The Best Pizza Near Da Giocondo, by the Record
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Abate takes your reservation seriously before you've even walked in, which sets the tone for everything that follows. It's a pizzeria in the Abruzzo hills, leaning into local tradition with regional antipasti before the main event. The dough comes in three forms, including a double-baked seed focaccia, and each one is notably light without feeling austere. The combinations stay honest rather than clever, which turns out to be the point.
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Rank 2. Guakamaya da Carlo 2.0
Neapolitan Pizza
Tucked into the old alleys of Isernia, this pizza spot runs on a Neapolitan soul with Molisan roots, which is a combination the region doesn't let you forget. The dough is well-leavened and evenly baked, and the toppings lean hard into local ingredients, San Biase potatoes, Molise truffle, local pancetta. Outside tables in summer, a tidy interior in winter. Listed among 50 Top Pizza Italy's Excellent Pizzerias.
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Rank 3. Bas
Pizza
Exposed stone walls inside what used to be a barn give this Molise pizza spot a warmth that no amount of interior design money quite replicates. The pies lean hard into the region's Sannio heritage, with a crust built from a mix of local grains that smells faintly of something you can't place but keep chasing. The staff runs the room like people who chose hospitality on purpose, which is rarer than it sounds.
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A pizzeria in the Abruzzo hill town of Guardiagrele where the dough itself is the conversation, the kitchen rotating through different styles, hydrations, and fillings with something close to academic seriousness. The Zulli family runs it now, carrying forward a project built on local ingredients and a lot of careful thinking about what pizza can be. It ranks among 50 Top Pizza Italy's top listings, and the room matches the kitchen: warm, attentive, and happy to explain everything.
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Rank 5. Due Punto Otto
Pizza
A pizzeria named for a date that matters to the chef, which tells you something about how personally he takes all of this. The menu runs from straightforward classics to more inventive combinations, with housemade appetizers, including croquettes and small fried montanaras, worth ordering before the pies arrive. The selection stays tight, which in practice means everything on it has earned its place.
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Rank 6. Giangi
Pizza
A pizza restaurant tucked into the Abruzzo hills where the dough is half the point, light and structured in a way that makes most other crusts feel like an afterthought. The chef, known as Giangi, treats a pie more like a composed dish, layering local ingredients with enough audacity to pull off a pizza that riffs on sushi without embarrassing itself. It ranks on both 50 Top Pizza Italy and 50 Top Pizza World. The wine list has grown up to match.
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The two wood-burning ovens sit in plain sight, which tells you most of what you need to know. GianPà is a contemporary Neapolitan pizza spot just outside Cassino's centro storico, where the dough follows tradition but the kitchen doesn't stop there. The beer list is carefully chosen, the ingredients clearly fussed over, and if you eat spicy, ask about the heat option, because it isn't 'nduja. Listed among 50 Top Pizza Italy's excellent pizzerias.
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A Neapolitan pizza shop that has transplanted a convincing slice of Naples into the Abruzzo countryside, down to the signage and the iconography, without tipping into theme-park territory. The dough is properly worked, the crust soft, the ingredients pulled from Campania's pantry. Fried starters and traditional sweets round things out. If you find yourself in Lanciano wanting the real Neapolitan experience, someone here has done the homework.
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A trattoria in a quiet corner of Abruzzo where the wood-fired pizza sits alongside the full weight of Vastese cooking, and where finding Ventricina del Vastese as a topping is not a given anywhere else. The doughs are handled carefully, the menu runs from traditional to gently creative, and the wine list leans into natural pours. Young staff work the room with more composure than most seasoned ones manage.
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A pizza spot in Chieti where the dough comes two ways: pinsa style, thick and pillowy, or classic Roman, thin and snappy. Either way, the toppings lean hard into Abruzzo's larder, which gives the menu a distinctly local character that the Roman base doesn't usually have. The kitchen clearly enjoys the pairing more than you'd expect from the setup, and the result tends to quietly outlast whatever you planned to do afterward.
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Roman-style thin and crispy pizza in the mountain town of Rocca di Mezzo, where the Roman tourists apparently follow their dough north on holiday. The name translates roughly to "cruncher," which tells you what to expect from the crust. The chef brings serious kitchen credentials alongside the leavening work, the fried starters each come with their own distinct breading, and the meal ends with maritozzi and brioche. A casual, friendly room that takes its wheat sourcing quietly seriously.
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Rank 12. Black Wood
Neapolitan Pizza
A contemporary Neapolitan-style pizzeria tucked into an unremarkable street on the outskirts of a small Adriatic town, which sets expectations low in a way the kitchen clearly enjoys defying. The doughs are soft and well-matured, the crusts generous without being theatrical, and the menu balances classics with the occasional creative detour that doesn't overcorrect. Service is young and quick, the room informal but tidy. Listed among 50 Top Pizza Italy's Excellent Pizzerias.
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The Falia, a tall, thick-crusted pizza from nearby Priverno served by the slice, tells you immediately where this pizzeria stands: deep in the ingredients and traditions of the surrounding territory. High-hydration doughs, local artisan producers, and fried starters that earn their place before the pizza even arrives. The wine list runs by the glass, the staff actually know it, and 50 Top Pizza Italy and the World list both took notice.
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A pizzeria tucked into a small hilltop village in Sannio, where the dough starts with ancient grains and the toppings read like a tour of the surrounding land, garden, and farmyard. The menu shifts with the seasons, cooked dishes sit alongside the pizza, and the natural wine list is a whole other conversation. The room is warm and unhurried, and the family running it clearly means every bit of it.
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A pizzeria on the Adriatic coast of Abruzzo where the dough is light enough that a second pie seems reasonable. New Sporting has been a regional touchstone for a while, turning out careful, crisp pizzas alongside fried starters that locals seem equally serious about. The outdoor terrace fills up in summer, when the sea view does most of the decorating. The drinks and desserts get the same attention as the pizza, which is more than most slice spots can say.
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Giacomo Garau's third pizzeria is the one where he started, and the dough shows it: firm enough to hold generous toppings, light enough that you don't regret the second slice. The crust is the point here, a proper raised cornicione that actually does something. Modern, warm room, pleasant service, and the kind of pricing that makes you feel like you've gotten away with something.