Seattle is slinging pizza that is just as good — if not better — than anywhere else. Here in the Pacific Northwest, you’ll find cracker-thin Roman-style slices, classic Neapolitan, genre-defying pizzas (looking at you, gyro-loaded pizzas and baked potato-inspired ones), even shellfish-topped Connecticut pies, all expertly executed and at the ready.
We’ve rounded up our favorite spots in the Emerald City that will ensure whatever pizza craving you have is satisfied. But the extra pepper flakes (and ranch dressing) is on you.
Pizzeria Pulcinella
This Rainier Beach spot consistently tops critics’ pizza lists for its perfectly blackened and blistered Neapolitan pies, courtesy of a wood-fired Valoriani oven. Try the exceptional Diavola oozing with creamy ricotta and mozzarella and finished with pepperoni and chile-infused oil. Don’t forget dessert cannoli for dessert.
Dino’s Tomato Pie
The sibling restaurant to Seattle’s acclaimed Delancey, this Capitol Hill pizzeria focuses on two types of pizza: crisp New York style and thick Sicilian squares. Choose your fighter, then your sauces — garlicky white or classic red — and let Dino’s handle the toppings. If you want the best of both sauce worlds, go with Mr. Pink, the signature vodka-sauce pie with fresh mozzarella and lots of basil.
Serious Pie Ballard
This Ballard restaurant from restaurateur Tom Douglas is one of the only places in Seattle slinging crisp Connecticut-style pies. They’re top notch, as in one of Thrillist’s favorites. Each Serious Pie is designed to feed one, which means you don’t have to share the Yukon Gold pizza with pecorino Romano and rosemary or the truffle-kissed roasted mushroom pizza with anyone else.
Veraci Pizza
In the early days of Veraci, you could only find their hyper-local pizzas at farmers markets (and with an almost evangelical following). Now this Ballard fixture has two brick-and-mortar locations serving up its beloved wood-fired Neaoplitan-style pizzas. Our go-to order is the Spicy Tony, a winning combo of succulent local sausage, pepperoni, and earthy mushrooms; a seasonal salad; and one of the wines carefully curated by the team.
Windy City Pie
A former computer engineer and Chicago native, Dave Lichterman opened this Phinney Ridge spot to give locals a taste of Chicago. He perfected his deep-dish pies over ten years; each has caramelized, mahogany-hued edges and a generous layer of cheese. Build your own pizza or choose from tried-and-true combos (eyeing the salty-sweet Sweet Pete with pineapple, sausage, candied bacon, and spicy giardiniera).
Rione XIII
Restaurateur Ethan Stowell’s Capitol Hill restaurant fills that oblong-shaped void in Seattle’s pizza scene. Rione XIII specializes in chewy and cracker-light Roman pizza, and here it’s baked with traditional toppings, like the Salsiccia with fennel-forward sausage and fresh zucchini. Make it a feast with a pasta or two — and definitely the tiramisu.
Slice Box Pizza
Next to the stadium downtown, this SoDo spot is our go-to for a night in watching the big game. The style here is New York slice: 18-inch pies that are thin, sturdy, and customizable for carnivorous or vegetarian eaters alike. We prefer to let the pizza experts dictate the topping combo; a local favorite is the Pep & Pine, loaded with chunks of pineapple, fresh jalapeños, and burnt-edge pepperoni.
Mioposto
This Bryant pizzeria is so good we’re tempted not to share, but we won’t gate-keep. The Neapolitan-style pizzas keep us coming back. Case in point: the Egg and Pancetta, layered with a subtle yet spicy tomato sauce, pancetta, and two types of cheese and finished with three sunny-side-up eggs and toasted bread crumbs. Round out your meal with a side of roasted chickpeas and a lush salad.
Ballard Pizza Company
PSA to all families: This Ballard restaurant from restaurateurs Ethan and Angela Stowell is for you. Think pizzas covered in roasted garlic, chicken-and-pork meatballs, or just cheese to make both the little ones and the adults happy. You can even order a pizza with halves of two specialty pizzas. Make sure you get the giant Oreo krispie — it will bring out the kid in anyone.
Café Lago
Owner Carla Leonardi debuted her Tuscan-style restaurant in Montlake in 1990, and since then, Café Lago remains one of Seattle’s most beloved Italian restaurants. While the menu features a range of antipasti and pastas, diners rave over the outstanding wood-fired pizzas. Delicate and crowned with traditional Italian ingredients (see: Bobby Blade with salumi, fresh fennel, and punchy pickled onions), Café Lago is the real deal.
Big Mario’s Pizza
East Coasters, rejoice: This mini pizza empire with outposts in Fremont, Queen Anne, and Capitol Hill delivers on all your pie cravings. Get New York-style slices with red or white sauce, or build your pizza with pretty much every topping imaginable: pears, gorgonzola, and even sriracha. Go off.
Via Tribunali
You may know owners Mark McConnell and Cecila Rikkar for the fry bread tacos and wild game-fortified rice bowls at Off the Rez. This Capitol Hill spot shows their love of thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza. Everything comes out of a Vesuvius brick oven, which gives the mushroom-heavy Funghi and the artichoke-and-prosciutto-laden Capricciosa that signature singe.
Zeeks Pizza
With over 10 locations in Seattle (the Gatewood one delivers!) and nearly three decades in business, Zeeks has been an institution in the Pacific Northwest pizza scene. Known for catering to local palates, you’ll find pies in distinctive and delicious combinations, like the Buffalo Soldier pie with buffalo chicken and ranch base and the Cherry Bomb pizza named for the healthy dose of Yakima Valley’s sweet-and-spicy Mama Lil’s peppers.
Pi Vegan Pizzeria
This University District restaurant is the oldest vegan pizzeria in the country and has been supplying Seattleites with plant-based pizzas for more than two decades. Only legends here: the Magic Mac pizza layered, outrageously, with mac and cheese (made with vegan cheese); barbecue chicken pizza; and the cookie pizza slathered in chocolate, frosting, and chopped nuts.
Bar Cotto
This Capitol Hill spot marks all the boxes for good pizza. Soft yet crispy crust: check. Still foldable: check. Covered in all our favorite toppings, ranging from traditional margherita to Diavola with hot soppressata, Calabrian chile, and mozzarella: check. Get your pizza fix, but don’t forget to order their from-scratch pastas, like the spaghetti and meatballs, that are Nonna-worthy.
Queen Margherita Pizza
This popular Magnolia spot sticks to its Neapolitan roots, importing San Marzano tomatoes and speck for its textbook pies. You can’t go wrong with the pizzas here, but we strongly suggest the namesake pie, a classic margherita elevated with spicy oil and a shower of sharp Grana Padano.
Elemental Pizza
Classic pepperoni, satisfying yet simple cheese pizza … and that’s just the kids’ menu at this University Village restaurant. The wood-fired pizzas are made with three-day fermented dough and thoughtfully assembled, like truffled mushrooms amped up with garlic oil and the tried-and-true margherita.
Pudge Bros Pizza
With big, fluffy crusts, the pies cranked out of this Wallingford restaurant are built for big appetites (see: monster XL size). Enjoy the dough in cheese pizza form, which is always made with fresh whole-milk mozzarella, or in calzones built to your preferences. Be sure to order the wings, reliably crisp, dunkable, and perfect with a side of ranch.
Rocco’s
You’re here for this Belltown restaurant’s snappy crusts, great cheese pulls, and flavor combos you can’t really find anywhere else. We’re talking the Tikka-Tikka pizza, brimming with yogurt-marinated, curry-spiced chicken, and the Loaded Baked Potato pie, smothered with bacon, cheddar, green onion, and ranch dressing.
Paranormal Pie
At this Rainier Beach spot, you’ll find pizzas of all kinds: classic pies, deep-dish, and an exciting array of Mediterranean-inspired ones like the zesty Greek Gyro or Za’atar pies. Sure, you could add on wings or cheesy breadsticks, but why not go for the smoky baba ghanoush or a side of creamy tzatziki for dunking?
Locust Cider
Founded by two brothers in Woodinville, this cidery has expanded to 16 tap rooms across three states. At the Market Place outpost downtown, you can pair a six-pack of artisan cider with creative flatbread pizzas. The Walla Walla isn’t covered in local onions (Walla Walla is known for its eponymous onions) but creamy brie, bacon, and smoky Texas-style barbecue sauce, and the Seattle pizza is a sweet-savory ode to the city with Nutella and bacon.
Saltoro
This Greenwood restaurant delivers on classics like steak frites and prawn linguine, but locals always make room for the pizzetta. The cheese pizza is made with four cheeses, while the mushroom pie is stacked with fontina, rosemary, and a drizzle of truffle oil. It’s one of the neighborhood’s best pizza spots.
Vera’s Pizza and Bar
After immigrating from Greece, the Polimenakos family got into the restaurant business and took over this Ballard spot in 1985. In 2019, under Vasilios Polimenakos, the popular restaurant transformed into a pizza joint to keep up with the needs of the neighborhood. Now you’ll find fun and fantastically named pies like the Belushi, a boldly flavored pizza with garlicky white sauce, bacon, and blue cheese. Be sure to add on a crisp Greek salad and garlic knots.
Resonate Brewery + Pizzeria
This Newport Hill strip-mall joint takes its pizza seriously. The dough is fermented for three to five days, artfully formed into pies scattered with high-quality ingredients, and thrown into a stone oven imported straight from Italy. The result: pies with airy, slightly chewy crusts with surprising yet satisfying flavors, like the chicken-and-bacon-topped Space Cowboy with a sweet-and-spicy barbecue sauce base.
Trackside Pizza
Fun fact: Every pie at this notable Puyallup’s pizza spot is named after a train. The Grand Trunk is loaded with every meat imaginable: salami, ham, pepperoni, sausage, bacon (and yes, heaps of vegetables too). Word to the wise: Get Trackside’s signature spinach and artichoke dip served with buttery rolls.
PHOTO CREDITS:
Resonate Brewery + Pizzeria by Jackie Dodd Mallory
Courtesy of Café Lago
Courtesy of Slice Box Pizza?
Bar Cotto by Tommy Popaditch
Mioposto by Feed It Creative
Rione XIII by Geoff Smith
Courtesy of Serious Pie
Courtesy of Locust Cider
