The Best Pizza Near Essentia, by the Record
-
Rank 1. ‘O Fiore Mio
Wood-fired Pizza
A pizza shop set along Faenza's old city walls, with a following that stretches across Emilia Romagna and into Milan and Bologna. The doughs use organic Italian flours and long leavening, cooked in a wood-fired oven, and the menu walks you through a selection of extra virgin olive oils to pair with your slice. The room is informal and contemporary, the service moves, and the regulars already know exactly what they're ordering. Ranked 25th in Italy by 50 Top Pizza.
-
Rank 2. Civico 25
Pizza
A pizzeria in Emilia Romagna built around a social mission, where young people with disabilities and survivors of bullying make up the team, and where the pizza itself is the thing that keeps people coming back. The crust runs high and crisps nicely, and the panuozzo from Romagna and the pinsa round out a menu that takes the food as seriously as the cause. The staff greets you like they mean it.
-
The dough splits the difference between Neapolitan softness and Tuscan crispiness, which is either a compromise or a good idea depending on your loyalties. Gli Allocchi is a pizza spot in the hill town of Marradi, with a rustic room and a menu that leans into the surrounding countryside, including a pie built around Marrone del Mugello chestnuts when the season allows. The fried starters and desserts get equal attention from the kitchen.
-
Rank 4. Margherì
Neapolitan Pizza
A Neapolitan pizza spot in Cesenatico, steps from the old canal port, where the dough gets a proper rise and the tomato sauce is sweet enough to notice. The team runs a warm room, with the front-of-house steering first-timers through the menu and the pizza maker keeping things lively from the oven. Exactly the kind of neighborhood pizzeria that doesn't need to announce itself.
-
A courtyard garden tucked into the old center of Rimini gives this pizzeria its name and its best table. The menu leans hard into dough variety, with six different versions to choose from and a range that runs from 1980s-style flat pizzas to gourmet toppings, all landing on the affordable side. Regulars come back for the seasonal creations, which the team names after butterflies. A 50 Top Pizza Italy listing for the Excellent Pizzerias category.
-
The name comes from the fifteen curves of the Mugello Circuit just up the road, and the menu follows the theme with more charm than gimmick. This pizzeria serves contemporary Neapolitan pies at dinner, with ingredients sourced from small Italian producers and pairings that treat the pizza as a full dish rather than a vehicle for toppings. Lunchtimes bring Roman-style pizza al taglio. The room runs fast and friendly, the way a place near a racetrack probably should.
-
Rank 7. Storie Dipinte
Pizza
-
Rank 8. Pizzeria Centrale
Neapolitan Pizza
A family-run pizzeria in a small Florentine town, now in its second generation, where the Neapolitan-style dough is kept lean on the crust for people who want crunch over chew. The menu is arranged in five sections, one of which leans on nostalgia, another on whatever the current chef felt like. Some of the mushrooms come from his own foraging trips, which is either charming or showing off, probably both.
-
Rank 9. Span
Neapolitan Pizza
The menu announces that pizza has no owners, no masters, and belongs to the people, which sets the tone immediately. This is a Neapolitan pizza spot, one of three Bologna locations, with classic and creative pies, a short beer list, and traditional southern desserts. Reservations aren't taken, so a wait is part of the deal. There's a small terrace if the noise inside gets to you, and the bill won't get to you either.
-
Rank 10. Il Vecchio e il Mare
Neapolitan Pizza
The name is Hemingway-adjacent, but the real draw is a courtyard tucked behind a Florence street and a Neapolitan pizza dough that manages to be both light and serious about itself. This is a full-service restaurant that doubles as a seafood spot, with a wine and champagne list that suggests someone here has opinions. The tomato sauce gets mentioned with the kind of reverence usually reserved for relatives.
-
Rank 11. Giovanni Santarpia
Neapolitan Pizza
A Campanian transplant running one of Florence's more serious Neapolitan pizza shops, with a dough that goes through a long cold ferment before it sees any heat. The crust comes out soft and fragrant, the toppings lean on well-sourced producers, and the menu covers classics alongside house originals. A fried pizza filled with lampredotto is the kitchen's nod to its adopted city. It ranks on both 50 Top Pizza Italy and 50 Top Pizza World.
-
Rank 12. Giotto
Neapolitan Pizza
A Neapolitan pizza spot steps from Santa Maria Novella, run by a pizzaiolo from Ischia who's landed near the tourist crossroads and made it work. The dough is long-leavened, the toppings generous, and you can watch the whole operation from the dining room, which runs glamorous-dim in a way Florence's centro storico rarely does. Ranked in 50 Top Pizza Italy. Good for a sit-down or a box to eat on the train, which puts it in rare company.
-
The dough here was developed with the University of Florence and a biodynamic agriculture association, which is either very Tuscan or very extra, depending on your mood. This pizza shop in the Coverciano neighborhood turns out thin, light pies built on organic stone-ground flour and long-fermented sourdough, with vegetables pulled from biodynamic gardens around the city. The room is informal and the service moves fast, so you're not committing to an evening.
-
Exposed beams and stone set the tone in this compact Florentine pizzeria tucked into the historic center, where the sourcing is taken seriously from the flour to the oil to the coffee. The round and paddle pies lean into Tuscan-Italian combinations, and the wine and beer lists are short but chosen with care. Service is cheerful without being chaotic, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.
-
Rank 15. Pizzeria Primavera
Modern Pizza
A pizza spot on Florence's residential fringe where the dough gets a proper long rise and the topping combinations wander confidently past tradition into stranger territory. Fried starters keep the table busy while you wait. The room is relaxed, the staff unhurried, and the outdoor seating fills up with families and small dogs, which are apparently welcome here. Reservations are required even for takeout, which tells you something about the regulars.
-
Rank 16. Forneria
Neapolitan Pizza
A Neapolitan-style pizzeria steps from Ponte Vecchio, which means the view over the Arno comes with the dough. The crust is light and the toppings run from the classics to a few creative detours worth exploring. Fried starters and croquettes round things out before the pizza arrives. Prices reflect the address, as they will anywhere this close to Florence's most photographed bridge, but the service moves fast enough that no one lingers guiltily.
-
A pizzeria in the Oltrarno's San Frediano neighborhood where the dough is made light enough that you won't be horizontal by nine. The crust comes in a "cartwheel" style if you want to commit, and the fried starters, especially the mozzarella in carrozza, pull their weight alongside the pies. The room is modern and unfussy, the service moves, and the prices stay honest. A solid neighborhood pizza shop doing the right things quietly.