June’s Pizza, Oakland fave that closed in 2021, shows signs of life
June’s Pizza, the tiny Oakland operation that racked up a huge fan base in a short time despite (or perhaps because of) only making a few dozen pizzas a day, looks primed to come back after abruptly closing in 2021.
A sign in the window of 2408 Mandela Parkway, in a complex called American Steel Blocks, shows that June’s has applied for a license to sell beer and wine in a “bona fide eating place” (that’s the California ABC’s language). The ABC website lists the license as pending as of June 12.
Chef and founder Craig Murli didn’t offer many details when reached by email. “Respectfully, I am not prepared to divulge any information yet,” he said.
The address lies in an industrial sector of West Oakland that’s becoming a hot spot for epicureans. Down the block is celebrity pitmaster Matt Horn’s Horn Barbecue and the well-regarded noodle shop Soba Ichi. Next to June’s address is the soon-to-open Brix Factory Brewing, backed by ex-Drake’s brewmaster John Gillooly.
June’s Pizza opened in 2020 in West Oakland’s O2 Artisans Aggregate in a tiny enclosure with a single wood-burning oven. Through word of mouth, and soon the nudging of food critics, it drew throngs for its thin-crust, blistered pizza made with East Coast whole-milk mozzarella and canned tomatoes – a homage to the pies Murli ate growing up in New England.
Buzzed-about rotating specials included pizza with sweet potato and housemade ranch or soft-cooked egg, fresh greens and chanterelles and black truffles. The pizzas were finished with a light snowfall of Parmesan around the crust and fresh basil torn from nearby planters.
June’s only made 40 or 50 pizzas a day, and the joint was so popular it often sold out after opening the phone for orders in the early afternoon. However, things came to a sudden halt in 2021 when health inspectors shut it all down. It turns out June’s had been operating without permits.
Murli explained later to Berkeleyside: “I decided to open it as a pop-up without the proper permitting, and it really took off. And it became a question — do we want to stop for 4 to 6 months to get fully permitted, or see how far we can take it until we outgrow our space?”