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Tony Gemignani has made pizza for 35 years. He tossed his first pizza in Castro Valley at his brother’s Pyzano’s Pizzeria. Now the owner of six full service restaurants, Gemignani debuted his first Tri-Valley pizzeria in Livermore—part of his 34-unit Slice House brand—in February 2026
The restaurateur is a 13-time World Pizza Champion. Gemignani gained instant celebrity status in Naples at the 2007 World Pizza Cup as the first American and non-Neapolitan to earn the award. In 2009, he opened Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, his flagship restaurant in San Francisco.
The grand opening of the Livermore Slice House was especially meaningful for Gemignani because he grew up in Fremont. A resident of Alamo, he enjoys the Good Guys car shows in Pleasanton and has frequented Livermore wineries and restaurants.
Pizza-hungry fans lined up three hours before the opening. During the day, 1,300 guests chowed down on pizza and more. Gemignani coached his staff beforehand and chatted with me in between interruptions.
“Livermore is so close to my hometown and my brother’s former shop that many friends have come to the opening. Customers from 35 years ago in Castro Valley are here,” said Gemignani.
The celebrity pizzaiolo (pizza chef) greeted all his acquaintances warmly in the room with tomato sauce-red painted walls that display prints of pizza cartoons, Bay Area scenes, and Gemignani’s bio.
Since the opening, the pizza choices in Livermore track the top picks at all Slice House locations. Pepperoni is the most popular, followed by cheese pizza, the Wiseguy, packed with sausage, onions, ricotta, mozzarella, and hot honey, and the Picante with serrano peppers and cholula, a hot chili-based sauce. Gemignani sells his branded hot spicy oil—and his bestselling book, The Pizza Bible.
There is a pizza crust and toppings for most everyone at Slice House. On the two classic, whole pizzas, the cheese or pepperoni, you can select three of the whopping 28 add-ons from anchovies to mushrooms and chorizo; vegan type cheese and pepperoni are available at added cost. The other 19 named pizzas including the Motorhead, Burrata Queen, and the award winning Cal Italia, which made the pizzaiola (pizza maker) famous, are made with set toppings.
Take the traditional pizza. A friend recently ordered what Gemignani named the Traditional pizza—tomato sauce, mozzarella, both thick and thin pepperoni, and crumbled Italian sausage—as a New York style medium pie. He liked it because he could fold each slice before eating it, the New Jersey way. Another friend bit into a square, Sicilian style slice of traditional pizza, and immediately proclaimed, “It’s a good, regular slice, but I want to try the Picante.”
The pizza “style” refer to the crust. The New York style sports a thin, rounded dough, hand stretched in medium or extra-large sizes, classically thicker at the edge. The slightly thicker Sicilian style pizza, baked in a half sheet pan, is crafted in a light focaccia style. The Grandma features a thinner Sicilian square crust that is first seared in olive oil in a pan before baking in the oven. The focaccia style Detroit pizza is cooked in steel pan with Wisconsin brick cheese that melts during cooking and forms a lacy and crunchy layer along the edges. A gluten free crust for the 12-inch whole pizza is offered.
One of the things Gemignani told me was that during his youth, he dreamed of becoming a comic book artist. That didn’t happen. Yet, he said, “We eat with our eyes. I look closely at each pizza I make. How does the cheese and the crust look? Each pizza should have a certain aroma, too.”
Gemignani’s eye-pleasing gourmet touches show up in small ways. Consider the Caprese salad, one of three salads menued. Gemignani lays down a large basil leaf, then adds a slice of mozzarella and then a peeled, sweet pizzutello tomato imported from Southern Italy. Even in a takeout box, the salad looked appealing. Other sides include garlic bread, meatballs with a generous scoop of marinara, and wings, though most guests were chowing down on pizza. For non-pizza lovers, three bowls of pasta and a meatball sub are menued.
I chose a slice named Webb’s Double Sausage and discovered later that the baseball season pizza is a favorite of San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb. The pizza is a collaboration with the Giants to support George Mark Children’s House that provides compassionate care for children and young adults with serious medical conditions. A portion of the proceeds from each slice and whole pizza flow to the charity.
Slice House is a fast casual franchise enterprise. With a business background and owner of other food franchises, Ratika Tyagi operates the Livermore Slice House, three others in the East Bay, and one in Milpitas and Tracy.
Every Slice House location serves the featured “Slice of the Day,” one in New York style and the other, with a Detroit style crust. Gemignani creates a slice for each franchisee that is sold only at their locations.
Since the East Bay franchises are near Gemignani’s roots, he developed a heartfelt recipe for Tyagi’s Slice Houses called the True Italian.
“At my brother’s shop, we made our mother’s favorite pizza with pesto, mozzarella, garlic, tomato, Romano cheese, and oregano, the True Italian recipe. Everyone came to our house to eat. She canned and preserved fruit and vegetables that my grandfather grew on his farm.
“We have 1.5 acres in Alamo, and my son learns about our farming heritage by helping harvest apricots, pomegranates, figs, and wine grapes, ” said Gemignani.
Another slice that Tyagi keeps in the case daily is the Grandma style Sweet Gino with sweet tomato sauce, sliced mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, and basil. We found it sweet, yet pleasantly flavorful and satisfying, a good second slice, not quite a dessert.
Speaking of desserts, I dined with a friend who told me, “I do not like cannolis.” I bought him one anyway with pistachio garnish and he devoured it.
Transparency is key to Gemignani’s mission. On the website, Gemignani noted that the ricotta and mascarpone cannoli filling is house made. Tasting the fresh, creamy filling in the hearty, crunchy shell may have helped convert my friend. Of the 22 sauce add-ons, he marked the hot honey as house made. The paper menus, currently out of stock, also list calories per slice. Of course, my favorite style, the Detroit with cheesy edges, is the most caloric.
Gemignani is serious about freshness. The space behind the counter includes a separate dough room and the main kitchen, which houses the pizza oven, the prepare and finish pizza line, sauté line, and more.
“Working with Tony makes me realize the meaning of his motto: Respect the craft. He has spent decades studying dough, fermentation, and the oven temperature on a given day. Every pie that leaves our kitchen is held to a standard he has spent a lifetime building. His level of care rubs off on all of us,” said Tyagi.
