We fold our slices in half, New York\u2013style, and dip the crusts in the restaurant\u2019s housemade sauces \u2014 an earthy roasted garlic number and a tangy, \u201climited edition\u201d wakame Caesar dressing that has a strong anchovy umami punch. (That one is so good, I bring the leftovers home to make a helluva delicious salad the next day.)<\/p>\n
One slice in, we understand perfectly now why June\u2019s doesn\u2019t offer a bunch of different pizzas, because this is a taste that we would never get tired of \u2014 one we could come back to week after week.<\/p>\n
Tonight is our lucky night, though, because the restaurant is also selling pepperoni slices, which aren\u2019t always available. These have an entirely different vibe, despite being built on the same base as the margherita \u2014 the pizza is much richer and more intensely flavored, and has a surprisingly spicy kick from the small, dense rounds of pepperoni.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the success of June\u2019s is a testament to the power of doing one thing really, really well. The lack of bells and whistles also helps keep the after-hours menu relatively affordable. Slices are $5 ($6 for pepperoni), and they\u2019re big. Most diners won\u2019t wind up eating more than two or three in one sitting.<\/p>\n
The only danger? Not long after we arrive, we overhear the chef telling a customer that they only have three balls of raw dough left. By a little after 10 o\u2019clock, there are maybe three pizzas\u2019 worth of slices left, and it seems quite likely that they\u2019re going to sell out before the hour is out. So as we head out into the night, we make plans to come back soon for another late-night pizza session \u2014 but maybe not too late, to be safe.<\/p>\n
June\u2019s Pizza is open 4 p.m.\u2013midnight daily at 2408 Mandela Pkwy. in Oakland. The restaurant serves slices only starting at 9 p.m. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We fold our slices in half, New York\u2013style, and dip the crusts in the restaurant\u2019s housemade sauces \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-317601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}