The 50 Best Pizzerias in America, According to Yelp

Detroit-style to deep dish to wood-fired, pizza remains America’s favorite food group.

By Jake Rossen |
All pizza is good pizza, honestly.
All pizza is good pizza, honestly. / Mitch Diamond/The Image Bank via Getty Images

While chains like Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa John’s spend hundreds of millions in cheesy advertising, your best chance of getting a truly great slice of pizza is at one of the thousands of independent pizzerias around the country. While you can typically find the best pies via word of mouth, good advice is also available via online reviews.

Recently, consumer opinion hub Yelp released its list of the best pizza spots according to Yelp Elite reviewers. (Elite contributors typically post more detailed reviews, affording them greater credibility on the site.)

America’s 50 Best Pizzerias:

  1. Pequod’s Pizzeria // Chicago, Illinois
  2. Bestia // Los Angeles, California
  3. Lombardi’s Pizza // New York, New York
  4. Mama D’s Italian Kitchen // Huntington Beach, California
  5. Base Camp Pizza Co. // South Lake Tahoe, California
  6. Secret Pizza // Las Vegas, Nevada
  7. Prince Street Pizza // New York, New York
  8. Olio e Più // New York, New York
  9. Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman // Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii
  10. CUCINA urbana // San Diego, California
  11. Home Slice Pizza // Austin, Texas
  12. Serious Pie Downtown // Seattle, Washington
  13. Bronx Pizza // San Diego, California
  14. il Canale // Washington, D.C.
  15. Golden Boy Pizza // San Francisco, California
  16. Di Fara Pizza // Brooklyn, New York
  17. Piece Brewery and Pizzeria // Chicago, Illinois
  18. Masa of Echo Park // Los Angeles, California
  19. Hideaway House // Sedona, Arizona
  20. Cheese Board Collective Pizzeria // Berkeley, California
  21. Pizza Rock // Las Vegas, Nevada
  22. Naples Ristorante E Bar // Anaheim, California
  23. Joe’s Farm Grill // Gilbert, Arizona
  24. Moose’s Tooth // Anchorage, Alaska
  25. Rubirosa Ristorante // New York, New York
  26. Barbuzzo // Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  27. Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company // Chicago, Illinois
  28. Bleeker Street Pizza // New York, New York
  29. Cibo Urban Pizzeria // Phoenix, Arizona
  30. Juliana’s // Brooklyn, New York
  31. John’s Pizzeria of Times Square // New York, New York
  32. Tony’s Pizza Napoletana // San Francisco, California
  33. Russell House // Cambridge, Massachusetts
  34. Domenica // New Orleans, Louisiana
  35. Fat Olives // Flagstaff, Arizona
  36. Esther’s Kitchen // Las Vegas, Nevada
  37. 600 Degrees Pizzeria & Draft House // Georgetown, Texas
  38. Pizzeria Paradiso // Washington, D.C.
  39. The Alchemist Cafe // Wilton Manors, Florida
  40. Maui Brewing Company // Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
  41. The Parlor // Phoenix, Arizona
  42. The Salty Pig // Boston, Massachusetts
  43. Keste Pizza & Vino // New York, New York
  44. Spacca Napoli // Chicago, Illinois
  45. Rocco’s // Seattle, Washington
  46. John’s of Bleecker Street // New York, New York
  47. Dough Pizzeria Napoletana // San Antonio, Texas
  48. Osteria Marco // Denver, Colorado
  49. Jupiter Pizza and Waffle Co. // Sugar Land, Texas
  50. 2Amys Neapolitan Pizzeria // Washington, D.C.

It’s probably no great shock that the top spot belongs to a Chicago pizzeria: Pequod’s, which offers a dense, deep dish-style pie with a caramelized crust. (One secret: their specialty pans, which conduct heat to their exacting standards.)

Second place goes to Bestia in Los Angeles, which offers a dramatically different wood-fired pizza. Their fermented dough has a unique flavor profile, while the spicy lamb pizza is said to be a popular choice.

Lombardi’s Pizza, in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood, is New York City’s top-ranking pizza spot—though there are several Big Apple restaurants on the list. Reviewers favor Lombardi’s thin crust as well as the clam pie, which is purportedly so fresh that the shucked clams might still carry a little sand with them.

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Yelp picked up on some popular pizza trends for 2024, as well. Detroit-style pizzas are ticking up in popularity thanks to their crispy crusts and sauce-over-cheese approach; so are spicy pies, with hot honey or peppers.

The Magic of Cold Pizza

Any one of Yelp’s top spots will get you a great pie, but some people may look forward to letting some of it cool off and grabbing it straight from the fridge later on. A key reason cold pizza tastes so good is because of how the ingredients remain independent. The water in the tomato sauce helps prevent oil from the cheese from soaking the dough; garlic and herbs also have an opportunity to blend, making for a tangy flavor that’s stronger than when the pizza was fresh out of the oven.

For the full list of the top 100 pizza restaurants in America, head over to Yelp.

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