Oakland is getting a new location of Square Pie Guys, the San Francisco restaurant that’s helped popularize rectangular, Detroit-style pizzas in the Bay Area.
The expansion effort will land in a historic building in a prime location — the former Benchmark Pizzeria space — in Old Oakland, likely in February. The new restaurant will feature a similar mix of seasonal pies, known for their light, fluffy dough and crispy edges blanketed in cheddar, plus additions of outdoor seating and a full alcohol license.
“We recognize that expansion in the middle of COVID is not what everyone is seeing, and we personally feel a lot of empathy for folks that are struggling in this industry,” said co-owner Danny Stoller. “We feel really lucky we’re able to consider this.”
Stoller and co-owner Marc Schechter opened the original Square Pie Guys in SoMa about a year ago after building a following as a pop-up, quickly landing on The Chronicle’s Top Restaurants list. But at the time, the founders were actually trying to open Square Pie Guys in Oakland, where they live. The location in San Francisco just happened to work out first.
Despite Square Pie Guys’ youth, the goal has long been to expand in part to offer more growth opportunities for employees.
“In our opinion, this is hopefully not the last one,” Stoller said. “We’d like to bite off a couple more in the next 18 months, but there are a lot of factors.”
The Oakland restaurant is about the same size as the San Francisco location at 2,500-square-feet, but it boasts a full front patio and a 2,000-square-foot parking lot in the back that the owners plan to eventually turn into a socially-distant outdoor dining space. When it opens, though, it’ll only offer takeout and delivery.
When the team feels the world is safe enough for indoor dining, the new Square Pie Guys will echo the original with counter service. Expect classic pies like the 6x8, topped with red sauce and 48 curvy pepperoni cups, alongside rotating specials. Current offerings include a breakfast pie, finished with lemon-ricotta cream, bacon and a runny egg, and a vegan squash carbonara.
Bountiful salads, one of the Bay Area’s best burgers and a fried chicken sandwich douses in Calabrian chile oil round out the menu — and more fried chicken sandwiches will be served out of the same kitchen, via another location of Hetchy’s Hots, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich-inspired, delivery-only restaurant that the team also operates in San Francisco.
Oh, and booze. Batch cocktails and tap cocktails will likely be on the to-go menu. “With the restrictions that (the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control) has lifted due to COVID, we think it’ll be fun to play with that while we can do to-go,” Stoller said.
Stoller said he hopes the new location can continue to tackle sustainability issues, donate to local nonprofits and work with job training programs to hire people out of rehabilitation, as Square Pie Guys in San Francisco has done.
Square Pie Guys. Opening in February. 499 9th St., Oakland. Currently open at 1077 Mission St., San Francisco. squarepieguys.com
Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
The Link LonkDecember 22, 2020 at 12:47AM
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Detroit-style pizza hit Square Pie Guys is expanding to Oakland - San Francisco Chronicle
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