Chef John Thiel makes two kinds of pies at Pizzeria Pappo. Alamedans enjoyed Thiel’s cooking for nearly two decades at his previous restaurant, Pappo, which closed in early 2022. When we spoke on the phone, Thiel told me that the community was very supportive of Pappo during the pandemic. But coming out of it, he recalled, “We all were pretty exhausted because we worked straight through it.” This resulted in emotional and physical fatigue for everyone on staff.
The chef decided to take a break, recharge and figure out a new concept. Pizzeria Pappo, which opened earlier this year, is smaller than Pappo and more casual. I walked in at lunchtime to try a slice of that day’s special Sicilian pizza. The “spicy papporoni” ($9) was topped with tomato sauce, Ezzo pepperoni, goat horn peppers, hot honey, mozzarella, ribbons of basil and pretty, white blobs of stracciatella—a soft cheese, not the ice cream flavor. Thiel’s exceptional crust was baked to perfection, golden, tall and crunchy. When Sicilian pies come out of the oven like this, they immediately win over my affection and devotion.
For now, the Sicilian version is only available as a special, slice by slice. But Thiel, who grew up in New York, also makes a thin “East Coast” pizza available by the slice or as a whole pie. Customers have described it to the chef as “the best New York pizza” they’ve had on the West Coast.
“I wasn’t trying to make New York pizza,” Thiel said. “But I think maybe I did. People have complimented it—‘This would stand up in a Manhattan slice shop.’
He added, “As a chef, I’ve played around with pizza and dough and bread, and things that are a little simpler to produce along the way in my career.” But he only recently studied at the San Francisco Baking Institute to learn about fermentation and the relationship between flour, water, yeast and salt. “Over the last few years, I really dove into it to enhance my knowledge and build up confidence with it,” he said.
Pappo was a Mediterranean restaurant featuring French, Spanish, Californian and Italian cuisines. Before opening Pappo, Thiel trained at the California Culinary Academy and then worked at Bay Wolf. While pizza is the main focus of the new menu, those formative influences show up in other dishes too. A plate of meatballs in marinara sauce ($14) is simple but spectacular. The flavor of the tomato sauce is bright, acidic and laced with fresh herbs. The dinner menu expands to include pasta, salads, chicken and eggplant parmigiana, and antipasti.
At lunch, Thiel also makes three kinds of panino. Mortadella and mozzarella ($16.50), panko-crusted eggplant ($16) and the one I tried, a fried chicken cutlet ($17.50)—a hearty meal unto itself. The sandwich bread is a house-baked schiacciata. It’s similar to focaccia, and after a couple of bites I thought, “How come schiacciata isn’t as popular as focaccia?” Pizzeria Pappo is certainly making a case for it to become a trendy bread.
While Pappo was on the east side of Alameda, the pizzeria opened on the west side. And Thiel’s old customers have found it.
“I have a lot of great supporters who are coming over and trying the new concept,” he said. “Pizza is very accessible. Families can come in with their kids, and that wasn’t the case at my other restaurant. The goal here was anybody can come and get a slice.” Pappo had a full bar and about 50 seats, 30 more than the pizzeria. “This was about getting a little bit smaller in-house and then having a good takeout business as well,” Thiel added.
Currently, the bar menu serves all Italian wines and local beers from Ghost Town, Almanac and Humble Sea breweries. With the help of a soft-serve maker, the chef has also built dessert recipes around the organic Strauss Family Creamery’s ice cream base. There’s one with a strawberry rhubarb topping and a spumoni with chocolate chips, toasted pistachios and cherries. He described them as “fun, different flavors that gussy up ice cream.”
Pizzeria Pappo, 709 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda. Open Tue-Sat, 11:30am to 2:30pm and 5–8:30pm. 510.473.0613. pizzeriapappo.com
