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Chuck Mignacco
Name: Chuck
Occupation: Operations Manager
Location: Oakland
Favorite Restaurant: Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub
Reviewed Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub: Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Lanesplitter is my regular haunt and go-to place for calzone and a beer and it can’t be beat! This time I went with my metal-working friend. We’re two big guys who love to eat, and this is the place to be fully satisfied and have fun. The Chopper Calzone is chock-full of everything meat including, pepperoni, sausage, salami, Canadian bacon, and bacon… tons of flavor and too much to eat, even for me. To wash it down, my favorite beer is the Cumbre del Diablo -- an amazing IPA -- and for me it compares to the best wines. It’s the perfect pairing for the calzone!

Along with the calzone, the salad at Lanesplitter is a must. It arrives with fresh salad greens, garbanzo and kidney beans, tomatoes and sprouts, and is hands down the best salad of all three restaurants.

Lanesplitter service is always 100%. I never mind waiting for a table as, once seated, the servers don’t rush you. It’s kid friendly, loud and fun, and full of locals and bikers. Great stuffed-full calzone, fantastic beer...what more can a man ask for?

Lina Broydo
Name: Lina
Occupation: Public Relations Director
Location: Los Altos Hills
Favorite Restaurant: Chef Chu's
Reviewed Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub: Saturday, February 25, 2012

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Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub is a very popular restaurant with many young families with their kids -- ages 5 to 10 --who make it their regular outing for nice thin-crust pizzas and to get together with their friends. Everyone seems to be happy and fullfilled. Great variety of beers. Wines in bottles or by the glass to select from.

I recommend sticking to the extensive selection of pizzas; thin crusted and this one was loaded with cheeses, pepperoni and salty anchovies (an anchovy lover’s paradise!). My order of the vegetarian lasagna was not up to par: although it was soft and smooth, it was never the right temperature, hot on the outside and cold inside. I sent it back for an additional warm-up, but it still came back cold inside and super hot outside the rim of the dish. It also missed some spices and tasted very bland. Is it frozen and warmed up in the micro?

The green salad of fresh, lively, and crunchy spinach, lettuce, beans, shredded chickpeas, red cabbage, and additional variety of vegetables with my choice of the honey mustard sauce, big enough for two to share, was perfect. The additional order of 8 puffy breadsticks with melted mozzarella cheese with red spicy sauce for dipping were terrific and ample in supply for us to take home for our next meal. No desserts on the menu, but the servers recommend visiting the ice cream place next door..

Very polite and friendly servers.

Challenges: parking, very busy after 6pm, no reservations taken.

Chandra Love
Name: Chandra
Occupation: Financial Marketing Director
Location: Sausalito
Favorite Restaurant: chiaroscuro
Reviewed Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub: Tuesday, March 6, 2012

I loved the idea of trying out new pizza. I went to Lanesplitter with my brother eager to try some New York style pizza in the Bay Area. The parking was very difficult and took about 15 minutes to find a parking spot. There was a large crowd, so I figured we would have to wait before we could eat. Once we arrived at the restaurant, the atmosphere reminded me of my college days with late night tests and quick meals. It’s a very casual place that seems to attract cyclists and all types of local East Bay residents. Our waiter was friendly and very happy to answer questions about the restaurant and to provide us with information about the owners. Once we were seated, we were anxious to order. I started with their house wine and my brother had a beer they had on special, the Celebration Ale on tap. My wine was bit too dry for my taste and certainly not worth the $8.00 for a house wine. My brother is a big Sierra Nevada fan, but thoroughly enjoyed the Celebration Ale because it was similar to the Sierra Nevada. And for $6.00 it definitely was a lot cheaper than most other pale ales.

I started my meal by ordering their mixed green salad with vegetables. I was pleasantly surprised at the freshness of the salad and vegetables. I am usually not a fan of veggies in my salad, but I must say the combination of vegetables mixed in with their house made honey mustard vinaigrette was incredible. The sauce was not too tangy and provides just the right amount of spice to the salad. My brother decided to forgo a salad and ordered some of their homemade garlic bread with red sauce. The bread was nice and warm, but the sauce was a bit bland and reminded me of canned tomato sauce.

For the main course we ordered the cheese pizza along with a traditional cheese calzone. I love cheese and really enjoyed eating the calzone stuffed with cheese. The calzone was really thick and hot and perfect for sharing with as many as 3-4 people. The calzone came with their famous red sauce and surprisingly it tasted better with the calzone rather than the breadsticks. The $9.25 cost for a large calzone was relatively cheap for the quality. Despite the salad and the calzone, we decided to order a large house 4 cheese thin crust pizza for $21.25. I was surprised by the generous size of the pizza and for $21.25 it is such a good deal for the size. However, despite the large size and the decent price I was very disappointed with the taste. The sauce was very salty and the cheese was too hot so I had to wait for the pizza to cool down before taking another bite. The crust is far from traditional New York style pizza, it was too wide and thick not made for folding. The cheese reminded me of a frozen pizza, it was not fresh and even though it was 4-cheese pizza it was difficult to taste anything but mozzarella cheese.

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In conclusion, I would highly disagree with Lanesplitter calling themselves New York style pizza. The service was good and the calzones are exceptional and, in my opinion, better than their pizza. In comparison to other East Bay pizzerias, I must say I have had much better pizza. My guest felt that the pizza was decent at best, but neither worth the drive nor the comparison to New York style pizza. If I lived in the area, I would go to Lanesplitter for their calzone and not their pizza.

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Check, Please! Bay Area reviews: Chef Chu's, Lanesplitter, chiaroscuro

Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub: Restaurant Info

Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub: Reviews