Our Final Pizza Ranking

I think the question that we get asked most when we tell people about this year’s travels is “What is your favorite pizza place?”. This is a great question, particularly because we have a lot of favorites. We have a favorite deep dish, a favorite NY style, and a favorite thin crust. We have our favorite unusual topping combination and our favorite Neapolitan traditional Margherita pie.

Now that we have been to all 101 pizzas on the list from the Daily Meal, we have attempted to rank them from #1 to #101 ourselves. You will notice that our ranking differs substantially from the Daily Meal’s ranking, and I should say that this obviously reflects our personal pizza tastes and opinions and (almost) all of the pizzas on the list deserved to be there. We also each made our own ranking so we weren’t influenced by each other’s choices, and there are definitely some that we disagreed on.

(If you aren’t interested in our whole ranking, feel free to skip down to the bottom of the list, where we discuss the highlights and summarize.)

DAILY MEAL                                     

  1. Pepe’s Pizza, New Haven                   
  2. Di Fara, Brooklyn                            
  3. Roberta’s, Brooklyn                           
  4. Mozza, Los Angeles                          
  5. Sally’s Apizza, New Haven             
  6. Flour+Water, San Francisco     
  7. Louie and Ernie’s, Bronx      
  8. Buddy’s Pizza, Detroit  
  9. Coalfire Pizza, Chicago    
  10. Joe’s, NYC     
  11. Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix          
  12. Papa’s Tomato Pies, NJ  
  13. Modern Apizza, New Haven   
  14. Totonno’s, Brooklyn        
  15. Pequod’s, Chicago 
  16. Patsy’s, NYC   
  17. Gino’s East, Chicago        
  18. Co., NYC   
  19. Motorino, NYC        
  20. Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, SF      
  21. Paulie Gee’s, Brooklyn 
  22. Johns of Bleecker, NYC
  23. Grimaldi’s, Brooklyn 
  24. Kesté, NYC      
  25. Lou Malnati’s, Chicago  
  26. Antico Pizza, Atlanta   
  27. Apizza Scholls, Portland 
  28. Lucali, Brooklyn    
  29. Una Pizza Napoletana, SF   
  30. Lombardi’s, NYC    
  31. Lorenzo and Sons, Philadelphia  
  32. Al Forno, Providence   
  33. 2Amys, Washington DC 
  34. Pizzeria Delfina, SF        
  35. Denino’s, Staten Island         
  36. Santarpio’s, Boston 
  37. Umberto’s, New Hyde Park, NY  
  38. Pete’s New Haven, Wash. DC    
  39. Delorenzo’s, NJ        
  40. Gjelina, Los Angeles                   
  41. Rubirosa, NYC    
  42. Emily, Brooklyn 
  43. Sotto, Los Angeles     
  44. Pizza Domenica, New Orleans   
  45. Varasano’s, Atlanta      
  46. Serious Pie, Seattle  
  47. Providence Coal Fired, Providence
  48. Galleria Umberto, Boston   
  49. Harry’s Pizzeria, Miami         
  50. Pizzeria Paradiso, Wash. DC   
  51. Colony Grill, Stamford, CT  
  52. Pizzeria Regina, Boston  
  53. Gino’s of Long Beach, NY   
  54. Cheeseboard, Berkeley, CA 
  55. Coppa, Boston       
  56. Lee’s Tavern, Staten Island    
  57. Zuppardi’s, West Haven, CT        
  58. Matchbox, Washington DC 
  59. Hog & Hominy, Memphis        
  60. Pizzeria Lola, Minneapolis  
  61. BAR, New Haven 
  62. Pizzaiolo, Oakland, CA   
  63. Tacconelli’s, Philadelphia         
  64. Ken’s Artisan Pizza, Portland, OR 
  65. Home Slice Pizza, Austin, TX  
  66. Osteria, Philadelphia  
  67. Domenick & Pias, Waterbury, CT   
  68. Pizzeria Uno, Chicago  
  69. Double Mountain Brewery, OR     
  70. Barone’s, Los Angeles    
  71. Metro Pizza, Las Vegas    
  72. Brooklyn’s Pizza, Hackensack, NJ  
  73. Pizza Rock, Las Vegas     
  74. Ernesto’s, Boston    
  75. Ernie’s Pizzeria, New Haven       
  76. Area 4, Cambridge, MA  
  77. Pizza Moto, Brooklyn 
  78. Amore Pizza, Queens        
  79. Punch Neapolitan, St. Paul, MN
  80. Otto Pizza, Portland, ME      
  81. Pi Pizzeria, St. Louis        
  82. Star Tavern, Orange, NJ    
  83. Pizzeria Beddia, Philadelphia
  84. Roseland Apizza,  Derby, CT  
  85. Sal’s Pizza, Mamaroneck, NY    
  86. Margot’s Pizza, Brooklyn   
  87. New Park Pizza, Queens 
  88. Pizzeria Vetri, Philadelphia    
  89. Tarry Lodge, Port Chester, NY     
  90. Pizza Man, Milwaukee     
  91. Zaffiro’s, Milwaukee    
  92. Cane Rosso, Dallas, TX        
  93. The Backspace, Austin, TX       
  94. Pizza Delicious, New Orleans  
  95. Pizzeria Locale, Denver    
  96. Micucci’s Grocery, Portland, ME     
  97. Tony’s Place, Philadelphia       
  98. Artichoke Basille, NYC    
  99. Piece, Chicago    
  100. 800 Degrees, Los Angeles    
  101. Ghigiarelli’s, Old Forge, PA 

BARBARA’S LIST

  1. Pepe’s Pizza
  2. Pizzeria Beddia
  3. Di Fara
  4. BAR
  5. Lucali
  6. Emily
  7. John’s of Bleecker
  8. Totonno’s
  9. Grimaldi’s
  10. Coalfire Pizza
  11. Roberta’s 
  12. Sally’s
  13. Apizza Scholl’s
  14. Mozza
  15. Pizza Moto
  16. Co.
  17. Gjelina
  18. Sotto
  19. Pizzeria Regina
  20. Pequod’s
  21. Patsy’s
  22. Antico
  23. Ernie’s Pizzeria
  24. Pizzeria Bianco
  25. Cheeseboard
  26. Lorenzo & Son’s
  27. Kesté 
  28. Roseland Apizza
  29. Tacconelli’s
  30. Una Pizza Napoletana
  31. Flour + Water
  32. Double Mountain Brewery
  33. Osteria
  34. Umberto’s
  35. Paulie Gee’s
  36. Hog & Hominy
  37. Motorino
  38. Otto
  39. Ernesto’s 
  40. Louie & Ernie’s
  41. Buddy’s Pizza
  42. Micucci’s Grocery
  43. 2Amys
  44. Home Slice Pizza
  45. Modern Apizza
  46. Pete’s New Haven Apizza
  47. Tony’s Pizza Napoletana
  48. Harry’s
  49. Pizzeria Lola
  50. Area 4
  51. Tony’s Place
  52. Santarpio’s
  53. Pizzeria Delfina
  54. Pizza Rock
  55. Serious Pie
  56. Joe’s 
  57. Star Taven
  58. Lou Malnati’s
  59. Lombardi’s 
  60. Pizzeria Vetri
  61. Varasano’s
  62. New Park Pizza
  63. Galleria Umberto
  64. Pizza Man
  65. Pi Pizzeria
  66. Providence Coal Fired
  67. Pizzeria Paradiso
  68. Piece
  69. Amore Pizzeria
  70. The Backspace
  71. Zuppardi’s
  72. Rubirosa
  73. Delorenzo’s Tomato Pies
  74. Brooklyn’s Pizza
  75. Cane Rosso
  76. Matchbox
  77. Pizzeria Uno
  78. Ken’s Artisan
  79. Artichoke Basille
  80. Pizza Delicious
  81. Al Forno
  82. Pizzeria Domencia
  83. Gino’s of Long Beach
  84. Denino’s
  85. Margot’s Pizza
  86. Colony Grill
  87. Tarry Lodge
  88. Pizzaiolo
  89. Coppa
  90. Punch Neapolitan Pizza
  91. Zaffiro’s
  92. Gino’s East
  93. Pizzeria Locale
  94. Metro Pizza
  95. Sal’s Pizza
  96. Ghigiarelli’s 
  97. Domenick & Pia’s  
  98. Lee’s Tavern
  99. 800 Degrees
  100. Papa’s Tomato Pies
  101. Barone’s Famous Italian

ERIC’s LIST

  1. Pepe’s Pizza
  2. Pizzeria Beddia
  3. BAR
  4. Emily
  5. Mozza
  6. Di Fara
  7. Sally’s
  8. Grimaldi’s
  9. Apizza Scholl’s
  10. Pizza Moto
  11. Roberta’s
  12. Ernesto’s
  13. Lucali
  14. Hog & Hominy
  15. Una Pizza Napoletana
  16. Coalfire Pizza
  17. Osteria
  18. Totonno’s
  19. Kesté
  20. Pete’s New Haven Apizza
  21. Sotto
  22. Pequod’s
  23. Margot’s Pizza
  24. Tacconelli’s Original Pizza
  25. Pizzeria Vetri
  26. Johns of Bleecker
  27. Cheeseboard
  28. Pizza Rock
  29. Umberto’s
  30. Galleria Umberto
  31. Buddy’s Pizza
  32. Micucci’s Grocery
  33. Ernie’s Pizza
  34. Star Tavern
  35. Co.
  36. Tony’s Place
  37. Ghigiarelli’s
  38. Joe’s
  39. Antico
  40. Modern Apizza
  41. Tony’s Pizza Napoletana
  42. Pizzaiolo
  43. Gjelina
  44. Pizza Domenica
  45. Amore Pizza
  46. Pi Pizzeria
  47. Pizzeria Regina
  48. Lorenzo and Sons
  49. Brooklyn’s Pizza
  50. Pizzeria Bianco
  51. Pizzeria Lola
  52. Flour + Water
  53. Motorino
  54. Lee’s Tavern
  55. Double Mountain Brewery
  56. Lou Malnati’s
  57. Harry’s
  58. Zuppardi’s
  59. Pizzeria Uno
  60. Matchbox
  61. Rubirosa
  62. Pizzeria Delfina
  63. Otto
  64. Roseland Apizza
  65. Pizza Man
  66. Serious Pie
  67. Area 4
  68. Louie and Ernie’s
  69. Paulie Gee’s
  70. The Backspace
  71. Providence Coal Fired
  72. Gino’s East
  73. Zaffiro’s
  74. 2Amys
  75. Piece
  76. Tarry Lodge
  77. Lombardi’s
  78. Colony Grill
  79. Santarpio’s
  80. Home Slice Pizza
  81. Pizza Delicious
  82. Gino’s of Long Beach
  83. Patsy’s
  84. Punch Neapolitan Pizzeria
  85. Al Forno
  86. Varasano’s
  87. Pizzeria Locale
  88. Delorenzo’s Tomato Pies
  89. Ken’s Artisan Pizza
  90. New Park Pizza
  91. Sal’s Pizza
  92. Pizzeria Paradiso
  93. Cane Rosso
  94. Artichoke Basille
  95. Coppa
  96. Denino’s
  97. Metro Pizza
  98. Dominick & Pia’s
  99. 800 Degrees
  100. Papa’s Tomato Pies
  101. Barone’s Famous Italian     

 

Our top 20 are pretty similar to each other’s. Pepe’s tops all three lists, with the Brooklyn pizzerias Di Fara, Roberta’s, Lucali, Grimaldi’s, Totonno’s all highly ranked. Coalfire Pizza in Chicago was obviously very high on our lists, as was Mozza in Los Angeles and Apizza Scholls in Portland. Major differences here between our lists and the list from the Daily Meal are Pizza Moto (also in Brooklyn, ranked high on our list but low on the Daily Meal’s) and Pizzeria Beddia in Philadelphia (we ranked this #2, it was that good!). We also both preferred the pizza at BAR to the pizza at Sally’s and Modern in New Haven, although we realize that Sally’s has its dedicated fans, being a much older establishment. (Photos below are from our top three of Pepe’s, Di Fara, and Pizzeria Beddia)

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The next 20 places we start to disagree a bit more. The rest of the places that the Daily Meal had in their top 20 fall into our top 40, for the most part. Some of their higher-ranked places (like Louie and Ernie’s in NYC, Flour + Water in San Francisco, and Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit) we liked too, but we couldn’t rank them in our top 20. We both agreed with the Daily Meal that Pequod’s had the best deep dish in Chicago.

img_20160302_181858757   img_20160319_173747599

We then get to the middle of the pack at numbers 40-60. The Cheeseboard in Berkeley ranked right in the middle according to the Daily Meal, but we both have this up higher. Same with Hog & Hominy in Memphis, Emily in Brooklyn, and Sotto in LA. The Daily Meal also had a few ranked in this set that we put much farther down on our own lists, like Coppa in Boston, and Rubirosa in NYC. We’ve also got our second favorite deep dish here (Lou Malnati’s), although the Daily Meal listed this one much higher.

From numbers 60-80, the lists start to get tricky. These are the places that we really liked, but they didn’t thrill us. We wouldn’t say any of them were bad, and we’d definitely go to them all again. For whatever reason, we didn’t find them super special. Again, we put a few of the Daily Meal’s low ranked pizzas higher on our own lists, like Ernie’s in New Haven (can’t believe we had never been here before!) and both Osteria and Tacconelli’s in Philadelphia.

And finally, the end of the lists. As we said before, we didn’t HATE any of these pizzas. We can see why they all made it on to the list, and they all have the Yelp reviews to prove that they belong there. However, the bottom of our bunch consisted of Domenick & Pias in Waterbury, CT, Papa’s Tomato Pie in Robbinsville, NJ, 800 Degrees in Los Angeles, and Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant, also in LA. If we ever go back to LA, these last two would not be places that we stopped at again, especially since LA also has Mozza and Sotto right downtown. (Photos from 800 Degrees and Papa’s Tomato Pies. Barone’s pizza looked too unappetizing to even add to this post).

img_20160417_155918987     img_20151127_180512665

Margot’s is also low on the Daily Meal’s list, and Barb’s as well, but mainly got deductions because it was so hard to get to. You’ll see on Eric’s list that it is much higher ranked, because the pizza was very good. Another place that is low on the Daily Meal list here, but we thought was highly underrated, is Micucci’s Grocery in Portland, Maine. We’d stop there again for slices.

Now, we want your suggestions! Where should we go next?

 

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5 thoughts on “Our Final Pizza Ranking

  1. Oh my god. I love you guys. I’d love to interview you about your pizza questing for my pizza site best-pizza.nyc. Could be fun to go grab a slice somewhere. If you’ve read these 101s maybe you’ll recognize my name 🙂

    1. We’d love to grab a slice with you! We absolutely recognize your name (also because we just read your NYT article on Sofia’s new pizza – we were just there about 2 weeks ago and had no idea what was going on behind the scenes!). We are huge fans of your lists, obviously 🙂

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