Since 1951, La Val's has stood the test of time as Berkeley's longest-running restaurant in operation today. With an unwavering commitment to high-quality, handmade, affordable fare that has kept the campus and surrounding community happily fed for generations, La Val's is a modern classic.
Milton LaGrave and Joe Valencia (the "La" and "Val" of our name) founded La Val's House of Pizza in 1951 at its first location at College and Alcatraz. A few years later, they opened up the Euclid location where we still are today, calling it La Val's Gardens. La Val's used to be a late-night hot spot, open until 2am or later.
The Euclid location has seen a lot of change over the decades. It was the birthplace of Cody's Books before they established their now-bygone flagship location on Telegraph. And right in our little courtyard was the Northside Theatre, a single-screen art-house movie theater.
In 1976, Dan Fogerty bought the restaurant, eventually opening up La Val's on Durant Ave in 1982. The Durant location lasted until 2005, but by then he had sold La Val's to Izat Eliyan, who still runs the business today, and his business partner Steve Wickes.
Before Steve passed away far too young in 2012, he and Izat brought La Val's into the modern era with a refreshed approach to the classic La Val's pizza dough and a focus on the freshest, highest-quality ingredients. Today Izat continues to keep pushing La Val's forward, satisfying a new generation of diners with options like a scrumptious gluten-free crust, mouthwatering plant-based cheese, exciting local beers on tap, and more.
We make our dough the day before and let it rise overnight in the walk-in — the slow rise time ensures a greater depth of flavor in the crust. Then we stretch out and hand-toss the dough and lay on the toppings generously and just so.
We put the same care into everything we make. Salad dressings from scratch (our Caesar dressing is second to none), chicken breast grilled to juicy perfection, only the freshest toppings for our pizzas...there's just no substitute for the joy of making the food you love.
And it's not just the food: our counter staff always make sure you're taken care of, and you never have to wait long for your order. Come check out our open kitchen and see our incredible crew at work.
Finally, we're still old-school when it comes to being a low-key pizza (and more) joint where you can just hang out: there's a pool table, pinball, big screens, a big patio, and more (not to mention a whole theater downstairs!).
See you soon!