The Best Places to Eat and Drink in Italy

A pizzeria set among old mills and caves in the center of Modica, where the chef hands each table playing-card-style cards explaining the pizzas before you order. The dough gets a long ferment with wheat germ, and the pies come round, steamed, fried, or oven-dried depending on his mood and yours. It ranks on 50 Top Pizza Italy, which tracks for a place this serious about flour. The wine and beer list holds its own too.

A pizzeria on Gela's seafront where the lighting is soft enough to make you feel the room was designed, not just furnished. The chef's Campanian roots anchor the menu, but the "Pizzas by Daniele" range roams through the ingredients of southern Italy in ways that go beyond the classic round. The dough gets serious attention, the olive oil selection is curated, and the service knows what it's talking about.

A pizza spot on the Nomentana that offers both Neapolitan and Roman styles under one roof, which sounds like hedging but here reads as genuine range. The dough is made using autolysis, a slow hydration technique that produces a crust light enough to keep the peace between the two camps. Start with the frittata, and leave room for the pistachio tiramisu, which earns its place at the end of the meal.

A pizzeria near the A18 highway exit that takes the format seriously enough to offer both Sicilian and Neapolitan styles under one roof, low-and-crispy alongside high-and-pillowy, without making a fuss about it. The menu organizes around the margherita and builds outward in honest increments. Croquettes are the move to start. The wine list leans local but ranges wider, and the staff actually know what's on it.

A pizzeria in Caserta where the meal opens with fried starters before the pizza arrives, light-doughed and topped with whatever the season is offering that week. The team runs a tight, well-organized room, and Maria handles the drinks list, stocking Campanian labels and craft beers with the same care her husband puts into the dough. It lands on the 50 Top Pizza Italy Excellent Pizzerias list, and on a given evening it's easy to see why.

A roomy, modern pizzeria just outside Umbertide's center, near the sports complex where parking is never a problem. The menu runs Neapolitan-style pies alongside appetizers, burgers, and a kids' menu, so it's built for a full table rather than a solo slice. The team moves quickly without making you feel rushed, which is harder than it sounds on a busy Friday.

A Neapolitan-style pizza spot in Casoria where the menu actually tells you what you're getting: sections labeled scrunchy, tradition, and innovation, each a different take on the dough. The kitchen leans contemporary, playing with toppings and presentation while keeping the southern Italian backbone intact. Staff are attentive without hovering, the room is clean and modern, and desserts hold up better than most pizza places bother with.

A pizza shop on Agropoli's port square where the menu runs from classic rounds to padellino and Quadrotti, the team's take on Roman-style paddle pizza. The dough is made with biga and rests at high hydration, landing somewhere noticeably light without fuss about it. The Cilento coast does the decorating through the window, and the philosophy in the kitchen is careful without being precious about it.

Parked near Piazza Duomo in Termoli's old town, this pizza spot builds its pies on soft, airy dough with a crust that gets some room to breathe. The toppings lean into the region, with organic and local ingredients combined in ways that are genuinely unexpected without being weird about it. The wine and spirits list gets real attention too, which isn't always a given at a pizzeria. Service is warm and unhurried.

A pizza spot tucked into a little square at the edge of the Amalfi Coast, decorated inside with the hand-painted ceramics Vietri sul Mare is famous for. The dough gets a long, slow rise, and the menu leans into the sea rather than the usual suspects, with pies built around local fish and a fair amount of imagination. The fried starters follow the same coastal logic and are worth ordering. In summer, the square fills in as a terrace.

A few steps from Salerno's waterfront, this pizzeria has a look more design hotel than neighborhood joint, and the pies match the ambition. The dough is stretched thin and cooked with precision, toppings leaning on regional tradition without getting precious about it. The pizza a rota 'e carretta is the old-school counter to all that polish, and the fried starters, eggplant meatballs especially, hold their own alongside anything with a crust.

Tucked between Barriera di Milano and Regio Parco, this Neapolitan pizza spot has been a reliable fixture in Turin for a while, and the dough is the reason. The team mills with monococcal spelt and multigrain flours that make the crust taste like something, not just a vehicle. Guests build their own pie from a long list of seasonal toppings, and sweet filled buns round out the menu for those who treat dessert as non-negotiable.

A pizza named after Sunday broth, filled with the scent of slow-cooked meat and vegetables and finished with a Parmesan crust, tells you what kind of pizzeria Don Crosta is: the kind where the menu has something to say. The space is modern and relaxed, with a terrace when the weather cooperates. Beyond the contemporary pies, there are focaccias, fried dishes, and a wine list that leans into Vesuvian labels.

A pizza restaurant in San Giovanni Lupatoto that takes its crust seriously enough to offer a dedicated sauce menu for dipping the leftovers, which says something about confidence. The interior leans industrial chic with soft lighting, giving it more metropolitan energy than the address might suggest. Toppings run from a straightforward Margherita to combinations involving gin tonic, and the kitchen makes everything fresh. Named on 50 Top Pizza Italy's Excellent Pizzerias list.

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.

A contemporary pizza spot in Rende where the dough is the whole argument: light, well hydrated, and sturdy enough to carry toppings that add without shouting. The menu moves between straightforward classics and more adventurous variations, and the craft beer list is the kind that rewards a second look. The room is modern and informal without feeling like a set piece, and the kitchen keeps pace even when the place fills up.

The crunchy Cosenza-style pizza is the reason to find this small pizzeria in Rende, where around thirty seats fill a room with a short, rotating menu of about fifteen pizzas built around a tight circle of named suppliers. The seasonal list changes, but the sourcing stays fixed. Doubles as a breakfast spot with proper leavened pastries and organic juice, which is either a charming detail or proof they take dough seriously at every hour.

A wood-fired oven faces the sea on Scalea's lungomare, and the dough here gets the long, careful leavening that makes Neapolitan-style pizza feel light rather than heavy. This is a straightforward pizzeria, the kind where the crust does the talking, with a fluffy cornicione, a well-balanced sauce, and a crisp underside. The fried pizza pulls its own weight too, in both the classic and the contemporary styles.

A mixologist turned pizzaiolo is a sentence that could go badly, but here it goes well. Elementi is a pizzeria in Caserta where the chef's background shows up in how flavors are layered, playing creaminess against crunch and acidity in ways that feel more considered than typical. Classic and creative pies share the menu alongside fried starters, and a dedicated tasting menu spotlights the local Terra di Lavoro region.

A small pizza spot in central Parma where the chef works with high-hydration, long-fermented dough in a style that doesn't answer to Naples. The crust sits at a moderate height, and toppings lean toward Campanian ingredients or pasta-sauce classics like carbonara, ragù, and amatriciana. Tables are close enough that you'll learn your neighbors' order. A newer "fried and deconstructed" menu has since joined the lineup.

A wood-fired oven visible from the street and a giant paddle on the sign announce what Era Ora is about before you've even pushed the door open. It's a pizza restaurant in Rende, the university town just outside Cosenza, and the menu meanders through fried snacks, salads, and pasta before arriving at the main event. The house pizza, topped with capocollo from a historic local salumeria, is a good place to land.

A pizza shop in a new space on Via Ruffilli, Fa' Tu is run by a team obsessed with fermentation and long leavening, which sounds technical until the crust arrives: light, fragrant, and clearly the point of the whole operation. The dough uses 100% Italian wheat at 70% hydration, and the toppings lean into Calabrian ingredients, 'nduja, Tropea onion, local pecorino, the kind of pantry a region spends centuries building.

A pizzeria in Potenza where the dough choices are genuinely the draw: the whole-grain multigrain arrives toasted and fragrant, while the tomato-water version produces a golden, lightly crisp crust that somehow still feels clean on the palate. The kitchen takes fermentation and hydration seriously without making you sit through a lecture about it. Fried starters are the right way to open, the service keeps everything moving, and the wine and beer list pairs sensibly with the rest.

Tucked into the backstreets of Chiavari, this pizzeria gives you a choice most places don't: a low, crispy crust or a high, pillowy one. Either way, the dough is worked for lightness rather than bulk, and the toppings lean on local Ligurian products rather than reach for novelty. The Margherita 44 is the one regulars keep ordering. Good craft beers and wines by the glass round out a room that's cozy without trying too hard.

A San Lorenzo pizza shop where the dough gets more attention than most people give their houseplants, fermented long enough that the menu leads with digestibility as a selling point. Three sizes run from a small aperitivo round up to a rolling-pin-pressed Spianata Romana, and the kitchen rotates a new pie each week. Craft beers and natural wines fill out the back half of the menu, and the room stays informal without getting sloppy.

A pizza and fry shop on Via Foria where the fried pizza is treated as seriously as the round kind. The menu leans hard into Neapolitan tradition, with fried doughs and classic toppings doing most of the talking. It sits near the Botanical Garden, a few stops from the city center, and draws the kind of crowd that knows exactly what they're ordering before they walk in. Prices stay well within reason.

A pizzeria in the old center of Cefalù where the menu reads like a master class in dough formats: classic rounds, pan-baked padellino, double-cooked, fried, and the pala flatbread added more recently. The crust stays light and crisp regardless of which style you order, which is harder than it sounds. About forty seats, contemporary room, and a drinks list that covers wine, beer, and cocktails if you want to match your pizza to something with a little ambition.

The pizza here is almost aggressively thin, a crisp, barely-there wafer with toppings kept minimal enough that nothing buckles it. It's a Roman-adjacent pizzeria in the Colli Albani neighborhood, done up in high ceilings and industrial bones that feel more like a design object than a neighborhood joint. The fried snacks are worth ordering alongside, and the wine list runs longer than you'd expect for a pizza dinner.

Neapolitan pizza on the shores of Lake Maggiore sounds like a punchline, but the room fills on weeknights anyway. This is a proper pizza spot doing fried pies and Margherita variations alongside Campanian desserts that suggest someone's nonna has opinions. The dough is the point, the ingredients are taken seriously, and the setting, tucked into a small village between beaches, makes the whole thing feel like a slightly improbable discovery.

A Roman pizzeria that splits its loyalties cleanly: thin and crispy Roman style on one side, high-crusted Neapolitan on the other, and no apparent anxiety about the contradiction. The dough is well matured and light, and the kitchen clearly thinks about what goes on top of it. The room is tidy and relaxed, the kind of place that works equally well for a quick weeknight dinner or a longer table with friends.

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.

The visible oven anchors the room at this Sardinian pizza restaurant, its stone walls and warm wood making the whole thing feel less like a dining room and more like somewhere a craftsman actually works. The doughs go through long natural fermentation with carefully sourced flours, and the toppings lean hard into local Sardinian ingredients. It landed on the 50 Top Pizza Italy list, which tells you the technique here is no accident.

A pizza spot in Alcamo where the menu is framed as a journey through past, present, and future, which sounds like marketing until you taste it. Long-fermented doughs and triple-cooked rounds are the foundation; Sicilian-style focaccia hybrids fill out the rest. The team behind it clearly has a point of view, and a tasting menu exists for those who want to work through the whole argument in one sitting.

A pizza lab in the middle of Palermo's old city, Funnaco builds its menu around three distinct doughs, including a local perciasacchi low-gluten option alongside the classics. The "crunch" pizzas, baked twice and topped after the oven, arrive with a shatter to them that regular Neapolitan doesn't attempt. Staff walk you through each choice without turning it into a lecture, which is rarer than it sounds. Local beers and wines round out the list.

Outdoor tables overlooking the Ligurian sea, strings of lights multiplying across the water at night, and a wood-fired oven quietly tucked behind a partition as if it has nothing to prove. This is a pizzeria in San Terenzo doing soft, foldable, classically comforting pies without any of the theater that tends to follow a good wood-fired reputation around. The service keeps pace without fuss, which at a seaside spot on a warm evening is exactly the right instinct.

A wood-fired pizza spot in Alba where the oven runs from breakfast through last call, because leavened dough is the whole point here. You pick your crust, classic round or thin and crackery from the rolling pin, then load it with Piedmontese conviction: fassona beef vitello tonnato, Verduno sausage with gorgonzola. The wine list runs to champagne, which feels about right for a pizza place that takes itself exactly as seriously as it should.

A Neapolitan pizza spot in Canale where the dough itself is the point, made with blends that range from classic to spelt, chickpea, and sunflower flour, each one built for lightness and a long ferment you can actually feel afterward. The kitchen treats sourcing the way other places treat decoration, and the service keeps pace without fuss. A pleasant bill is a reliable part of the deal.

A self-described "trattoria 2.0" on the edge of Udine where the chef brings a fine-dining background to three styles of pizza, all built on organic grains and sourdough. The Alta leans Roman, the Cornicione revisits Neapolitan, and the Gourmet wanders into Friulian territory. Bread, pasta, and desserts come from the same kitchen logic: technique first. The room is spacious and stylish, with outdoor seating for when the weather cooperates.

A Neapolitan pizzeria in Posillipo where the kitchen treats a plain margherita with the same seriousness as the more elaborate pies, letting good ingredients do the talking. The menu leans on tradition, the service runs smoothly, and the meal tends to end with a classic omelette and croquettes rather than the other way around, which is either charming or chaotic depending on your disposition. Street parking on weekends is its own adventure.

The visible ovens anchor a room of warm earth tones and clean lines inside Palazzo Resistenza, a setting that signals this Neapolitan pizza spot takes itself seriously without being stiff about it. The pizza leans contemporary Neapolitan, light and bread-scented with toppings that don't crowd each other, and the fried sides are worth ordering alongside. A proper wine list rounds things out.

A neighborhood pizzeria in the Nola hinterland where the dough follows the old Neapolitan playbook and the kitchen pays attention to where its ingredients come from. The fried starters come out dry and crisp, which is harder than it sounds. The room is tidy and calm, the kind of place where the welcome feels like it costs nothing extra. Casual and unpretentious, with prices to match the setting.

The fried starters at this Ottaviano pizzeria are what people talk about first, a dry, crisp crust giving way to something soft and properly seasoned inside. The contemporary pies follow the same logic: light, fragrant dough, local toppings that taste like what they are. The drinks list runs to artisanal Campanian wines and beers chosen to sit alongside the food rather than distract from it. Modern room, friendly service, no chaos.

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.

A pizza restaurant in Lecce where the dough is made entirely with type 1 flour, kept thin and light enough that a second pie feels like a reasonable choice. The room has a vintage-meets-contemporary look that someone clearly sweated over, and the wine list runs past a hundred labels, which is ambitious for a pizzeria by anyone's measure. Seasonal toppings, a proper dessert menu, and staff who actually know the list. It ranked on 50 Top Pizza Italy.

A family-run pizzeria in Corigliano where the room is clean and minimal and the doughs are light, contemporary style. The menu reads like someone thought hard about it, with creative combinations that don't feel forced. The chef's wife handles desserts herself, which tells you something about how the whole operation runs. A relaxed place that takes its ingredients seriously without making you feel like you're attending a lecture.

A Neapolitan pizza spot in Gioia Tauro with a pool, which sets the mood before you've even ordered. The dough is contemporary in technique but classic in flavor, and local Calabrian ingredients show up in ways that feel earned rather than gimmicky. The drinks list, cocktails, gin, and wines, gets real attention. Young crowds fill the room on warm nights, and the energy stays loose without tipping into chaos.

The open oven anchors the dining room at this Milanese pizzeria, where vintage furnishings give the whole thing an unhurried, neighborhood-parlor feel. The Neapolitan-style pies run on a semi-wholemeal dough, light and properly puffy at the crust, and the toppings lean creative without getting theatrical. Wine gets a serious list; cocktails and draft beer show up in a supporting role. Regulars who know the menu by heart fill the room on weeknights.

The Queen Wheel arrives larger than a standard pie, cooked in three stages, and finished with your choice of raw Puglian extra virgin olive oil. This is a contemporary Bari pizzeria where the dough itself is the point, rotating through cereals, black rice, beer must, and citrus variations depending on what the team is working with. Round, white, red, and rectangular versions all share the menu, and the toppings balance the traditional with the quietly inventive.

A pizza spot in the quiet outskirts of Bergamo that somehow requires reservations on a Tuesday. The room is simple and loud in the good way, and the dough gets 48 hours of natural leavening before it sees any heat, which shows in the airy crumb and the charred, chewy crust. Toppings lean creative and seasonal, sourced through an organic supply chain the team takes seriously. Craft beers and Franciacorta round things out.

Fried pizza is the reason to linger at this Vomero trattoria, where the dough comes out golden, dry, and lighter than it has any right to be. The menu runs from classic Margherita and Marinara through Sunday-lunch staples like eggplant parmigiana and meatballs, and a cocktail bar handles the before and after. The kind of neighborhood spot where the staff runs a packed room without breaking a sweat.

A pizza restaurant in the small Basilicata hill town of Rionero in Vulture, Glamour turns out long-fermented pies with a light, fragrant crust and toppings built around local Lucanian ingredients. The kitchen takes the pairing work seriously, and the room is modern and tidy without trying too hard. It placed on 50 Top Pizza Italy, which in southern Italy is a meaningful flag to plant. Good wine and beer list, attentive service.

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.

A pizzeria steps from Salerno's waterfront, with a terrace open year-round and an interior that somebody clearly spent real money on. The dough is soft and well-leavened, and the toppings lean on DOP and Slow Food-certified ingredients from across Campania, from the Vesuvian plains down to Cilento. The fried montanarina alongside the baked version is a nice touch, and the wine list is longer than you'd expect from a pizza place.

A no-frills pizza spot in Taranto where the dough menu splits into classics, multigrain, and a protein-rich line aimed at athletes, which is either very niche or very Puglia. The atmosphere is casual and the service moves fast, so nobody lingers over the menu descriptions, which are admittedly sparse. The pistachio croquette has been known to distract from everything else on offer.

A converted baglio facing the Egadi Islands, with a sea-view terrace that makes the setting feel a little unfair to everywhere else. Grano is a contemporary pizza spot where the dough gets a long fermentation and a light, unshowy crust, while the toppings lean into seasonal combinations that balance rather than pile on. The wine list runs deeper than you'd expect, and the homemade desserts are worth saving room for.

A large summer terrace opens the evening at this modern pizzeria tucked into the residential streets of Venaria Reale, the town anchored by the grand Savoy palace. The dough is stone-ground and long-fermented, and the menu runs across styles, from classic Neapolitan to Roman paddle pies to a crispy black rice version that sounds like a gimmick until it arrives. The fried starters are not an afterthought.

The dough is the whole argument here: long-fermented, handled by a team that treats pizza-making as a craft rather than a throughput exercise. This is a pizza restaurant in Pontedera where the toppings, including nduja and caciocavallo nods to southern Italy, are chosen to pair rather than pile. The menu has a reference or two that enthusiasts will clock with a quiet nod. If you want something fast and familiar, this is the wrong room.

A pizzeria and casual restaurant near the entrance of Agrigento, where the dough gets serious attention: rolled thin and even, built on long study rather than habit. The team makes some cheeses in-house and puts real work into the tomato sauce, so the fundamentals are doing the heavy lifting. It reads as a reliable stop for anyone moving through the Valley of the Temples corridor without time to gamble on somewhere untested.

Neapolitan-style pizza on the Adriatic coast, at a pizzeria that takes its crust seriously enough to have landed on the 50 Top Pizza Italy list. The dough is the point, with toppings that move between classic and gourmet without making a fuss about it. Fried starters and a cocktail menu designed to pair with pizza keep things interesting. The room has the kind of considered aesthetic that suggests someone cared, and the staff are the relaxed, helpful sort.

A pizzeria on a proper town square, Groove Tortona runs two styles side by side: a soft, Naples-leaning round and a thin, crackling C-Rock version, each on its own semi-wholemeal dough. The kitchen aims for roughly half its toppings to be vegetable-led, which sounds like a policy statement but plays out in combinations like a vegetable ragù with prosecco and vegan stracciatella. Local Derthona wines and a pair of house craft beers round things out.

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.

A Neapolitan pizza spot in a small Calabrian hill town where the dough is kept light and most of what goes on it comes from nearby. The room is modern without trying hard, the kind of place that works equally well for a family Tuesday or a Friday out with friends. Sandwiches and bar service round things out when pizza feels like a commitment. The staff, by all accounts, treat strangers like regulars from the first visit.

A Neapolitan-inspired pizzeria in the Salento countryside that splits its menu between classic pies and a more ambitious gourmet line, leaning on DOP products and local ingredients. The garden is the better place to sit, cozy and softly lit in a way the interior hasn't quite matched yet. It earned a spot on 50 Top Pizza Italy's Excellent Pizzerias list, which gives you a sense of the ambition on show.

A neighborhood pizzeria in the residential Trieste quarter, far enough from the tourist circuit that you'll hear mostly Italian at the tables around you. The dough is the story here, soft and slow-fermented in a way that means you won't feel weighed down afterward. The menu runs from straight-ahead classics to quieter original combinations that don't try too hard. Staff move fast without being brusque, which in Rome is its own achievement.

The minimalist decor does a lot of the talking at this Casalnuovo pizzeria, where the room is dressed with more care than most places bother with. The pizza lands somewhere between classic and contemporary, grounded in traditional pantry staples and whatever's good that day. The fried starters, homemade and ranging from old-school to more inventive, are worth ordering before you even open the pizza menu.

A pizza place steps from Trento's Duomo where the dough is the obvious point of pride, slow-fermented until it's soft through the middle and just crisp enough at the edge that you notice the difference. The room is small and warm, and the team runs it like they mean it. Toppings lean simple, which lets the ingredients do the talking. The "suspended pizza" initiative, where customers pay for a slice someone else will claim, is a nice thing to know about.

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.

A Neapolitan pizza spot tucked under the arcades of Piazza Vittoria, where the high-rimmed crust gets a long, slow rise before it ever sees a flame. The room is tidier than you'd expect from a place this warm, and the family running it treats regulars and first-timers with the same unhurried attention. Dogs are welcome, and the outdoor tables under the arcade are a fine reason to linger over a seasonal pie longer than you planned.

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.

A Neapolitan-style pizza spot right on the Chiavari seafront, with bright, colourful rooms that lean into the holiday-town energy rather than fighting it. The dough is light and carefully sourced, and the kitchen pairs San Marzano tomatoes and Campanian fior di latte with combinations that wander well beyond the classics. The wine list holds its own, and the craft beer selection is taken seriously. Young staff who seem to enjoy being there round out the picture.

A three-generation family of pizza makers on the Calabrian coast, the Sesto crew keep reinventing their menu each year with enough conviction to make tradition feel like a moving target. The pizzeria leans into local character, pairing Tropea onion and fresh anchovies with double tomato, while a white pizza nods to the retro glamour of ham and melon. Comfortable neighborhood spot, serious dough.

A Neapolitan-style pizza spot in a small town outside Lecce where the dough is quietly the whole point. The multigrain version in particular develops real aroma and a crust that knows when to stop. A tasting menu lets you work through different dough interpretations, which is a more interesting evening than it sounds. The room goes for alchemist theatrics, wood and iron and swing tables, charming in ambition if occasionally less so in practice.

A Neapolitan-style pizzeria in Caserta where the dough is light enough to make the purists nod and the Bronte, built on burnt wheat flour with mortadella and pistachio crumble, gives them something to actually talk about. The room is simple and well-kept, the staff attentive without hovering. The croquettes are a solid start. A short drinks list rounds things out without fuss.

Sitting along the old Appian Way, this family-run pizzeria turns out contemporary Neapolitan pies on dough that's light and well hydrated. The menu ranges from straightforward classics to combinations leaning on Sannio cheeses and cured meats, and the fried starters, especially the pasta frittatas, are worth ordering before the pizza arrives. The room is minimal and modern, the kind of place that works for an easy weeknight dinner without any fuss.

A pizzeria in the Campania hinterland where the chef works the counter with the focus of someone who takes local ingredients very seriously, landing somewhere between old-school pizza maker and thoughtful cook. The room keeps its cheerful pizzeria soul despite a recent tidy-up, and the service holds its own on a busy Friday. It ranked 56th on 50 Top Pizza World, which for a spot outside Naples says something on its own.

Neapolitan-style pizza in Avellino, a short walk from the old center, where the pies tend to spill past the plate edge without quite tipping over, which is apparently a fine line worth walking. The menu runs long with variations between tradition and house specialties, and the team will work off-script with seasonal ingredients if you ask. A trattoria kitchen runs alongside the pizza, folding regional recipes into the mix.

A family-run pizzeria outside Bari that has been turning out Apulian pizza for decades, the rolled-pin style that sits somewhere between Roman and something the region has claimed entirely as its own. The Lococciolo family's latest chapter involves sourcing with genuine care, from Martina Franca capocollo to Andria stracciatella, and a quiet obsession with allergen-free ingredients that most places don't bother with.

An agri-pizzeria outside Cerveteri where the dining room is all heavy wood and the setting is countryside green in every direction. The pizza is Roman style, thin and crisp, and the menu leans into the classics, cacio e pepe, amatriciana, that territory. The house-made supplì come in rotating flavors and tend to disappear fast. It's the kind of place where the drive out feels like part of the point.

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.

A pizzeria in Roseto degli Abruzzi where the menu runs across traditional, gourmet, shovel, and double-cooked styles, all built around a serious obsession with dough. The team leans hard into fine-dining ideas, so toppings arrive in pairings that feel more composed than improvised. Dessert gets the same treatment, which is either impressive or a lot, depending on your mood. The room is quiet enough to hear yourself think, which helps when the menu requires decisions.

A pizza spot on the road connecting Turin to Moncalieri, Impasto keeps the room simple and lets the dough do the talking. The move that sets it apart is a Margherita menu with seven distinct variations, so ordering what sounds like the plainest thing on any pizza list becomes an actual decision. Farinata and focaccia round out the options for anyone who came hungry and plans to leave otherwise.

Cagliari's marina neighbourhood has no shortage of squares to sit around doing nothing, and Impasto overlooks one of the livelier ones. It's a pizzeria where the oven is in full view, so you can watch the dough work happen before the Neapolitan-style pizza lands on your table, properly leavened and not overloaded. Housemade pasta fills out the menu for anyone who arrives outvoted. The service moves quickly without feeling rushed.

A pizza spot in Brescia where the menu is short by design, and every combination on it feels thought through rather than thrown together. The doughs are soft and fragrant, the toppings creative without tipping into chaos, and the beer and wine list holds its own. The room is contemporary but not cold. It ranked 56th on 50 Top Pizza Italy, which in a country that takes this sort of thing very seriously is a statement worth noting.

A visible wood oven anchors the room at this Roman pizzeria, where the pizza a ruota di carro, stretched to cart-wheel proportions, is reason enough to visit. The fried pizza delivers on its promise of intensity, and the artisanal croquettes and small omelettes upstage most of the starters you'd find nearby. Craft beers, a spacious terrace, and a younger crowd keep the energy loose. The bill lands where it should.

A fried pizza shop in Rione Sanità run entirely by women, which tells you something about the care and organization before you even sit down. The dark couches and clean interior land somewhere between neighborhood spot and something more considered. The dough comes out uniformly golden and dry, never greasy, stuffed with ricotta, provola, and cicoli in the classic version. A short but thoughtful wine list means you don't have to drink whatever's closest.

A Caserta family transplanted to the Aosta Valley, making Neapolitan pizza in the Alps, which is either an odd choice or an obvious one depending on how hungry you are. The dough is long-fermented, soft, and light, and the menu stretches beyond pizza into appetizers and full plates, with a small shop attached. Ranked on 50 Top Pizza Italy, it draws the kind of crowd that drives a while and doesn't mention it.

A cocktail bar greets you at the entrance before the pizza even enters the picture, which tells you something about KLU's ambitions. This contemporary Neapolitan pizza spot in Prati does thin bases with properly puffy, fragrant crusts, a short list of around twenty pies leaning on the classics with a few clever twists, and a wine list deep enough to order by the glass without embarrassment. The staff has that warm, lightly theatrical southern Italian energy.

The menu is divided into "acts," which tells you everything about the mood here: this is a pizza restaurant that takes itself seriously, in the best Torinese way. The dough goes through a long ferment and comes out light, with a proper crust and a thin, structured base. Small sandwiches called PanAria are worth ordering as a warm-up. Wine, craft beer, and cocktails round out a room that draws the pizza-curious crowd from across the city.

Roman-style pizza shop in Pomezia where the dough gets a 48-hour rise before being stretched to near-translucent thinness. The menu runs through red, white, and specialty pies, plus the Panozzo, a thicker stuffed format that splits the difference between pizza and sandwich. Fried snacks and a solid beer selection round things out. The crust is the point here, so eating it fresh off the pass rather than letting it sit is the move.

The open kitchen and pizza oven face the room so you can watch every pie come together, which at a Neapolitan-style pizzeria near the Marina di Massa seafront feels like a fair promise of what's coming. The dough runs soft and light, the ingredients lean on DOP-certified products, and lactose-free options sit alongside seasonal specials. Cloth napkins and cutlery rests suggest the place takes itself seriously without charging you for the attitude.

A pizza restaurant in the pedestrian heart of Grado's old town, with tables spilling outside into the foot traffic. The menu leans contemporary Neapolitan, updated each year and pulling ingredients from both Campania and Friuli, so a Neapolitan pie might arrive topped with local scallops or black truffle. The list is long and genuinely creative, with each topping sourced and described on the menu, which the kind of place that does this either earns or doesn't.

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.

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.

The fried pizza here comes folded into a cartwheel shape, which is either a gimmick or just how they've always done it, and in Naples the line between the two is thin. This is a classic pizzeria in the historic center, all tuff stone walls, painted altars, and Neapolitan kitsch done with enough conviction to feel like atmosphere rather than decor. Maria Cacialli runs it, daughter of the man who famously fed Bill Clinton a slice in 1994.

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.

A pizzeria sitting out in open countryside, which already tells you something about the regulars who make the drive. The menu breaks pizzas into revisited, award-winning, and chef's specials, and the fish options are taken more seriously than you'd expect. Wines and beers run deep, service is warm without being fussy, and 50 Top Pizza Italy has it among their Excellent Pizzerias.

A pizzeria that's been an institution in Benevento for generations, a short walk from the Arch of Trajan, named after a beloved 1950s Italian film star. The dough is Neapolitan-style, long-leavened and light, and the toppings lean into the local pantry, Sannio sausage, caciocavallo, regional olive oil. Service is warm and knows what it's doing, which in a town this size means everyone probably knows your order already.

A hilltop pizzeria outside Paestum where the terrace takes in a sweep from the Cilento mountains to the sea, which is a fine thing to be looking at while waiting for your pizza. The dough leans rustic, the toppings lean local, and you can order by the meter if you're feeling ambitious or feeding a crowd. A relaxed, no-fuss room where a summer evening can disappear quite pleasantly.

A medieval hilltop village in the Sienese countryside is a bold location for a pizza joint, but the terrace view over rolling Tuscan hills makes a strong argument for the commute. La Pergola turns out light-dough pies that run from revisited classics to more adventurous combinations, all backed by good local wine. The family-run warmth of the room is part of the point, not just a bonus.