The best pizza in Pittsburgh isn't found in one neighborhood or one style. The city has a real range: Roman-style al taglio slabs, coal-fired Neapolitan rounds, thick Sicilian squares, and loaded New York-influenced pies that require both hands. Whether you've just moved here or you've been living by the rivers your whole life, these 10 spots are the ones locals actually argue about, and that's the highest endorsement the city offers.
The 10 best pizza spots in Pittsburgh right now
1. Fiori's Pizzaria, Brookline
Fiori's has been operating in Brookline since 1966, and its fans will tell you it hasn't needed to change a thing. The pizza is thin-crust, cut into squares, and built on a sauce that's clearly made from a real recipe rather than a corporate formula. Cash only, counter service, no Wi-Fi. It's the kind of place Pittsburgh does better than anywhere.
2. Pizzeria Davide, Highland Park
Pizzeria Davide brought a serious Neapolitan sensibility to Highland Park when it opened, and it's held its standard ever since. The dough ferments for 48 hours. The oven runs at around 900 degrees. Toppings are minimal and sourced with care. The Margherita here makes a strong case for itself as one of the purest pies in the city.
3. Bricco, Shadyside
Bricco occupies a warm, brick-lined room in Shadyside and draws a crowd for its wood-fired pizzas and its broader Italian menu. The crust hits the sweet spot between chewy and crisp, and the rotating seasonal toppings mean there's usually something worth trying that wasn't on the menu last month. It pairs well with the kind of meal that stretches into the evening.
4. Piccolo Forno, Lawrenceville
Piccolo Forno sits on Butler Street in Lawrenceville and offers a focused menu of wood-fired pies alongside fresh pasta. The pizza is Naples-leaning but not rigid about it. The space is small, the room fills up fast, and reservations are worth the extra step. If you're exploring downtown Lawrenceville, Piccolo Forno fits naturally into the kind of long, wandering evening the neighborhood invites.
5. Caliente Pizza and Draft House, multiple locations
Caliente has built one of the city's most devoted followings by committing to New York-style pies done at a high level. The slices are large, the cheese pull is satisfying, and the draft beer list at most locations is more thoughtful than you'd expect from a pizza chain. The Bloomfield and North Side locations both draw steady crowds.
6. Proper Brick Oven and Tap Room, The Strip District
Proper sits inside The Strip District, one of Pittsburgh's most food-dense corridors, and holds its own in that competitive stretch. The brick oven pizzas lean modern, with toppings like roasted garlic, local sausage, and truffle oil appearing on the same menu as straightforward Margheritas. The Strip District rewards spending a whole Saturday there, and Proper fits into that pattern well.
7. Spak Brothers, Garfield
Spak Brothers runs a fully vegan menu out of Garfield and earns its place on any serious Pittsburgh pizza list. The pies are generously topped, the crust has real structure, and the shop has built a loyal base that extends well beyond the plant-based crowd. It's been a Garfield fixture for years and doesn't show signs of slowing down.
8. Driftwood Oven, multiple locations
Driftwood Oven built its reputation on naturally leavened dough and toppings that follow the seasons. Neil Blazin opened the original location in Friendship, and it quickly became a neighborhood anchor before expanding. The pizza here rewards attention: the sourness of the crust, the restraint in the sauce, the way toppings sit rather than slide. It's the kind of pizza you recommend to someone who claims not to care about pizza.
9. D'Imperio's, Penn Hills
D'Imperio's has been operating in Penn Hills for decades and represents the Italian-American red-sauce tradition Pittsburgh has always done well. The house pizza, with its thick crust and generous cheese, is the kind of pie that anchors a Friday night. The dining room has the feel of a place that knows its audience and serves them without pretense.
10. Pizza Taglio, East Liberty
Pizza Taglio brought the Roman al taglio format to East Liberty, cutting rectangular slices from large sheet pans and charging by weight. The toppings rotate frequently, the crust has an open, airy crumb, and the shop operates with the kind of casualness that makes a quick lunch or a late snack equally comfortable. It's a different frame for thinking about pizza, and Pittsburgh took to it quickly.
What makes Pittsburgh a pizza city
Pittsburgh's pizza culture grew out of the same Italian immigrant communities that shaped South Side, Bloomfield, and Lawrenceville over the 20th century. The city's taste for thin-cut squares and red-sauce simplicity still defines the older shops, but the past decade has added wood-fired Neapolitan, Roman al taglio, and naturally leavened styles to the mix. The result is a city where the argument about the best pizza is genuinely interesting because the options are genuinely different from each other.
If you're new to the city, the pizza question is one of the better ways to learn Pittsburgh's geography. Each neighborhood shop tells you something about the block it sits on. Start with the list above and work outward from there.