Right on Mission Boulevard in Hayward, California, sits a pizzeria built by a son who spent a decade learning the family trade before striking out on his own. 🍕
Owner Robert Jaber founded Rayo’s Pizza in August 2022 after nearly ten years running his father’s pizzeria in San Francisco.
What started as a single Bay Area family recipe has grown into one of Hayward’s most talked-about neighborhood pizza spots.
How Rayo’s Pizza won Hayward’s hearts
Robert Jaber didn’t just decide to open a pizzeria one day, he learned the entire business the old-fashioned way, running his father’s successful San Francisco pizzeria for nearly a decade before setting out to build something of his own.
That hands-on family training shaped everything about how Rayo’s Pizza operates, and Robert has stayed just as hands-on in Hayward, working the restaurant six days a week from open to close.
The Jaber family’s decade of Bay Area restaurant experience shows up clearly in the kitchen’s approach, with everything made fresh in-house, from the pizza dough and sauce made completely from scratch to toppings prepped fresh instead of relying on frozen shortcuts.
That commitment to genuine, from-scratch cooking quickly built a devoted following in Hayward and neighboring Union City, with the menu’s two biggest breakout hits becoming the Carne Asada Pizza and the restaurant’s hand-formed smash burgers.
Word of the family-owned pizzeria spread fast through the local community, with regulars specifically calling out the crust itself, a detail that stands out in a category where crust is often an afterthought.
The restaurant’s growth reflects a genuinely personal investment, since Robert isn’t running a franchise concept but rather continuing a family business his father built years earlier just across the Bay.
Just a few years after opening, Rayo’s Pizza has already built a reputation as one of Hayward’s most reliable neighborhood pizzerias, proof that a family recipe carried forward with genuine care can win over an entirely new community.
Food Highlights
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Carne Asada Pizza: Red sauce topped with grilled steak, cilantro, onion, lime, radish, and hot sauce.
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Rayo’s Combo: Pepperoni, beef sausage, mushroom, onion, bell pepper, and tomato over a classic red sauce.
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Meat Supreme Pizza: Pepperoni, beef sausage, chicken, pulled brisket, and Canadian bacon over red sauce. 🥓
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Barbeque Brisket Pizza: BBQ sauce topped with slow-cooked brisket, onions, garlic, and pepperoncini.
- Spicy Hawaiian Pizza: Canadian bacon, pepperoni, chicken, jalapeño, and pineapple over red sauce.
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Mission Blvd Special Pizza: Pepperoni, Canadian bacon, olives, feta, fresh garlic, artichoke, and beef sausage over red sauce.
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Chicken Parmesan Pizza: Tomato cream sauce topped with chopped chicken cutlet, mozzarella, parmesan, and fresh basil. 🧀
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza: Buffalo sauce, chicken, onions, and pepperoncini finished with a ranch drizzle. 🌶️
Atmosphere
Rayo’s Pizza keeps things casual and unpretentious, the kind of neighborhood spot built for quick counter orders and late-night delivery. 🍕
The space stays focused on food over frills, letting the fresh dough and made-to-order toppings do the talking.
Regulars mix with first-time visitors from both Hayward and neighboring Union City, giving the restaurant a genuinely local, community feel.
It’s straightforward, reliable, and built around a family that clearly cares about getting every pie right. 🔥
Bottom Line
Visit for a Carne Asada Pizza unlike anything else on the block, hand-formed smash burgers made to order, dough and sauce built completely from scratch, an owner who works the counter himself six days a week, and proof that a family-run pizzeria can still win a whole new neighborhood. 🍕
Address:
32681 Mission Boulevard, Hayward, CA 94544
📞 (510) 431-3302
🕔 Open Tue-Thu 12 PM–9:45 PM, Fri-Sat 12 PM–10:30 PM, Sun 12 PM–9:45 PM (closed Monday)