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A longtime pizza restaurant has been replaced with another pizza shop.
Sacramento-founded franchise Pizza Guys opened its newest outpost June 5 in the former spot of Pizz’A Chicago along El Camino Real. The deep-dish pizza restaurant had been in Palo Alto since the 1990s, and continues to operate out of its original Santa Clara location.
While Pizza Guys doesn’t serve deep-dish pizza, it does offer six types of crust – original signature, Tuscany thin, thick, gluten-free, garlic Parmesan stuffed and signature stuff – as well as heart-shaped pizzas, half-and-half pizzas and four different sizes of pies. Additionally, find an expansive selection of flatbreads, chicken wings, “Cheezee” breads and rolls, pastas and salads.
Longtime Pizza Guys employee Duc Hoang is the franchise owner of the new Palo Alto location. Duc Hoang was born in Vietnam, immigrating to the East Bay at 12 years old. During his junior year of high school, he took a job hanging Pizza Guys advertisements on front door knobs. The following year, he began working at the Pizza Guys in San Leandro. Duc Hoang continued to work at various Pizza Guys locations while he pursued a degree in biomedical engineering at San Jose State University. He graduated from the program last year.
“I’ve always wanted to open one,” he said.
After graduating, his uncles, Hien Hoang and Vinh Nguyen, expressed interest in opening a franchise of Pizza Guys. While his uncles had never worked at Pizza Guys before, “they get pizza a lot from Pizza Guys,” Duc Hoang said, explaining that his family likes the pizza because of its quality.
“We make our dough fresh daily, and all the ingredients are fresh, and we have very high quality meat,” he said.
The family decided to open a Pizza Guys in Palo Alto, in part because Vinh Nguyen worked at Stanford University in the nuclear medicine program for eight years.
“I’ve always been close with (my uncles), so it makes work very fun,” Duc Hoang said.
Standout pizza flavors include the combo with tomato sauce, whole milk mozzarella, Italian dry salami, pepperoni, ground beef, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green bell peppers, yellow onions and black olives ($19.99-$35.99, depending on the size), as well as the buffalo chicken with white garlic sauce with Frank’s RedHot buffalo sauce, whole milk mozzarella, cheddar cheese, grilled chicken, sliced red onions and cilantro ($20.99-$36.99), according to Duc Hoang.
A vegetarian option he particularly enjoys is the Artichoke Fiesta, with white garlic sauce, whole milk mozzarella, marinated artichoke hearts, mushrooms, red onions, black olives, cheddar cheese, green onions and diced tomatoes ($19.99-$35.99).
Duc Hoang said special requests are welcome, and he and his team tries to accommodate everyone. For example, Pizza Guys offers vegan cheese.
The Palo Alto location does not have indoor seating, but it does seat around 10-15 on its outdoor patio, according to Duc Hoang. He recommends ordering through the website to bypass third-party fees and also notes that the website usually has discounts and special offers.
Shahpour Nejad founded Pizza Guys in 1986 in Sacramento. It now has more than 90 stores across two states, California and Nevada, including in San Carlos and Santa Clara.
Pizza Guys, 3864 El Camino Real, Palo Alto; 650-304-0400, Instagram: @pizzaguysofficial. Open Sunday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight.
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