Arinell Pizza | Our Story

A pizza that keeps Ron's Legacy

Ron Demirdjian opened Arinell in Berkeley in 1975 because nobody in the Bay Area was making real New York pizza. Nearly fifty years later, he's still at it. Fifty years later, Ron checks up on the store, advising on quality, chemistry, and the Arinell community.

How Ron learned to make pizza

Ron is the son and grandson of bakers, but it was an Italian pizza-maker in upper Manhattan who taught him the craft. He came to Berkeley in the '70s, found no one making it right, and opened Arinell in 1975.

The fewer toppings, the better

That's Ron's rule — and it's been the rule since day one. Unadulterated cheese pizza is what Arinell is all about, and the dough is still hand-made the same way it always has been.

Fifty years on the same block

The San Francisco location on Valencia Street opened and eventually closed — but Berkeley never wavered. The same shop, the same recipe, the same address for nearly half a century.

What's changed, what hasn't

The dough is now made with olive oil, there's seating, and vegan cheese is on the menu — thoughtful updates, nothing drastic. The pizza tastes the way it did when New York pizza was the only kind worth making.