Blondie's: A Slice of Life in Berkeley

Blondie's Pizza on Telegraph Avenue has been a Berkeley tradition since 1982, and in recent years, Blondie's has jumped into the gourmet pizza trend.

Owner Ken Sarchan decided that Blondie's needed more of a healthy image, so, he added pies piled with veggies as well as gourmet options including the Asaparagus Chicken, Meaty Tomato Alfredo, Garlic Chicken, and Magic Mushroom.

"I want people to think they're eating healthy, not just eating pizza." said Karchan.

In fact Blondie’s has an almost cult-like following with customers like Rick Ratto. He’s been a Blondie devotee for 20 years. "Some people come to Berkeley to see the place where the riots took place in the 1960’s,” says Ratto, but I come to go to Blondie's.”

What’s Blondie's secret weapon? "We use a dough that doesn't feel heavy when you eat it," owner Karchan explains. And to make the meal even lighter, more customers are ordering cheeseless pizza with just veggies and sauce, like Rasputin Music manager Steve Escobar.

Escobar’s a regular at Blondie's where he orders the whole wheat veggie pizza. He says it’s about the same as eating a healthy sandwich on wheat bread with cheese. "My wife asked why I eat at Blondie's so much,” he says. “And I told her I eat more vegetables there than I do at home.”