The Best Places to Eat and Drink in Italy

A pizza spot in central Genova where the menu starts before any topping discussion, because you first pick one of four doughs, each made with whole salt from Mothya. Seasonal ingredients get paired with enough care that the combinations feel considered rather than clever for its own sake. The room fills up fast, and the service keeps pace without losing its manners. Good local craft beers and a decent wine list round things out.

A Ligurian pizza spot in the center of Levanto where the dough is kept deliberately light, the kind that makes you forget you've eaten three slices. The toppings lean into local pantries, and the staff steers you through them without the usual fanfare. Craft beers and regional wines round out the short list. It's a small, tidy room, and the whole thing has the quiet confidence of a place that doesn't need to explain itself.

A neighborhood pizzeria on Secondigliano's main drag, the kind of place locals walk to on a Tuesday and visitors make a small detour for. The room is roomy and well-lit, with tables spaced far enough apart that you can have an actual conversation. The dough runs soft and airy, and the menu stays classic with the occasional creative detour. Young staff keep things warm and unhurried, which suits a long family dinner just fine.

Thin-crust pizza is the draw at this Quinto neighborhood spot, an old-school institution that regulars treat as a given rather than a destination. The staff will steer you toward something good if you let them, but the craft beer list is where the real conversation starts, and the owners are the kind of knowledgeable that makes you want to linger over a second round.

A neighborhood pizza shop on the edge of Prato where the decision between round and rectangular is not trivial. The shared rectangular format lets a table split three different toppings, which is the kind of pragmatic generosity that makes a small room feel bigger. The dough is well-hydrated and seriously considered, with a choice of flours that the staff will happily talk you through without making it a lecture.

The pizzeria is the savory offshoot of a long-running Torre del Greco pastry shop, which means dessert here has an unfair advantage. Two indoor rooms and a terrace in the center of town keep things spacious, and the pies lean classic, with fried and baked options and toppings piled without apology. Staff are friendly, the menu tracks the seasons, and if a sandwich sounds better than a pizza, they'll let you build one.

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.

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.

A pizza restaurant in the Trentino hills where the dough gets a long, slow ferment and comes out of the oven with that blistered, airy crust that people tend to argue about. Toppings lean on local sourcing, and the craft beer list tilts toward nearby microbreweries, which is the right call in this part of Italy. The room manages to feel both contemporary and mountain-lodge without sliding into kitsch. 50 Top Pizza lists it among Italy's excellent pizzerias.

A pizzeria in Casal di Principe that dedicates an entire menu section to don Peppe Diana, a priest killed by the Camorra, is doing more than selling pizza. The place is part of a project reclaiming confiscated land, and the ingredients come from those same fields. The contemporary pies, including a smaller round version, use a well-hydrated, airy dough and land on the 50 Top Pizza Italy list. In a town short on gathering spots, it fills that gap too.

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.

Thin-crust pizza with serious toppings shares the menu with craft cocktails and a proper wine list at this gourmet pizzeria and lounge bar in central Sarzana. The dough is the point: light, crispy, and carrying its toppings rather than drowning under them. The beverage program keeps pace with the kitchen rather than pretending to. A 50 Top Pizza Italy listing for those keeping score.

A panoramic terrace overlooking Gallipoli sets the scene at this contemporary Neapolitan pizzeria, where the dough leans dry and digestible, with a distinctly Apulian crunch folded into the tradition. The team is young and keeps things moving, and the appetizers are worth grazing through before the pizza arrives. Ingredients pull from both Puglia and Campania, which in this corner of southern Italy is less a marketing note than just good geography.

A pizza shop where the oven sits in plain sight and the family runs the floor without making a fuss about it. The contemporary-style pies have a pronounced crust, a thin base, and toppings that don't fight each other. The fried starters are the quiet surprise, coming out light and greaseless. A separate certified kitchen handles gluten-free orders, which regulars from across the province of Salerno apparently take seriously.

The crust here rises so high it practically frames the toppings like a picture border, which is either the point or the whole point. This Neapolitan-style pizzeria in Monsampolo del Tronto lets the chef's baking background do the talking: dough made the night before, easy on the stomach, and topped with ingredients pulled from across Italy's regions. Start with the fried montanarine before the pizza arrives. Loredana runs the dining room with evident care.

The dough rests for 72 hours before it sees the oven, which is where the name comes from and where the logic of this contemporary pizzeria begins. The result is a square-cut pizza with a thin, almost imperceptible crust that stays light even after a second slice. Stone-ground flours and sourdough, toppings added at the table, ingredients that are mostly Apulian. The room is spare and unfussy, the drinks list longer than you'd expect.

A pizzeria set inside the former seafront home of Calabrian singer-songwriter Rino Gaetano, which is either the most charming detail you'll hear all week or a reason to book a table immediately. The style is contemporary Neapolitan, live-leavened and elastic with a gourmet lean, and some pies are developed alongside outside chefs. Outdoor tables face the water, and the staff manage the room without fuss.

A contemporary Neapolitan-style pizzeria in the Stampace neighborhood, where the dough is well hydrated and the crust has real structure. The mood is young and informal, the kind of place that loosens up fast. Creative toppings get the most thought here, with combinations that manage to be inventive without tipping into chaos. The drink list holds its own, and the desserts are stranger and better than you'd expect from a pizza place.

A pizzeria that's been around forever on Via Foria, Lombardi 1892 is the kind of place Neapolitans point tourists toward when they want the classic, no-frills version of the thing. The pizza is straightforward and faithful to the local style, the fried starters come out dry rather than greasy, and the small beer list is all you need. Central, easy, and priced accordingly. Good for when the goal is a solid pie, not a statement.

A neighborhood pizzeria steps from the Chiostro di Santa Chiara, where the simpler the order, the better the result. The menu leans into the soul of old Naples: the Rosone with sausage and friarielli is built for sharing, and the Provolella arrives with real character. The wine and beer list is chosen to sit alongside the pizza rather than compete with it. Warm staff, two floors, and a crowd that came for dinner, not a destination.

Lombardi is a pizzeria in Maddaloni where the pastry kitchen and the pizza oven are clearly on speaking terms. The dough work here leans creative, pulling in puff pastry techniques and unexpected sweet-savory combinations that make the menu feel more composed than the average slice. The drinks list takes a similarly serious turn, with house juices and a mixology program that takes itself just seriously enough. A car is the only sensible way in.

The thin, crackery crust is the whole argument here: this small, informal Lecce pizza shop has built a following around a lighter-than-expected dough that the team tops with combinations running from straight-ahead Margherita variations to a coffee-inflected house creation. The room is compact and the staff actually pays attention, which is rarer than it should be. A tight but considered wine and beer list rounds things out.

A pizza spot run by three friends out of an old palazzo in Basilicata, with natural materials and warm light keeping things grounded without the usual designer fuss. The dough is the point: long-fermented, light, dry-edged, and never heavy. Ingredients lean hard on Vulture-area producers, some tied directly to the partners' own farms. The wine list follows the same regional logic. It landed on 50 Top Pizza Italy, which tracks.

A pizzeria at the foot of Vesuvius that leans into the geography: the signature pie arrives as a fried dough base loaded with ragù, shaped to resemble the volcano looming just outside. Classic round pizzas are on offer too, with a soft, airy dough and a properly blistered crust. Ingredients skew local and Vesuvian throughout the menu, the staff are genuinely easy to be around, and the bill won't make you feel like you've been erupted on.

A pizzeria in the Puglia heel of Italy that can't quite decide between Neapolitan and thin-crust, so it simply does both. You pick your style at the order, and the kitchen pairs every pizza on the menu with two or more beers. Seasonal ingredients lean hard into southern Italian producers. Ranked 63rd on 50 Top Pizza Italy, and the locals who fill it seem to know exactly what they're ordering before they sit down.

A pizzeria where you can finish any pie with a honey and 'nduja crust, a parmesan fondue, or shaved fresh truffle, which tells you something about how seriously the menu takes customization. Dough matures for 24 hours, and the options run from classic to gourmet, with cocktail pairing suggestions alongside. Seventeen beers on tap or in bottle, many from Calabrian craft brewers, keep the drinks list from being an afterthought.

A pizzeria near the center of Salerno where the oven is in plain sight and the cocktail bar suggests the team takes the full evening seriously. The young crew leans into tradition while quietly experimenting with different flours and toppings, landing on a pizza that's notably light with a gentle crisp at the edge. Fried starters come first, and they're done well enough to hold your attention before the main event.

A neighborhood pizzeria in the Trieste quarter where the dough gets 72 hours to think things over before it meets the oven, and you can taste the difference. The crust stays low and light, letting the toppings carry the conversation. The room is small and carefully put together, the staff pay attention, and a little complimentary snack arrives before you've decided anything. The craft beer list runs deeper than you'd expect.

A pizza restaurant inside Palazzo Doglio, a grand address in central Cagliari that sets expectations the kitchen mostly meets. The dough is the thing to pay attention to, light from long leavening and easier on the stomach than you'd expect. The menu flags allergens and offers a gluten-free option, the wine list is longer than average for a pizzeria, and the ingredients lean heavily on protected Italian designations.

A pizzeria on Via Pisacane where the dough is the point, made to sit easy and topped with ingredients chosen for quality rather than novelty. The white calzone with mozzarella and caciocavallo podolico is reason enough to visit, and regulars reportedly take the tomato sauce home in a jar. A short kitchen menu rounds things out, and the Sunday lunch crowd fills a room where you can watch the pizza makers work through the glass.

The bread arrives unbidden, crumbly and worth the detour on its own. This is a roomy pizzeria with a veranda in the Marche hills, where the dough is the whole argument: soft and feather-light in a way that makes the standard Roman-versus-Neapolitan debate feel beside the point. Ascolana olives and other classics fill out the menu for anyone who needs more than a reason to order another pie. The owner runs a tight room.

A Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant in central Genoa where the lighting is soft enough that you'll notice someone actually thought about it. The dough and the bake are the team's main argument, and the menu plays it out through a wide range of toppings, including the option to stuff the crust itself. Cocktails, wine, and beer round things out, and the service moves with the kind of ease that doesn't call attention to itself.

A Neapolitan-leaning pizzeria that keeps the tradition but lightens it up, using type 1 flour dough that gives the crust presence without overwhelming the toppings. The room is informal and lively, the kind of dinner where no one expects you to dress up or lower your voice. The wine list runs deeper than you'd expect for a pizza spot, and the desserts stick to the classics without apology.

The margherita comes in three versions here, which tells you something about how seriously this Neapolitan pizza spot takes its namesake dish. The crust runs high and airy, the dough slow enough to sit well afterward. It's informal and relaxed, at the foot of Perugia's centro storico, with a warmth that doesn't feel performed. Across the street, a sister space called Marghereat Lab experiments with Roman-style pizza and small pan versions if you want to compare notes.

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.

On the outskirts of Lucca, this Neapolitan pizzeria skips the charm offensive and just makes good pizza: soft, well-leavened dough, a generous crust, and toppings that lean bold rather than precious. The fried starters and Campanian snacks are the kind of thing you keep picking at while the next pizza arrives. Prices are reasonable enough that ordering an extra dish feels like common sense rather than commitment.

Fried pizza is the opening argument here, and the kitchen in Rome's historic center makes a case for Neapolitan style that the city's own pizza partisans find hard to dismiss. Montanarine and pasta frittata do their work as starters before the wood-fired pies arrive. It's a quick, no-fuss pizzeria, the kind where the service moves faster than you expect and the menu does most of the talking.

A pizza restaurant in the shadow of Vesuvius where the fried dishes, handed down from mother Rosa, set the tone before the pies even arrive. The contemporary Neapolitan pizza runs soft and airy, but the padellino, baked in a small pan, is the one worth lingering over. Local Vesuvian produce fills the toppings, and the wine list leans into the volcanic terroir. Modern room, fast hands, no pretension.

The open oven and visible prep counter face you the moment you walk into this pizza and bistrot spot in Pozzallo, which sets the tone well. The dough uses a blend of stone-ground and roller-milled flours with a biga pre-ferment and a long slow rise, and you can order it round, by the slice, pan-style, or by the tray. The classic Margherita is the thing to start with. Named among Italy's excellent pizzerias by 50 Top Pizza.

The pizza at Me put Ferrara on the map for a style the team calls "true contemporary," Naples-rooted but lighter than you'd expect, with a steam-cooked option that tilts the bill toward restaurant territory. The cocktail pairings are part of the pitch, though a thoughtfully assembled international wine list is there for the holdouts. Desserts come in jars. It's a pizzeria that takes itself seriously without being insufferable about it.

A terrace over Porto Lachio, with Ortigia sitting just across the water, sets the stage at this relaxed Mediterranean spot on the Syracuse waterfront. The menu is built for sharing, moving between tapas, fried bites, tartare, burgers, and pizza with a distinctly southern Italian coastal lean. Come with people you like enough to argue over the last piece. It holds a listing in 50 Top Pizza Italy's Excellent Pizzerias.

The hook here is the pairing: pizza and Champagne, a combination that either sounds ridiculous or makes complete sense depending on your mood, and this Umbrian pizza restaurant makes a quiet case for the latter. The dough is airy and crackling at the crust, the toppings chosen with some restraint, and the room is spare and bright. It ranks on the 50 Top Pizza World list, and regulars also come for the holiday leavened goods and brioche meant for gelato.

A pizza spot on Rome's eastern outskirts where the tasting format is the main event, built for a table of friends passing plates around. The crust is thin, well-leavened, and satisfyingly crunchy, and the combinations lean creative without losing their balance. Fried starters hold their own, and a short list of wines and beers keeps things moving. There's parking, which in Rome feels like its own kind of miracle.

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.

A soft, elastic dough built around the ingredients of Cilento is the whole point here, a pizza restaurant where the toppings read like a southern Italian pantry, nduja, sun-dried tomatoes, yellow cherry tomatoes, olives, with a stronger-than-usual lean toward vegetarian options. The open kitchen keeps things lively, the staff can actually talk you through the wine and beer list, and the appetizers and desserts are worth the detour. It ranks on 50 Top Pizza World.

A pizzeria in the South Tyrolean Alps where the dough gets a long, slow ferment that leaves it almost impossibly light once it comes out of the oven. Toppings lean on local ingredients from the surrounding region, kept fresh and uncluttered. The room is comfortable without being stiff, the staff knows the menu cold, and the craft beer selection is chosen to work with the pizza rather than compete with it.

Tables spill into Piazza Ciullo, which is either charming or a logistical adventure depending on how Alcamo's main square is feeling that day. This is a pizzeria built around ancient Sicilian grain flours and long fermentation, so the crust comes out light enough that ordering a second round feels almost responsible. The staff steers regulars toward craft beers with the confidence of people who have done this many times and are never wrong about it.

Tucked under the arcades beside Racconigi Castle, Morosini 7 is a pizza shop that takes its dough seriously enough to offer monococcal spelt and wholemeal options before you've even picked a topping. Gastronomic slices sit alongside classic rounds, with combinations that lean into Piedmontese pantry staples. It appears on the 50 Top Pizza Italy list of Excellent Pizzerias, which will either mean everything to you or send you straight to Google.

A Neapolitan-style pizzeria in San Vito dei Normanni that takes its cues from the alleys of Naples: cartwheel-format pies, wide and thin in the center, with a soft, properly leavened crust that doesn't overplay its hand. The room is simple, with a snug outdoor terrace, and the pasta frittatas make a strong case for arriving hungry before the pizza even lands. Fried and folded options round things out, and the babà is a tidy way to finish.

The wood-fired oven is the whole point here, and the menu makes sure you know it. Napples is a casual Neapolitan pizza spot in Turin doing fried pizzas, stuffed crusts, montanare, and enough deep-fried everything else to feel like a proper southern detour. The Quartieri Spagnoli focaccia has its fans, and the Borbonica, stuffed with ham and croquettes, is the kind of pizza that makes ordering light feel naive.

A pizza spot in Terni that opens with a maritozzo filled with genovese before you've even thought about the menu, which sets the tone nicely. The pies lean Neapolitan, with combinations like zucchini cream and provolone sauce or Annurca apple chutney with bresaola playing it less safe than they sound. Desserts stick around in the memory too. It landed on 50 Top Pizza Italy, and the room is cozy enough that you won't mind a slow finish.

A pizza spot in Bergamo that has been blending Neapolitan roots with Lombardy's pantry for what feels like forever. The dough program runs from classic sourdough rounds to alternative-grain options and something called "corn clouds," which sounds like a weather event but apparently lands light on the plate. The wine list is serious, and the adjacent wine bar next door handles aperitivo and nightcaps for those who want to stretch the evening.

A wood-fired oven and a firm no to anything fancy: this Calabrian pizzeria plants its flag in classic Neapolitan tradition and doesn't waver. The dough is carefully made, the fried montanare and calzones hold their own alongside the pizzas, and the panuozzi are worth the carb reckoning. Prices stay reasonable enough that regulars actually come back without a special occasion as cover. Neapolitan desserts round things out.

On the outskirts of Perugia, in a setting that looks more auto workshop than trattoria, this slice shop runs its dough through a long fermentation that keeps the crust light enough to eat at lunch without regretting it by two. The red bases are well-balanced, and the roasted potato and sausage slice is the one worth pointing at. Outdoor seating and easy parking make it a natural pit stop for the industrial-zone crowd who actually knows what they're doing.

On the outskirts of Sarzana, this artisan pizza shop splits its menu between classic Neapolitan rounds and a thin, crispy pan pizza that the kitchen has spent serious time developing. Toppings lean on local and small-producer ingredients, and the wine cellar is deep enough to suggest they take the pairing side seriously. It landed a spot on 50 Top Pizza Italy, which tracks for a place where the dough research is clearly ongoing.

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.

The name is spelled out in lights on Via Diocleziano, and the restaurant inside is just as cheerful, all yellow walls, a tidy dining room, and a terrace that earns its keep on warm evenings. This is a Neapolitan pizza spot that moves between classic pies and less familiar formats like pala and rutiello, with doughs that clearly had someone paying close attention. The fried starters, both traditional and less so, are worth the table space they take up.

A pizza restaurant in a calm residential pocket of Palermo, with linked dining rooms and a terrace big enough to matter. The dough has a proper, pronounced crust, and the toppings lean hard into Sicilian pantry staples, the kitchen treating local tradition as a subject worth studying rather than just a backdrop. The menu goes well beyond pizza, and beer or wine pairings are available for those who want a more structured meal.

A Ligurian-Piedmontese pizza and farinata spot tucked into one of central Turin's prettier streets, where the menu leans on the overlap between two regional traditions rather than chasing trends. The dough work is serious, the ingredients are carefully sourced, and homemade creme caramel closes things out in the way only places that actually care about dessert bother to do. Casual, affordable, and exactly as good as it needs to be.

A pizza spot in a small Marche village where the menu splits into more styles than most places can manage: round, fried, the square "quadra" with its high-hydration dough that goes crispy then dissolves, and a crumbly biga-based version that changes with the toppings. The fried pizza with fig puree sets the tone for a kitchen that treats the combination as less strange than it sounds. Good wine list, and reservations are the smart move.

Pizzas by the meter pull focus first, though the Croquetas de Jamón Ibérico on the fried side of the menu give them a run. This is a sit-down pizzeria in the Fuorigrotta neighborhood where the room leans cosmopolitan and the drink list pairs Monkey 47 gin with pizza as if that's a perfectly reasonable idea, which somehow it is. Classic Neapolitan, crispy, stuffed, three temperatures: the menu covers a lot of ground without feeling scattered.

A Neapolitan pizza spot in Jesolo where the dining room is wrapped in plants and flowers, giving the whole thing an unexpectedly garden-party feel. The kitchen works with long leavening doughs and leans into both classic Neapolitan and stuffed varieties, with ingredient pairings that seem to have been thought about rather than inherited. Families, couples, and tables of friends all seem equally at home here, which takes some doing.

A pizzeria tucked into the center of Vinovo, small enough that the summer terrace feels like a revelation. The doughs ferment long and run high in hydration, with local wholemeal flours giving the crust something to say. The menu splits its loyalty between Piedmont and the south of Italy, and whatever "Piedmontese sushi" means here, it appears on the menu with a straight face and reportedly works.

A pocket of Naples transplanted into a Parma piazza, with plastic chairs outside and Neapolitan spirit inside. This pizzeria turns out classic and contemporary pies in the Neapolitan style, with toppings that follow the season and a finishing drizzle of good olive oil on every pizza. The fried snacks are worth ordering alongside. Seasonal ingredients do the heavy lifting here, and the kitchen clearly sweats the small stuff.

A pizzeria where the chef, Walter Rampazzo, turns the dough itself into the menu, offering versions made with seawater, charcoal, or put through a triple-cooking process of steam, fry, and bake. The space has grown over the years into a sprawling multi-room spot with nearly two hundred seats and a garden with a pool. Long-leavened doughs, a solid beer selection, and a wine list round things out.

A small pizzeria near Perugia where the menu splits three ways: round pizza, pan pizza, or focaccia, so arguments at the table are structural rather than personal. The room is compact enough that a reservation is the sensible move, and the fried starters have their own following. Cocktails, wine, and beer all get serious treatment alongside the dough, which puts this a step past the usual slice-and-soda operation.

Vaulted ceilings in an old Siracusa building frame a pizza shop that takes seasonality as seriously as any fine-dining kitchen nearby. The chef is half Alto Adige, half Sicilian, and the menu reads like both halves are arguing productively. Four dough styles on offer, from pan to a paper-thin version that somehow feels lighter the more you eat. Local beers, a lively wine list, and service that actually moves.

A Neapolitan pizza spot a short walk from the Bolzano train station, decorated in blues that have clearly committed to a maritime theme despite being about as far from the sea as Italy allows. The high-crusted pies are made with quality ingredients, and the fried Neapolitan sides have their own following. There's a garden out back for anyone who prefers to eat al fresco, dogs included.

Near the Teatro Municipale, this pizzeria channels southern Italian technique through a northern Italian lens, with a dough the kitchen clearly obsesses over. The menu travels the peninsula for regional combinations that rarely make it outside their home towns, like a Rossini pizza dressed with a custom mayonnaise and caper-dusted eggs. Seasonal toppings, territorial pride, and a tall, pillowy crust that holds up under all of it.

A pizza spot tucked among the old alleys of Vieste, where two young friends run the kitchen with a warmth that carries through to the service. The "a ruota di carro" style, a wide, thin wheel of dough, comes out crispy and well seasoned. The menu is extensive, the outdoor terrace in the historic centro is genuinely lovely, and 50 Top Pizza has listed it among Italy's excellent pizzerias.

A pizzeria in the small town of Volla where the dough is soft, highly hydrated, and handled with obvious care. The menu moves between classic Neapolitan tradition and something more personal, leaning on Vesuvian produce, local cheeses and cold cuts, and single-cultivar oils finished at the table. The fried things come out dry and golden, which is harder than it sounds. A young, easy-moving team runs a modern room that never feels stiff.

A mural greets you at the entrance before the visible oven does, which sets the tone for this cheerful Neapolitan-style pizzeria tucked into one of Salerno's old centro storico lanes. The decor keeps things simple and colorful, the service moves fast, and the dough leans toward the soft, yielding end of the Naples tradition. The margherita, marinara, and diavola each get a quiet twist without making a fuss about it.

A pizza spot on the waterfront promenade in Margherita di Savoia, recently renovated around a large open oven that you can watch from your table. After splitting the family operation into a separate restaurant and pizzeria, the team narrowed their focus here: soft doughs, regional Pugliese flours, buffalo mozzarella from the Gargano. The menu runs from traditional pies to contemporary takes and stuffed focaccias. The family wine shop is a short walk away if you want to keep the evening going.

A Neapolitan pizzeria that leans into the city's classic traditions while nudging them just far enough to feel considered. The room is tidy and intimate, the staff will accommodate a late booking without making you feel like a problem, and the wine list runs deeper than you'd expect. The dough is soft and well-handled, and the fried starters are the airy, greaseless kind worth ordering.

A Neapolitan pizza spot tucked into Casal Velino Marina by a chef who built his name in the States before bringing it home. The dough is contemporary Neapolitan, long-fermented and light, with a proper puffy crust, and you can order the wide "ruota di carro" style if you want the full wheel. Local Cilento ingredients mix with ideas carried back from America. The fried starters hold up, the drinks list is unfussy, and the front of house runs warm without trying too hard.

The traditional oven sits at the center of the room, which tells you something about how this Neapolitan-area pizzeria sees itself. Two spacious, informal rooms mean a full house never feels chaotic, and a separate gluten-free section is handled with the same care as everything else. The dough is light and properly leavened, the fried starters hold their own against the main event, and the desserts are worth leaving room for.

Pizza spot in Rizziconi where the dough is soft and the fried starters, including cacio e pepe supplì and pasta frittata, arrive before you've had time to settle in. The menu leans into Calabrian identity, with a pizza built around struncatura, the region's once-humble pasta, making a quiet case for local ingredients. Service is meticulous and the room is contemporary without trying too hard. Ranked on 50 Top Pizza Italy.

A big bar counter anchors the room at this Rende pizzeria, which locals treat as the reliable option on nights when everything else in the Cosenza area has given up and gone home. The pies lean creative, pairing cooked pears with speck and smoked ricotta or stacking three preparations of zucchini on one pizza. A separate gluten-free oven and around twenty beers on tap round things out.

A pizzeria just outside Atripalda's centro storico, with a wood-fired oven in plain sight and a floor team that somehow keeps pace on packed nights without breaking a sweat. The dough is contemporary Neapolitan, airy and a little blistered at the edges, and the gourmet section leans into Irpinian producers in a way that feels local rather than labored. The fried starters, potatoes especially, are worth slowing down for before the pizza arrives.

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.

A neighborhood pizzeria in Salerno where the Neapolitan playbook, thin base and a lightly crispy crust, has stayed the same even as the room grew and a second oven arrived. The menu splits neatly between the classics and seasonal specials that follow the chef's own curiosity. The atmosphere is spartan in the way that suggests the money went into the dough, and the place moves fast, which the regulars seem to count on.

A pizzeria in the small piazza of Sicignano degli Alburni that has quietly become the go-to spot for the province of Salerno. The dough is soft and well-leavened, and the menu runs from pizza by the slice to fried homemade dishes. Local crusco peppers show up on the house pizza, which is a good reason to skip the deliberating and just order it. Young staff, decent wine and beer, no fuss.

Fried pizzas share the menu with the classics here, and the prices stay low enough that nobody's doing the math before ordering. This is a neighborhood pizzeria on Piazza Mercato doing old-school Neapolitan without the tourist markup, the stark room packed with families and regulars who clearly didn't come for the decor. Simple, fast, and rooted in the daily rhythm of the square around it.

A pizza spot in Priverno where the toppings read like a love letter to the Monti Lepini hills, broccoli cream and Marzolina fondue doing more interesting things on a pie than most kitchens manage with a full menu. The room runs to warm light and natural materials, the kind of place that actually absorbs sound instead of amplifying it. Ranked on 50 Top Pizza Italy, which the locals probably already knew.

A recently renovated pizzeria off a main road in the Benevento countryside, with an open oven visible from the dining room and a bright, cheerful interior that signals someone put thought into the space. The dough is soft and contemporary, and the toppings lean on local Sannio producers. The frittata is worth ordering alongside, and the margherita gets a quiet nod from regulars who know to ask for it.

A wood-fired oven built by Neapolitan artisans anchors the room at this Verona pizzeria, surrounded by hand-painted Vietri ceramics and the low hum of regulars who clearly never left. The dough ferments for 72 hours, which gives the crust that particular lightness that makes you eat more than you planned. Seasonal specials sit alongside the classics, and the desserts, including a millefoglie from celebrated local chef Giancarlo Perbellini, are not an afterthought.

Tucked into the alleyways of central Levanto, this pizzeria builds its reputation on a thin, crispy crust kept deliberately light, so the toppings have somewhere to land without turning everything soggy. The menu leans into local ingredients and the craft beer and wine list is chosen to match rather than compete. Staff move quickly and the room stays convivial, which in a Ligurian beach town is saying something.

A pizzeria on the outskirts of Verona where the dough alone involves up to eight different flours and fermentations long enough to make you feel guilty for eating the result so fast. The menu runs classic rounds, pizza by the slice, focaccia, farinata, and Detroit-style by reservation only, the last one paired with gin and tonics because why not. The gluten-free operation is run by the chef's son, a vice world champion in that category.

A Neapolitan pizza joint that transplanted itself, fully formed, to the center of a small Irpinian town. The dough is the classic southern style: bold, direct, with a restrained crust that stays out of its own way. Campanian ingredients run throughout, with a few Slow Food presidium products in the mix. The room is warm and unpretentious, with bits of Naples on the walls for anyone who needs the reminder of where the allegiances lie.

A Neapolitan pizza spot just outside Novara's center, where the dough is the whole conversation: high-hydration, high-quality flours, with ancient grains and kamut available, and specialty options like charcoal or multigrain for a small upcharge. The crust runs generous and the toppings don't hold back. The room mixes retro and post-industrial in a way that somehow works. A solid list of natural wines rounds things out, and the desserts are taken more seriously than you'd expect.

An old-school Neapolitan pizzeria that has been a Vomero institution forever, Gorizia runs on classic pies, arched brick walls, marble, and mirrors that have survived every renovation intact. The menu moves from margherita to pizza lasagna without apology, and the side dishes, mozzarella in carrozza, braised peppers, stuffed artichokes, have a way of quietly becoming the whole meal. The wine list is serious enough to include a dedicated Krug Room, which is either very Naples or very not Naples, depending on your mood.

A pizza shop in Quartu Sant'Elena, just outside Cagliari, that has planted a flag around a simple idea: Sardinian ingredients, full stop. The dough runs slightly crunchy and holds up under generous toppings without going soggy or stiff. Local cheeses, island sausage, and territorial produce do the heavy lifting on every pie. Prices are low enough that ordering a second pizza to compare becomes a reasonable decision rather than an act of defiance.

A wood-fired pizzeria that doubles as the kind of neighborhood anchor where arrosticini are as expected as the dough. The menu stays rooted in Abruzzese tradition, with toppings that name-check local landmarks, and the beer and wine list leans toward two nearby producers. Nothing here is trying to impress anyone, which is probably why the service feels so easy and the room fills with regulars.

The dough gets the obsessive treatment here: long-leavened, soft through the middle, and just crispy enough at the edge. This is a contemporary pizzeria in Altamura where the menu runs across red, white, yellow, and green pies, plus slices of what the team calls Contemporary 3.0 pizza. The beer list leans artisanal, the room is modern without feeling cold, and the service keeps up without hovering. A spot that takes the craft seriously without making you feel like you're attending a lecture.

A pizzeria near the center of Caserta where the dough does the talking, built in the local style with a tall, airy crust that stays light and chewy all the way to the last bite. The menu runs wide, with different flour blends and alternative cooking methods, including a "Pa-Regina" that riffs on the classic Neapolitan roast. The fried starters are the dry, greaseless kind worth ordering without hesitation. Staff know the menu and seem to enjoy explaining it.

A 48-hour leavening process and a strict no-modifications policy set the tone at this contemporary pizzeria in Pontinia. The chef treats the pizza as a platform for serious ingredient work, with a light, airy dough and a well-defined crust carrying toppings assembled with the same care as a tasting menu. The fried starters are worth ordering, golden and greaseless. The wine list runs deep, and the staff knows it.

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.

A Neapolitan pizza spot that's been around forever, and looks it in the best possible, unfussy sense: tiled rooms, traditional chairs, tablecloths and branded napkins that signal a family taking their name seriously. The dough runs notably light, the fried starters, mozzarella in carrozza, montanara, croquettes, arrive at the right temperature, which matters more than it sounds. A section of the menu is devoted to artists who've passed through over the decades.

A pizzeria in a small Salentine town where the kitchen turns out both Neapolitan and Pugliese-style pies, and takes both seriously enough to run a separate production lab for pan pizzas and gluten-free options. The appetizers, frittatas and croquettes among them, are worth the table wait. In summer, tables spill into the square. The wine list is well chosen, the beer selection broader than you'd expect this far south.

Outdoor tables face a lively summer square in Brianza, which tells you something about how seriously this pizzeria takes the whole experience. The menu leans into the region, with PDO products and small-producer ingredients, and the kitchen is transparent about what's cooked versus finished raw. Beyond the pizzas, there are focaccias, snacks, and a wine and beer list that fits the room without showing off.