On Fire Pizza Closing In San Ramon

SAN RAMON, CA — On Fire Pizza, the popular San Ramon pizzeria renowned for its wood-fire oven imported from Naples, has closed, owner Bill Celli announced on the pizzeria’s website.

“We are at the end of a 10-year lease so I decided to retire from the restaurant business,” Celli wrote. “30 years, 4 restaurants was enough. I am sad to leave this wonderful community and already miss the teams we sponsored over the years, the fundraisers, the families, the kids I watched grow up, all of that. I am leaving the restaurant intact if someone wants to start a new pizza business. You get approved hoods, sinks, the whole nine yards, but most importantly, an experienced crew. I feel bad for leaving them and hopefully someone can take over soon.”

Patch reached out to Celli to find out when the restaurant is closing, and whether any offers have come in. The restaurant website now contains only the goodbye message, and a commenter indicated they tried to visit but saw that it was closed. Celli said in a reply to an Instagram comment that he is retiring to Hawaii.

Celli, who has lived in Alamo since he was 13 and attended Monte Vista High School and Diablo Valley College, started the restaurant in September 2014 after running Togo’s sandwich restaurant, according to an East Bay Times profile. The restaurant prided itself on creating top-end ingredients like curated meats, olive oil flour, Italian tomatoes, San Marzano tomato sauce, and cheese from the Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, baked in a wood-fire oven. The many different pizza options were paired with local wines, beers, teas and sodas.

Comments on the Instagram post emphasized Celli’s services to the community.

“Thank you Bill for all the fundraising events you helped me with! We raised a lot of money for several years and all of that went your way to help us find a cure to [end Alzheimer’s,]” one commenter wrote.

“Bill Celli you are a LEGEND. Love you and proud of everything you have accomplished and for all you have done for the community. You are the perfect example of paying it forward! Cheers!” wrote another.

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