Best Pizza Cities in the World

Best Pizza
Juliana’s Pizza- Brooklyn, NY

Pizza is my favorite food and I’d guess that many share my opinion. I can’t imagine hearing from many people that they don’t like pizza!

While pizza is pretty much just dough, sauce and cheese, it comes in loads of different varieties. Thin crust, deep-dish, Neapolitan, Sicilian, bar-pies and more. There are so many styles of pizza and many cities are know for their take on pizza.

Conde Naste Traveler came up with a list of the The 14 Top Cities for Pizza in the World.

I was curious to see which cities made the cut and how many I’ve visited and ate pizza in!

Let’s take a look:

  1. Chicago: I love deep-dish pizza but wouldn’t consider it to be my favorite. While on trips to Chicago I never tried the thinner pies mentioned in CN Traveler’s article. So, I can’t comment whether it is good or not. I’ll take their word and give it a try next time I find myself in Chicago.
  2. New York City: I’d probably rank NYC #1 and it is definitely hard to say who makes the best pizza. I’d recommend New Park Pizza, NY Pizza Suprema, Rubirosa, Best, Totonno’s, Wheated and Sam’s as my top pick. Ask me tomorrow and I’d probably name a completely different group!
  3. Rome: We LOVED the pizza in Rome. Pizzeria Da Baffetto was a fun experience, Forno Campo de’Fiori was delicious and we loved the pizza which was sold by weight at Forno la Renella. And yes we ate pizza at other places, too!
  4. Orlando, FL: I’m a bit surprised to see Orlando on this list. We were told to give Via Napoli in Disney a try and it was nothing to write home about. I wasn’t recommended anything else worthwhile so that is all I have to go by.
  5. Naples: Haven’t been there.
  6. New Haven, CT: One of my top pizza areas in the world! While Pepe’s gets ranked as the top place to go, I much prefer Sally’s which is just down the block. I also recommend Zuppardi’s. During our next visit, I need to try BAR.
  7. Venice: I do recall eating some really good pizza in Venice, but the names of the places escape me.
  8. Edmonton, Canada: Haven’t been there.
  9. Florence: Kim and I visited Florence but I don’t remember trying pizza. However, I do recall enjoying some excellent pasta!
  10. Palermo, Italy: Haven’t made it there…
  11. Milan: Kim, Lucas and I visited Milan but I can’t say that I recall trying the pizza.
  12. Philadelphia: Philly is a great food city and I’ve had some great pizza there. Some favs are Tacconelli’s, Pizzeria Vetri, In Riva and Pizza Brain (which is a museum too!). The #1 target on my list for my next visit is Pizzeria Beddia, considered #1 in the US.
  13. Los Angeles: I haven’t been to LA since I was around 10 years old so I can’t say that I tried or recall how the pizza was. I would like to visit at some point but don’t know when that will be.
  14. Las Vegas: I’ve been to Vegas a bunch of times and can’t say that I had the opportunity to try out their pizza. Maybe next time!

What do you think of this list of top pizza cities around the world? Do you feel that any place was cheated and deserved a place on this list?

Find out more about each of CN Traveler’s Top 14 Pizza Cities here.

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10 thoughts on “Best Pizza Cities in the World

  1. Susan- Thanks for the info and wow you must really love Topolino’s!

    George- Wow- now I’m wondering what I missed in Sao Paulo! 🙂

    Rich- I need to get to Buenos Aires already and will definitely give El Cuartito a try. As for your question about pizzerias around prior to 1934. There are a bunch in NYC. I can drive around 10-15 minutes from home to Totonno’s which opened in 1924! Sam’s on Court St in Brooklyn opened in 1930! Frank Pepe’s in New Haven has been open since 1925…

  2. “Do you feel that any place was cheated and deserved a place on this list?”

    Absolutely, positively Buenos Aires in general and El Cuartito specifically. It’s been around since 1934. How many of the other places mentioned have been around that long serving its customers great pizza? IMHO, New York City would be second place.

  3. Sheng- I definitely need to visit & try the pizza in Naples!

    Susan- When we visited Melbourne we stayed in St Kilda. Too bad we didn’t know about Topolino’s!

    Jim- That must be tough not having those awesome pizza options now! BAR is definitely next on my list for New Haven.

    Art- I don’t remember trying pizza in Sao Paulo. If I go back I will have to give it a try! That is interesting to hear that people have pizza ovens in their homes.

    DT- Interesting perspective. I haven’t been to Naples, Geneva or Croatia so I can’t judge. We did have pizza in Bellinzona, the Italian part of Switzerland and it was pretty bland.

    1. Michael:

      Last time we visited Melbourne, we stayed in a dive-y motel in St. Kilda, because we wanted to stay close to Topolino’s. We were in Melbourne for three nights, and went to Topolino’s for dinner on two of them.

      It’s right in the heart of Fitzroy Street, so definitely worth a visit next time you are in Melbourne.

  4. No offense, but it’s a surprise to me that most of the cities are from the US. I think there is a big difference in the definition of a good pizza between Europe and the rest of the world (including the US). I admit, the typical US Pizza might be similar to the original Milano-Style Pizza, but even Italiens don’t regard the Milano Style as real Pizza. And even without this fact, EVERY European city (or at least the ones close to Italy) will have better Pizza than any city in the US. Simply because they have access to authentic ingredients such as proper mozzarella! So the list might be accurate from a US perspective, but from a global one, I’d definitely put Naples on top, followed but southern Italiens cities, Munich, Geneva, Croatian cities, and so on. And I have definitely tried pizza in those cities and countries!

  5. Hands down, NYC for a slice or a whole pie, however, for the most unique pizzas that I have ever had were in Sao Paulo Brazil. It seems that the Brazilians love pizza. So much so, that many homes/condos have brick pizza ovens.

  6. Living in Shanghai and having moved here from the New Haven area, I am really missing apizza. Like, when I get back home after my time here I’m going to gorge on Pepe’s White Clam Pie and Sally’s Tomato Pie. BAR’s Mashed Potato Pie isn’t too bad either.

  7. Topolino’s in St. Kilda (Melbourne, Australia) is the bomb!

    I lived in Chicago for 17 years; I could handle deep dish pizza maybe a couple of times a year, otherwise it was too much for me. My fave is Giordano’s

  8. I’m from NYC and the best pizza hands down is in Naples, Italy. It blows away any pizza I had in NYC. NYC is second best. There’s quite a few decent ones across the U.S. Of course.

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