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Picking one pizza to call the “best” in America is a fool’s errand. The medium of pizza is just too varied region-by-region, style-by-style, and taste-by-taste. Pizza contains multitudes — allowing it to straddle the line between universal and wholly unique. There are few food items that bring so much joy and create so much ire over its components. Varying thicknesses of crusts, colors of sauce, so many cheeses, and toppings galore can make or break a great pizza on an almost person-to-person basis.
We love pizza so much we spend around $40 billion on the stuff per year in America alone. With that many people eating one essential food item, there are bound to be opinions. Which, okay, people like what they like. But there’s one undeniable truth about pizza: It’s often great and almost always good. Yes, even with pineapple.
Since pizza isn’t singular enough for one winner (though we once tried), we decided to list off our favorite places to grab a slice, or pie, in each of these 50 United States. These are the joints slinging pies that cannot be missed if you’re in town, driving through, or on a layover. This is the pizza worth traveling for.
WASHINGTON: Waterfront Pizza, Port Townsend
There’s a lot of great pizza up in Washington State. You’ll find an awesome fast-casual concept, MOD Pizza, that’s going to go national soon. Then there’s the tavern pies you get in dive bars and old roadside pizza joints around the state. Pacific Northwest tavern pies are a bit like the ol’ kitchen sink burger — that is, you can get almost anything on them.
Waterfront Pizza in the sleepy Victorian seaside burg of Port Townsend is the epitome of a great PNW tavern pie. The old wooden shop is right on the main street (it’s called Water Street). On street level, you’ll find the pizza kitchen with an old-school wooden bar dotted with bar stools. A few feet away sit two old electric ovens that have been turning out pies for decades. There are great local beers and wines, with specialty local sodas for your sugar fix. There’s a small dining room up some creaky late 19th century steps, with another very small bar. It’s quaint and pure seaside Washington (the beach is about a one minute walk away). You can also grab a slice from an old-school rotating pizza merchandizer, which sits right on the bar downstairs.
Then there are the pizzas. The sourdough crusts are hand rolled and tossed in front of you at the downstairs pizza bar. The toppings are a mix of local ingredients and stone-cold classics. The sourdough crust offers the perfect, hefty base for pilling the toppings high. Our recommendation is to grab “Everyone’s Favorite.” That’s fresh mushrooms, sliced black olives, and a nice and spicy pepperoni pie. It’s everyone’s favorite for a reason and the perfect place to start your Waterfront Pizza love affair.
OREGON: Apizza Scholls, Portland
Apizza Scholls is legendary at this point. People drive down from Seattle to get this Portland mainstay. And if Washingtonians are giving into something from Oregon with a smile on their faces, you know it’s special.
Apizza Scholls got a huge boost from early-years Anthony Bourdain when he raved about the pies in season three of No Reservations. In the years since, it’s maintained its rep as a quintessential American pizzeria. The atmosphere in the dining room is both hip and friendly. You can try and beat the high score on an old arcade game or just sit at the altar of pizza and gorge. Your choice. We recommend a bit of both.
The pizzas are a nice balance of PNW tavern pies styles with a touch of Neapolitan refinement. The crust errs on the side of thin with a big and bubbly ring around the edge, giving you that nice balance of dense cornice leading to thin base. In good PDX tradition, the toppings lean local and seasonal along with classic pizzeria staples. Grab a nice sausage pizza with fresh basil or one of our favs with local clams with bacon. For the latter, you’ll have to show up on a Monday or Tuesday. But, trust us, clams-on-pizza move is worth the wait for one of those briny and salty delights.
CALIFORNIA: Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles
Nancy Silverton reinvented the bread game in America. Her La Brea Bakery is the stuff of legend, as she almost single-handedly brought back traditional bread baking styles to American shores after a glut of over-produced, soft bread took over the market post-WWII.
After selling her bakery and recipes, Silverton then turned her gaze from the baguette to the pizza and changed the game yet again. The pizza at Pizzeria Mozza is as close to pizza perfection as we’ll ever get in America. Silverton’s obsession with what makes bread “bread” translates amazingly well to produce the best damn pizza crust you’ll taste outside of Franco Pepe’s in rural Italy. Add in a trendy L.A. restaurant with all the bustle and atmosphere of a great southern California setting and you’ve got an unassailable pizza experience.
The pizza at Mozza really does get a lot of points for the delightfulness of the crust (the addition of rye and barley in the crust add wonderful notes). Then there’s the beauty and freshness of the toppings. Mozza takes Neapolitan and rural Italian concepts and filters them through the agriculture of sunny California to achieve something that feels both old world and new school at the same time. If you order one pizza, make it the zucchini blossoms and burrata pie. If you order another, get the meatball pie … then a creamed spinach, leeks, eggs, fontina, and fried artichoke pizza.
Then … Then… Then… Eat them all is what we’re saying.
IDAHO: Enoteca, Ketchum
Ketchum, Idaho is a wondrous place. The town is basically surrounded by the magnificent and remote Sawtooth National Forest. It’s an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise and also home to some of the best Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas on the west coast.
Enoteca has a super hot wood-fired oven for a short list of well-thought-out pies that can stand up with the best from Los Angeles to New York. Over the years, Ketchum’s Mason family has been opening up local restaurants that focus on bringing the best food to the community with both an international eye and local flare. Enoteca hits that mark plumb and true.
The small pizza menu here shines brightly through truly innovative pies, pitch-perfect crust, and a freshness to the toppings. The “Wine Auction” pizza is a must-try — with fresh grapes, wonderfully sweet caramelized onions, and funky gorgonzola. Then there’s The Mercantile, which has local lamb sausage, bell peppers, olives, and a smoked mozzarella. One bite of one of these pizzas and you’ll be hooked for life.
MONTANA: Biga Pizza, Missoula
Missoula has a lot going for it. The college town sits next to some of the biggest wilderness in the country — Glacier National Park is practically their backyard. People come to Missoula and invariably get stuck due to the vibe. That means there’s a lot going on in the food scene that makes the city shine.
Biga Pizza was started by a transplant from New Jersey, so Biga’s pedigree runs deep. Bob Marshall moved out to Missoula to study at UofM’s culinary program. He ended up staying and eventually opened a pizzeria that focuses on the local and seasonal bounty in a way that also embraces Italian tradition. Or, more simply put, Marshall makes amazing pizza pies.
Everything is well-thought out at Biga Pizza. The dough has a heritage that leads back to the first pies fired in their oven — since they use the traditional “biga” method to start their doughs. That’s basically using the previous day’s dough to start the next day’s. From there, Biga’s toppings rotate depending on what’s good right now. Expect local, fresh, and imaginative flavors. Sausages are made in-house and cheeses are carefully curated. This is comfort food done well and it’s damn addictive.
WYOMING: Pinky G’s, Jackson Hole
Within striking distance of both the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, Jackson Hole gets a lot of tourism, seasonal residents, and outdoor lovers. All those people need good pizza before they start their adventure in the great wilds of Wyoming and Jackson has just the spot.
Pinky G’s keeps things simple. That doesn’t mean they don’t care deeply about their pizza. They do. The pizzas are big and comforting. These are straightforward tavern pies that come hot and delicious to your table, preferably with a nice glass of great beer to wash it all down. They’re the perfect base for filling up before a trip into the wild.
The pizza crust hits that sweet spot between not too thick and not too thin. There’s a nice crispness the bottom of the crust with a softness to the top. The toppings range in the classics. Great sausage, tasty meatballs, plenty of greens and sweet veg, and tons of cured meats make the list. The pulled pork pizza with BBQ sauce is a local favorite and a gut-bomb of a pizza. Try it at your own risk. We’d recommend grabbing a slice (or whole pie) of the Abe Forman. That’s local spicy sausage, buffalo mozz, and plenty of fresh basil. It’s a textural delight with a nice kick to go with the smooth creaminess of the cheese.
ALASKA: Moose’s Tooth, Anchorage
Moose’s Tooth is an Anchorage institution. It’s also one of those places that gets a massive amount of hype and 100 percent lives up to every accolade and boast. The best part, this place is only ten minutes from the Anchorage Airport. So this should definitely be your first and last stop on any Alaska trip.
Moose’s Tooth pizzas are Spinal Tap amps turned up to eleven every damn time. If you don’t like a lot of toppings on your pizza, Moose’s Tooth will cure you of that silliness with their voluptuous pies. They only have two pizzas with one topping: The pepperoni and the Margarita. The rest of the pizzas are stacked with delicious, local, and deeply comforting toppings that hit every sweet spot.
The pies are made on a fairly hefty crust the leans medium-thick. We’re not getting into Detriot or Chicago territory by any means, just light heft. From there, the world is kind of your oyster when it comes to toppings. There’s reindeer sausage, smoked Alaskan salmon, and too many more to list here. If you’re going all in on the Moose’s Tooth ethos, then grab a Mac ‘N Cheese pie with local reindeer sausage, parsley, garlic oil, and four different kinds of cheese for those macaroni noodles. Moose’s Tooth also has a legit veggie pie selection. The Forager is a “must try” — featuring roasted garlic, spinach, Roma tomatoes, portabella, crimini, and oyster mushrooms with goat, mozzarella, and provolone cheese, and plenty of garlic oil.
This is marvelous pizza that you won’t be able to get enough of.
HAWAI’I: Proof Public House, Honolulu
Hawai’i and pizza are a great mix. You can spend a day in the water or lounging on an idyllic hidden beach then wander into town for a little slice of pizza heaven and maybe a drink or two. Proof Public House offers everything you want in a pizzeria in paradise: Great pies, on point drinks, and plenty of fresh air.
The pizzas at Proof are either “build your own” or specialty pies that are straight ingenious and very local. Or you can just grab a slice and a beer and move along. We recommend sitting down, ordering a cocktail, and sharing a whole pizza here. It’ll be a one-of-a-kind experience.
Proof’s pizzas shine with a medium thin crust that brings a nice crunch that gives way to a soft bready core. The toppings are stellar. Char-siu pork, grass-fed ground beef, Huli chicken, sweet dates, and pocho sausage help make the menu pop. Their Fried Rice Pizza is a can’t-miss for pizza lovers everywhere. The crust is topped with char-siu pork, bacon, pocho sausage, sweet peas and carrots, kimchi, and oyster sauce. It’s basically all the components of an awesome bowl of fried rice put on top of a pizza crust.
Sounds strange? Guess what: It absolutely works; as do all of the pies at Proof.
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