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It was during the 2020 stay-at-home order brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic when Kira Zabrowski found she had a passion for all things pizza. This discovery would lead her family on a business adventure that combined their dedication to community, theater and the classic Italian dish.
Kira and her husband Mark Zabrowski opened Much Ado About Pizza in Pleasanton in the summer of 2022 – not even two years later the eatery was placed on Yelp’s 2024 Top 100 restaurants in the United States.
Located in Pleasanton’s Mission Plaza, the restaurant has earned a 4.8 (out of 5) stars on both Google reviews and Yelp. Much Ado About Pizza offers customers specialty pizzas, build-your-owns, hand-tossed artisanal pies (with vegetarian-friendly options) and a selection of sides such as salad or their famous garlic bread.
When reflecting on the founding of their business, Zabrowski said pizza chose her. Before opening the restaurant, she had worked in education for over two decades as a theater teacher.
“After COVID-19 hit and we had to shelter in place, I realized that I felt really stuck. My family unit was really suffering and after 25 years of teaching, it was not fulfilling to me anymore,” she said. “I was no longer excited about running my program nor was I motivated to accomplish any more than what I had done in my career as a teacher.”
That Christmas, Mark gifted his wife the book “Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast” by Ken Forkish. Zabrowski quickly found herself immersed in the world of pizza.
“I was very excited because I loved to bake and I especially wanted to get better at baking bread and to learn to make sourdough. I eagerly dived right into it and started baking up a storm,” she said. “After a few weeks or so I found myself at the back of the book marveling at the pizza recipes. I thought this is it!”
Struck with inspiration, Zabrowski began writing up a business plan and researching all she could about running a pizzeria.
In March 2022, the two visited the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. While attending seminars, workshops and demos, they decided to compete in the expo’s International Pizza Challenge.
“There I placed fourth in the world overall in the International Pizza Challenge Traditional Division and finished second in the Southwestern Division,” Zabrowski recalled.
“January 2022, we found our brick-and-mortar in Pleasanton, started doing pop-ups at the local wineries in Livermore to get our name and pizza out for the public to try and to raise money for our local food banks,” continued Zabrowski. “In April (of that year) we signed our lease and on June 10 we both finished grading papers and then opened our doors June 11, 2022.”
It was only fitting that the time came to name the pizzeria; that it reflected Zabrowski’s lifelong appreciation for theater education and the performing arts.
The namesake is a reference to the popular William Shakespeare play, “Much Ado About Nothing”. Their logo even depicts a cartoon version of Shakespeare enjoying a slice of pepperoni pizza.
Recently, the restaurant was recognized as one of the top eateries in the nation. According to Yelp, Much Ado About Pizza is No. 51 out of the top 100 places to eat in the United States in 2024. When the pair first heard the news, they almost couldn’t believe it.
“We thought it was spam at first,” Zabrowski said. “We were very surprised and excited. Also we felt very grateful to our community for nominating us. We believe in the quality and taste of our product and we are glad that others appreciate the time and effort we put into making our dough.”
Zabrowski added, “We also care about having high quality premium meats, cheeses, and fresh bounty. We try to source locally when we can. We respect our customers and do our best to make them feel like they are a part of the Much Ado family.”
News of the Yelp ranking brought in a surge of business, even prompting a visit from Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown, the owner told the Weekly.
Zabrowski said they plan on investing more time, energy and money into growing Much Ado About Pizza.
“As a mom-and-pop shop, the two of us are the owners, operators, chefs, dishwashers, social media team, and more,” she said. “We hope to continue and expand our outreach efforts in the community and beyond. We hope to employ more people so that we can grow into a larger space that would allow us to have a formal sit-down restaurant.”
In celebration of their Yelp ranking, the owners are donating $1 from each pizza toward the Goodness Village nonprofit throughout the month of February.
“The dream is to have a pizzeria where the community comes to gather around our pizza and to enjoy each others company,” Zabrowski said.
