Roba’s Pizza Cafe

I wanted to treat my coworkers with lunch, so I called as soon as they opened looking to order two extra-​large pizzas. They told me it would take an hour for them to prepare my order. Seriously! That’s way too long. So I told them to forget it. Then while I ordering from another restaurant, they called me twice, and left a message while I was on the phone with the other restaurant telling me they were canceling the order. Gee thanks for letting me know, you are not filling an order I had canceled.

Very slow service. Even when there isn’t much customers they let you wait and wait and wait. They see you but they won’t take your order right away. I won’t recommend this place even to friends.

I tried chicken pasta with basil saus. It was very good and loved eating. I recommend this place.

Very delicious. I grabbed a pizza for too to go to our hotel. It’s a little hidden but worth it.

I ordered a slice of pizza and a turkey sandwich for only $ 10. Couldnt believe that! The place has a nice feel to it. Inside they play Jazz and outside they have a nice view. The pepperoni pizza was alright and the sandwich was pretty basic. In all pretty good, but next time I will not order a sandwich from this pizza place.

Sat in for dinner. Ordered two individual pizzas and service was very laggy and slow. Waited about an hour for our order to get to the table. Pizzas ended up being tasty, but the waiting and service wasn’t worth it.

Run by a nice couple, but they need to hire more staff. I work 2 buildings away from the place and each time I call for pick up, it’s at least a 45 minute wait for just a calzone or small pizza.
Food is decent, nothing special. Neither love nor hate it. It’s a place I order from when I don’t make lunch and when the food truck isn’t appetizing at 2100 Powell. In all honesty, if there were better options within walking distance of my work place I probably would not be a patron here.
Bottom line: don’t go out of your way to try this place, but if it’s your only option it’ll work. Be prepared to wait!

Probably one of the best italian places ive eaten at! Loved their service also. Will be coming very soon

Just finished our meal. It took a bit of time, but it was well worth it. Staying out the nearby Hilton Garden Inn. It’s just a five minute walk from the hotel. Excellent food and very nice service.

Great, here on business and came back a couple of times. Made to order (not fast food). Nice home feel. If I lived here would visit regularly.

Shared a really good pizza with my wife and son.
This place looks unimpressive at first but we was very happy with our choice.

Some the best pizza I’ve had in a long time remind me of the Italian pizza I used to have back in Milwaukee owners are great atmosphere is great

This place was fantastic! Hubby and I were on our way to a concert and needed a quick dinner! We had our minds set on shrimp pasta, salad and garlic bread. We called this place, spoke to owner and by the time we got there our food was almost done. The food looked like they had taken hours to make! High quality Italian cuisine at an affordable price! Wow is all we can say! You got it right! See you in August for my next concert!
And the review before me ‘Jason ’ does not know what he’s talking about! Nothing tastes processed! Who cares where the owners are from, why bring that up? Lol

This could quite possibly be the best calzone I have had in a long time.
The pizza was good but the calzone was great.
Really friendly service and the prices are good.
Adding one thing. I just went back and had the best shrimp pesto pasta I have ever had. This place has really good food that is cooked with passion

I can’t figure out how I feel about this place. Owners are nice and take pride in their food.
The owners are the chefs. They are from Ethiopia which when I asked how they learned how to cook Italian they proclaimed «We are from Ethiopia!»
Maybe I’m ignorant but that surprised me because I wouldn’t expect to hear that. I guess some Italians settled in Ethiopia back in the early 1900’s. Anyway, it’s cool that they didn’t buy the business to make money… like a Chinese guy buying a taqueria who just wants to run a profit but knows nothing about the food… I hate places like that and avoid them… these guys instead love the food. So that sets my mind and stomach at ease.
Food was good. Meatballs need some work… tasted a little costco-​ish“
Overall…I’ll give you four stars. If the food was a little less processed tasting I would move that to a five.

I lived in Emeryville for many years & I always pass this location, but never tried it till 1÷23÷2015. Hidden Gem I say — as this beats your typical chain Italian Restaurants (i.e Pasta Pomadora /​Olive Garden).
Pro:
1. I ordered the Chicken Pesto Pasta (ok not bad)
2. No wait time — I did however placed a to go order over the phone & they were on time.
3. Easy Parking — Private Lot (next to convenient store/​UPS)
4. Price is not bad for the quantity /​quality you pay for
5. Demographics local older crowd aka retirees (if this is what you are looking for — go
)
Till my next post guys– meow

We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn nearby and our dinner choice for tonight was either Chevy’s or this «pizza place» my little one a and I passed by earlier. Well pizza won so the family walked over and placed an order to go so we could eat it at the hotel.
We ordered garlic cheese bread, a side salad, spaghetti and meatballs and a small ½ cheese/​mediterranean pizza. It smelled so good we practically ran back to the hotel to dive into it all!
The pizza was fantastic! My 4 year old even said it was «delicious»! The salad was a nice size and seemed very fresh. I didn’t have any spaghetti and meatballs but the hubs was raving about how great it was. The garlic bread was a little soggy but I’m sure that’s because we took it to go. Nonetheless, the taste was great and I’m sure had we stayed there and eaten it would have been the nice crunchy melted gooey-​ness I was looking for.
All in all I’m very happy we chose the little pizza place because it was a hit!

Ordered a calzone and the other reviewers are right, it’s huge. Also just be warned since everything is made fresh it’s going to take some time. The chef let me know it’s take about 20min so I waited for it.
The calzone itself was cheesy and full of veggies. It was really good and of course super filling. Crust was just right on the outside in terms of crunchiness and the wrap was nice and chewy. It was really good. Haven’t had anything else but one of these days I’ll drop in for a slice or something.

This is a fun little unexpected restaurant. It is by the water in Emeryville, in what could best be described as a strip mall. The thing that really sets this restaurant apart is it’s food — which is really-​really good. They really take the time to make their pizzas right.
On a more personal note, though they have a few bottle of what look to be Italian wine in their wine rack, they actually serve Gallo wine for their Cabaret Sauvignon — which is also in their wine collection. So, it is not like they are hiding anything. I’m not going to go into a wine review here but what I will say is that they pour their wine to the top of the glass. This is something very few restaurants can claim.
Overall, a great place to eat (and drink). Highly recommended.

This is a surprising spot since it is just a few blocks from the massive Bay Street mall and all the strip mall action. It is a tiny place but we were surprised by the pasta dishes. The al pomodoro was good with a nice fresh sauce and most importantly the pasta wasn’t over done. The chicken was a little dry though so the meatball version was better
The salads were identical except for the dressing. So the Caesar is actually don’t with regular mixed greens and not romaine.
Overall an easy spot to get to and the pasta was good and takeaway efficient. We love going to these little neighborhood spots where the busy residents drop in for a quick calzone etc.