It’s that time of year again. We look forward to the list coming out every year, and now even more so since we get to vote on it! This year, over 1000 pizza places were considered, narrowed down to the top 101. We were two of 59 “pizza experts” who voted this year.
So, the results.
101 Best Pizza Places (2018) : places in bold are new to the list in 2018!
#101 Micucci’s Grocery, Portland, ME
#100 La Nova, Buffalo, NY
#99 Inferno Pizzeria, Darnestown, MD
#98 Pizza Wagon, Brooklyn
#97 Pizza Rock, Las Vegas
#96 Zoli’s NY Pizza, Addison, TX
#95 Joe Squared, Baltimore, MD
#94 Luke’s Craft Pizza, Charleston, SC
#93 Jay’s Artisan Pizza, Buffalo, NY
#92 Timber Pizza Company, Washington, D.C.
#91 Margherita Pizza, Queens
#90 Cloverleaf Pizza, Macomb, MI
#89 Dino’s Tomato Pie, Seattle
#88 Il Forno, San Antonio, TX
#87 Pizzeria Bebu, Chicago
#86 Margot’s, Brooklyn
#85 Slab, Portland, ME
#84 Bocce Club Pizza, Buffalo, NY
#83 Lorenzos’ and Sons, Philadelphia
#82 Bruno’s, Clifton, NJ
#81 A Mano Pizza, Ridgewood, NJ
#80 Coalhouse Pizza, Stamford, CT
#79 L’industrie Pizzeria, Brooklyn
#78 La Piazza, Merrick, NY
#77 Metro Pizza, Las Vegas
#76 Delancey, Seattle
#75 Pizza Hacker, San Francisco
#74 Del Popolo, San Francisco
#73 Arizmendi Bakery, San Francisco
#72 Zaffiro’s, Milwaukee, WI
#71 Pizzeria Lola, Minneapolis, MN
#70 Vito & Nicks, Chicago
#69 Monza, Charleston, SC
#68 EVO, Charleston, SC
#67 Joe Santucci’s Square Pizza, Philadelphia
#66 BAR, New Haven
#65 King Umberto’s, Elmont, NY
#64 Roseland Apizza, Derby, CT
#63 Bonci, Chicago
#62 Vito’s Pizza, Los Angeles
#61 Jon & Vinny’s, Los Angeles
#60 The Original Tacconelli’s Pizza, Philadelphia
#59 Pizzeria Vetri, Philadelphia
#58 Zuppardi’s, West Haven, CT
#57 Ernie’s Pizzeria, New Haven
#56 Galleria Umberto, Boston
#55 Cane Rosso, Dallas, TX
#54 Flour + Water, San Francisco
#53 Ken’s Artisan Pizza, Portland, OR
#52 Loui’s Pizza, Detroit
#51 Salvatore’s Coal Oven Pizza, Port Washington, NY
#50 Pizano’s, Chicago
#49 Papa’s Tomato Pies, Robbinsville, NJ
#48 Serious Pie, Seattle
#47 The Cheese Board, Berkeley, CA
#46 Pizzeria Delfina, San Francisco
#45 Via 313, Austin, TX
#44 Pizza Brain, Philadelphia
#43 Keste, NY
#42 Juliana’s Pizza, Brooklyn
#41 Star Tavern Pizza, West Orange, NJ
#40 Santarpio’s, Boston
#39 New Park Pizza, Howard Beach, NY
#38 Sofia Pizza Shoppe, NYC
#37 DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies, Robbinsville, NJ
#36 Al Forno, Providence, RI
#35 Louie and Ernie’s, Bronx
#34 Scarr’s, NYC
#33 Rubirosa, NYC
#32 Santillo’s Brick Oven Pizza, Elizabeth, NJ
#31 Emily, Brooklyn
#30 Umberto’s Pizza and Restaurant, New Hyde Park, NY
#29 Speedy Romeo, Brooklyn
#28 Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, San Fransisco
#27 Emmy Squared, Brooklyn
#26 Colony Grill, Stamford, CT
#25 Apizza Scholls, Portland, OR
#24 Pequod’s, Chicago
#23 Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles
#22 L&B Spumoni Gardens, Brooklyn
#21 Paulie Gee’s, Brooklyn
#20 Motorino, NYC
#19 Roberta’s, Brooklyn
#18 Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix, AZ
#17 Una Pizza Napoletana, NYC
#16 Lucali, Brooklyn
#15 Buddy’s Pizza, Detroit
#14 Joe & Pat’s, Staten Island
#13 Modern Apizza, New Haven
#12 Sally’s Apizza, New Haven
#11 Patsy’s, NYC
#10 Lombardi’s, NYC
#9 Grimaldi’s, Brooklyn
#8 Prince St Pizza, NYC
#7 Joe’s, NYC
#6 Totonno’s, Brooklyn
#5 Di Fara, Brooklyn
#4 John’s of Bleecker, NYC
#3 Lou Malnati’s, Chicago
#2 Razza Pizza, Jersey City, NJ
#1 Frank Pepe Pizza Napoletana, New Haven
So, there are a lot of new additions this year. Last year there were 18 additions, this year there are 24. It’s a good thing that we have trips planned in 2019 to San Francisco and Washington, DC area. There are a few around NY that we will definitely make it to, and we really do need to plan a trip to Chicago. We’re heading out to Portland, OR next year too, and may need to make a pit stop in Seattle.
Overall, we have 25 pizza places on this list that we haven’t been to yet! There are a few carry-overs from last year’s list that we still haven’t been to (mostly those in Chicago), and we’ve been to a few that are new on this year’s already, so be looking out for those posts!
Ok, now for our analysis. First of all, we are SO EXCITED to see Pepe’s staying strong at the top of the list. We are also very happy that it beat out Razza, because we just weren’t so impressed by the pizza there.
There was a lot of switching around in the top 20 this year but for the most part, the places are the same. Pizza places that were in the top 10 last year (Modern, Keste, Bianco, Lucali, Sally’s) all dropped. We were glad to see Totonno’s and Prince Street break into the top 10, though. We still don’t think that Lou Malnati’s belongs there. And Joe’s is way too high being in the top 10. It’s better off back where it was last year – at #19.
Una Pizza Napoletana has moved from San Francisco back to its original home of NYC. It’s not technically a new addition to the list, and so we’re counting it as a pizza we’ve already had. Although, I am sure that we’ll make it to the new location this year, especially since its move to NYC corresponds with a jump in rank from #43 to #17.
A few other opinions: Emily is DEFINITELY better than Emmy Squared. Micucci’s Grocery’s slab is better than the slab at Slab. We’re glad to see L&B Spumoni Gardens move up on the list. Also glad that the Cheese Board is still hanging strong here. Glad to see Sofia Pizza Shoppe move up – its a great NY slice. And we’re really looking forward to checking out Scarr’s and Pizza Wagon – which have been on our personal lists for a while now. Also, Margot’s is back on the list. We have mixed feelings about this – yes, the pizza is good, but MAN is it hard to get tickets. We aren’t even going to try again this year.
Since almost a quarter of the pizza places on this year’s list are new, it means that a bunch of places from last year were dropped. Which ones? Well, Coalfire Pizza is no longer on the list, and we are SO upset about that. Also missing: Williamsburg Pizza in Brooklyn (one of our favorite NY slices!), Gjelina and Sotto in LA, and Pizzeria Beddia in Philadephia, which unfortunately has closed down. Some of the other classic Deep Dish pizzas in Chicago are left off as well.
So, where should we go first?
Plan a visit to one or two when we come up to see you.