Food & Wine's Best Pizza Spots in the U.S.

Top chefs and fabled bakers are among the new breed of pizzaiolo who are just as fanatic over the temperature of their ovens to how nearby their ingredients come from. They're elevating pizza around the country from greasy pies in cardboard boxes to inspired creations with crackly, charred crusts topped with house-made cheese and charcuterie. Here, we've chosen the 25 best places for pizza around the country from new guard spots -- including a Bay Area pizzeria that uses locally-milled flour -- to the nearly-century old East Coast institutions started by the original pizzaiolo obsessives that loyalists still (rightfully) love.

Photo © Reny Preussker.

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New York City: Co.

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Signature Item: Popeye (with pecorino, Gruyere, mozzarella, spinach, black pepper and garlic). Sullivan Street Bakery founder Jim Lahey is one of the country's elite bakers, so it makes sense that people can't stop talking about his chewy, crisp, ever-so-slightly tangy pie crusts. Lahey's newest project: He developed the menu for Crust, a soon-to-open Neapolitan-style pie spot at LaGuardia Airport. co-pane.com. Copyright Squire Fox (Lahey).

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Signature Item: Popeye (with pecorino, Gruyere, mozzarella, spinach, black pepper and garlic).

Sullivan Street Bakery founder Jim Lahey is one of the country's elite bakers, so it makes sense that people can't stop talking about his chewy, crisp, ever-so-slightly tangy pie crusts. Lahey's newest project: He developed the menu for Crust, a soon-to-open Neapolitan-style pie spot at LaGuardia Airport. co-pane.com.

Copyright Squire Fox (Lahey).

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Comments

[AllowMeToObserve]

01:48 AM on 03/08/2011

Totonno's in NYC (3 locations) is amazing. Zagat says "Only God makes better pizza." Every time I got to NYC my first stop after checking into my hotel is Totonno's for their white pie. A freakin' religious experience, folks.

[OhSnapAdorable]

05:06 PM on 03/05/2011

I've been dying to go to Osteria for a while now, gonna have to add the other Philly joint to my list.

[NewHavenCountyCT]

08:19 AM on 03/03/2011

Only one showing from New Haven? Where was Sally's, Modern and Bar. The pizza in NYC sucks compared to New Haven.

[Camilla71]

10:06 AM on 02/28/2011

What about Lombardi's in NYC?? They were the first to bring pizza to America!

[TopBrain]

01:49 PM on 02/27/2011

Pizzeria Azzuro in Napa, CA should be on the list.

BTW, what was with that disgusting cheese-engorged monstrosity at Burt's Place? And why are almost all the pizzas burned? It feels like these places paid to be included.

[glockman]

11:15 AM on 02/27/2011

Pizza is quite possible the best food in the world. I could eat it every day.

[billmeyerhoff]

11:13 AM on 02/27/2011

one thing disturbing about this is that as i flip thru the images most of them contain burnt pizza. yeah, i know you're cooking it in a wicked hot oven that would do satan proud, but i don't enjoy eating black carbon. to me burnt food is a sign of a forgetful, careless cook or one that's too busy. golden brown good-carbon black bad!

[the5thhorseman]

08:51 AM on 02/27/2011

Fuhgedaboutit, folks...I cannot even begin to name all the superior pizza joints in the Garden State--the true melting pot, tossed salad, whatever ya wanna call it, of America. And it has to do with toxic waste filtered water--it's all about the ingredients. When my cousin comes back east from Seattle the first place he heads for is a pizzeria--any pizzeria. NJ and pizza (and taxes). Perfect together.

[Raymond Chuang]

07:15 AM on 02/27/2011

If Food & Wine specifically said they're looking for a Neopolitan-style pizza in the same way they make pizza in Italy, then the list makes sense.

Problem: here in the USA, pizza has evolved a LOT since pizzas started to get popular across the USA in the 1920's. To exclude pizzas with multiple toppings or the deep-dish pizza developed in Chicago in the early 1940's is missing a huge fraction of the modern pizza experience.

[Ben Behrens]

05:22 AM on 02/27/2011

Having eaten at nearly half the establishments on this list, I can say it leaves a lot to be desired. No Geno's East in Chicago, or the Home Run Inn, or Pizza Luce in Minneapolis, please try a little harder next time.

[mariadawson0228]

08:15 PM on 02/26/2011

Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island - http://www.alforno.com - there are three grilled pizzas on the menu...my favorite is the Margarita.

[hershobr]

06:49 PM on 02/26/2011

Food and Wine doesn't know anything.

[vontrapp]

06:40 PM on 02/26/2011

Village Pizzeria

Best pizza in LA.

[JennaS]

04:33 PM on 02/26/2011

Love Totonno's too!

[JennaS]

04:30 PM on 02/26/2011

I have had 2 Amy's pizza and it is AWESOME (saying it with a high pitch)! We used to live in the neighborhood, what a treat!