Rotten City Pizza – East Bay
So our bud Matthew, who runs the show over at Paragon Restaurant (front of the house, don’t get pissed Spencer!), and who is an east bay dweller, and who is acutely aware of our affection of Napoli-style pies, told us about Rotten City Pizza, located somewhere off the grid in a faraway place called Emeryville.
We replied with something along the lines of “…hey good for you Matteo bring us a slice someday ‘cuz we’re not stepping foot in the East Bay anytime soon. As in never, dude!…” But guess what? Chicken butt! Nevermind, here’s what: as crappy luck would have it, we were forced to make an Ikea run last Friday for some new office furniture (no, not for the already plush VdV headquarters, for the cool new digs of our day jobs). And, Ikea is in Emeryville! What a coinkydink.
So we gassed up the hooptie, packed some water and PB&J sandos, a compass and some flares, increased our life insurance policies and set sail for the EAST BAY!! Clutch my pearls. What lengths will VdV go it for a slice or 5 of killer pie?! I dunno, but crossing the Bay Bridge tested us.
So after a fun-filled 3 hours at Ikea that i won’t even go in to, we mapped out the route to Rotten City Pizza. We only got lost twice. This place is a dive. Yay! And I mean that in the most complementary of all ways. Rotten City is a small place with a dozen or so stools, a glass case housing the pies and a very small kitchen. That’s it, kittens. And that’s all it needs to be. NY-style, bitches!
This fine, sunny Friday, they were offering 4-5 different slices including Funghi (Sauce, Cheese, Creminis, Thyme and Garlic Chips), Pepperoni (ummm, Peperoni) Neapolitan (Cheese & Sauce), and a sexy little Bianco Verde (Mozzarella, Ricotta, Parmigiano, Chili Flakes, Arugula Pesto) number. They have tons of other pies too, these were just the slices they had when we were there. The pies go for the low to mid $20′s the slices are $5 or so.
So Rotten City…the name…what does it mean? Well, pilgrims I guess back in the day, Emeryville wasn’t the toney zip code it is now! Ha. Anyhoo, back then, the Alameda County D.A. or something proclaimed Emeryville as ‘The Rottenest City On The Pacific Coast’. Rottenest? How’d he get voted in with grammar like that? What he was eluding to is that during prohibition Emeryville was somewhat of a den of iniquity. I guess these RCP guys dug the theme and went with it.
Speaking of the guys, very nice dudes, friendly jovial and full of chatter. Cool. Whatever. Let’s get on with the pies. Slices, to be specific. We gorged on slices of the Funghi, Bianco Verde and Pepperoni. All very authentic NY-style thin crust slices. Very thin crust, not crispy but with enough body and texture to do a great jog of holding the toppings. I prefer not to have any corn meal on my crust, but it was still very good. Foldable is the key takeaway. Toppings? Yes, the sauce was fresh, well spiced but I coulda used slightly more oregano. But I’m a pizza bitch! The cheese was well-proportioned, and tasted very fresh indeed. The pepperoni was great and not too greasy, and the way they roasted the Cremini mushrooms prior to baking was excellent! All good.
And I know, I know…the choice of the Bianco Verde (photo above). Don’t be a hater, it looked great! And tasted awesome too, with lotsa creamy ricotta, zesty pesto and, I am scared to say, it may of been our fave. No sauce, basically like a white pizza + pesto. Went great with the tasty micro-brew i can’t recall the name of. You’re welcome.
Bonus alert! These cool dudes whup up onna da best Meatball Subs ($9.50) I’ve ever had. Ever. The roll is perfect,
crunchy on outside, and stuffed with a pantload of tasty, tender beef-pork-veal meatballs with a nice spiced sauce and gooey cheese. Word. Go to a pizza place for a meatball sub. Christ that was good.
So bottom line? Well, I had those stalagmites you get on the roof of your mouth after eating things with hot cheese. Yummy! It’s like a badge of honor inside your mouth. OK, real bottom line? I’d risk my life again crossing over to the East bay for another trip to Rotten City Pizza! But if they’d deliver to SoMa in SF it’d be even better (hint, hint).
Oh yeah, buy a hoodie while you’re there, that logo with the chimp carrying a pizza riding a greyhound is awesome!
