Tony Returns To Castro Valley–And Tony’s Pizza is #6 In The World

by Joe Bonadio

The restaurant world is a fickle one; trends come and go, and the dining scene is forever transitory. Other than the rarefied few, the typical restaurant is lucky to outlive your average French bulldog. And just like the reviewers they rely upon, diners have a roving eye, always searching for the new, shiny thing.

Even for the most dedicated and talented operator, these are treacherous seas to navigate. So as a chef and restaurateur, it’s especially satisfying when the light shines your way, and you get due recognition. Happily, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana and its sibling restaurants have been getting some of that attention over the past year or so.

One good example is Tony’s recent showing at Italy’s 50 Top Pizza presentation. 50 Top Pizza has become a serious force in the pizza industry in recent years, researching and compiling annual lists of the very best pizza around the world. They discovered Tony early on, and this year is his fourth appearance on their lists. I met with Tony shortly after the awards were made, and lightly edited, our conversation is below.

JB: Tony, congratulations for once again having a great showing at Italy’s Top 50 Pizza…

TG: 50 Top Pizza.

JB: I always get it wrong!

TG: Me too, I know.

JB: You always do well in their rankings, but it seems like you always receive something extra special.

TG: I’ve been lucky to get some side awards over the years, and this year it was for my Mission Impossible, I got Best Pizza. Which was pretty awesome when you saw the other countries: Italy, U.S., and countries all over the world. And for the most part it was Margherita-driven pizza, Margherita-driven pizza… and all of a sudden you’ve got Mission Impossible.

When I was talking with Natale over there, I said I think we might win this one. The finalists were all very similar pizzas, then it was ours.

JB: So you had a good feeling. I mean, you’ve done a lot of these.

TG: I had a good feeling, but at the same time it was like, Can a vegan pizza actually do this?

Also, I’ve never had a judge come in and try a pizza at my restaurant, then say This is the best one.

JB: So how did it work exactly?

TG: It’s like a Michelin reviewer who comes in to the restaurant, and they’re completely anonymous.

JB: Ah, I see. I didn’t realize that.

TG: And when you’re there in Italy, it’s like a combination of the James Beard Awards and the Oscars. The ballroom, the balconies, it was all so elegant.

JB: So 50 Top Pizza is an interesting organization. They only go back what, five years? But they have really had an impact.

TG: They go back longer than that, but they’ve been in the U.S. four years now. They started here during Covid––a lot of people didn’t realize that we got #1 during the beginning of all that. And there was no New York, there was no Naples or anything. So over the years we got #1, then #2, then #4, then #2 again. That’s in the U.S.

Then you go for the world top 50. Tony’s got #6 in the world this year.

JB: Out of how many pizzerias in the world? That is crazy!

TG: Yeah, and it came out like that because a couple of places tied, I guess? Whatever it was, it’s great to represent coming from San Francisco, and to be the best in California. Being nominated as one of the ten best in the world is not too shabby, you know? It’s nice for Tony’s to always be seen that way. We’ve always been able to reinvent ourselves, but still keep to tradition, which is important.

It’s just an honor to be there. And Pizza Rock also made it into the U.S. top 50. Didn’t make the world list, but did make the U.S. It’s a great organization for the industry: Barbara Guerra, Luciano Pignataro and Albert Sapere, the organizers, are all great people, and they get a ton of press.

Again, it’s great to see San Francisco represented so high on a list like that, because there are so many bad things that are said about everything here.

JB: I’d like to think that tide is turning. So let’s talk about Castro Valley. When I first heard you were going to be opening a Slice House there, I knew that would be a good story.

TG: Yeah, it was full circle. 33 years ago I started there.

JB: Pyzano’s.

TG: Yes. People were very warm and welcoming. I saw customers that I had from back in the day, kids that might have been seven years old that are now thirty, forty years old. It was crazy to see, and everybody came out. They brought old menus, old photos, so many things. It was really cool. It was very emotional, and I thought of my mom a lot.

I made a pizza called the True Italian, which is a pesto and tomato pizza on a thin crust, with garlic. It’s a pizza that my mom loved, and it was #8 on the Pyzano’s menu.

It was great––it was super busy, the busiest opening we’ve ever had. Seriously, it is so f**king busy. We haven’t started delivering yet, we haven’t started online orders yet. We haven’t even started answering the phones. And we’re still breaking records without any of that.

JB: And you’ve had some pretty big openings.

TG: Yeah, but this was something else. We had a hundred and something people in line, and we had a guy camped out at 7:00 AM when we didn’t open until 11. We had lawn chairs all over.

JB: It sounds like a reunion more than an opening. That’s pretty sweet.

TG: It was heartfelt… it was great. I came off the plane from Italy on Thursday, and went straight to the friends and family event there. And then we opened Saturday. I ended up getting sick coming back, I think it was just too much work.

JB: Something like that really takes it out of you. When it has to do with your home and your family, the emotional aspect of it is heavy too. It takes a toll.

TG: Yeah, it does. I’m lucky my team was there: Anthony, Jason and Dominique were there, and we had a new guy Jesus. That team worked their ass off. Bill and Tom came in a little later, because the opening landed on a date when a few of us were away.

But again, I couldn’t have done it without my team.