Pizza The Bay

Pizza the Bay may not be for everyone but if you like the thin crust style, with toasted crust edges style with top notch ingredients you will really, really like these pies! The Calzone is amazing as well... Had a really excellent Caesar salad too... Also of interest to some, they have really tasty cocktails available from the bar next door. I really have mixed emotions about posting this review because once people start to discover this little gem, it is going to be a very long wait to get in...

Didn't realize we had a new addition to the marketplace. We placed an order for takeout. Ordered: 📍 Poppy Salad 📍 First Love Pizza 📍 Golden Gate Pizza Both pizzas were very good, loved the sourdough crust. The Poppy Salad was ok but for the price probably wouldn't get it again. Can't wait to try some more interesting combos

SF East Bay. We love sourdough bread so we were definitely excited to try a sourdough pizza & happy to report it did not disappoint! We’ll definitely be repeat customers!

Come in every week on my day off to have a some food and a cocktail. The food service and drinks are great. The host is always nice and has a smile on. The cook is just as nice when he brings my pizza out. And the bartender they work with makes a great Paloma. Thanks for the great all around service

Pros: their bbq pizza was light and fresh. You don’t expect to hear “light” when talking about pizza.. especially bbq chicken pizza but this delivered that. The crust was on the thin side which I liked, perfectly cooked, light sauce and they use chicken thigh meat which added flavor. I love the atmosphere of the market place as a whole and this restaurant is a great addition! I gave 4 stars for the food because I love ranch with pizza but their ranch is a bit too herby for me and too much lemon flavor.

This was my first experience with this pizzeria. I order a new concept called The Mariachi and it was BOMB, as you can see in the pick was very tasty and fresh. Honestly I really enjoyed the sourdough crust. I’m ready to explore more that menu.

Sad to see this pizza place leave castro valley. Owners dream to have this restaurant only to be pushed out by management company within the first year open. 😔Go by before they close this Sunday. 12/17/2023

What a surprise this little place is, such a gem! Outstanding pizza, nice clean and fun atmosphere + reasonable prices. Mar and the team make you feel at home. Definitely try the Tamalpais white pie - is so tasty! We will be back soon :)

I came here on a Monday night for dinner. We showed up at around 5pm and there was no wait. We ordered the margarita pizza and the Washington Square pizza. Both were tasty, my favorite was the Washington Square pizza. The restaurant is located on the second floor of the market, along with 2 other restaurants. It's not a large dining area, but there's enough seating for maybe 10 parties. The service was great. You order at the counter and they bring the food to you. We had a server check on us regularly and offer us glasses water. Overall I was very happy with my visit. I'll have to come back and try the other pizzas.

Delicious thin pizza First time here for lunch and the place was pretty quiet with no wait time for a table. My friend and I got seated right away and we ordered the Tamalpais pizza and the lemon chili wings. The wings came out very first but the pizza took a while. The wings were well seasoned but the portion was a lot smaller than expected. The wings were super tiny and thin; it's probably 1/2 the size of wingstop. There was barely any meat to them which was disappointing but the house-made ranch was delicious and went really well with the wings and pizza. The pizza on the other hand was delicious. There was good amount of toppings and the sour dough was delicious. I don't recommend the wings but the pizza is worth a try! Service was good and the place was spacious and clean.

Very average spot for pizza. They serve one style of pizza at one size, as well as slices around lunch time. A few calzone, wings, etc options are also offered. The pizza I tried around soft opening was a margarita pizza. The crust is quite thin, as expected with most margarita pizzas, with a tangy sourdough crust. It wasn't quite as flavorful as I would've liked, and the atmosphere definitely had a lot of "soft-opening"-quirks. The thing about opening a restaurant in the marketplace is there's almost a close-knit community/upper-middle end vibe to the place - such as that of the restaurant next door or the winery in the cellar, the sushi, butcher, etc. All are community driven and provide a better than average experience and quality product. This pizzeria unfortunately feels like the black sheep in the marketplace. For starters, the two times I've gone in, the atmosphere and service always felt luke-warm. Of course the servers have a smile and attentive attitude, but the rest of the restaurant seems to be disappointed that you're interrupting their day. The entire time I was dining for example, a member of the kitchen staff just glared at me without breaking focus. Very unsettling. The two times I've come, there's been no dine-in guests other than us, so the rest of the staff seems to just sit and do work on their computer and talk amongst each other. Not really a problem, but just adds to the 'vibe' of the place. Onto the food, the pizzas aren't awful, but they don't necessarily justify the price for me. The pizzas are one size, one crust, and an assortment of toppings. To me, the pizzas feel very light and not so flavorful. The dough is quite good, but I feel as if the sourdough could benefit from a slightly larger crust to really get a nice crunch and soft pillowy interior. The beverages here are provided by Oculto, which means they're going to be quite pricy for very little. It's something like $5 for a soda (about 6 ounces). No free refills. So for about 12 ounces of soda per person, you're paying more in soda than a pizza. Not really that great of a deal on that front. I understand why takeout seems to be the way to go here.

So I like to "see" myself as a pizza snob. Someone who will not partake in the usual bread and cheese combo that passes for pizza these days. Unless the pizza has legendary status I don't want it. Last Tuesday, Pizza the bay catered a mixer I attended, and this was the first time I tasted any of their offerings. I wasn't planning to eat any of the pizza for the above mentioned reasons, but when I got there and saw the spread of thin crust pizzas I just had to take a bite (ok more than one!) Amazing sourdough thin crust, delicate tasting toppings, served freshly made. The owner Shimei was onsite making sure pizzas and sandwiches were continuously replenished at the food table. And since the mixer venue was across the hall from their restaurent, that meant straight from the oven piping hot! I've also never jumped on the sourdough bread bandwagon but just couldn't stop eating the chicken sandwiches. What can I say, I was all for this delectable carb loading. Looking forward to more pizza from this awesome new place.

Didn't realize we had a new addition to the marketplace. We placed an order for takeout. Ordered: Poppy Salad First Love Pizza Golden Gate Pizza Both pizzas were very good, loved the sourdough crust. The Poppy Salad was ok but for the price probably wouldn't get it again. Can't wait to try some more interesting combos

By far the best pizza in Castro Valley! The crust is crispy and perfectly chewy, while the sauce is fresh and super flavorful. We got the Golden Gate and were very happy. Had to order more after we tried it.

Pizza The Bay is a perfect addition to the Marketplace. My husband and I tried this place on a Friday night. I didn't think it was open considering it was empty. I guess no one knew it was open. There's no advertising that it was open. The food was tasty. We ordered a glass of wine, a beer, Tamalpais Pizza, and Mango Habanero Wings. Everything was delicious. I would defiantly go back.

Pizza and service is always so good! Even their wings are good. If you like thin crust and more simple pizza you should try it out! The dough is made from sour dough such a great combination with the pizza. I love pizza so much and have came here often. I could eat their pizza everyday. It's a small little restaurant kinda casual with a tv for sports. They also have a Bay Area theme which I love "pizza the bay" so clever. Not your average pizza restaurant.

Woodfire pizza is my favorite way to eat pizza! I've seen reviews that say pizza was burnt but that's part of the deliciousness, character and taste of a Woodfire pizza! The sourdough crust was divine!! They make there own starter for it too! It was chewy and crusty in just the perfect way. The wings were crispy and yummy too. I really loved the house made ranch! It had a lemony taste that we all thought was refreshing and delicious . Will def be back! Thank you Pizza the Bay

So I really don't like giving bad reviews. But in this case I was so disappointed in the pizza. I paid almost $30 for the Dolores Pizza. The pizza had the thinnest crust I've ever seen. There was no cheese and barely any toppings. I could get a better pizza anywhere. The images on the website look nothing like what I got. We didn't even finish the 6 slices cause there was no point. I could just eat some crackers. It frustrates me because if a restaurant is going to charge that much for a small pizza it needs to be as close to neopolitan as possible. This was a big fail. I hope they look at this and other reviews and make adjustments. They have enough competition in the area to motivate them to improve the quality. But I will not be back.

Ambiance is very nice! Pizza not worth it. The dough is really sour which is odd to me. Ordered the carnivore and the sauce was also very bitter. The toppings were scarce. I might give this place another try to see if their sandwiches are any good. I hope their chicken sandwich is good. Maybe I'll try it one day.

This is my favorite high quality pizza place. This isn't like a take out for your kids bday sort of pizza. It's a delicious thin crust sourdough Italian pizza. I like getting a Margaretta with ham added. My husband and I usually eat an entire pizza or most of a pizza solo, but 1/2 a pizza is also a reasonable size. we go here about once a week. My 7 year old also likes it, and he is a bit picky so i'm happy for that. The people are always friendly. This is a good semi casual pizza lover date place.

Love the pizza and service. We're had several pizzas but think my favorite is the Diablo. Love the Caesar salad and the wings. We've never had to wait long for our food or a table. The crust is probably the best I've had, I can go there there a couple times a week lol

Place looks neat and has an oculto vibe to it (right next door). Ordered pizza slices and a Fried chicken sandwich. The sandwich was so-so, definitely not fresh. The pizza however, that's a big no for me; The crust is very hard, lots of burnt parts, barely any cheese on the cheese pizza and the sauce was like any store bought sauce.

I wish there were more thin crust, NY style sourdough pizza spots like this in the east bay. Brussel sprouts and garlic knots are top notch as well!

Got pizza to go. Service was great. Pizza was not great. Pizza is thin but managed to be doughy and not crispy. The sauce situation is non existent. It was hard to finish our pizzas and we ended up throwing them away.

It has been a several months since I've gotten a pizza, but I will say this. (Typical) pizza is not something I usually would go out and buy myself. If it's there for some event, that's fine, but I don't care for Italian sausage, olives, green peppers etc. (=typical). I had not purchased a fresh pizza in more than 25 years. I think I had a slice when a friend and I were in another town, but also not typical. However, since these are different (sourdough crust, which some reviewers don't seem to realize), and I like rustic breads based on sourdough (but not the typical white sourdough), I thought I'd try one. Cinque Terre sounded different. I've taken out the same pizza four other times, a full-size, and sometimes have a slice or two for the next day. (I do tend to add a bit of smoked salt and a sprinkle of crushed peppers). Since I haven't gotten a pizza anywhere else, I can't say how the prices compare to similar (not "chain") pizzas. Would I prefer to pay less? Yes, but restaurant prices have pretty much all gone up, and the businesses in the CV Marketplace are most certainly not the lowest around. So from zero to five pizzas in 4-5 months? That says something.

We recieved our wine which was great and then our Caesar salad which was ok. It didn't really taste like Ceasar salad more like lemon and the croutons were rock hard like breaking teeth hard. We ordered the first love pizza and I was shocked at how it was made. There was NO cheese on the pizza, it called for mozzarella, provolone, and grana padano along with spices which none of that was on the pizza. The picture of the pizza we got was nothing compared to the pizza in the picture on their website. We basically got a pepperoni pizza with no cheese, it was all sauce. It was made thin crust and cut square, so I'm not sorry that I didn't get a pizza made correctly. I decided to tell them and they're response was its light cheese. I'm sorry this is not light..there is NO CHEESE AND ALL SAUCE. They didn't take responsibility for it and just told me the picture on their website is for their other location, ok so then maybe you need to take that down if you're not going to follow you're recipe or standards. His only response was, "What do you want me to do, remake it?" No, I'd like you to claim this isn't made correctly. And then they asked if you would like me to take it off the bill..fine take it off the bill, they then proceeded to remove the entire pizza and we were without dinner. They took the pizza and tossed it! I'd never seen that happen before. Yes I understand it's not made correctly but that doesn't mean you take it and toss it just because you removed it from the bill. I'm sorry, but if an order is not made correctly, you don't take away the pizza. It was completely rude and unacceptable. Take responsibility for how your pizza is made and make it the correct way. I shouldn't be paying $22 for a pizza and it's not made correctly. After they took the pizza and tossed it, they never came back to our table. we had to go to them to pay the bill. They're lucky my friend was so nice and still tipped them generously. Not that I wouldn't leave a tip, but with the way they responded and acted it wasn't right.

Pizza The Bay really is the best pizza in Castro Valley. It's a hidden gem. There's something about their sourdough pizza dough that's to die for. I've also tried their sandwiches and calzones, which are equally amazing. The food is high quality and fresh, which I appreciate. The service is always friendly and attentive.

Take-out order: We purchased the Carnivore pizza, buffalo wings and Cesare salad. The pizza was 12" and wafer thin with not much meat. Flavor was spicy and not "gourmet" as noted on other reviews. Nothing to get excited about. The buffalo wings were cold and dry and looked like they had sat under a warming light, as green cilantro was wilted. I have never thrown out wings, but we ate a couple and tossed the rest. The salad was small for $12.00 and dressing was not very good and croutons were so hard they could actually have broken a tooth. For $60 you would expect much more. People were friendly, but seemed disorganized maybe due to the fact that they had only been open a couple of week. No take-out menus were available also. I don't like to submit negative reviews, but we will not be going back to this restaurant again.

The pizza was OK. The Cinque Terre had some nice flavors but was unsatisfying. The First Love with added mushrooms, and goodness did it need the mushrooms, was less less popular, if you get my drift. A bit oily but that's what you get with pepperoni. We had the brussels sprouts, which were burnt and tasted... burnt. The buffalo wings? Well, nobody complimented them and nobody complained. The meatballs? Not bad. Not great. And it came to about 90 bucks for 2 pizzas and 3 appetizers. That's a bit steep for such a meal. The food was not bad, but it was far from good and far, far from worth the price. Sure, it was better than Mod Pizza, but so is cardboard. We'll not be back.

Pizza was very average. Ordered a pizza and wings so go and it was told that wait time would be 20 min. Came back in 20 min and was told that there was only one person in the kitchen but the wings were ready but the pizza would be ready in another 15-20 min. The waitress asked me if that was okay and I said I've already paid for the pizza so I didn't have a choice and I would come back in said time. Came back in 20 min and was told the pizza was just put in the oven and it would be another 5-10 min. The waitress was a bit aloof and was not a good communicator. It could have been an off day but I was very underwhelmed by the service and the food.

This was the best pizza I've ever had! The customer service was amazing and the location is in a wonderful spot. We ordered El Diablo, BBQ, and Not So Alfredo - all AMAZING! The sourdough crust is unique and flavorful.

First time here relaxing vibe friendly atmosphere with delicious food and great beer. For a young business I was very impressed by their service.

DO NOT GO HERE - I can't believe this place is allowed to serve the pizza they do for the price they do. How do they get away with it?! Pizzas are so small, super thin and over cooked crust, and priced at $25 a pie....yikes!!! Run the other way!!!

Best pizza in the East Bay. Such a secret little gem. Garlic knots are great too. Highly recommended.

Pizza was very good. Cinco de Mayo special was excellent. Also tried Lemon Chile wings, loved them and best ranch dressing I've tried (homemade too). Will definitely go back.

Cute place! Nice waitress and waiter! Ordered salad! Unusual, just ok! Pizza, SMALL, expensive for the size! Never had anything like it! Hard to bite and chew! Must have been over cooked! White pizza a little too spicy! The red one, pasty! Nothing to brag about! Not been there too long! Apparently will not be there much longer because another nice pizza restaurant opening soon! Tony Gemignani, the greatest pizza tosser moving in and pizza pretty good!

excellent pizzas and good choice of draft beers. inside the Castro Valley Marketplace, in the interior with no windows so a little dull inside. but definitely good pizza and friendly service. will definitely return!

Parking was easy - clean space and pleasant decor - nice host who was friendly -the hibiscus lemon aid was special - ordered a meatball pizza and Brussels sprouts the Brussels sprouts were nice and tangy and cooked well and very flavorful pizza was super thin and crispy if you like east coast pizza you will enjoy

Went on a Friday night and the place was busy: lots of to-go orders, plus 7 tables occupied. Unfortunately they only had one poor woman working front-of-house, and she was working HARD. She was very kind and trying to keep up with everything, but there are some structural issues with the way this place does business. You order from the front register like a fast-casual place, so it helps to know what you want when you walk in. They do have a menu posted outside, so kudos to them. They outsource their bartending to Night Owl, a bar co-located in the Marketplace. As a result, they have menus for Night Owl and Pizza the Bay, so we had to ask what was actually available. The server/cashier said Everything, but later as we heard people order, this clearly wasn't the case as lots of beverages weren't actually available. Night Owl is letting them down, because drink orders were not coming, forcing the lone server to leave the premises to check on orders and vacate her primary duties. Apparently the Night Owl bartenders are supposed to run drinks into Pizza the Bay, but they weren't doing so. To PTB's credit, they comped our dinks because they took so ling to come. As for the pizza, I enjoyed it. It's thin-crust Neapolitan style, but bear in kind the crust is sourdough which changes the flavor profile of traditional pizzas like the Margherita. My wife had that, and I had a chicken & veggie white pizza. We each ate more than half of our respective pies. I recommend asking for a side of olive oil for dipping the extra crust! We want this place to work because Castro Valley needs good restaurants. This place has good food but needs some process changes to make it great.

My family and I came to try Pizza The Bay for the first time in the Castro Valley Marketplace. We ordered 4 different pizza and they were all really good. Staff were really friendly and welcoming and there was live music next door to enjoy as well. We will definitely be coming back.

Service is great! The pizza is good. We had the chicken wings, pizza and Caesar salad. It was all good. Yes, I would go back again.

First time coming in and overall really impressed! They had a great selection of classic and interesting pizzas with nice crispy crusts. The service here was also pretty good and attentive even with it being father's day. Kaia and Fernando were super sweet and cool. They don't have calzones for dinner which is kind of a bummer but ‍ I'll still go back for everything else!

Good drinks good pizza and yummy lime chili wings. Great customer service. Perfect for date night.

First time trying this place out and my girlfriends and I looved it! The server recommended the Linda Vista pizza apart from the Golden Gate we had ordered and I am SO grateful she did, both were delicious but the linda vista stole my heart. Never would've imagined figs, burrata, chicken and pesto on a pizza to be so divine. Perfectly crispy and flavorful, you can definitely taste the quality of their ingredients. Also ordered the Buffalo and BBQ wings which were devoured the second they arrived on the table... so wasn't able to take a picture of those. The service was quick and the person who attended us was really attentive and sweet. The ambiance felt friendly, casual and clean. Will be coming back soon!

This place has amazing sourdough pizza! Perfect thin ness... Castrovalley was in need! So good. Can't wait to come back, no to mention the customer service. Everyone was so friendly.

I love sourdough and it's rare to find a pizza place that can do this well like Pizza the Bay. The pizza is crispy with just the right amount of toppings. I love that it doesn't get soggy or floppy. They are also very accommodating of my special dietary request for half no cheese pizza for the Mt Diablo. This allows my partner and I to easily split a pizza and is the perfect amount of food for the two of us. I can't wait to come back and try the other pizza and wings!

The restaurant is upstairs in shared space with Oculto. We ordered the Caesar salad to share; and a pizzas and we brought a bottle of wine. The food was good; the Caesar did not have anything special; normal dressing. The pizza was 50/50 half Golden Gate and Half Washington Square. The service was intermittent (it was around 5pm). The service was concluded and at times we felt ignored. Most problematic to me is that we had a $25.00 corkage fee; and i was the person who opened the wine. The bill at conclusion was not presented, rather a the credit card terminal was presented with a total. Being from NY; I hoped for better pizza and options. One size only. Corkage service is more than a glass.

Really great sourdough pizza crust. We had the margherita pizza, salad and wings. Everything was really good. I'm glad to have a new option in CV.

High expectations going in - given the magazine and newspaper raves. Pizza instead bland and my "BBQ chicken" version was devoid of visible chicken. The bread was so so and crust boring... I have pizza in NJ and NYC that are awesome and maybe a bit biased. The pizza at Broncos Billys and even Mountain Mike a tad more enjoyable and at least average.

Stumbled in on day 1, checked out the menu and stayed despite not wanting pizza. I tried the one with white sauce and Brussel sprouts which was pretty tasty. Cocktails from Night Owl next door (waiters bring it to you) are always great. Glad to have another spot in Castro Valley.

Pizza The Bay goes beyond exceptional pizzas, offering a diverse menu of delectable appetizers and refreshing salads,. It's a culinary haven where passion and innovation come together to create a truly memorable dining experience.

The pizza crust was burnt on two different orders. The toppings barely covered the pizza. Too many pizza choices out there to be marginal.

Well I was hoping this would be a delicious new pizza spot. How bad could a pizza be, you ask? Well the place is cramped, very disorganized and the staff are polite but do not know how to make food. We ordered wings and a pizza. The microwaved wings (I am guessing) came about 2 minutes later. The were dry, overcooked, lukewarm and the sauce was generic and just tasted of vinigar (also no bleu cheese). The pizza was 12 inches, crust was paperthin and burnt, top was just a greasy, sloppy mess. These two items for 40 bucks.I have had worse pizza but I think I was in middle school then. It was so bad my family and I left the pizza after a few nibbles, drove to sf and got Golden Boy pizza (THE BEST!). If you are in the mood for horrible pizza, I would recommend saving some $ and just going to little ceasars or mod pizza.

Super cozy spot with a sourdough crust and inexpensive pizza to boot. Been there many times already.

Great pizza. Nice variety of combinations. We tried the Golden Gate, Meatball, and the First Love and they were all tasty. Their buffalo wings were good too.

Great new pizza place! Food was delicious! Everyone was friendly. Definitely will come back No need to go to SF for pizza

The pizza was really good! I think it's nice how Castro valley has a nice, decent sit down pizza restaurant. Their house ranch was very good, but I think $2 was a little overpriced. Definitely will be going back.

Amazing pizza, & they have the BEST RANCH EVER. Cute new pizza place in castro. They play bad bunny, so that's a plus