My wife ordered the sausage pizza, and we shared the two pizzas. I opted for a small Caesar salad to go with the Benchmark pizza (cheese, tomato, basil). I have been baking bread for many years, and like the bread at Tartine, it has a nice crisp crust and a very nice, moist crumb that comes from a well-hydrated dough (that is often sticky and a pain to work with). I thoroughly enjoyed the bread it is worth the $4 they charge. It is much more laid back and devoid of “attitude”. It lacks all the faux hipster, chichi, overpriced cocktail vibe of the three other places I mentioned. If I am going to eat that style of pizza, Benchmark is my new benchmark.īenchmark provides a simple, family-friendly setting for a dinner. That said, I thought their pizza was similar in style to the pizza offered at A16 (Rockridge), Pizzaiola (Temescal), Boot and Shoe Service (opening in downtown Berkeley), and is better than all of them. Benchmark has a tasty dough, but it does not check off all the boxes on my checklist. It’s sad when a pizza slice suffers from ED. I don’t want a pizza slice that I have to fold or eat with a fork. I don’t need an excessive amount of toppings, but want some topping in each bite. I want it topped pretty much to the edge. I want a firm crust that is not crackery. I’ve been to lots of pizza places in the East Bay, and for the most part, I don’t like their interpretation of pizza. as close to the pizza I enjoyed while living in Italy as any I have found. Delfina in San Francisco makes the best pizza I have had in the US, and is. I have pretty set ideas of what I prefer a pizza to be.

There are many styles, and there are many interpretations. Pizza means different things to different people. Hotels near (OAK) Metropolitan Oakland Intl Airport.Hotels near (SJC) Mineta San Jose Intl Airport.