"Showstopping pizza is all over Oakland these days, but Mama’s Boytakes the crown. The New York-style slice shop in Uptown nails the classic pepperoni, but the slice with molten burrata and hot honey hits an all-star level that makes you forget, at least for a few glorious minutes, that you need to roll back to whatever nearby office you came from." - Julia Chen, Lani Conway
"Going to Mama in Adams Point is like scooting into your friend’s breakfast nook and recovering from a hangover over eggs and coffee—but instead of breakfast, you’re getting a delicious Italian dinner. Mama does a three-course prix fixe dinner for only $39.95 that changes weekly. And on any given night, you can get things like a salad with roasted delicata, pomegranate, and pear, beet ravioli with spaghetti squash and ricotta, and polenta cake with baked apples for dessert (they’ll also serve gluten-free and vegetarian sets). If you’re looking for more of a classic, the spaghetti with Mama’s tomato sugo, beef, and pork is amazing and never leaves the menu." - lani conway, julia chen 1
"This Grand Lake Italian restaurant, known for its delicious meatballs, is doing a $45 three-course meal (which includes the aforementioned meatballs). Paccheri with Mama’s Sugo is on the menu, along with parmesan sformato, focaccia, and tiramisu." - julia chen 1
"Finding slice shops in the East Bay is hard enough to do, but tracking one down that’s open after the sun sets is an even bigger challenge. Luckily, this New York-style shop serving 20” pies and slices in downtown Oakland is open late (by Bay Area standards, at least). You can never go wrong with classics like pepperoni, but it’s worth picking up an extra slice of their burrata, which comes complete with mozzarella, basil, hot honey, and Parmesan over a red sauce. They’re only open until 10 p.m. on weekdays, but you can grab a slice until midnight on weekends." - Lena Park
"Going to Mama in Adams Point is like scooting into your friend’s breakfast nook and recovering from a hangover over eggs and coffee—but instead of breakfast, you’re getting a delicious Italian dinner. Mama does a three-course prix fixe dinner for only $39.95 that changes weekly. And on any given night, you can get things like a salad with roasted delicata, pomegranate, and pear, beet ravioli with spaghetti squash and ricotta, and polenta cake with baked apples for dessert. If you’re looking for more of a classic, the spaghetti with Mama’s tomato sugo, beef, and pork is amazing and never leaves the menu." - julia chen 1, lani conway