Pizza restaurants in Italy
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‘Gusto
If Terence Conran were Italian, he might have dreamed up ‘Gusto, once a mould-breaking warehouse-style gastronomic complex. It’s still buzzing after all these years, and is a great place to sit on the terrace and eye up the new Richard Meier-designed Ara Pacis museum. Go for the Neapolitan-style pizzas rather than the restaurant fare, which receives mixed reports. There’s a recommended brunch (weekends) and lunchtime buffet.
reviewed
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Da Michele
As hard-core as it gets, Naples’ most famous pizzeria takes the no-frills ethos to its extremes. It’s dingy and old-fashioned and serves only two types of pizza: margherita (tomato, basil and mozzarella) and marinara (tomatoes, garlic and oregano). But boy are they good!
reviewed
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Osteria del Gatto e la Volpe
On the corner of Via de' Giraldi, this is a small and welcoming spot where the food is reasonable and the prices are stable. It gets its fair share of tourists, but this hasn't yet ruined what's on offer at the 'Cat and Wolf'. It's closer to a genuine Florentine experience than most of the places that line this much-trampled city.
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La Stalla
Go up the grand staircase to the large, open-air terrace covered by bamboo awnings and flanked by an orchard of lemon and orange trees. Here a small army of waiters works tirelessly, serving pastas and pizzas, meats and fish. The pastas are fine but it's the wood-fired pizzas that stand out.
reviewed
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Pizzeria Enzo e Ciro
The most celebrated pizzeria in town, tucked away down elegant Via Cardassi. The pizzas are wafer thin, the atmosphere boisterous and the beers as cheap as chips. Start with the mushroom antipasti - large frilly mushrooms grilled with a light cheese-and-breadcrumb topping.
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Al Forno della Soffitta
None of those namby-pamby thin crusts - this is pure Neapolitan pizza, keeping workers from nearby offices happy with its cheery décor, substantial dough and fine array of toppings. Try the amatriciana, topped with pancetta and tomato.
reviewed
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Pizzeria di Vico dei Biscotti
This cavernous place with marine blue decor and mezzanine seating fills to the brim with locals tucking into a quattro stagione (four seasons) pizza and a beer or two.
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Pizzeria Spontini
Munch standing up at this busy little joint, which has cooked the best pizza in the Stazione Centrale area since 1953.
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Ristorante Pizzeria Uva d'Oro
A bright, bustling restaurant-cum-pizzeria, this cheerful spot serves plate-sized pizzas and uncomplicated pasta dishes. The complimentary glass of prosecco ensures a good mood, as does the tempting antipasto buffet and kitsch fruit 'n' veg décor.
Like Bologna and Parma, Modena is an important gastronomic town. Its most famous product is aceto balsamico, considered the best in Italy by gourmets, but the centre also produces an excellent prosciutto crudo and zampone (stuffed pig's trotter). Tortellini is another speciality, as is Lambrusco, a lively, sparkling red, to be drunk chilled and with everything.
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Pizzeria da Vittorio
One of the few pizzerias in this neck of the woods to serve thick-crust Neapolitan-style pizzas, backstreet Vittorio is a consistent crowd-pleaser. The tiny interior is decorated with murals depicting appropriately Neapolitan scenes such an erupting Vesuvius, and heaves with happy eaters. There are also a few outside tables.
You'll find all the regular pizzas plus a few house specialities such as the Vittorio (fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella and Parmesan) and the Imperiale (fresh tomatoes, lettuce, cured ham and olives); football fans might like the Maradona, made in honour of Naples' favourite football superstar.
reviewed
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Al Grottino
Informal and popular, this is a good bet for a filling bowl of spaghetti or a delicious pizza. If undecided between pasta and pizza, go for the pizza - it'll be big, well cooked and full of bubbling, creamy cheese.
Like Bologna and Parma, Modena is an important gastronomic town. Its most famous product is aceto balsamico, considered the best in Italy by gourmets, but the centre also produces an excellent prosciutto crudo and zampone (stuffed pig's trotter). Tortellini is another speciality, as is Lambrusco, a lively, sparkling red, to be drunk chilled and with everything.
reviewed
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Open Colonna
Spectacularly set at the back of Palazzo delle Esposizioni, superchef Antonello Colonna’s restaurant is tucked on a mezzanine floor under an extraordinary glass roof (wow factor before you’ve had a bite). The cuisine is new Roman: innovative takes on traditional dishes, cooked with wit and flair. The best thing of all? There’s a more basic but still impressive fixed two-course lunch for €15, and Saturday and Sunday brunch at €28, served in the larger downstairs room, so you can live the life without splashing the cash.
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Pizza Ré
Part of a chain, but a good one, this popular pizzeria - handy for Piazza del Popolo - offers Neapolitan-style pizzas, with thick doughy bases and delicious, diverse toppings. The salads are fresh and the antipasti is great - try the fried things or the mozzarella fresca di bufala e prosciutto San Daniele (buffalo mozzarella with San Daniele dry-cured ham). There's a narrow strip of outdoor tables. It's busy so you might have to book or wait.
reviewed
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Forno di Campo de’ Fiori
Obscenely good, direct-from-the-oven pizza al taglio keeps this place permanently packed. The pizza bianca – white pizza with olive oil, rosemary and salt – is divine, the pizza rossa (‘red’ pizza, with olive oil, tomato and oregano) sublime, and the pizza patata (with potato and rosemary) and pizza pommidorini (with cherry tomatoes) are heavenly.
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Pizzeria Ivo
One of Trastevere’s most famous pizzerias, Ivo’s has been slinging pizzas for some 40 years, and still the hungry come. With the TV on in the corner and the tables full, Ivo’s a noisy and vibrant place where the crispy, though not huge, pizzas are made with conventional toppings (exceptions include an unorthodox gorgonzola and apple combo) and the waiters fit the gruff-and-fast stereotype.
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Dar Poeta
Dar Poeta, a breezy, cheery pizzeria hidden away in an atmospheric side street, proffers some of Rome’s best pizza. The base is somewhere between wafer-thin Roman and Neapolitan comfort food, and the slow-risen dough apparently makes it easier to digest. There are also great bruschettas and salads, and it’s famous for its unique ricotta and Nutella calzone. Expect to queue, elbows at the ready.
reviewed
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Pizzeria Remo
Not a place for a romantic tête-à-tête, Pizzeria Remo is one of the city’s most popular pizzerias, busy with noisy hordes of young Romans. The mixed fried appetisers are scrumptious, and the pizzas are thin Roman classics, with toppings loading the crisp, charred base. Place your order by ticking your choices on a sheet of paper slapped down by an overstretched waiter. Expect to queue.
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Pizzeria da Baffetto
Da Baffetto offers some of Rome’s best pizzas, served in typical wham-bam style. To partake, join the queue and wait for the bustling waiters to squeeze you in – you may have to share a table. To start, try the tasty fried things – courgette flowers, olive ascolane and so on – before moving onto the pizzas, bubbling hot from the wood-fired oven, and as Roman as it gets.
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Pizzeria al Leoncino
It can be difficult to source a cheap meal in this upmarket area, which is why Leoncino gets a round of applause. A boisterous neighbourhood pizzeria with a wood-fired oven, it has two small rooms, cheerful décor and gruff but efficient waiters who will serve you an excellent Roman-style pizza and ice-cold beer faster than you can say ‘ delizioso’.
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Paper Moon
Lust for labels may have brought you to Quadrilatero d'Oro, but this house-made tagliolini with shrimp and zucchini blossoms may inspire you to take up permanent residence. If you can get past the primi (first courses) and the wood-fired pizzas, try the heartbreakingly tender carpaccio with arugula and grana padano cheese with the sprightly white Vernaccia.
reviewed
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Ma Tu Vulive'a Pizza
Lively and packed; come here for epic pizzas and heaving calzoni. Tuck into the salubrious calzone Terra Mia, stuffed with vegetables, provola cheese, black olives and capers as you eavesdrop on student conversations about politics, travel and who's hot or not. In the evening, head to nearby Piazza Santa Maria la Nova for late-night boho chilling.
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Pizzeria Stars & Roses
The list of pizzas on offer at this stylish place is lengthy and adventurous, with toppings including salmon and whisky, or caviar and vodka. Each of its rooms is themed according to colour (red, white, silver, pink, blue and black), so you can choose to suit the occasion. Police mugshots of erstwhile arrested movie stars (Hugh Grant, Al Pacino, et al) line the walls.
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Pizzarium
Another contender for Rome’s best pizza al taglio, this unassuming place is the baby of chef Gabriele Bonci, and offers the most superbly digestible fluffy base and crisp crust topped by intensely flavoursome toppings (slice around €2 to €3), made from the freshest seasonal delights. Eat standing up, and wash it down with a chilled beer.
reviewed
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Brandi
Everything about Brandi promises a pizza slice above the ordinary, from the table-top roses to the multilingual flyers that claim this was where the pizza margherita was invented in 1889. While this claim is contestable, Brandi's huge perfect pizzas are not. Alternatively, hunker down à la carte with pasta, fish and meat choices of lofty quality (and price).
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Pizzeria Mediterranea
Perugini (Perugians) know to come here for the best pizza in town. A spaceship-sized wood-fired brick oven heats up pizzas from the simplest margherita to the 12-topping ‘his and hers’. Add delectable mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) to any pizza for an additional €1.60. It gets busy enough to queue, especially Thursday and Saturday nights.
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