Monday, August 31, 2026

The Best Pizza Near Alex, by the Record

  1. Rank 1. Apogeo

    Wood-fired Pizza

    A garden pizzeria off the A12 autostrada, which sounds like a backhanded compliment until you're sitting under the greenery with a wood-fired pie in front of you. The crust is the point here, crisp and substantial enough to hold its own, and the menu splits neatly between classic and creative without chasing whatever's fashionable this season. Desserts come from a separate, clearly capable hand. It ranks on both 50 Top Pizza Italy and 50 Top Pizza World.


  2. The work counter and visible oven sit center-stage here, which tells you what the room is about before you've even sat down. Battil'oro is a pizzeria in Versilia's increasingly crowded coastal dining scene, turning out both classic and creative pies on light, airy dough, with a gluten-free option alongside. Wines by the glass, beers, and cocktails round things out. Weekends fill up fast, but the team keeps the floor moving without making you feel rushed.


  3. The open kitchen and pizza oven face the room so you can watch every pie come together, which at a Neapolitan-style pizzeria near the Marina di Massa seafront feels like a fair promise of what's coming. The dough runs soft and light, the ingredients lean on DOP-certified products, and lactose-free options sit alongside seasonal specials. Cloth napkins and cutlery rests suggest the place takes itself seriously without charging you for the attitude.


  4. A Neapolitan-style pizzeria tucked beside the church of San Frediano, where the dough is famously light and the toppings pull from Campanian suppliers alongside Tuscan growers just down the road. The room goes rustic with a modern edge, the service moves fast without feeling rushed, and the fried starters are worth ordering before anyone even looks at the pizza list. Listed among 50 Top Pizza Italy's Excellent Pizzerias.


  5. A pizzeria on Piazza Napoleone, the grandest square in Lucca, with tables outside that catch the full theater of the evening. The style leans Neapolitan, the service moves fast, and focaccias sold street-side are a good reason to wander past even if you're not sitting down. Inside is a bit tight, which somehow only adds to the chaos-friendly charm. Reservations are a smart idea.


  6. On the outskirts of Lucca, this Neapolitan pizzeria skips the charm offensive and just makes good pizza: soft, well-leavened dough, a generous crust, and toppings that lean bold rather than precious. The fried starters and Campanian snacks are the kind of thing you keep picking at while the next pizza arrives. Prices are reasonable enough that ordering an extra dish feels like common sense rather than commitment.


  7. Thin-crust pizza with serious toppings shares the menu with craft cocktails and a proper wine list at this gourmet pizzeria and lounge bar in central Sarzana. The dough is the point: light, crispy, and carrying its toppings rather than drowning under them. The beverage program keeps pace with the kitchen rather than pretending to. A 50 Top Pizza Italy listing for those keeping score.


  8. Rank 8. Bona

    Tuscan Pizza


  9. Rank 9. Officine del Cibo

    Neapolitan Pizza

    On the outskirts of Sarzana, this artisan pizza shop splits its menu between classic Neapolitan rounds and a thin, crispy pan pizza that the kitchen has spent serious time developing. Toppings lean on local and small-producer ingredients, and the wine cellar is deep enough to suggest they take the pairing side seriously. It landed a spot on 50 Top Pizza Italy, which tracks for a place where the dough research is clearly ongoing.


  10. Rank 10. Fuoco e Fiamme

    Wood-fired Pizza

    Outdoor tables overlooking the Ligurian sea, strings of lights multiplying across the water at night, and a wood-fired oven quietly tucked behind a partition as if it has nothing to prove. This is a pizzeria in San Terenzo doing soft, foldable, classically comforting pies without any of the theater that tends to follow a good wood-fired reputation around. The service keeps pace without fuss, which at a seaside spot on a warm evening is exactly the right instinct.


  11. The dough is the whole argument here: long-fermented, handled by a team that treats pizza-making as a craft rather than a throughput exercise. This is a pizza restaurant in Pontedera where the toppings, including nduja and caciocavallo nods to southern Italy, are chosen to pair rather than pile. The menu has a reference or two that enthusiasts will clock with a quiet nod. If you want something fast and familiar, this is the wrong room.


  12. Tucked into the alleyways of central Levanto, this pizzeria builds its reputation on a thin, crispy crust kept deliberately light, so the toppings have somewhere to land without turning everything soggy. The menu leans into local ingredients and the craft beer and wine list is chosen to match rather than compete. Staff move quickly and the room stays convivial, which in a Ligurian beach town is saying something.


  13. A Ligurian pizza spot in the center of Levanto where the dough is kept deliberately light, the kind that makes you forget you've eaten three slices. The toppings lean into local pantries, and the staff steers you through them without the usual fanfare. Craft beers and regional wines round out the short list. It's a small, tidy room, and the whole thing has the quiet confidence of a place that doesn't need to explain itself.


  14. Rank 14. La Fenice

    Wood-fired Pizza

    A contemporary pizzeria in Pistoia that ranks in the 50 Top Pizza Italy and World lists, La Fenice takes the wood-fired pie seriously enough that the dough rests for a day and a half before it ever sees a flame. The menu wanders pleasantly beyond pizza into fusion appetizers and airy bites the chef calls his signature work. Staff know the beer and wine list cold and will steer you without making you feel tested.


  15. A pizzeria set inside an old city wall in Empoli, where someone thought to pair stone arches with sleek modern decor and somehow it works. The menu runs from well-executed Neapolitan classics to bolder, less predictable combinations, with the same attention given to the traditional appetizers. The staff know the menu well enough to walk you through it without making you feel like you need to.


  16. Rank 16. Bottega Dani

    Gourmet Pizza

    A pizzeria in Cecina where the gourmet pies go through a double cook, steamed then baked, landing somewhere between pillowy and crisp in a way that takes a little explaining. The dough work is clearly the obsession here, and the raw materials are chosen with matching care. While you wait, there's an aperitivo in a garden overlooking a pool, which feels like a reasonable way to spend a Tuesday. The cellar and beer list both punch above what you'd expect.


  17. A neighborhood pizza shop on the edge of Prato where the decision between round and rectangular is not trivial. The shared rectangular format lets a table split three different toppings, which is the kind of pragmatic generosity that makes a small room feel bigger. The dough is well-hydrated and seriously considered, with a choice of flours that the staff will happily talk you through without making it a lecture.


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