The Best Pizza Near Tacos El Compa, by the Record

A pizzeria on Via Sant'Euplio where the dough is made with ancient Sicilian grains, giving the crust a nuttier, denser character than the Neapolitan style it otherwise follows. You can also order a "cartwheel" format if a standard round feels insufficiently theatrical. Fried starters and a short list of double-cooked fried pizzas fill out the menu, and the wine list pulls from Sicily, Campania, Piedmont, Tuscany, and France, which is serious range for a pizza joint.

1. 50 Top Pizza #82 · 50 Top Pizza Italy

The plain cheese slice is what the co-founder tells you to order, which feels like a trap until you see the crisp undercarriage and the clean, balanced sauce. This is a NY-style slice shop doing the straightforward thing well, in a region where pizzas tend to arrive under a pile of arugula. The cheesecakes come in from Long Island, and the garlic knots have the right chew. The San Francisco Chronicle named it among the best restaurants in San Jose.

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A pizzeria on one of Catania's old historic streets, Corte dei Medici now runs a fuller restaurant operation alongside the pies that still anchor everything. Three dough options, including a five-cereal version, support a menu of twenty-plus pizzas that ranges from a straightforward margherita to a salted-ricotta-and-fried-zucchini number with mint. The wine list covers local and non-local bottles, and the staff is the kind that knows the room without hovering over it.

1. 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza Italy Excellent Pizzerias

A pizzeria in Catania where the chef has spent years obsessing over dough, and the menu reflects exactly that kind of monomania. The crust runs thin and crispy in the Sicilian tradition, though a tasting menu lets you move through different styles, including a more contemporary version. Appetizers, a deep Margherita section, vegan options, and a solid wine and beer list fill out a room that takes pizza more seriously than most occasions require.

1. 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza Italy Excellent Pizzerias

A barn-style pizza spot in Aptos with soft colors, dark green-framed doors, and a communal feel that makes the whole thing read like a California farmhouse that stumbled into Naples. The pies lean Italian in a specific, considered way, and the menu wanders pleasantly into fried sardines and prosciutto broth before circling back to where it belongs. The house-made pistachio ice cream is apparently non-negotiable. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

The wood-fired oven runs hot enough that the Neapolitan crusts come out blistered and light, with char spots that mean someone is paying attention. Terún is a pizza shop on California Ave that has been a gathering spot for the Italian expat crowd on the Peninsula for a while now. The black and white dining room is spare, which makes the olive oil and the colors on the plates look even more vivid by contrast.

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The marinara here is just tomato, olive oil, and blistered basil, and it doesn't need a single thing more. Vesta is a wood-fired pizza shop in downtown Redwood City where the oven does the heavy lifting, scorching pies to a proper, crackling crisp. The sausage and honey pie, mascarpone folded in, is the crowd favorite if minimalism isn't your move. The San Francisco Chronicle put it on their Peninsula and South Bay best list.

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A pizzeria in Acireale near Piazza Duomo where the dough itself is the argument: there's the classic Neapolitan, and then a Sicilian version made with ancient organic grains they've named after the place. Fried starters, including an arancino made with local cavolo trunzu, ease you in before the pizzas arrive loaded with carefully sourced ingredients. The wine list runs deeper than you'd expect, and the menu shifts with the seasons.

1. 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza Italy Excellent Pizzerias

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The grandma slice is the reason to linger: airy crumb, crackery bottom, and a sauce that tastes like someone had strong feelings about it. Mama's Boy is a two-floor NY-style slice shop in Uptown Oakland, counter orders downstairs and a little more breathing room above. The 20-inch pies go whole or by the slice, with garlic knots and local draft to round things out. It landed at #9 on 50 Top Pizza's national slice list, which is a specific thing to brag about.

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1. The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco

1. The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco

1. The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco

1. The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco

Four styles sit behind the glass at this casual slice shop from celebrity pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani: New York thin, Sicilian, grandma, and Detroit. You point, they reheat, you fold. The New York slices have that stiff-but-pliable thing that makes eating while standing feel like a skill. The grandma squares come thick, with ricotta pooled on top. Everything is straightforward, no reservations, no ambiance to speak of, just good pizza by the slice.

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