Clayton Restaurant Named Among Best In East Bay: SF Chronicle

CLAYTON, CA — The San Francisco Chronicle named Freewheel Pizza Co., an eatery that is tucked in the back of a Clayton shopping center, only accepts online orders and makes just 40 pies a day, as one of 40 "Top East Bay Restaurants."

Freewheel Pizza Co. is open 4 p.m.-7 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, at 5433 Clayton Road, Suite A-1, in Clayton. To get there, the website tells you to "go to Sherwin Williams make a left we are at the end of the alley."

If you can follow these instructions and plan ahead, "know that your reward will be outstanding pizza," the newspaper's reviewers wrote.

For instance, Freewheel's Detroit-style pizza, the D-Orginal Red Top, is a 10- x 14-inch deep dish pan-style pizza that costs $35. The paper said the Detroit, "replete with garlic confit, basil and a perimeter of aged cheddar" was sensational.

Freewheel also offers Grandma-style pizzas which are 16- x 16-inch square pan-baked pizzas with a sesame-seed crust, crushed tomato sauce on top, and cheese on the bottom. (Did your grandma ever make pizzas like this?!) This pizza, described as an "awe-inspiring tomato pie" and a "super crunchy, saucy stunner," comes in three ways: the Grandma ($35), Tomato Pie ($28) or The Upside Down ($35).

Then there are a variety of "regular" pizzas, including Funky Fungi, Sonoma Market and Figgy Piggy. The Chronicle reviewers called the Peppers & Roni ($35) "brilliant." It is topped with spiced sausage, blistered shishitos and aged gouda.

Whichever you choose, these "destination-worthy pies shouldn’t be missed by any pizza lover."

Freewheel Pizza Co. does not deliver, it does not offer gluten-free pizzas, nor does it allow half-and-half pies with different toppings on each side. Nor does it have a phone number in order to keep the "Pizza Zen in the Doughjo."

What it does do, according to its website, is use quality ingredients and ferment its dough for at least 72 hours which adds more complexity to the crust.

It was the lone restaurant in all of Concord and Clayton to earn a mention in the article. In nearby Walnut Creek, Manakish Oven & Grill got a nod. Two Antioch restaurants, El Burro Valez and ID Cafe, also made the list.

Congratulations!