The Best Places in Brazil

A long counter lets you watch the dough get stretched and the house-made sauce go on, which is partly the point. This Santos pizzeria keeps things focused: natural-fermentation dough, thin and well aerated with a properly blistered crust, topped simply and without drama. Italian-ish background music, tables close together, staff who know the menu. Ranked 36th in 50 Top Pizza Latin America, for whatever that does to your Friday-night plans.

Tucked into the mountain village of Pedra Azul, this Neapolitan pizza spot holds AVPN certification, the stamp issued by Naples' own True Neapolitan Pizza Association, and is the first in Espírito Santo to earn it. The dough is light with a pronounced cornicione, cooked to the strict rules the certification demands. The room runs contemporary and warm, and the staff moves fast enough to handle weekend crowds that arrive, advisably, early.

Neapolitan-inspired pizza shop in Asa Sul with a bright, clean room that feels less like a parlor and more like someone tidied up the concept of pizza itself. The crust stays on the smaller side and picks up a proper char, and the menu runs from Italian classics to Brazilian riffs, including a banana pizza the staff seems very proud of. It landed at #34 on 50 Top Pizza Latin America, which is not nothing for a Brasília neighborhood spot.

A wood-fired pizza shop in Ourinhos that carries AVPN certification and lands at number 42 on 50 Top Pizza Latin America. The dough ferments long, bakes light, and comes out of the oven with that high, blistered crust that Neapolitan purists argue about endlessly. The Cosacca, a tomato, basil, and pecorino pie you rarely see outside Naples, is the kind of detail that signals someone here is paying close attention. The calzone is reportedly generous enough to settle the matter.

A pizza bar right on the beach in Vila do Abraão, where the soft dough and pronounced crust share billing with live music and a full cocktail list. The style runs contemporary Italian, from a straightforward Margherita to seafood pies to a banana dessert pizza that commits fully to the vibe of the place. It is a restaurant, a disco, and a bar all at once, which on a Brazilian island beach turns out to be a reasonable combination.

A wood-fired Neapolitan pizza joint in Vila Velha with a veranda that makes lingering feel obligatory. The dough follows Verace Pizza Napoletana rules, so the crust comes out soft, light, and slightly charred at the edges. Fresh pasta and risotto round out the menu for anyone who considers pizza merely the opening act. The wine list leans Italian and the room runs warm enough that the service matches it, which is either charming or on the nose, depending on your mood.

A small pizzeria tucked into one of São Paulo's quieter, leafier residential streets, where the dough does most of the talking. The crust is light and well-worked, thin but sturdy enough to hold its shape, and the cooking leans slightly crispier than classic Neapolitan. The ground-floor veranda draws a loyal local crowd who seem in no rush to leave, which the unhurried service encourages. Landed on the 50 Top Pizza Latin America list.

A Neapolitan pizza shop in Meireles that takes the form seriously, with a dough that's light and properly blistered without turning the crust into the whole personality. The menu runs deep, from a clean Margherita to regional Italian variations, and the drinks list earns its own attention with Italian wines and a solid beer selection. The kind of place where the pizza does exactly what it's supposed to do and nobody makes a big deal about it.

A wood-fired pizzeria tucked next to the botanical garden in Jardim Botânico, Ella is small and a little intimate, with a glowing bar at the entrance and an open kitchen where the oven does most of the talking. The tomato is the thing here, turning up on pizzas and in baked first courses served in aluminum pans that feel genuinely homey. Cocktails get the same careful attention. One useful fact: Ella is open for lunch, which the neighborhood's imperial palms make a convincing argument for.

A Neapolitan pizza spot on Avenida Atlântica that somehow resists the Copacabana circus around it. The dough follows the real elastic, blistered tradition of the school, and the seafood pasta and tiramisu suggest the kitchen has other things on its mind besides ticking boxes. In the evening, foliage and warm lighting frame a sea view that would feel theatrical if the food weren't keeping everyone's attention. Named among the 50 Top Pizza Latin America Excellent Pizzerias.

Neapolitan-style pizza certified by the AVPN standards is the anchor at this Niterói pizzeria, which means the dough follows old Neapolitan rules and takes them seriously. Toppings run from a straightforward Margherita to more vegetable-forward combinations, and the gelato or chocolate pizza with sprinkles signals that the room skews family. A wine and cocktail list rounds things out. It holds a spot on 50 Top Pizza Latin America's Excellent Pizzerias list.

Wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza in Porto Alegre, where the founder runs the oven himself and treats dough leavening with the seriousness some people reserve for sourdough manifestos. The crust is light and airy with just enough char, and the Margherita is the kind of simple thing that takes years to get right. Service moves at its own unhurried pace, which either drives you mad or feels like the whole point, depending on your evening.

A tree grows through the center of this casual pizzeria in downtown Atibaia, which sets the mood before the food even arrives. The dough ferments for two days, producing a crust that's light, airy, and properly blistered at the edges. One pie hides a whole burrata in the middle; another pairs prosciutto crudo with arugula and a drizzle of honey. 50 Top Pizza Latin America lists it among its Excellent Pizzerias.

A short walk from the Fortaleza seafront, this Italian restaurant earns a spot on 50 Top Pizza Latin America for dough that's worked and leavened until it bakes up light enough to make you wonder why more pizza isn't this easy to eat. The room is warm and elegant without trying too hard, the pasta is made in-house, and the tiramisu is the kind that makes ordering anything else for dessert feel like a mistake.

The wood-fired oven does the talking here, a Neapolitan pizza spot in Meireles where the chef follows the AVPN's rules like scripture. The dough is soft and fragrant, the char is measured, and nothing on top fights for attention in the wrong way. The place also runs training courses for aspiring pizzaiolos, which explains why regulars tend to watch the oven as much as they eat. Featured in 50 Top Pizza Latin America.

Long-fermented dough is the whole argument at this contemporary São Paulo pizzeria, where the crust is light enough that you could probably justify a second pie. The Neapolitan shape is the starting point, but Brazilian ingredients get folded in with real restraint. The room is minimal and relaxed, natural wines round out the list, and 50 Top Pizza Latin America has taken note of what the team is doing here.

A Neapolitan pizza spot tucked inside a shopping center in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, close enough to Grumari that you could come sandy and no one would mind. The dough goes through a long fermentation and comes out light and blistered, carrying toppings that slide between Campania tradition and Brazilian combinations without making a fuss about either. The Neapolitan panini at the start are hard to pass up.

A slice shop in Toledo, Paraná, where thin-crust pies come with a lightly puffed edge and toppings that nod to the Italian regions. Pizzas and calzones run in three sizes and arrive ready for splitting across a table, which suits the patio-and-pool vibe well. The kind of neighborhood pizza spot where nobody overthinks the order. It holds a spot on 50 Top Pizza Latin America's Excellent Pizzerias list.

A neighborhood pizza shop on a square in Vila Nova, Boa Ventura has built a following on soft, generously topped pies sized for feeding a table rather than impressing a critic. The esfihas, flatbreads stuffed with meat and cheese, are worth ordering alongside. Service moves fast, the room is casual, and the whole operation leans happily into takeaway and delivery. Listed among the 50 Top Pizza Latin America Excellent Pizzerias.

The smell of the dough hits you first, which is exactly how a Neapolitan pizza place should announce itself. This is a sit-down pizzeria in Boa Viagem built around one chef's fixation on getting the crust right, neither cracker-thin nor doughy, worked the old way. Toppings run from classics to whatever local ingredients are worth showcasing. Pasta and Italian desserts round out the menu, the wine list leans Italian, and the warm lighting does its best impression of a cellar back home.

A neighborhood pizzeria in Vila Mariana that looks, without apology, like someone's grandmother's kitchen, which is entirely the point. The dough has real structure, the cheese is generous, and the tomato sauce hides just enough to make itself felt in the balance rather than the foreground. The room is small and unpretentious, the service is attentive without hovering, and the whole thing feels like São Paulo before São Paulo got so pleased with itself.

A Mooca neighborhood pizzeria that doubled its space without losing the corner-spot feeling, Seu Basilico keeps the lights warm and the pace unhurried in a way that makes you stay for one more slice. The crust is high and aerated, soft through the last bite, and the classics like margherita and anchovy are the whole point. It holds a spot on 50 Top Pizza Latin America's list of Excellent Pizzerias, which the regulars already knew.

A two-level pizzeria in Itaim Bibi that feels genuinely closer to a neighborhood spot in Naples than to the sprawling pizza palaces São Paulo usually serves up. The dough does a lot of the work here, with a crust developed enough to hold its own against the toppings rather than just prop them up. Cozy, unfussy service, and a menu worth lingering over.

The dough at this Leblon pizzeria is the argument: long-fermented, fragrant, crispy at the edge and soft at the center in the way that takes patience to pull off. Sìsì runs Italian-serious on one of Rio's most restaurant-dense streets, with a menu that goes beyond pizza into agnolotti del plin, a pasta you rarely find anywhere near this latitude. The room draws a Zona Sul crowd that dresses for dinner without trying too hard.

A Campo Belo pizzeria with three distinct spaces, from a street-side terrace up through an indoor room and a full upper floor, so it works for a casual weeknight or a proper dinner out. The dough is the thing to note: well aerated, with a crust that has real structure without going crackerlike. The Bologna pizza, with mortadella, cold stracciatella, and pistachio added post-bake, shows the kitchen has a handle on contrast.

The crust here is the tell: high, airy, and properly charred in the Neapolitan style, which is harder to pull off in São Paulo than the number of pizzerias claiming it would suggest. Sorry Mama is a neighborhood pizza spot dressed in stripped-back industrial, though the room warms up fast once it fills. Drinks are developed with APTK, leaning toward less obvious pairings. The Nutella and pistachio pizza at the end is unapologetically casual, which is kind of the whole point.

A soaring ceiling greets you before the pizza does, which sets the tone for this elegant, multi-level pizzeria in Jardins. The Brazilian-style pies are generous enough for two, and a waiter circles the room delivering one slice at a time, which turns out to be its own small ceremony. The dough leans bread-like, crispy at the edge and soft within, loaded with cheese. Ranked on the 50 Top Pizza World list.