On the Richmond Pizza Trail: San Pablo Avenue’s Richmond Pizza House

Welcome to Grandview Independent’s pizza quest, Richmond Pizza Trail. The GI staff has turned our sights on pizza while the Richmond Burrito Trail observes a 40-day hiatus.

To start our pizza quest, we ate at the highly rated neighborhood favorite: Richmond Pizza House. The San Pablo Avenue pizzeria opened in a former Subway Sandwich shop next to Taqueria La Bamba about seven years ago. Only a few hints of the pre-Fresh Forward Subway design remain, and can be found on the floors and in the faux brick walls.

Yelp says Richmond Pizza House's food is halal. Next to the register, a "No Pork/No Lard" sign clarifies your ingredient selection. According to the Richmond Standard, it is run by brothers Zach and Jay Qassas, who recently opened another location in Pinole.

We know pizza can be personal, with pizza eaters having strong feelings about what makes a good pizza. We grew up on Zachary’s Pizza, which is probably still our favorite — both the deep-dish and regular crust. We’re not going to pretend to be elitists about pizza, but how do you evaluate something that is good even when it is bad? As they say. 

We developed five-factor criteria for evaluating pizza, starting with the crust, working our way through the sauce, cheese, and ingredients, and ending with the overall experience.

We ordered three pizzas: a Veggie Delight, a Pepperoni, and a gluten-free pie, and gathered the Grandview Family around for dinner.  

Richmond Pizza House’s crust drew mixed results, with some enjoying the “nice and soft” or “pillowy” while others described it as “doughy.” The gluten-free crust was surprisingly nicely toasted and not greasy like how some pizza joints prepare their gluten-free pizzas.

The crust on the pepperoni held up well with a nice, crispy bottom, but the Veggie Delight couldn’t hold up against the onslaught of veggies and became a little soggy. Most of the team enjoyed the crust, finishing the whole slice with only one member leaving pizza bones uneaten.

Everyone enjoyed the well-seasoned sauce; it was smooth, not too thick or watery, but bright and had a little bit of sweetness. Cheese and crust are obviously the stars of the show, but a bad sauce or one poorly applied swimming in sauce can be a real letdown. 

The cheese – mozzarella throughout – was nicely colored in the oven with those tasty, toasty, crispy areas on top with the gooey cheese underneath. Again the cheese was applied with a light but balanced touch.  

The beef pepperoni scattered throughout the pizza was not overwhelming, which, if it sounds like we are complaining — we are not. It is not the 200 pepperoni slices advertised on the Mountain Guys, but it is thoughtfully put together.

We went with a Veggie Delight, but they have 9 other veggie options on the menu. The Delight comes with mushrooms, yellow onions, black olives, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, garlic and oregano. We always enjoy it when those mushrooms and cheese get together; there is a nice layer to make us happy. The green bell pepper and onions were cooked but still crunchy with a thin layer of cheese on top.

The Pepperoni Pizza almost perfectly balances crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings. The Veggie Delight had too many toppings that the slice couldn’t hold on to, which also made it a little too wet.

All in all, it was a pretty good start on the Richmond Pizza Trail.

Let us know where to eat next, and check back next week for another stop on the trail as Grandview Independent attempts to find the best pizza in Richmond.

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