The Best Pizza Near Coppola Rossa, by the Record
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A pizza restaurant on one of San Giovanni Rotondo's main streets, with a comfortable terrace and a polished interior that suggests the kitchen takes itself seriously. The fritti arrive first, crispy and well-seasoned, a warm-up act that earns its place. Pizzas run both thin-crust and Neapolitan-style, the dough airy and properly blistered at the edges. It ranked among 50 Top Pizza Italy's top hundred, which in Puglia is saying something.
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A pizza spot on the waterfront promenade in Margherita di Savoia, recently renovated around a large open oven that you can watch from your table. After splitting the family operation into a separate restaurant and pizzeria, the team narrowed their focus here: soft doughs, regional Pugliese flours, buffalo mozzarella from the Gargano. The menu runs from traditional pies to contemporary takes and stuffed focaccias. The family wine shop is a short walk away if you want to keep the evening going.
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A pizzeria in central Foggia where the doughs run light and the toppings are paired with the kind of deliberateness that earns the name "taste researchers." The room is compact and modern, the service quick, and they serve lunch, which in a city where pizza is mostly a night-out affair is a useful thing to know. Exactly the sort of neighbourhood spot that locals treat as a given and visitors quietly feel smug about finding.
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A pizza spot tucked among the old alleys of Vieste, where two young friends run the kitchen with a warmth that carries through to the service. The "a ruota di carro" style, a wide, thin wheel of dough, comes out crispy and well seasoned. The menu is extensive, the outdoor terrace in the historic centro is genuinely lovely, and 50 Top Pizza has listed it among Italy's excellent pizzerias.
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A pizzeria on the edge of Lake Lesina, where the father goes out foraging wild herbs and the mother runs the kitchen, which tells you something about the spirit of the place before you've sat down. The margherita is properly leavened and light, but the grilled eel is the thing to order if you're paying attention. Focaccia with salicornia shows the lake is more than scenery here.
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Rank 6. Alterego Pizza Boutique
Contemporary Pizza
A pizza boutique in Andria where there's no menu to deliberate over, just a chef-driven tasting format that moves with the seasons. The doughs are long-fermented and light, and the toppings lean toward combinations you wouldn't have thought to order but wouldn't argue with afterward. Wine pairings are taken seriously here, which sets the room apart from your average slice situation. It ranked 85th on 50 Top Pizza Italy.
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Rank 7. Lievito 72
Contemporary Pizza
The dough rests for 72 hours before it sees the oven, which is where the name comes from and where the logic of this contemporary pizzeria begins. The result is a square-cut pizza with a thin, almost imperceptible crust that stays light even after a second slice. Stone-ground flours and sourdough, toppings added at the table, ingredients that are mostly Apulian. The room is spare and unfussy, the drinks list longer than you'd expect.
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Rank 8. Forentum
Neapolitan Pizza
The dining room is a natural cave, which sets the tone before the food arrives. Forentum is a casual country-cooking restaurant in Lavello's historic center, with a terrace out front and Basilicata's pantry driving the menu, plus occasional seafood and, come evening, pizza in three distinct doughs. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the crowd seems largely local, which in a town this size is its own endorsement.
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Rank 9. Il Balcone
Contemporary Pizza
A floor-to-ceiling window frames the Lucanian Apennines while you eat, which is either the second-best thing about this contemporary pizza spot or the first, depending on the day. The dough gets a long, careful ferment, landing somewhere between airy and substantial. Toppings lean into Apulian ingredients without turning the menu into a folklore exhibit. The beverage list holds its own, and the service is polished without being stiff.
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The stone interior is old but the menu reads decidedly modern, a mix of contemporary and gourmet pan pizzas built around semolina and burnt wheat doughs that go through a long, careful fermentation. This is a sit-down pizzeria near the Molfetta center with a terrace and proper table service, the kind of place where the wine and oil list gets as much attention as the beer. Toppings lean local and seasonal without making a fuss about it.
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A contemporary pizzeria on the edge of Molfetta where every pizza has a music-themed name and the dough has been fermenting for at least 48 hours before it gets anywhere near you. The chef's toppings lean creative, pulling in textures like crumbled cereal taralli for crunch, and a full kitchen menu rounds things out. The room is modern and informal, the service attentive, and the prices land honestly for what's on the plate.