Graffiti Pizza — Restaurant in Oakland

I'm a HUGE pizza lover. I've had it in NY, all over Italy, and the purported best spots in every city I've traveled to. You can tell the pizzaiolo, the pizza master, truly has a love for his craft here. Graffiti Pizza achieves the rank of supreme pizza in my book for three reasons:

#1 First and foremost, the crust. It's got the perfect balance of crispness and chew, a deliciously toasty, wheaty flavor. It's got the signature bubbly crust that fermented dough has, given enough time to create those air pockets and a flavor only fermentation can bring- no baking soda or powder, no tiny bubbles in the dough here!

#2- the sauce. Their sauce is perfect. Not spicy or loaded to the gills with spices where it takes over the entire pie and overwhelms the toppings. The right balance of tanginess and sweetness from the tomatoes, neither watery or thick like paste. It serves as a layer btwn the crust and toppings and they always get the amount just right.

#3: the toppings are always generous. No matter if we order a standard Spraycation and Old Skool, or if we get a custom pie, you always get a good amount of toppings in each bite without having to rearrange things.

Bonus points: their Caesar salad is the one that got my kid to start enjoying salads! They use anchovies in their dressing (the way Caesar dressing should be done!) and it packs so much umami. My only qualm I have is I wish they had better croutons for the salad.

Another point for having warm water to wash hands in the restroom. As a fellow food service person, I always get weirded out when restrooms don't have warm water- hard to wash grease (and other grody stuff) off when the water is cold. Music selection gives them two more points - anything from punk, rap, to old school 70s and 80s.

And one last point for having a back patio for outdoor seated dining. We still haven't gone back to indoor dining in public and I'm grateful they have a coveted dining space where there's open air and the occasional squirrel or bird popping by. The old pay phone is a fun artifact for the kids to check out since most folks born after what, 1985? Has ever used one!

Oh, less we forget- it's a minority woman owned business. Support your local businesses! Skip big corps like Round Table and Dominos. Don't you deserve quality pizza you crave and dream about...

Usually I don't leave reviews but this has to be said. I came into the shop 4/11/25 just before 12am. My Uber eats app said it was ready for pick up. Immediately as I walked in without saying a word I was met with a dirty look from the Hispanic male cook ( I don't know his name) for a solid 60 seconds straight. He looked at me as if he wanted to hurt me (made me feel very uncomfortable) , so I stared back without saying a word until he stopped staring. Feeling uncomfortable by this I respectfully asked the bartender could he look at my order ( he was finishing up with the order for a couple). He declined and kept saying "hold on dog" maybe he meant nothing by it but I didnt find it endearing. So I just waited a little longer still getting dirty looks from the cook. I noticed the cashier was doing his best to keep me waiting and there were only 3 customer who were already eating their food, he even told me "your not the priority my guy". After hearing that I walked out without being disrespectful. I don't know what I did to warrant that kind of disrespect but I won't take it. I thought this shop was black owned so I wanted to do my part and support but unfortunately after this unpleasant experience I cannot return. I thank Uber eats for understanding and giving me a...

I don't know what happened. This was, at one time, the best pizza place in Oakland. Not anymore.

I don't give a one star review lightly, but Graffiti Pizza has earned it. Over the last six months or so, they have gone from excellent, to inconsistent, to progressively worse with each order. This all culminated in my order last night in which I ordered garlic knots and a pizza.

The garlic knots were undercooked, unseasoned, and completely lacking garlic. They were just unfinished lumps of dough plopped into a puddle of olive oil and butter. Because they were undercooked they were literally inedible. The pizza was even worse. It was thick, chewy, and very soggy. Almost as if it had been cooked underwater. It was, in a word, disgusting.

As I said before, Graffiti Pizza was once the best pizza in Oakland. They have trended downward into literally inedible slop. I don't know if they have new ownership or management, or if it's a new kitchen staff, but something has drastically changed. They were once excellent and I sincerely hope they will be again. But, for now, avoid Graffiti Pizza like the plague. It's become a...