Zach Zachowski and Barbara Gabel both grew up in small towns in Wisconsin. They spent several years in Chicago and in that time developed a love for Chicago style “deep dish” pizza. In 1983, they found themselves in the San Francisco Bay Area with the dream of opening their own Chicago pizza restaurant with a California twist. The search for a location began.

In their search, they came across a funky little lampshade shop in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. As luck would have it, the lampshade shop owner was ready to retire, and soon a vision became reality. After much planning and a lot of jack-hammering, Zachary’s on College opened its doors for business on July 25, 1983.