Who among us doesn’t like pizza? Aside from pizza-haters, I mean. The correct answer: the rest of us! But did you know that some pizza is better than others? Sure, cardboard-flavored frozen pizza is perfectly good at 2:00am on a Saturday night when your mind is in another universe. Meanwhile, a slice of Wonderbread with a smear of ketchup is not okay. You need to aim higher than that! With that in mind, we’re going to treat you to a list of the 12 best pizzerias in the world.
1. Roberta’s (Brooklyn, NY)
This isn’t just the best pizzeria in the world, it is truly one of the most amazing restaurants you’ll ever encounter. Roberta’s has only been around since 2008, but it has already established itself as an important commune of Brooklyn culture. The patrons include everybody from middle-class soccer moms to weirdos covered from head to toe in tattoos and even wealthy, chauffeur-driven Manhattanites looking for a true culinary experience. They grow all of their herbs and many of their vegetables in their own garden. Their wood-cooked pizzas are simply the best.
2. Tony’s Pizza Napoletana (San Francisco, CA)
Named the best pizzeria in America in 2014 by Forbes, Tony’s offers several different pizza styles including Neapolitan, Sicilian, Californian, Roman and even New Haven, whatever that means. They even have gluten-free pizza if you’re one of those people whose measurement of a person’s superiority is determined by whether they eat gluten or not.
3. Saporè Downtown (Verona, Italy)
Everybody is familiar with Verona, right? It’s the place where Romeo and Juliet most definitely did not live since they are fictional characters, but people are willing to pay a lot of money to be photographed on Juliet’s balcony anyway. However, what is real is Saporè, the one of the best pizza places in the world. One thing that distinguishes them from the rest is their unique, experimental types of pizza including Aria di Pane®, Mozzarella di Pane®, Bagel Pizza, Pizza Crunch® and DoppioCrunch®. Yes, they are registered trademarks.
4. Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix, AZ)
Established in 1987, many critics regard owner/chef Chris Bianco as the best pizza maker in America. The crust on this wood-baked pizza has a delectably yeasty depth and the homemade cheese is smoked every morning with pecan wood, which just sounds so super fancy. Bianco also makes its sausage in-house and gets their fresh ingredients from local farmers. Keep in mind that temperatures in Phoenix often reach 115°F (46°C) in the summer. So as you plan the trip, make sure to put “industrial-sized fan” on your checklist.
5. Paulie Gee’s (Brooklyn, NY)
People stand in long lines in order to try out this famous New York-style gourmet pizza. What makes it especially unique is the choice of toppings, and although we were too lazy to take the time to count them on the menu, it appears that they have at least 30 different options. Hot sopressata? Cremini mushrooms? Speck? Peppadew? We have no idea what the hell any of that means, but yes please! First established in Brooklyn in 2010, it’s already proven popular enough to have chains in Chicago, Baltimore, Miami and…um…Columbus, Ohio for some reason.
6. L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele (Naples, Italy)
Since Naples is the birthplace of pizza, we suppose it would have been trollish to leave them off the list. But considering I recently summarized the TV show “Family Matters” without making a single reference to Steve Urkel, nothing is impossible. Anyway, the beauty of L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele is in its simplicity. It’s strictly for pizza purests. You only get two options, guys: Pizza Marinara or Pizza Margherita. A wonderful crust, a sauce that strikes a perfect balance, and a pretty damn good price (a large is 5 Euros, which is around $5.70)
7. Street Pizza and Wine Houzz (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
We put this on the list because we know our vegan readers like pizza too. Okay, so this isn’t a vegan pizza place by any stretch of the imagination. They’ve got chicken pesto. Chicken tandoori. Parma ham. Beef lover pizza for those who eat cows. But still, if meat and dairy are not your thing, you can get your pizza topped with things like rosemary potatoes and zucchini. And Sriracha sauce because duh you’re in Thailand.
8. Dusty Knuckle Pizza (Cardiff, Wales)
Random people often come up to me and ask, “Hey, next time I go to Wales, where should I go for pizza?” Okay, not true. But if they did, I would answer, “Dusty Knuckle, random people.” The dumpy exterior is completely misleading. Once you enter, you find yourself in a rustic patio area under Cardiff’s bring, grey skies. The pizza has a chewy, charred taste that will appeal to people who enjoy chewy, charred pizza. Circular logic! The marinara and white sauces are as good as it gets, and you can even order Japanese purple sweet potatoes, one of the healthiest foods in the world and the reason why you’re going to live to be 120!
9. Spacca Napoli Pizzeria (Chicago, IL)
Chicago is famous for its deep dish pizza, but don’t forget about their traditional pizzas too! Spacca Napoli Pizzeria is as Naples as it gets without actually needing to fly to Italy. When you have the best dough and freshest ingredients, what you end up with is a perfect brick oven baked-pizza. On a side note, Jonathan Goldsmith started the restaurant a decade ago after being convinced to do so by a random Italian guy that he had met on an airplane. Thank goodness the dude had suggested restaurants and not, say, counterfeit cigarette smuggling, am I right?
10. Made in Sud (St. Paul’s Bay, Malta)
Perfect South of Italy pizza without needing to go all the way to Italy… but instead requiring a plane ticket to Malta instead! Okay, so that isn’t the most catchy slogan. But if I were the Maltese tourism industry, I’d use it anyway. Made in Sud offers oven-baked pizza with fresh rosemary – famously grown in that region – and buffalo mozzarella. Once you visit this restaurant, you might never want to leave Malta. Okay, you will. But you’ll return one day, right? Okay, probably not.
11. Don Chendo (Playa del Carmen, Mexico)
Quick, where is the best place to get Chicago-style deep dish pizza? If you guessed, “Chicago” give yourself a round of applause! But what if there is a warrant out for your arrest and you don’t want to risk it? Then Don Chendo along the Yucatán Peninsula is where you ought to go! Great service, huge portions, and a deliciously crispy crust. What more could you ask for! Aside from getting those charges dropped, of course.
12. Narona (Cape Town, South Africa)
If thin crust pizza is your bag, make your way to Narona. They use quality ingredients and bring hot, fresh pizza to your table at really good prices. It’s more of a place for locals as opposed to being all touristy, so that’s another plus if you like to moan about getting tired of seeing all those tourists even though you are one. So make some new friends/Twitter followers in South Africa!
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