Italy may be the spiritual home of pizza, but some of the world’s most exciting pizzerias are now found far beyond its borders.
From Tokyo’s highly precise pizza omakase to New York’s fiercely traditional Neapolitan pies, London’s Italian-inspired neighbourhood restaurants and Barcelona’s modern wood-fired cooking, pizza has travelled remarkably well. The best places outside Italy aren’t necessarily trying to copy a pizza from Naples. Some respect Italian technique while bringing local ingredients, different cooking philosophies and entirely new ideas to the plate.
That makes travelling for pizza more interesting than simply searching for the nearest Italian restaurant.
If you’re willing to look beyond Italy, these are some of the pizza destinations worth putting on your list.
1. The Pizza Bar on 38th-Tokyo, Japan
Few restaurants demonstrate how far pizza can evolve outside Italy better than The Pizza Bar on 38th at Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo.
This is not a conventional pizzeria. It is an intimate, counter-style experience where pizzas are prepared in front of guests by pizzaiolo and served straight from a brick oven. The restaurant’s signature format is a pizza omakase served at an eight-seat marble counter.
The dough is made with Italian organic flour, just one gram of yeast and 80% hydration, followed by 48 hours of fermentation. That produces an unusually light crust and gives the chef a technical foundation for the restaurant’s constantly changing combinations.
The restaurant has also attracted serious international recognition. In the 2025 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific ranking it was named number one in the region and number two in the world; in the 2026 Asia-Pacific ranking, it remained among the very top pizzerias, ranked second.
For anyone who thinks pizza has to be eaten from a conventional round pie in a casual pizzeria, this Tokyo experience is an eye-opener.
Why go: For pizza omakase, precision and one of the world’s most distinctive pizza dining experiences.
2. Lardo-London, UK
London has no shortage of Italian restaurants, but Lardo in Hackney takes a more contemporary approach.
Located on Richmond Road, Lardo describes its food as having Italian foundations shaped by seasonality, simplicity and respect for ingredients. The menu combines those foundations with flavours and ideas from a much wider culinary world.
Pizza is an important part of the restaurant’s offering, but it sits within a broader menu of handmade pasta, vegetables, seasonal plates and cooking influenced by fire, fermentation, pickling and smoke.
That makes Lardo an interesting choice for diners who want pizza but don’t necessarily want the entire meal to revolve around pizza.
The restaurant is also close to London Fields and Broadway Market, making it particularly suited to a relaxed East London food itinerary.
The appeal here is the balance. You can order pizza, but you can also explore the restaurant’s wider interpretation of Italian cooking.
Why go: For contemporary Italian-inspired cooking and pizza in a relaxed Hackney setting.
3. Sartoria Panatieri-Barcelona, Spain
Sartoria Panatieri
Barcelona is one of the strongest places in Europe to look for exceptional pizza outside Italy, and Sartoria Panatieri is one of the reasons why.
The restaurant describes its approach as a reinterpretation of traditional Neapolitan pizza, combining Italian technique with seasonal ingredients and a more contemporary perspective. Its wood-fired oven is central to the cooking, providing the pizzas with their characteristic smoky flavour and texture.
The restaurant was founded by Rafa Panatieri and Jorge Sastre, a culinary partnership that developed after the pair worked in prestigious kitchens in Barcelona. Their first project, Garden Pizza, opened in Gràcia in 2018 before evolving into Sartoria Panatieri.
Its reputation has grown considerably. In 2023, Sartoria Panatieri was named Europe’s Best Pizzeria by 50 Top Pizza. In the 2025 50 Top Pizza Europe ranking, it placed joint third in Europe, alongside Via Toledo in Vienna.
This is a particularly good destination for diners interested in the ingredient side of pizza. The restaurant’s philosophy emphasises local, seasonal and carefully selected products, rather than treating toppings as an afterthought.
Why go: For wood-fired Neapolitan-inspired pizza with a distinctly Barcelona interpretation.
4. LIVIN’Italy-Leeds, UK
Pizza in Leeds might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Italian food destinations, which is precisely why LIVIN’Italy works so well for this list.
Based at Granary Wharf, LIVIN’Italy is a family-run Italian restaurant whose story goes back to Milan in the 1980s. The Leeds restaurant describes itself as a place built around passion, tradition, integrity and homemade Italian food.
Its pizza offering is part of a wider Italian menu, allowing diners to combine a pizza-focused meal with other dishes and the restaurant’s broader Italian dining experience.
What makes LIVIN’Italy particularly relevant to this list is the connection between authenticity and place. You don’t have to be in a major global food capital to find a restaurant taking Italian cooking seriously.
Leeds provides the setting, but the restaurant’s culinary identity is rooted firmly in the family’s Italian heritage.
Why go: For Italian family cooking, homemade food and pizza in the heart of Leeds.
5. Una Pizza Napoletana-New York City, USA
If the question is whether truly serious Neapolitan-style pizza can exist outside Naples, New York provides one of the strongest answers.
Una Pizza Napoletana, located at 175 Orchard Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, is the long-running project of Anthony Mangieri.
The restaurant’s philosophy is remarkably focused. Mangieri makes every ball of dough himself, and every pizza is shaped, topped and baked by him. The restaurant uses naturally leavened dough and wood-fired baking, with a deliberately small menu that keeps attention firmly on the pizza.
The story goes back decades. Mangieri opened his first Una Pizza Napoletana in New Jersey in 1996, later bringing the restaurant to New York, then San Francisco, before eventually returning to Manhattan. The current Lower East Side location opened in 2022.
The restaurant’s minimalist philosophy is part of its appeal. There isn’t a huge menu of overloaded pizzas competing for attention. Instead, the focus is on dough, ingredients, heat and technique.
That approach has earned serious recognition: Una Pizza Napoletana was ranked the best pizzeria in the United States in the 2025 50 Top Pizza USA ranking.
Why go: For one of the most focused and uncompromising Neapolitan pizza experiences outside Italy.
6. The Mitre-Richmond, London
The Mitre is probably the most unexpected restaurant on this list.
It’s a traditional West London pub rather than a destination Italian restaurant, but it has developed a reputation for pizza through its in-house Rudi’s Pizza Kitchen.
The historic pub dates back to the 19th century and sits on St Mary’s Grove in Richmond. It is known for its traditional pub character, beer garden and long-standing place in the local community.
Then there’s the pizza.
Rudi’s Kitchen serves stone-baked sourdough pizzas, including a classic Margherita made with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and extra-virgin olive oil. The pub also offers a gluten-free pizza option.
CAMRA’s current listing describes the pizzas as authentic Neapolitan-style and notes that they are available to eat in or take away from Wednesday through Sunday.
That combination makes The Mitre an especially interesting entry: a historic Richmond pub where the pizza has become part of the attraction.
Why go: For Neapolitan-style pizza in an unmistakably British pub setting.
7. Pizzeria Sei-Los Angeles, USA
Los Angeles has become one of America’s most interesting pizza cities, and Pizzeria Sei is a major reason to pay attention.
Founded by Chef William Joo and Jennifer So, Pizzeria Sei is known for its Tokyo-style interpretation of Neapolitan pizza. Joo, who was born in South Korea and raised in Los Angeles, became interested in Japanese interpretations of Neapolitan pizza while developing his own approach.
The result is a pizza that starts from a Neapolitan foundation but plays with texture.
The dough is cooked at high heat and shaped using a crimping technique that creates different textures across the crust, including soft, airy sections, crisp edges and charred bubbles.
The restaurant now operates its original Pizzeria Sei location on Tabor Street as well as Sei Pizza Bar on Pico Boulevard.
Its position near the top of the 2025 50 Top Pizza USA ranking further demonstrates its standing in the American pizza scene, where it placed second behind Una Pizza Napoletana.
Why go: For a fascinating meeting point between Neapolitan technique, Japanese inspiration and Los Angeles ingredients.
8. Razza Pizza Artigianale-Jersey City, USA
Jersey City may sit just across the Hudson from Manhattan, but Razza has developed an identity strong enough to stand entirely on its own.
Chef Dan Richer’s approach is centred on ingredients, seasonality and constant refinement. Razza says its goal is to serve the best pizza possible, with the team continually examining ingredients and technique to improve each pizza.
That ingredient-first philosophy is important.
Rather than simply reproducing an Italian pizza formula, Razza looks at what is available locally and seasonally, applying Italian cooking principles to ingredients connected to the surrounding region.
The restaurant has also received significant recognition. It earned a three-star New York Times review in 2017 and was named Best Pizza in North America by 50 Best in 2019.
Its current menu changes daily according to seasonality and availability, reinforcing the idea that the pizza is part of a wider ingredient-driven cooking philosophy.
Why go: For artisan pizza where local ingredients and obsessive attention to technique are central to the experience.
9. Massilia-Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok might seem like an unlikely destination for a serious Italian pizza pilgrimage, but Massilia has made a strong case for itself.
The restaurant grew from a pizza truck launched in 2015 into a full Italian restaurant and pizzeria. Massilia describes its pizzas as using 72-hour naturally leavened dough, wood-fired cooking and DOP ingredients imported from Italy.
That combination of traditional ingredients and Bangkok’s dynamic dining culture makes the restaurant an interesting example of how Italian pizza can travel successfully without losing its connection to its roots.
Massilia’s story is also useful because it demonstrates that excellent pizza isn’t restricted to European cities or places with large Italian communities.
The restaurant has been recognised as Best Pizzeria in Thailand from 2021 through 2025, according to its own account.
Why go: For wood-fired Neapolitan pizza in one of Asia’s most exciting food cities.
10. La Bottega Enoteca-Singapore
Singapore’s food scene is famously international, and La Bottega brings a particularly detailed Italian approach to pizza.
Chef Antonio’s philosophy begins with Italian ingredients and regional inspiration, while preparations such as salumi and fresh pasta are made in-house. Pizza is one of his central passions, and the restaurant has developed different doughs for different styles.
One of them is the restaurant’s Newpolitan dough—a contemporary interpretation of Neapolitan pizza. The dough uses Italian flours and undergoes fermentation through multiple stages and temperatures for around 60 hours.
The restaurant also offers DoubleCrunch, inspired by Roman pizza in pala, with a lighter, crunchier structure designed to carry toppings differently.
That makes La Bottega a particularly good choice for anyone interested in the technical side of pizza.
Rather than treating pizza as one fixed format, the restaurant explores how flour, fermentation, hydration and technique can produce completely different eating experiences.
Why go: For a technically ambitious Italian pizza experience in Singapore.
Why These Pizza Places Stand Out
What makes these restaurants interesting isn’t simply that they serve pizza.
It’s what they do with it.
The Pizza Bar on 38th turns pizza into an omakase experience.
Lardo places pizza within a broader, contemporary interpretation of Italian cooking.
Sartoria Panatieri combines Neapolitan inspiration with local and seasonal ingredients in Barcelona.
LIVIN’Italy brings family-rooted Italian cooking to Leeds.
Una Pizza Napoletana strips the experience back to dough, ingredients and technique.
The Mitre proves that a British pub can develop a serious pizza reputation.
Pizzeria Sei demonstrates what happens when Japanese pizza culture influences a Neapolitan foundation.
Razza puts seasonality and local ingredients at the heart of artisan pizza.
Massilia shows how convincingly Neapolitan pizza can travel to Bangkok.
And La Bottega explores the technical possibilities of dough itself.
That’s the real story behind great pizza outside Italy.
The most interesting restaurants aren’t necessarily trying to pretend they’re in Naples. They’re taking the techniques, traditions and principles that made Italian pizza famous and finding ways to make them work in their own cities.
The Verdict
If you’re looking for the best pizza places outside Italy, there is no single style that defines the answer.
New York offers intensely focused Neapolitan craftsmanship. Tokyo turns pizza into a luxury omakase. Barcelona brings local produce and wood fire into the equation. Los Angeles plays with texture and Japanese influence. Bangkok proves that exceptional Italian-style pizza can thrive thousands of miles from Europe.
And the UK has plenty to offer too—from the Italian foundations of LIVIN’Italy in Leeds to Lardo’s contemporary Hackney cooking and the surprisingly serious pizza coming out of Rudi’s Kitchen at The Mitre in Richmond.
So the next time someone tells you that the best pizza can only be found in Italy, there is a very long list of cities you can point them towards.
Sometimes, the most interesting pizza is the pizza that has travelled.
