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
- Pepe’s Pizza, New Haven
- Di Fara, Brooklyn
- Roberta’s, Brooklyn
- Mozza, Los Angeles
- Sally’s Apizza, New Haven
- Flour+Water, San Francisco
- Louie and Ernie’s, Bronx
- Buddy’s Pizza, Detroit
- Coalfire Pizza, Chicago
- Joe’s, NYC
- Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix
- Papa’s Tomato Pies, NJ
- Modern Apizza, New Haven
- Totonno’s, Brooklyn
- Pequod’s, Chicago
- Patsy’s, NYC
- Gino’s East, Chicago
- Co., NYC
- Motorino, NYC
- Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, SF
- Paulie Gee’s, Brooklyn
- Johns of Bleecker, NYC
- Grimaldi’s, Brooklyn
- Kesté, NYC
- Lou Malnati’s, Chicago
- Antico Pizza, Atlanta
- Apizza Scholls, Portland
- Lucali, Brooklyn
- Una Pizza Napoletana, SF
- Lombardi’s, NYC
- Lorenzo and Sons, Philadelphia
- Al Forno, Providence
- 2Amys, Washington DC
- Pizzeria Delfina, SF
- Denino’s, Staten Island
- Santarpio’s, Boston
- Umberto’s, New Hyde Park, NY
- Pete’s New Haven, Wash. DC
- Delorenzo’s, NJ
- Gjelina, Los Angeles
- Rubirosa, NYC
- Emily, Brooklyn
- Sotto, Los Angeles
- Pizza Domenica, New Orleans
- Varasano’s, Atlanta
- Serious Pie, Seattle
- Providence Coal Fired, Providence
- Galleria Umberto, Boston
- Harry’s Pizzeria, Miami
- Pizzeria Paradiso, Wash. DC
- Colony Grill, Stamford, CT
- Pizzeria Regina, Boston
- Gino’s of Long Beach, NY
- Cheeseboard, Berkeley, CA
- Coppa, Boston
- Lee’s Tavern, Staten Island
- Zuppardi’s, West Haven, CT
- Matchbox, Washington DC
- Hog & Hominy, Memphis
- Pizzeria Lola, Minneapolis
- BAR, New Haven
- Pizzaiolo, Oakland, CA
- Tacconelli’s, Philadelphia
- Ken’s Artisan Pizza, Portland, OR
- Home Slice Pizza, Austin, TX
- Osteria, Philadelphia
- Domenick & Pias, Waterbury, CT
- Pizzeria Uno, Chicago
- Double Mountain Brewery, OR
- Barone’s, Los Angeles
- Metro Pizza, Las Vegas
- Brooklyn’s Pizza, Hackensack, NJ
- Pizza Rock, Las Vegas
- Ernesto’s, Boston
- Ernie’s Pizzeria, New Haven
- Area 4, Cambridge, MA
- Pizza Moto, Brooklyn
- Amore Pizza, Queens
- Punch Neapolitan, St. Paul, MN
- Otto Pizza, Portland, ME
- Pi Pizzeria, St. Louis
- Star Tavern, Orange, NJ
- Pizzeria Beddia, Philadelphia
- Roseland Apizza, Derby, CT
- Sal’s Pizza, Mamaroneck, NY
- Margot’s Pizza, Brooklyn
- New Park Pizza, Queens
- Pizzeria Vetri, Philadelphia
- Tarry Lodge, Port Chester, NY
- Pizza Man, Milwaukee
- Zaffiro’s, Milwaukee
- Cane Rosso, Dallas, TX
- The Backspace, Austin, TX
- Pizza Delicious, New Orleans
- Pizzeria Locale, Denver
- Micucci’s Grocery, Portland, ME
- Tony’s Place, Philadelphia
- Artichoke Basille, NYC
- Piece, Chicago
- 800 Degrees, Los Angeles
- Ghigiarelli’s, Old Forge, PA
BARBARA’S LIST
- Pepe’s Pizza
- Pizzeria Beddia
- Di Fara
- BAR
- Lucali
- Emily
- John’s of Bleecker
- Totonno’s
- Grimaldi’s
- Coalfire Pizza
- Roberta’s
- Sally’s
- Apizza Scholl’s
- Mozza
- Pizza Moto
- Co.
- Gjelina
- Sotto
- Pizzeria Regina
- Pequod’s
- Patsy’s
- Antico
- Ernie’s Pizzeria
- Pizzeria Bianco
- Cheeseboard
- Lorenzo & Son’s
- Kesté
- Roseland Apizza
- Tacconelli’s
- Una Pizza Napoletana
- Flour + Water
- Double Mountain Brewery
- Osteria
- Umberto’s
- Paulie Gee’s
- Hog & Hominy
- Motorino
- Otto
- Ernesto’s
- Louie & Ernie’s
- Buddy’s Pizza
- Micucci’s Grocery
- 2Amys
- Home Slice Pizza
- Modern Apizza
- Pete’s New Haven Apizza
- Tony’s Pizza Napoletana
- Harry’s
- Pizzeria Lola
- Area 4
- Tony’s Place
- Santarpio’s
- Pizzeria Delfina
- Pizza Rock
- Serious Pie
- Joe’s
- Star Taven
- Lou Malnati’s
- Lombardi’s
- Pizzeria Vetri
- Varasano’s
- New Park Pizza
- Galleria Umberto
- Pizza Man
- Pi Pizzeria
- Providence Coal Fired
- Pizzeria Paradiso
- Piece
- Amore Pizzeria
- The Backspace
- Zuppardi’s
- Rubirosa
- Delorenzo’s Tomato Pies
- Brooklyn’s Pizza
- Cane Rosso
- Matchbox
- Pizzeria Uno
- Ken’s Artisan
- Artichoke Basille
- Pizza Delicious
- Al Forno
- Pizzeria Domencia
- Gino’s of Long Beach
- Denino’s
- Margot’s Pizza
- Colony Grill
- Tarry Lodge
- Pizzaiolo
- Coppa
- Punch Neapolitan Pizza
- Zaffiro’s
- Gino’s East
- Pizzeria Locale
- Metro Pizza
- Sal’s Pizza
- Ghigiarelli’s
- Domenick & Pia’s
- Lee’s Tavern
- 800 Degrees
- Papa’s Tomato Pies
- Barone’s Famous Italian
ERIC’s LIST
- Pepe’s Pizza
- Pizzeria Beddia
- BAR
- Emily
- Mozza
- Di Fara
- Sally’s
- Grimaldi’s
- Apizza Scholl’s
- Pizza Moto
- Roberta’s
- Ernesto’s
- Lucali
- Hog & Hominy
- Una Pizza Napoletana
- Coalfire Pizza
- Osteria
- Totonno’s
- Kesté
- Pete’s New Haven Apizza
- Sotto
- Pequod’s
- Margot’s Pizza
- Tacconelli’s Original Pizza
- Pizzeria Vetri
- Johns of Bleecker
- Cheeseboard
- Pizza Rock
- Umberto’s
- Galleria Umberto
- Buddy’s Pizza
- Micucci’s Grocery
- Ernie’s Pizza
- Star Tavern
- Co.
- Tony’s Place
- Ghigiarelli’s
- Joe’s
- Antico
- Modern Apizza
- Tony’s Pizza Napoletana
- Pizzaiolo
- Gjelina
- Pizza Domenica
- Amore Pizza
- Pi Pizzeria
- Pizzeria Regina
- Lorenzo and Sons
- Brooklyn’s Pizza
- Pizzeria Bianco
- Pizzeria Lola
- Flour + Water
- Motorino
- Lee’s Tavern
- Double Mountain Brewery
- Lou Malnati’s
- Harry’s
- Zuppardi’s
- Pizzeria Uno
- Matchbox
- Rubirosa
- Pizzeria Delfina
- Otto
- Roseland Apizza
- Pizza Man
- Serious Pie
- Area 4
- Louie and Ernie’s
- Paulie Gee’s
- The Backspace
- Providence Coal Fired
- Gino’s East
- Zaffiro’s
- 2Amys
- Piece
- Tarry Lodge
- Lombardi’s
- Colony Grill
- Santarpio’s
- Home Slice Pizza
- Pizza Delicious
- Gino’s of Long Beach
- Patsy’s
- Punch Neapolitan Pizzeria
- Al Forno
- Varasano’s
- Pizzeria Locale
- Delorenzo’s Tomato Pies
- Ken’s Artisan Pizza
- New Park Pizza
- Sal’s Pizza
- Pizzeria Paradiso
- Cane Rosso
- Artichoke Basille
- Coppa
- Denino’s
- Metro Pizza
- Dominick & Pia’s
- 800 Degrees
- Papa’s Tomato Pies
- 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)
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.
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).
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?
Love it!
So thorough! Very well done.
Love your adventures
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 🙂
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 🙂