The Best Pizza in the United States

The sourdough starter has a name, Curtis, and the chef tends to it daily with the seriousness most people reserve for houseplants they actually like. Lucky Dough is an outdoor sourdough pizza spot in downtown Pensacola with a menu so tight it reads like a manifesto: two apps, a salad, ten pizzas. The raw-passed tomato sauce tastes less cooked than conjured. Ranked on 50 Top Pizza USA, and the setting still feels like someone's very well-curated backyard.

New York-style slices in New Orleans, served at a counter in a room of concrete floors and no-frills tables, with a shaded outdoor bench area that feels like someone's backyard party got very serious about pizza. The crust holds up, the sauce has some tang to it, and whole pies outperform the slices even if most people never find that out. Ranked in the 50 Top Pizza USA, which for a Bywater slice shop is not nothing.

Counter-order pizza in a small, tidy room in East Aurora, about a half-hour outside Buffalo. The menu is deliberately short: a handful of red and white pies, small plates, beer, wine, and a few cocktails. The dough runs soft and cheese-dusted at the crust with a crisp underside, and the kitchen leans seasonal, which is why regulars show up chasing whatever's fleeting. It ranked 40th on 50 Top Pizza USA.

The wood-fired oven sits in plain sight from every table, which is either a promise or a dare depending on how the pizza turns out. This Neapolitan pizza spot in Assembly Row keeps things bright and airy, with big windows and a long bar stocked for cocktails alongside the pies. The team has been sourcing Italian flour, dairy, and tomatoes for years, and the crust shows it: soft, properly blistered, with a little lift to the cornicione.

Neapolitan-inspired pizza shares the menu with pastas and grilled dishes at this North End Italian restaurant, where the neighborhood's old-school density of red sauce joints makes landing here feel like a small victory. The dough holds up under generous toppings, the crust comes out blistered and colorful, and the wine list is worth a look. It landed on 50 Top Pizza USA, which the regulars probably already knew.

You order at the door, grab a table, and the pizza shows up without ceremony, which is exactly the point at this Greenpoint slice shop. The dough is soft and light in the way Neapolitan purists get worked up about, and the toppings stay out of each other's way. The bruschetta with honey and ricotta is a small, sweet detour worth taking. Ranked 32nd on 50 Top Pizza USA, Salsa keeps things casual enough that nobody feels underdressed.

Wooster Street is New Haven apizza territory, so opening a Neapolitan pizzeria here takes a certain nerve. The family behind Zeneli trained in Naples and planted that tradition right in the middle of the local institution's turf. Wood-fired, soft-crusted pies with San Marzano tomatoes and proper mozzarella sit alongside classic Italian dishes in a room that feels genuinely like someone's people are running it.

The pasta is made in-house every morning, which sets the tone for the rest of the menu. Locale is a meat-forward Italian American restaurant where red sauce is taken seriously and the charcuterie board arrives before you've had a chance to look around. Dry-aged steak and bone-in short ribs share space with eggplant Parmigiana, and the kitchen sources from small American farms alongside Italian imports. Out on Blue Diamond, far from the Strip's noise.

A fast-casual slice shop where the menu changes on a whim and a world pizza champion gets to stop being responsible. John Arena, who runs the more traditional Metro Pizza locations around town, opened this spot at the Bend to experiment: Sicilian slices piled with meatballs and ricotta, Grandma-style chicken pesto squares, even a macaroni and cheese slice if you're committed to the bit. Whole pies, calzones, and gelato round things out.

The flower-ringed patio on University Avenue is not accidental: this is Rose Pizzeria, and it commits to the bit. Thin, crispy pies here borrow from every regional tradition and answer to none of them, landing somewhere between Neapolitan char and California confidence. The Caesar with miso and Calabrian chiles is the kind of side dish that makes you forget you ordered pizza. A spot on 50 Top Pizza USA keeps the room lively most nights.

You can't build your own pizza here, and that's the point. The menu lists eighteen pies, each already balanced by a chef who spent years making bread first, and you can feel it in the dough, a long-fermented thing with real acidity and char underneath. Fresh-sliced cheese, no customization, and they sell out, so booking ahead saves heartbreak. A small, no-frills pizza parlor on Hawthorne that tastes entirely like itself.

Neapolitan-style pizza in an Eastside strip that pulls off the modern trattoria mood without the affectation: soft lighting, considered furniture, a patio worth using. The dough gets a long ferment, which shows in the char and the chew, and the toppings lean on classic Italian regional ideas rather than anything trying to surprise you. The wine list is genuinely interesting for a pizza place. It's the kind of room where you linger longer than you planned.

Detroit-style square pan pizza is the whole point here, with a thick, airy crumb, a crispy cheese-lacquered edge, and toppings pushed all the way to the crust. The combinations run bold, burrata next to spicy honey, jalapeño whipped ricotta finding its way onto more than one pie. The room is young and casual, the staff talks about the dough the way other people talk about sports, and 50 Top Pizza has taken notice.

The counter has one view worth having: the ovens, going all day. Scottie's is a New York-style slice shop on SE Division, small enough that one booth and a high table constitute the seating plan, with a couple of benches outside when Portland cooperates. The menu runs classics alongside a vodka slice and a reimagined Hawaiian, with a grandma square that earns its square footage. Counter staff will talk you through it without making it a whole thing.

The dough does double duty here: the same flour-and-water base becomes both pizza and pasta, which is either a philosophy or a very good way to halve your mise en place. This North Beach pizzeria turns out thin-crust pies that lean Italian in spirit but drift Californian in practice, in a wood-warmed room that moves with easy efficiency. Save room for the spoon desserts, which the regulars treat as non-negotiable.

A whole-pie-only pizza shop in Little Italy where forty-minute waits after ordering are a known feature, not a glitch. The room is dark wood and minimal, with long counter seating facing the oven, and it moves with the focused calm of a place that has decided exactly what it is. Thin, crispy NY-style pies, no topping customization, no half-measures. The New York Times named it among the city's best pizza right now.

The move here is the caramelized crust, where cheese climbs the edge of the pan and turns amber in the oven, somewhere between crispy and deeply fragrant. Pequod's has been doing deep-dish this way since the 1970s, and the result is a pizza that's almost architectural: soft dough, abundant fillings, a bold, substantial bite. It's a no-frills Chicago pizzeria where getting a table takes patience and the slices arrive hot enough to require some too.

The owner's pun says it all: Laredough, because the dough is the whole point. This Laredo pizzeria turns out thin, airy pies sized to your appetite, with toppings scaled up or down however you like. Pepperoni is the clear crowd favorite and comes in several versions. Calzones, salads, and pasta round out the menu for the table that can never agree. The chef also uses the platform for social causes, which at least gives the pizza some moral fiber alongside the cauliflower.

A pizzeria in Thiene that builds its menu around five distinct dough philosophies, from classic sourdough with local Vicentino wheat to a rice-flour base made for heavier toppings. The range runs from straightforward to quietly ambitious, with spelt, kamut, and soy options sitting alongside vegan variations and salads served on bread disks. Craft beers, local and imported, fill the drinks list. The kind of place that takes the dough more seriously than the decor.

The dough at this contemporary Messina pizzeria goes through a long fermentation that gives each base a noticeably different aroma from the standard Neapolitan crowd. The "Specials" menu is where the kitchen makes its argument, and the fried appetizers lean artisanal rather than afterthought. The wine list tilts local. Three r's in the name, which either signals confidence or a typo that stuck, and the room seems to lean toward the former.

The wood-fired oven is the centerpiece here, visible and working hard, the kind that gives a Neapolitan pizzeria its whole reason for existing. The dough is slow-leavened and properly soft, and the menu runs from certified traditional pies to more creative builds you put together yourself. Craft beers and Italian wines round things out, and the staff actually knows the menu. Roomy enough for families, quiet enough for a date night.

The wood-fired oven is the whole point here, turning out Neapolitan-leaning pies with a light, fragrant crust that somehow holds its own under toppings that range from a straight Margherita to bacon-and-shrimp combinations that nobody in Naples signed off on. It's a neighborhood pizzeria on West Alabama, cozy enough that regulars fill the room fast on weeknights. Salads, pasta, and desserts round things out. It's on the 50 Top Pizza USA list of Excellent Pizzerias.

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

Detroit-style pizza in Napa Valley is a mild act of defiance, and Croccante leans into it. The thick, airy dough goes soft in the middle and properly crunchy at the caramelized edges, with toppings piled on hot and generous. The menu rounds out with sandwiches, meat dishes, and salads, and weekends bring brunch. The bar corner is well stocked with wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options, which fits the neighborhood. Named among 50 Top Pizza USA's Excellent Pizzerias.

The wood-fired brick oven is the whole point, and the name does not let you forget it. This is a Neapolitan pizza spot in Palm Coast carrying AVPN certification, which means the dough, the technique, and the imported ingredients answer to Naples, not to local convention. The room is casual and cozy, the kind of place that pulls you in even if you only meant to stop for a slice. Red and white pies, no pretension, and an aroma that does most of the selling.

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

The wood-fired oven here was built by the founder himself, which tells you something about the level of commitment before you've even ordered. This Los Alamos flatbread spot runs on organic flour, slow fermentation, and ingredients pulled from nearby farms and ranches, all landing as thin, crispy, characterful pies. The contemporary farmhouse room is family-friendly and unhurried, and the wine list leans hard into small Central Coast producers.

A pizza spot in two stacks: a casual counter downstairs and an adults-only dining room up top, both turning out wildly creative pies built on heirloom Red Russian wheat milled by nearby sixth-generation farmers. The meat pizza somehow reads as a vegetable dish, with kale, squash, and Moroccan-spiced toum doing the heavy lifting and bacon playing backup. Upstairs pastas are quietly serious. The soundtrack on any given night might go from '90s hip-hop to something resembling the Inspector Gadget theme.

Detroit-style pizza done with a designer's eye: the room was put together by serious industry names, and the color palette announces that before you've ordered. This is a pizza shop with round pies, pan pies, and slices piled high with the kind of stretchy, abundant cheese that makes a mess of your shirt. The menu runs to salads and cocktails and ice cream too, and the whole mood lands somewhere between a proper night out and a very good Tuesday.

A Neapolitan-style pizza spot on Pacific Coast Highway where the door is literally open to the ocean breeze and the dough ferments long enough to earn it. The crust comes out thin and charred in the right spots, topped with classics or more creative combinations, and the Italian-flour base sits light enough that you won't regret the second slice. Italian wines and local craft beers round things out. Very Laguna Beach: chic but sandy.

The ceramic-topped tables inside this South Beach pizzeria signal that someone cares about the small touches. The Neapolitan pies come out with a high, airy crust built on a long-fermented dough, and the San Marzano tomatoes and fiordilatte are the real kind. Fresh pasta and homemade desserts round out the menu, and the Italian wine list does solid work during happy hour. A pleasant outdoor terrace handles the warm nights.

A New York-style slice shop in Metairie where the crust comes out thin and crackling the way it's supposed to. The room is small and colorful, more take-out counter than sit-down spot, and the vibe is easygoing and no-fuss. Fresh pasta shows up alongside the pizza, which keeps things interesting. If you're planning ahead, call a day in advance or you'll be waiting, and the waiting is not the fun part.

A Neapolitan pizza spot on the edge of Trento, accessible by bus and with actual parking, which already puts it ahead of most. Korallo runs two dough options, a classic and a semi-wholemeal, and the menu stretches from straightforward traditional pies to more inventive stuffed versions, all leaning on local and DOP ingredients. The staff are the kind who actually help you decide. Casual, unpretentious, and listed among 50 Top Pizza Italy's Excellent Pizzerias.

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

A pizzeria in a small town outside Modena where the menu lists four distinct doughs, crispy, high-hydration, fried, and pan, and the staff politely declines modifications on certain pies to protect the tradition behind them. A tasting menu called "Leavened and Doughs" runs six courses for anyone who wants to commit fully. The wine, beer, and spirits list runs deep. Named among Italy's excellent pizzerias by 50 Top Pizza.

Cash only, no reservations, and a line down Henry Street most nights: Lucali has been a Carroll Gardens institution long enough that the wait has become part of the lore. It's a small, candle-lit pizza shop serving large pies and calzones, nothing more. The dough is soft and thin in the New York tradition, and the room is the kind of quietly charming that makes two hours feel reasonable.

The gelato case near the door makes the priorities clear before you've even found a table. Mercurio's is a Neapolitan-style pizza and gelato spot in Shadyside, where long-fermented dough gets a soft, blistered crust and the toppings run from a straightforward Margherita to speck with gorgonzola. The room is casual and easy, the kind of place that fills up with neighbors who aren't trying to make an occasion of it.

The wood-fired oven is the first thing you see when you walk into this Astoria pizzeria, and the pies that come out of it lean modern and loose rather than strictly Neapolitan. The dough is light, the toppings are chosen with care, and the beer list keeps pace with the casual, come-as-you-are room. Milkflower has its own creative logic and doesn't apologize for it, which is half the reason the neighborhood keeps showing up.

New Haven-style pizza has its own rules: thin, coal-fired, slightly charred, and not quite like anything you'd get elsewhere. Modern Apizza has been holding down State Street forever, turning out red and white pies with a crust that blisters and snaps. The Italian Bomb, loaded with cold cuts and vegetables, is the order regulars argue about. A casual, loud, no-fuss pizzeria where the line out front is a feature, not a bug.

The name nods to mother yeast, which tells you where the priorities lie. This Newport pizzeria runs two tracks: sit-down Neapolitan rounds with a proper table and a drink, or Roman-style slices by the slice for a quick waterfront lunch. The dough gets a long ferment either way, and the toppings lean classic Italian, cold cuts and cheese mostly, with occasional Mediterranean detours. Appetizers, salads, and cooked dishes round out the room-service side.

A cocktail bar beside the oven is the first signal that PizzBurgh is doing something a bit different. This Messina pizzeria runs through the full format card, red, white, fried, pala, padellino, and the big wheel-shaped ruota di carro, all built on high-hydration doughs with long fermentation times that keep things soft without going slack. The outdoor terrace fills up quickly, and 50 Top Pizza lists it among Italy's excellent pizzerias.

A family-run pizzeria in the Veneto with a tight menu of around twenty pies, which is a deliberate choice: the Cuomos clearly decided that a shorter list and better dough beats exhausting everyone with options. You can go classic Neapolitan with a thick, pillowy crust or lean into a crisper thin version, and the toppings balance tradition with a few seasonal surprises. The fried starters are worth ordering while you wait.

Pan pizza is the move at this Berkeley slice shop, where the chef cycles through New York, Sicilian, Detroit, and Grandma styles depending on what she's feeling. The dough is the point, soft with a good crisp edge, and the toppings stay fresh and unfussy enough not to compete with it. The blue-painted room is cozy without trying too hard. Save room for the Sicilian cannoli.

Wood-fired pizza in a lively Durham spot where the crust stays light and the toppings lean seasonal and a little unexpected. The open kitchen anchors the room, and the bar keeps things social. Yukon Gold potatoes with bagna cauda on a pizza sounds like a dare, but the kitchen commits. A solid gluten-free option exists for those who usually have to make peace with sad alternatives. Named among 50 Top Pizza USA's Excellent Pizzerias.

Marc Vetri is a name Philadelphians say with some reverence, and this casual pizza spot carries the family flag across a few Pennsylvania locations. The wood-fired pies come round or by the meter, with a dough that stays light without making a fuss about it. The menu runs from straight Italian classics toward a few fusion detours, and the salads are more interesting than they have any obligation to be. A pizza kit to take home rounds things out nicely.

A wood-fired oven anchors this craft brewery and Italian-American pizzeria tucked along Route 611 in the Pocono Mountains, where the logic is simple: hand-stretched pizza and house-brewed beer belong together. The room runs to natural wood and a relaxed, rustic vibe, and the menu leans into it with topped-up pies like the Molta Carne alongside gooey white options. Named among 50 Top Pizza USA's Excellent Pizzerias, so the oven is pulling its weight.

A wood-fired oven big enough to anchor the room sets the tone at this Neapolitan pizza restaurant in Scottsdale, where the dough is certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, which is Naples's way of saying they're watching. The menu fans out across Italian regional cooking, with a lean toward pasta, but the Margherita is the honest measure of the place. Outdoor spaces and a lively room mean the noise level is part of the deal.

The bar room here was once a pharmacy, and the old apothecary shelves now hold bottles of wine and spirits where the remedies used to be. It's a multi-floor pizza and pasta spot in Jersey City with a rooftop that looks back at the New York skyline you just escaped. The pizzas follow Italian tradition, the spaghetti has its fans, and the music keeps the whole thing moving at a pace that feels deliberately un-Manhattan.

Wood-fired pizza in Key West, where the oven does the explaining: the crust comes out with that particular chew and char that only live fire produces. Roostica is a casual pizza spot running a full menu of red and white pies alongside antipasti, salads, and sandwiches, with Sicilian cannoli for anyone with room and Italian wines for everyone else. The 50 Top Pizza guide lists it among its USA Excellent Pizzerias.

A Neapolitan pizza and cucina spot on the Upper East Side with large windows that swing open in warm weather, a wine cellar visible from the dining room, and enough space between tables that a conversation stays your own. The crust runs thin and light, the kind that doesn't need a verdict. Croquettes, pasta, and calzones round out the menu, and the staff manages attentive without hovering, which in New York is its own achievement.

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

Slightly oval pies, sliced into four and built on a crispy, well-balanced crust, are the whole philosophy here. Serious Pie is a wood-warmed pizza restaurant in Seattle's financial district, comfortable enough for a working lunch and relaxed enough for an evening with friends. Private rooms handle the business-event crowd without making the main room feel corporate. The wine list pulls its weight.

The open kitchen anchors the room at this Astoria Italian pizzeria and restaurant, where the vibe sits somewhere between a boisterous family dinner and a proper night out. The menu runs pizzas, pasta, and daily specials alongside a solid wine list, and the kitchen handles all of it without fuss. Dough that holds up under generous toppings, attentive service even when every table is full by six, and a crowd that comes back regularly.

A Redmond pizza shop doing something genuinely tricky: making a Neapolitan-leaning crust that doesn't alienate the kid who just wants pepperoni. The dough is airy and light, and the menu ranges from classics to specials to a Sunday-only New York style, a range designed so that nobody at the table has to negotiate. Named among 50 Top Pizza USA's excellent pizzerias, it draws the kind of crowd where everyone finds something and nobody feels like they compromised.

Long-fermented dough is the whole point at this casual Lincoln Park pizzeria, where the crust is meant to be light enough that a second slice doesn't feel like a moral failing. The round pies lean classic but wander happily, and the all-day format means sandwiches and salads fill out the menu for those not committed to pizza before noon. Relaxed neighborhood room, no dress code implied.

Six days a week it's a neighborhood bakery slinging coffee and doughnuts in South Philly. On Friday nights, The Bakery quietly pivots to "secret dinners," turning out a short, rotating menu of tall, square pizzas on soft, airy dough with a crackery undercarriage. Seats are few, the menu changes, and the whole operation feels more like eating at a friend's place than a restaurant. Arrive early, or just arrive flexible.

A sourdough pizza shop in a coal-mining hamlet so small that downtown is basically a dive bar, a coffee shop, and this place. The chef makes only so much crust each day, so on summer weekends the kitchen sells out within 90 minutes of opening, and the line forms knowing full well it might not matter. A brussels sprouts and bacon pie has been on the menu since day one and shows no signs of leaving.

Terracotta details nod to Naples in an otherwise contemporary dining room, which sets the tone for a Neapolitan-leaning pizza shop that takes its craft seriously without taking itself too seriously. The dough is airy and well-cooked, the toppings paired with real intention, and the fried montanarine are quietly worth the detour on their own. Listed among 50 Top Pizza Italy's Excellent Pizzerias, this is Carpi's most convincing argument for staying local.

A worker-owned collective in the Gourmet Ghetto, Cheese Board bakes one vegetarian sourdough pizza per day, rotating with the seasons, and you either want it or you don't. You probably want it. The line wraps around the block most days, but it moves fast, and the green sauce, herby and quietly ferocious, is non-negotiable. Grab a slice, claim a parklet table, and settle into the reliably frenetic sidewalk energy Berkeley does so well.

Dimmi Dimmi is a corner Italian spot in Lincoln Park that took over a three-decade neighborhood fixture and somehow kept the regulars from rioting. The tavern-style pizzas have crackly edges and come cut in squares, and the handmade pastas hold their own beside them. It's a sit-down dinner, so book ahead, or try your luck at a weekday lunch, which is when the people who know things tend to walk in.

Eyal Shani's quick-service pita shop inside the Venetian prints its menu entirely in Comic Sans, which tells you most of what you need to know about the mood. Stuffed pitas run from wild mushroom to rib-eye minute steak, and the vegetables get treated with a near-religious seriousness that makes a cold bag of green beans feel like an event. High-top seating, fast counter service, and prices that won't require a second mortgage on the Strip.

This is a Hillcrest slice shop where the walls are covered in vintage New York memorabilia, in case the folded slices left any doubt about where its loyalties lie. The pies are classic New York style, with a build-your-own list that runs from broccoli to ricotta to eggplant. A slice, salad, and drink combo costs about nine bucks, and the room is roomy enough that nobody eats standing up. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Corsa is the upscale Italian restaurant inside the Caldera House hotel in Teton Village, steps from the ski slopes. The dining room is a modern take on a ski chalet, with a fireplace, delicate glassware, and booths along the back wall. Margherita pizzas get passed around as appetizers before the entrees arrive, which is a good way to keep a table of visiting relatives quiet. The Infatuation put it on its list of Jackson Hole's best restaurants.

An old-school Italian cafe in a building that's been around forever, DePalma's runs a long menu of pasta, pizza, calzones, and antipasti in a downtown room that stays reliably hectic on game weekends and most other nights. The hand-tossed New York-style pies move fast, and the shell pasta stuffed with ricotta and spinach has its own loyal following. Save room: the tiramisu and white chocolate bread pudding are not decorative.

Dornans is a counter-service pizza spot a five-minute drive from the Moose park gates, which makes it the natural landing spot for anyone who just hiked somewhere and wants to feel good about it. You order at the register, then pick a deck: the lower one for families, the rooftop for the 21+ crowd, with the Tetons doing their thing behind your slice. The pizzas come heavily loaded, and the garlic bread uses the same pillowy dough. Seasonal, so check before you go.

This pizzeria occupies an old movie theater in downtown Jackson, with the marquee and ticket booth still out front. The film is now the pizza makers feeding wood-fired ovens, which is better lit than most blockbusters. The menu runs to Star Wars puns and a thin-crusted margherita, and the two floors leave room for big family tables where kids get dough to play with. The Infatuation counts it among Jackson Hole's best.

A beer hall in East Liberty built around 14-inch, wood-fired Neapolitan pies that were designed to be passed around a long communal table. The cacio e pepe pizza and the spicy pepperoni with house hot honey are regulars on the menu; weekly specials rotate through whatever's local and seasonal. Kölsch, Italian pilsners, and a Franconian pale smoke lager share the drinks list with wine and amaro flights, which should tell you something about the crowd's ambitions.

A square pizza shop in a far-west Miami strip where the pies split the difference between Detroit, Sicilian, and grandma-style. The chef came up in fine dining before the pandemic sent him home, and Miami flavors crept into the toppings: Cuban mojo pork, Colombian hot dog vibes, summer peaches. The New York Times put it on their short list of Miami restaurants right now, which, for a slice shop this far from South Beach, is the kind of attention that fills a parking lot.

A wood-fired pizza spot set inside an actual house, backyard patio and all, in a neighborhood that otherwise runs on bottle service and valet queues. Chef Gio Osso, known for finer dining elsewhere in the Valley, keeps things loose here: simple salads, pies with charred, bubbled crusts, and toppings that lean toward chestnut honey and rapini pesto rather than the standard playbook. Bring a bottle and a friend who won't mind lingering.

Delancey is a wood-fired pizzeria in Ballard where the pies come out charred and the room runs on tea candles and the smell of the oven. You can sit down for natural Austrian bubbles and a mountain of romaine salad and call it dinner, though ordering a pizza seems to be the point. It works for a date or a family table, and the chef was a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific.

Noto is a Neapolitan pizzeria built around a glowing white oven parked dead center in the dining room, which everyone treats with the reverence usually reserved for a small chapel. It started as a food truck and grew into a certified restaurant in St. Peters, where the crust comes out leopard-spotted and the pasta list gets a fair hearing. Families and pizza devotees share the room, and the burrata upgrade tends to go unquestioned.

Rectangular pizzas sold by the meal-size slice anchor the menu at this busy Cal-Italian bakery and kitchen on Highway One in Tomales, a natural pit stop for anyone driving or cycling the coast. The menu is tight, meatballs and salads alongside the pizza, but the bread is its own reason to pull over. The olive loaf, dense with Kalamata and green olives, travels well. The San Francisco Chronicle named it one of the Bay Area's best sandwich spots.

This is a Detroit-style pizza counter tucked into an old mill building, a fine place to learn that Rhode Island can do Motor City when it feels like it. The slices are thick and bouncy, with an inch of crisp, caramelized cheese running the edges. Order the pepperoni, or the Supreme, which tastes like the frozen one from childhood after it got a job and started eating vegetables. It's casual, cheap, and best eaten standing nearby.