From March 13th until April 23rd, Pleasanton’s Zachary’s Pizza is hosting an art contest to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Contestants submit their art to win a $100 Zachary’s gift card as well as two t-shirts.

“This one [contest] is just free hand, whatever people want to make. But it does have to include the Zachary’s logo and it does have to have something to do with Zachary’s. The art is judged by the managers and also the crew and then we vote to pick which one gets to be hung up” said Zachary’s Pizza manager Don Baas.

When Zachary’s pizza’s founders, Zach Zachowski and Barbara Gabel, retired, they sold the business it to their employees. Thus Zachary’s is a 100% employee-owned business. Since it’s employee-owned, the staff decided to host an art competition both to decorate their store and to connect the restaurant with the community.

“[The interior] doesn’t look great. Compared to other establishments it doesn’t have a roomy feel to it— it doesn’t feel like you’re somewhere comfortable. It definitely has room for improvement,” said former Zachary’s part-timer Sophia Thompsen (‘24).

Having won over 225 Best Pizza Awards, Zachary’s is one of the most popular pizza places in the East Bay. They’ve won awards stretching from Trip Advisor and San Francisco Magazine, to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Therefore, winning the art contest would mean much more than just getting a gift card. The winning piece will be displayed in five of the widely recognized Zachary’s locations.

“To win  the contest, I’m looking to create a piece that fully encompasses Zachary’s pizza’s never-before-seen delectability. I’m trying to convey what various emotions people might feel while eating here,” said Carson Elliott (‘25).

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, Zachary’s had a rough start to their grand opening. It wasn’t much of a problem, however, thanks to the supportive Pleasanton community, which promotes their local establishments.

“We want to have people, customers, and crew be able to walk in here and look at the art submissions. It was difficult to do these art contests before because we wanted the community to take part as opposed to just having people submit art for us to evaluate over Zoom,” said Baas.