember that they have only been open a matter of days (weeks?) and so I am sure they are still working through the bugs. And yes, the salads that Lyn and Diane ordered (and so graciously shared - almost insistently so - with the rest of us) arrived just about after we had polished off all the pizza. On the other hand, they didn't blink an eye when the 5 of us hovered around the display cases debating which ones we should try and which ones we should wait for our next visit. And they didn't blink an eye when we asked if they could cut the slices (which, by the way, are rectangular in nature, not pie-shaped at all) into 6 "sampling" pieces - they happily considered with us the various chopping options, and then implemented the "once the short way and twice the long way" option proposed by yours truly. And then after we had eaten, they didn't even blink when someone (Diane, perhaps?) asked if they might be willing to take our photo in front of Shari's artwork. The next thing I knew, we were all behind the counter (on the "server" side of things), lining up before, after, and between Shari's artwork for a photo session. The photographer (AKA one of our servers) stood in the "customer" area and took photos of us, with an assortment and cameras and phones-acting-as-cameras. Every so accommodating.
The pizza is not your grandmother's pizza. The crust is think but as one yelper said, not in a Pizzzaiolo kind of way, more in a flatbread kind of way. The toppings are light-ish, in a healthy-ish sort of way. Lots of veggies. And if there is meat, it's applied and affixed in a relatively sparingly sort of way, in a healthy-ish sort of way. According to their website, they use only the freshest, locally-sourced, organic ingredients. So even though it's pizza, you kinda feel good about it going into your body. Three (?) beers, all on tap. A few wines (but my friends suggested that I stick with beer for pizza), including one Donkey & Goat (Oakland-based), which I'd like to try one time. Non-alcoholic drinks too, of course - root beer, Izze sodas, Pellegrino, and more. And water in a self-service jug, along with silverware, napkins, and condiments (none of which we took advantage of).
It was a pleasure to hang out with you ladies, this evening - in alphabetical order (because how else could I do it?!) - Lorna Dare, Shari DeBoer, Susan Goodman (am I vain for including myself?!), Lyn Murray, and Diane Simpson. Lovely ladies, lovely time, lovely place. Thank you!
Next up? Lorna suggest the just-opened Tribune Tavern, in the base of the iconoclastic Tribune Tower.
Signing off (without proofreading, re-reading, or editing - because my life is too short) until our next crawl.... thank you for keeping my life real, fun, easy, and based in oakland.
Susan
Diane Simpson, Shari DeBoer, Lyn Murray, Lorna Dare, Susan Goodman
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