West Oakland: Popo's Pizza - Thin crust pizza, chicken stuffed with shitake mushroom rice, chocolate ganache cookies and the BEST bbq rib sandwich ever ($2.50)

[rworange]

The air was headily perfumed with BBQ smoke. The sandwich comes on a hearty artisan garlic roll, The top is sprinkled with very finely chopped garlic though it is difficult to tell if the garlic flavor is coming from the sauce which is layered with flavor.

It is sweet, tangy with light background heat that dances on the the tongue. There were little bits of onion in it It is loaded with chopped, flavorful pork ribs ... a little bit of fat here and there, but not fatty.

There are daily specials such as
http://popospizza.com/specials-popos-pizza.htm

- Seafood paella (Friday)
- Seafood Fettuccini:with fresh mussels, clams, prawns, fillet rock cod over fettucini noodles cooked with herbs, seafood sauce (Saturday)
- Slow-cooked rotisserie chicken seasoned with fresh herbs and stuffed with shitake mushroom rice (Sunday)

Pizza's might include
- Popo's Prosciutto
- Spicy Buffalo Chicken (with blue cheese)
- Ham & Smoked Gouda
- Hawaiian Mango
- Very Vegetarian (Garlic sauce, sun dried tomato, cilantro, cheese, portobello mushroom, roma tomato)

BBQ ribs come with the salad of the week are are $8.25 small and $13.95 small. Rotisserie chicken is $6.95 half and $10.95 whole.

I don't know if I got some end of the afternoon deal on the sandwich. I asked a number of times if that was the correct price. The menu lists the sandwich of the day at $4.95.

Very casual. Order at the counter. There are about a eight tables. The walls are covered with modern art and the music is contemporary. A stylish skeleton is at the hostess stand by the door. Seat yourself.

They opened Halloween 2008 and there is a video on the website.

Delivery is available Check website for coupons

Oakland Magazine review
http://www.oaklandmagazine.com/media/...

"Pizza dough, muffins and cookies made daily from scratch; virgin olive oil and fresh, natural ingredients: It’s crazy that this should be anything other than the norm. Fortunately there are those who agree. Charles Hopkins, who recently opened Popo’s Pizza in partnership with his wife, Betty Timbers, has put good health on the menu along with deliciousness. "

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Popo's Pizza
1671 8th St, Oakland, CA 94607

[hhc]

Thank you for the report RW.

Daily specials do sound good:
http://popospizza.com/specials-popos-...

Hrs:
Sun 1-9
M-W 11-9
Th-Sat 11-11

[Melanie Wong]

"There were little bits of onion in it It is loaded with chopped, flavorful pork ribs ... a little bit of fat here and there, but not fatty."

No rib bones?

[rworange]

It was chopped, but a piece of rib bone or, rather, the soft cartlidge thing snuck in here and there. I am guessing the sandwich may have been trim from the ribs.

[rworange]

Stopped by tonight to try the Sunday special - slow-cooked rotisserie chicken seasoned with fresh herbs and stuffed with shitake mushroom rice

First - this is a major dinner for $13.95
- whole large garlic chicken
- LOTS of rice with generous amounts of dried shitake mushrooms
- Green salad
- Dessert

Even two would be stuffed, although if ordering for two and both of you want green salad, order an extra salad ... this is salad for one.

Second , I don't really know what the delivery situaltion is in Oakland, but I'm guessing you are not going to get a better chicken dinner delivered to your door.

The chicken has a nice garlic rub .. .I guess that is this week's herb ... there were other herbs in the garlic rub, but this was the dominant flavor. It is not a crispy skin, but tasty.

As mentioned, the rice is mixed with lots of dried shitake mushrooms, large pieces and sometimes even whole mushrooms. I like dried mushrooms a lot because I think they give dishes a deeper flavor. It is not so much stuffed. The chicken is chopped in four pieces and sits atop a very generous quantity of the rice. It is more like stuffing rice though than just white rice mixed with mushrooms.

The salad is a spring mix with some chopped tomatoes, shredded carrot with a caesar-like dressing.

Tonight's dessert was fresh peach and banana shortcake. I can't be objective about this. He makes whipped cream EXACTLY like my mom did ... with confectioner's sugar in it. Every time I take a bite ... I'm home again. So for me it was just peachy. Two thick layers of a white cake had whipped cream, banana slices and fresh peaches in the middle. The cake was topped with more whipped cream and peach slices.

I asked where the smoke flavor came from in the rib sandwhich I bought the other day and he said from the rub, the ribs are long cooked.

Took a closer look at the place itself ... had to wait for the chicken. There are two two tops, one four-top and a grey granite counter with six chairs. Tables are stainless steel and chairs are wooden. It is really a take-out place, but if you really wanted to eat there you could.

[Eugene Park]

Dang, it all sounds pretty darn good. Too bad this wasn't around when I used to do some late night expeditions to the post office near there.

[abstractpoet]

Had them deliver a pizza and a slice of cake tonight. The chicken garlic lovers pizza was just OK--I like how it came to my door piping hot and the ingredients were fresh, but the crust itself was soft and uninteresting, and I would have preferred roasted or chopped garlic instead of the rich garlic cream sauce. All in all, solid enough, though. Definitely a whole lot better than Leaning Tower of Pizza, as far as delivery options go, but significantly worse than Lanesplitter (once the Lakeshore branch starts delivery service).

The peach-banana cream cake, on the other hand, was delicious! So light and refreshing, despite the preponderance of cream. Our slice didn't have that much peach in it, but still, this was worlds better than any other dessert I've had from a pizza delivery place.

Maybe I should go with other options instead of pizza, food-wise? Or just stick with tomato-sauce based pizzas...

[rworange]

Don't know. I haven't had the pizza yet and even if I did, it is not my area of expertise. The few complaints on yelp about the pizza mirrored yours, they found the crust bland.