Travel 28 of the Best Pizza Places in the U.S. By Food & Wine Editors Updated on May 18, 2023 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photo courtesy of Keste Pizza and Vino Top chefs and legendary bakers are among the new breed of pizzaiolos who are just as fanatical about the temperature of their ovens as they are about the provenance of their ingredients. Here, F&W names the best places for pizza around the country from these new guard spots — including a Bay Area pizzeria that uses locally milled flour — to century-old East Coast institutions. 01 of 28 Pizzeria Vetri (Philadelphia) © Steve Legato At this pizza spot by Marc Vetri, one of the country's renowned Italian chefs, the Neapolitan pies come with thick, chewy crusts and toppings like prosciutto crudo and roasted fennel. The rotolo, not to be missed, are pink, fatty slices of housemade mortadella and ricotta wrapped in pizza dough, topped with Sicilian pistachio pesto. 02 of 28 A16 Rockridge (Oakland, California) © Natalie Compton What separates the Oakland outpost from the A16 flagship in San Francisco is the massive Stefano Ferrara wood-burning oven — which cook pizzas in 90 seconds — and a few different pies such as the Montanara Rockridge (lightly fried pizza dough topped with smoky tomato sauce, burrata, and basil). 03 of 28 Milo & Olive (Santa Monica, California) © Emily Hart Roth Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan's burgeoning food empire includes this bakery cum pizzeria featuring Nathan's excellent breads and whole–grain pie dough, topped with seasonal — and often unconventional — combinations like butternut squash, caramelized onion, Fontina cream, 25-year-aged balsamic, and thyme. 04 of 28 Pig Ate My Pizza at Nouvelle Brewing (Robbinsdale, Minnesota) © Courtney Perry This small-batch brewery in a suburb just outside Minneapolis pulls off its funky, unorthodox pies with brio. Toppings range from chicken tikka masala and tomato curry to crushed Doritos. 05 of 28 Del Popolo (San Francisco) © Matthew Millman In 2012, Jon Darsky, a former pizzaiolo at San Francisco's excellent Flour + Water, repurposed a 20-foot shipping container to create his impressive mobile pizza restaurant. The setup included a handmade wood-burning oven from Naples that was protected with massive airbags during transit. The truck no longer operates, but the restaurant has been in its brick-and-mortar location since 2015. 06 of 28 Don Antonio by Starita (New York City) © Anthony Bianciella Photography Roberto Caporuscio, of New York's Kesté, has partnered with his mentor, Antonio Starita, a third-generation Italian pizzaiolo. Their Midtown pizzeria serves more than 45 pies — including fried montanara — and is now helmed by Caporuscio's pizzaiola daughter, Giorgia. 07 of 28 800 Degrees (Los Angeles) © 800 Degrees From the folks behind Umami Burger: fast artisanal pizza. Each pie is made to order and cooks in 60 seconds. 800degreespizza.com 08 of 28 Al Forno (Providence, Rhode Island) Courtesy of Al Forno Restaurant In 1980, Johanne Killeen and George Germon launched a new era of ambitious cooking in Providence with their thin-crusted grilled pizzas topped with super-fresh ingredients. Their signature margarita pizza is topped with house-made pomodoro, fresh herbs, two cheeses, and extra-virgin olive oil. 09 of 28 Forcella (New York City) Courtesy of Forcella Though it sounds like an abomination, montanara, or fried pizza, is a Neapolitan tradition. The dough is deep-fried, then topped and baked, adding a depth of flavor. In 2011, Giulio Adriani introduced New Yorkers to the delicacy at Brooklyn's Forcella; he's since opened two Manhattan locations. 10 of 28 Casey's Pizza (San Francisco) © David Karvasales East Coast transplant Casey Crynes was making pizza on the street, using a modified 18-inch Weber grill, before outfitting a former laundry truck with a gas-fueled oven in 2011. His Casey's restaurant on 4th Street has been open since 2017. 11 of 28 Sottocasa (New York City) © Luca Arrigoni The old floors of this Brooklyn pizzeria couldn't handle the weight of the 4,000-pound pizza oven that owner Luca Arrigoni had ordered, so he hired a crane to lift it three stories over the building and into the backyard. Arrigoni then built walls around the hearth, where he now makes the Neapolitan-style pies he mastered at Kesté. 12 of 28 Via Tribunali (Seattle) Courtesy of Via Tribunali Seattle espresso-and-pizza-empire builder Mike McConnell opened two local branches of his Via Tribunali pizzeria. The Neapolitan-style pizzas have puffy crusts that cook in just 45 seconds in an oven made with imported bricks — from Naples, of course. The house specialty is a stuffed pizza: dough wrapped around sausage, mozzarella, smoked provolone, arugula, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli rabe. 13 of 28 Ribalta (New York City) Courtesy of Ribalta At Ribalta, all of the ingredients are Neapolitan, including the flour blend, yeast, cheese, and tomatoes. Partner and executive chef Pasquale Cozzolino was a student of Gaetano Esposito at culinary school in Naples — the great-grand-nephew of the chef who invented the Neapolitan pizza Margherita. 14 of 28 Santarpio's Pizza (Boston) © Amy Swan Super-traditional pizzeria Santarpio's, with wood-paneled walls covered with pictures of famous athletes, has been around for more than a century and serves outstanding pizzas, like the signature housemade sausage pie. 15 of 28 Pizzeria Mozza (Los Angeles) © Larry Sales Powerhouse team Joseph Bastianich and Nancy Silverton combine the best California ingredients (squash blossoms and super-juicy tomatoes, for example) with Italian tradition (big wood-burning ovens and house-made mozzarella) to form some of L.A.'s best pies at Pizzeria Mozza. 16 of 28 Flour + Water (San Francisco) © Lesley Kao At Flour + Water, the phenomenal pizza Margherita (tomato sauce, Fior di Latte, and extra-virgin olive oil) has delicious puffy and charred cornicione (end crust), the result of just two minutes in the 800-degree wood-burning oven imported from Italy. 17 of 28 Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (New Haven, Connecticut) © Doug Schneider Photography This longstanding classic, considered ground zero for New Haven-style "apizza," was started by Frank Pepe in 1925 and is now run by his grandchildren. The Original Tomato Pie (without mozzarella) is still on the menu, but White Clam Pizza is the most popular. 18 of 28 Motorino (New York City) Courtesy of Motorino Chef Mathieu Palombino cooked at BLT Fish before he embarked on his pizza-tasting tour, traveling from Italy to California, trying pies to perfect his bready, well-salted crust. At his restaurant, Motorino, the signature item is his pizza with brussels sprouts, smoked pancetta, mozzarella, pecorino, and garlic. 19 of 28 Pizzeria Delfina (San Francisco) © Eric Wolfinger An offshoot of Delfina restaurant, from Craig and Anne Stoll, Pizzeria Delfina boasts Neapolitan-inspired pies like the signature Margherita and variations with delicious toppings such as housemade fennel sausage. 20 of 28 Paulie Gee's (Brooklyn) © Evan Sung Gregarious pizza legend Paulie Gee serves Neapolitan pies with inspired toppings like a cream sauce made with anisette, a sweet anise liqueur. His signature Regina pie is topped with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, olive oil, and basil. 21 of 28 Tacconelli's Pizzeria (Philadelphia) © Helen Horstmann This Philly pizza institution hasn't changed the recipe for its tomato pies (minimal cheese) since Italian immigrant Giovanni Tacconelli started serving them in 1946. 22 of 28 Kesté Pizza and Vino (New York) Courtesy of Keste Pizza and Vino Chef and co-owner Roberto Caporuscio worked as a cheese salesman in Italy before he opened Kesté, one of the best Neapolitan-style pizza spots in New York City. His signature Regina Margherita pizza is topped with tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, grape tomatoes, basil, and extra-virgin olive oil. 23 of 28 Lucali (Brooklyn) © Eric Mueller Chef-owner Mark Iacono's outstanding pies are served in a no-frills dining room. Brooklyn's Lucali was packed before he was even able to officially open and pull the brown paper off the windows. 24 of 28 Rubirosa (New York City) Courtesy of Rubirosa Hard to believe, but it can be tough to find good Italian food in and around Little Italy. No more: Rubirosa, founded by Angelo "AJ" Pappalardo in 2009, specializes in a thin-crusted pie that dates back to a nearly 60-year-old family recipe from Staten Island. The Pappalardos also offer a gluten-free pizza dough on the menu. 25 of 28 Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix, Arizona) © Robyn Lee The pizzas here are arguably America's best, with beautiful, wood-fired crusts made from organic flour and topped with fresh and house-smoked mozzarella. Star pizzaiolo Chris Bianco's favorite pie is his marinara pizza and there's almost always a line out the door at Pizzeria Bianco. 26 of 28 Totonno's (Brooklyn) © Robyn Lee Coney Island institution Totonno's made its name with big, saucy Margherita Neapolitan pies. 27 of 28 Di Fara (Brooklyn) © Shane Mitchell Late owner Domenico DeMarco made pies at this Brooklyn pizza landmark well into his 80s, so they came out with the perfect balance of tomato sauce (made fresh daily), mozzarella, and Grana Padano cheeses. Di Fara is still family-owned and operated. 28 of 28 Sullivan Street Pizza (New York City) © Squire Fox Sullivan Street Bakery founder Jim Lahey is one of the country's elite bakers, so it makes sense that people can't stop talking about his chewy, crisp, ever-so-slightly tangy pie crusts at Sullivan Street Pizza, formerly Co. His signature pie, aptly named the Popeye, is topped with pecorino, Gruyère, mozzarella, black pepper, garlic, and spinach, of course. 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