When Oakland’s Camino announced it was closing at the end of the year, owners Allison Hopelain and Russell Moore had already sold the restaurant. When we spoke with Hopelain earlier this week, she admitted, “They’re very nice people. I don’t know them,” and wanted to leave it up to them to announce themselves. Today, the San Francisco Chronicle outed the identity of the restaurant to come — Zachary’s Chicago Pizza.
The beloved employee-owned pizza company, which opened its first location in 1983 on College Ave. in Oakland’s Rockridge district, currently has four locations, the original in Oakland, as well as outposts in Berkeley, Pleasant Hill and San Ramon. Zachary’s is famous for its East Bay take on Chicago deep-dish pizza. The space at 3917 Grand Ave. will be its fifth pizza restaurant.
Leandra Schuler, vice president of Zachary’s, confirmed that the pizza restaurant will take the current Camino location. In an email to Nosh, she said, “We applaud and admire the many contributions owners Russ and Allison and their employees have offered the community. Camino will have a long-lasting legacy in the Bay Area and in the food world.”
Schuler said that Zachary’s is just starting its design phase and is looking into whether it can keep Camino’s open wood hearth. In the meantime, they have applied for the transfer of the full liquor license and hope to open in the first half of 2019.
