Cravings Stone Fired Pizza and Pasta

Owner has a bad attitude and cannot accept comments directly related to mismanagement of his own place. Go out of business.

After not having pizza for like a month (unfortunately the Philippines just can’t serve the same), I was definitely craving pizza. And what better place is there to go than the appropriately named, Cravings?
My boyfriend and I stopped by here on a Saturday late afternoon before dinner time so it wasn’t too crowded yet. The restaurant has plenty of seating inside and out and tons of wines to choose from. There were also lots of TV’s around and a bar if you’re looking for a place to watch the game. Once we walked in, we were seated immediately and that pretty much set the tone for the service the whole night. We were well attended to and everything came out pretty quickly.
Not sure if it’s because I hadn’t had pizza in so long or if it’s just that good, but the pizzas were awesome. There were other foods on the menu that I definitely wanted to try but lord knows I can’t eat that much. I’ll be back for sure!

Where do I start? Went in the other evening, and waited over 40 minutes to get any food. Our food didn’t all come out at the same time, and they ran out of the draft beer I wanted. It took forever to flag down help to get drink refills!
Food was «ok», but the service is terrible!
This was my second and last time here. The first time a few months ago we received the same lousy service, so we decided to give them a while to work out their kinks. Sorry, the kinks are now knots!

Great service and a very helpful staff and owner! We had some friends in from England and wanted some good pizza and beer to watch the warriors game! Come here!!!

Where to begin. Took almost 20 minutes to have an overpriced, pitiful excuse of a meal. 6 tiny pieces of shrimp, vodka chicken that tasted like it was poured out of a jar instead of a bottle! Very cheap on the chicken. Not worth the almost $ 50 for three meals. I have had better quality from CPK at half the price.

The service was great! Loved the menu options, great food, great drink list, and even met the owner. Great restaurant to visit!

My wife & I were there Sunday evening after the Livermore Wine Country Festival (what we were in town for). They have an outside area that maybe there were 1 – 3 parties. We walked in the place & it was empty. No customers. There was a pleasant hostess. I asked her to take our order (pizza) as we were in a BIG rush.
There were 4 – 5 female employees & at least 1, maybe more cooks in the back. No communication concerning our pizza.
At the 30 minute mark I walked around & complained. At this point I was very upset.
A woman I learned to be the evening supervisor came to my table, offered an explanation, apologized, & offered a solution which I thought was overly generous. We thanked her for her attitude, said her offer was beyond reasonable, but she insisted.
We enjoyed our pizza. I liked it & my wife loved it.
This supervisor turned a bad situation around. There was no chance that we would return due to the tardiness & lack of communication. Now there is no chance that we will not return when we are in Livermore this coming September (for the Altamont Cruisers Car Show).
I complimented the supervisor to my waitress & also to her face.
We went there due to a Times review. It mentioned the dessert. I regret that we didn’t try it but we will next time.

The worst service I’ve encountered in downtown Livermore. Came in at 12:30 and no food 1 hour and 45 minutes later. Watching other tables turn over 2 times while we waited for our food. After complaining, no one had answers for us but surprisingly our food came out 10 minutes later. The «co-​owner» was no help at all & didn’t even apologize. We won’t be back!

We went in today for lunch. I ordered a sandwich and did not want the roll with it. Waiter asked if I had a gluten allergy. I was very impressed he asked. The kitchen staff put it in a different plate. The staff was one of the best trained staff by the questions they asked during our meal.
The food was really good too.

Spaghetti and meatballs are amazing. Delivery is on point.
Only had one service issue and the manager came and apologized and comp’d our entire meal.
Excellent food and customer service!

Great pizza. Great pasta. Great customer service, our server Sara recommended the fettuccini pesto pasta and to this day I order it every time!
They’ve won me over so I’ll definitely be coming back! :)

OCCASION: The boyfriend and I were hanging around Livermore but the downside was that we wanted to try this other pizza place (I forgot the name), but we needed to make a reservation. The only take reservation. Then we went to ANOTHER pizza place, but that place had a 45 minute wait. NO, I am not going to wait that long for pizza. So we found this place on Unilocal and walked over. It was not crowded and loud as the other places, so that was a plus.
ENVIRONMENT: It is located in downtown Livermore. It was easy to find. Inside, there were plenty of tables available and there was even a bar. There were many TV screens to look at which kept me and the boyfriend entertained. Seats were comfortable, table was clean and not wobbly. Decorations were really nice! Bathrooms were nice too!
FOOD: We both got the Cesar Salad ($ 6 each). The salad was huge and the pizza came out before we finished the salads. We shared a medium size pizza. It was delicious! We took our time devouring it. We had no room in our stomach for desserts.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Service was great, the waiter came in to make sure everything’s great. We got the check right when we wanted. The wait for our food wasn’t that long. Reading the other reviews, I guess we got the lucky service! :)
PRICE: $$, expensive. I felt that the salad was overpriced but it was a huge portion, but it was nothing special. Pizza was great for me though!
OVERALL: Come here if you don’t want to make a reservation for other pizza joint. Nice setting but the salad was just OK. Pizza was delicious though!

Another average, at best, pizza joint. It is just a pizza place. Nothing much to it.
They serve pizza, pasta and salads. It is in an hip restaurant setting, but that setting can’t
Mask the fact that it is just a pizza parlor with subpar service, above average prices and just ok food.
We went on a Friday evening around 5:30ish. There were plenty of tables available and the bar was empty. There were two girls at the front when we arrived. They were chatting and continued their conversation about their other girlfriend u till I finally said, «good evening.» One of the girls looked up, grabbed two menus, walked us to a table, set our menus down and walked back to the front where her coworker was still talking. The gal who seated us did not say «hello» or «enjoy your meal» or «welcome to Cravings». Nothing. Should have left.
Again, the pizza parlor was less than half full. Our server came over after about 6 minutes. She was talking with two other employees behind the bar. We ordered a beer and a glass of wine and the stuffed jalapeños. It got a bit confusing at this point. About 15 minutes went by and our jalapeños came out. They were pretty good. Tasted fresh. But, we were still waiting on our drinks. The waitress asked if everything was okay so far and we asked for our drinks. She said that the bartender was having a keg issue. She then went behind the bar and poured a beer and a glass of wine, we watched her, and then she brought them over and told us that she must not have seen the drinks up, but here you go.
Ordered pizza. Just a medium pepperoni and cheese. The dough was bland. The pepperoni was average and the cheese and sauce were underwhelming. The thing about the pizza is that if it was really good, I would have no problem finishing a medium myself and probably have room for more, it is just not a hearty pizza. Basically, it tastes like any other joint with a woodfired pizza. Nothing exciting or new.
I was hoping for a new and different pizza joint but it just needs some long benches, pitchers of beer and some softball teams and it would be an overpriced pizza parlor that won’t get too many repeat visits. I have no reason to go back.

Apparently we have some of the worst luck with this place, or people rating them 4 – 5 stars are having some amazing luck.
The last time we went (and the last time we’ll go) we waited over an hour for our lunch special pizzas. For the first 30 minutes of that, we were literally the only ones in there. And not like tehehe like no one else was there! I mean zero other customers.
So we finally get our pizzas, but they didn’t bring out my daughters pasta. At this point she’s obviously starving, we ask about her pasta and the waiter seemed confused. Then the manager came over and apologized, saying that they got a new computer system that doesn’t send the child menu’s pasta to the kitchen (yes, seriously. Just the children’s pasta!)
I actually don’t hate the food. But there is a reason why when the Alehouse is packed, this place is empty.

I was so excited to try Cravings, but left really unimpressed. My husband and I ordered an appetizer, a glass of wine for me, a beer for him, and each an entrée. While nothing was terrible, nothing stood out either. The food was just ok, as was the service. We went on a not busy evening, sat outside and felt like we were actually a bit ignored. I appreciate that they carry so many local wines, though.
Many of my friends have been to Cravings and enjoyed it, so maybe we just came during on off-​night. We might give it a chance again in the future, but for now I think three stars is sufficient.

The beer selection, pizza quality, and outstanding gelato make Cravings one of the go-​to restaurants on Livermore’s 1^st Street.
I started with the caprese salad appetizer. The tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil were fresh and delicious. Not sure what kind of balsamic they use, but it was thick and way too sweet. The fresh ingredients of a caprese sell the salad — no need to church up the balsamic. Regular will do.
I went with the Thai peanut pizza, and it did not disappoint. The sweet corn added an interesting, but tasty touch. The Thai peanut is just one of many gourmet pizzas, and the selection of different unique flavor combinations is a great reason to keep coming back to try them all. I had to make myself stop eating to save room for gelato.
As good as the pizza is, the gelato is the highlight of Cravings. You get three scoops per order and I went with the salted caramel, peaches and cream, and vanilla bean — all delicious. I’ve also had the chocolate in the past, which is also outstanding. Even if you have dinner somewhere else, stop by Cravings for dessert.
Cravings is another good restaurant amongst an array of flavors on 1^st Street, and one you should definitely try.

A friend and I stopped in here for lunch and it more than fit the bill!
Came in around 2, so the place was fairly quiet. We both ordered the side house salad and we split the medium barbecue chicken pizza (at her recommendation… it’s one of her favorites). The salad was enjoyable (a basic green salad… but good for the price), and I really liked the pizza. The barbecue sauce was just a bit spicy… but I really liked that the chicken was cut in thin strips, as opposed to cubes (a la CPK). The pizza also worked for me because it was fairly thin… if the crust was thicker, I think all the flavors would’ve been overwhelming. Medium was more than enough for 2– we each had 2 – 3 pieces and she brought home leftovers.
Waitstaff was friendly – and stopped by frequently (probably because we were one of just a few tables in there at the time). Manager (or I assume it was the manager!) stopped by once to check in, and refilled our waters while he was by.
Fun décor! Check out my photos for examples :)
For me, a Peninsula gal, this is obviously a bit far out to make a regular spot. But if I lived closer, I’d definitely incorporate it into my pizza-​place rotations, if only for the bbq pizza.

2.5 stars. I’m rounding up.
Summary: OK tasting pizza, overpriced.
I ordered a large half Genoa clam, half prosciutto and pear. It is nice that they would accommodate a half and half order. The Genoa clam has a pesto sauce, mozzarella, bacon, and chopped clams, it was pretty good, though a bit dry. The prosciutto and pear, had (apart from the title ingredients), no sauce, some ricotta, and apparently Gorgonzola (but I don’t remember tasting it). Between the two the Genoa clam was a clear winner because it had flavorful components, the prosciutto and pear had a very very minuscule amount of prosciutto and pears which where not ripe (and the cooking didn’t help to bring out any sweetness either). Another complaint that I had was that the prosciutto (did I mention it was a tiny amount?) was added to the pizza before cooking, at that point you might as well be using ham or pancetta, none of the delicate flavor or texture of the ingredient remains after high heat. So that half of the pizza was definitely a disappointment.
My other issue is that I feel the pizza is overpriced for what it is. I’ve had great Neapolitan (my favorite) for between $ 12-​$ 17/​pizza (with high quality ingredients like burrata and prosciutto di Parma).
Regarding the pizza style, I don’t quite know how to categorize this type of pizza. It doesn’t fall into the three most commonly known types (NY, Chicago, or Neapolitan). I guess I might come back here, just because of the limited number of options in Livermore. But my expectations wont be particularly high. I might be more enticed to come back if the prices drop or they alter their menu.

This is no doubt the best pizza in Livermore. It’s about as close as we’ve found to pizza from NYC. The crust is thin with a nice crunch. The cheese and sauce is tasty and you almost get the drip on the side of your mouth! The wings have a great fry! Cesar salad is very good and so is the wedge. We had a calzone… yes small for 2, good size for one, but extremely tasty! So far, we’ve been back multiple times and it’s always good! Staff is very nice. Honestly,
Patxi’s down the street is good, but this is definitely better and has more options!

If I could give a half star, I would. I rounded up to be fair. Visited today with my daughter.
I swear I saw a burger on the menu before and learned there is not. Okay, that’s fine. However there is a burger pizza with pickles, onions, and mustard. If they can offer that why not offer a real burger?
My change in review is due to the slow and uneven service on a Wednesday after the lunch rush. Our visit was at 1:30 with only one other table of guests (table of 10?) in the restaurant with us.
I ordered my sandwich half (meatball) and half (Italian sausage), but the gal said she didn’t know if they could do that. I explained this was offered to me before when I couldn’t decide, but I gave her my back up just in case. Daughter ordered the small meat lover’s pizza.
Then, we waited… and waited … and waited. 25 minutes I finally ask where our food is. She said she’d check in it and they had just put the pizza in the oven. JUST??? I explained I had to get back to work not to mention at 2pm we were both starving.
My sandwich came out half and half which was nice, but it would have been great to have been told it was not a problem in the 25 minutes that we were waiting for our food to arrive. Daughter’s pizza arrived a few minutes later.
My sandwiches were lukewarm and the fries were soggy. Pizza was «ok».
It was over five minutes before she came back to check on us. I personally like a quick check to ensure we have everything we need. Hence the points off for not checking sooner and only when the manager came to check on us first. Because we were pressed for time at this point I didn’t want to make a fuss. Our server did come back to offer more iced tea to my daughter — yay, but not more water for me — meh.
We were finishing up and my daughter had a napkin over the crusts, but was still working on her pizza. Our server asked if M wanted a box and M said no. Our server then reached over to grab the pizza without confirming she was done eating. That actually bugged me. It took forever to get our food and I felt hurried to go.
Perhaps this is a training/​new hire issue, but the food isn’t cheap, my time especially during the work week is extremely valuable so I expect better.
I will weigh heavily on returning or recommending to others.