Where to Find The Best Pizza in Charlotte
Get a pizza this
Neapolitan, Chicago deep-dish, New York-style, Sicilian, Detroit-style. Everyone has their favorite, but we can all agree that pizza is a universally loved food. Here’s where to find some of the best pizza in Charlotte.
Pizza Baby
2135 Thrift Road, Ste. 101
Pizza Baby was born in Charlotte, but its 18-inch New York-style pies might have you believe otherwise. Co-owners Trey Wilson and Steven De Falco took bread-making courses with pizzaiolos in Long Island and tested 29 dough recipes before they opened Pizza Baby West in Wesley Heights. Its sister restaurant, Pizza Baby East, is in Elizabeth.
Osteria LuCa
4127 Park Road
The team behind True Crafted Pizza opened this Italian restaurant in Park Road Shopping Center, and the wood-fired pizzas are the main attraction.
Sal’s Pizza Factory
3723 Monroe Road
This spot can make quick believers of those New Yorker friends who can’t stop complaining about our city’s lack of “good pizza.”
Benny Pennello’s
2909 N. Davidson St., Ste. 100
Enjoy 28-inch signature pizzas by the slice here and at sister location Benny Ferrovia’s in South End.
Stagioni
715 Providence Road
The sausage is ground in Stagioni’s kitchen, the mozzarella is house-made, and you get to cut the pie with pizza shears.
Hawthorne’s New York Pizza and Bar
Multiple locations
Hawthorne’s made national headlines when nearly 70 visitors reported that the restaurant’s Buffalo chicken pizza—coined “The Inducer”—sent pregnant Charlotteans into labor.
Portofino’s Italian Restaurant
Multiple locations
The house-made dough and sauce is the way you’d have it on the coast of northern Italy.
Aliño’s 16-inch wood-fired pie.
Aliño Pizzeria
500 S Main St., Ste. 401, Mooresville
The wood-fired pies at this spacious Mooresville spot are all 16 inches, so it’s best to share with friends—and the long, family-style tables practically beg for it.
Zio
116 Middleton Drive
The pizza crust is crisp, the tomato sauce is homemade, and herbs come from the patio garden.
Emmy Squared Pizza
Multiple locations
The Detroit-style pizza menu is split between Reds (topped with sauce and mozzarella) and Whites (topped with just mozzarella). The Hot Chicken pie is a White, and a major hit.
The Jimmy
2839 Selwyn Ave., Ste. X
You can get a traditional Margherita, but for something a bit more adventurous, try the Cacio de Roma, topped with provolone, mushrooms, and arugula.
Inizio Pizza Napoletana
Multiple locations
This family-friendly spot serves Neapolitan pizzas that include a traditional Margherita pie and the just-quirky-enough pistachio-pesto pie.
Geno D’s Pizza
224 E. Seventh St.
The Jersey Shore-style pizza joint comes from father-and-daughter team Geno and Gena DiPaolo, and it serves rectangular Grandma-style pies.
Capishe: Real Italian Kitchen
500 East Morehead Street
This fast-casual joint slings Neapolitan pizzas that cook in less than 120 seconds.
Kerrel Thompson, co-owner of Bird Pizzeria, garnishes a pie with fresh Parmesan.
Bird Pizzeria
510 E. 15th St.
This Optimist Park spot prepares three kinds of pies—plain, vegan, and white—with your choice of nine toppings on charred crust.
Mama Ricotta’s
601 S. King’s Dr., Ste. AA
Classic Italian entrees like lasagna and penne alla vodka tend to be the main attraction here, but don’t miss out on the New Haven-style pizza.
Libretto’s Pizzeria
15205 John J. Delaney Dr.
After operating Libretto’s in Manhattan for years, the owner moved his family and his pizzeria down South. You’ll find authentic NYC pizza, traditional Italian plates, deli sandwiches and wings.
Zepeddie’s Pizzeria’s Sicilian-style Bianca
Zepeddie’s Pizzeria
4516 Nations Crossing Road
The popular ’90s pizza joint reopened more than two decades later in LoSo with a menu of New York- and Sicilian-style pizzas, plus calzones, strombolis, sandwiches, and salads.
Zämbies
3204 N. Davidson St.
Sure, you can grab a slice for lunch, but Zämbies bills itself as a last stop when you’re “stumbling home from the bars.”
King of Fire Pizza
Multiple locations
What started as a food truck known for its wood-fired pizza now has brick-and-mortar restaurants in uptown and Clover, South Carolina.
Salud Cerveceria
3306 N. Davidson St., Ste. C
Salud’s 12-inch, wood-fired pies match the quality of its stellar beer.
Due Amici Pizza
5346 Docia Crossing Road, Ste. 5346C
This counter-serve spot known for its New York-style pies and slices.
