Fifteen years back, a round-up of the best pizza in London would have been almost comically short. “Pizza went to the USA with spaghetti, taken there by the immigrants in the early decades of the 20th century, and from there came to Britain, having unfortunately lost most of its authenticity along the way,” writes Anna del Conte flatly in her 2013 update to The Gastronomy of Italy, a reference bible of traditional Italian dishes everywhere from Piemonte to Puglia. In recent years, however, the capital has seen an influx of pizzaioli serving up Neapolitan-inspired pies that prove the validity of Alexandre Dumas’s timeless 1873 summary of the dish: “Pizza is a sort of flat bun… At first glance it seems simple, but on closer inspection it is seen to be really complicated.”
While pizza has existed in one form or another since at least 100 BC, it’s the form that evolved in Naples in the 18th century – when tomatoes were first put to good use as sugo di pomodoro – that’s held as the gold standard today. (There’s even a dedicated Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, which lays out the exacting criteria required in order for a pizza to describe itself as Neapolitan.) The margherita, specifically, came into existence in 1889, when a pizzaiolo developed the signature combination of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil – a nod to the colours of the Italian flag – in honour of Queen Margherita of Savoy’s visit to Naples.
While it’s hard to beat the Neapolitan classics, a fresh wave of London pizzerias are devoted to updating their tried-and-tested formula. (See the controversial Middle-Eastern toppings at Crate.) Keen to try making your own pies instead? Sign up for one of Bread Ahead’s brilliant pizza workshops – or read on for our guide to the best pizza in London to try now.
Dough Hands
Ask any Southeast Londoner where to find the best pizza in the area right now and you’ll likely get one definitive answer: Dough Hands, which has long been available at cool kid hangout The Spurstowe Arms, in Hackney, but which has since taken up residency at another cool kid hangout: The Old Nun’s Head, in Nunhead. Their famous must-have is the Jode: a chewy, hot honey and ’Nduja delight with lashings of velvety stracciatella and just the correct amount of fresh basil (although even their “tomato pie” is worth biting into, with its verdant tomato and sprinkle of oregano). Bolshy, flavoursome and perfect with a cold pint of something floral, it doesn’t get better than this.
E8 and SE15
Ria’s
Caranaby’s gastro regeneration continues with a second site for the hoofing Notting Hill pizzeria slash natty wine joint, now slinging superlative Detroit-style slabs (square, tray-baked focaccia bases with a molten, cheese crusted exterior and a full covering of toppings) in a serenely fitted out space (all sky blue panelling and Shaker-style peg rails), just round the corner from The Shaston Arms. All the slices are killer, the sides of deep-fried “haggis pops” and fried potatoes with garlic-infused and whipped feta essential, the closing soft-serve with olive oil and salt a sweet foil to all the weighty carbs, and Ria herself a consummate host.
W1F
Bar D4100
For Dinner For One Hundred founders Jacob Stuttard and Jake Bucknall, the best way to get to know your neighbours is over a shared meal. What started as a dinner for 100 people in 2020 is now – one pandemic and a reinvention later – a gem of a London pizza chain. Bar D4100 (an abbreviation of Dinner for One Hundred) is the dressier Nunhead spin-off of the duo’s original Telegraph Hill location. The carefully curated menu from the head chef (who annotates the menu with ingredient suggestions for enhancing your chosen pizza) is complemented by a changing list of cocktails du jour. Expect to find all the classics as well as more unusual flavour combinations with funky names (think the Kevin or the MacGyver), all topped with the freshest of seasonal ingredients.
SE14, SE15 and WC1N
Spring Street Pizza
The hitherto nebulous “London-style” pizza – a kind of NY/Neopolitan hybrid with a robust base and a chewy, charred cornicione – was perfected by the aforementioned Dough Hands and Crisp, but here it is expertly perpetuated by former Bonhams chef Tom Kemble in a glorified alleyway near Southwark Street. Eighteen-inches is your only option – come famished or bring a pal – though you can go half-and-half on the toppings. Recommendations are moot as they’re all grand, but the New York, with San Marzans, Rebel Charcuterie pepperoni, Parmigiano Reggiano, hot honey and basil ticks all requisite the salt/sweet/spice boxes.
SE1
Big Jo
Big Jo is less a pizzeria than a bakery – specifically, a bakery committed to promoting regenerative agriculture and heritage grains. Launched by the team behind Primeur, Westerns Laundry and Jolene, the menu here changes daily, but is always based around pizza by the slice (or pizza al taglio, in Italian). Among the toppings posted to its ever-changing menu board (ahem, Instagram): wild garlic and anchovy; nduja, ricotta and honey; and mushroom and summer truffle. Then there’s the pizza fritta – which, yes, does translate as fried pizza, and is exactly as delicious and filling as it sounds.
N7
Flat Earth
Sustainability is the name of the game at Flat Earth, which started out as a pop-up during the pandemic and has now opened a permanent site in Cambridge Heath. The dough is made with heritage grains, the passata is organic, and the toppings are all vegetarian (with plenty of vegan options as well). If that all sounds a bit too healthy for a pizza joint, rest assured that there’s a macaroni and cheese calzone on the menu, along with an affogato made with Climpson & Sons espresso.
E2
Santa Maria
Santa Maria became a site of pilgrimage for Italian expats when it opened its first 16-seat restaurant in Ealing in 2010, and the quality has remained consistently good as it’s expanded to different neighbourhoods. This is as close to authentic Neapolitan pizza as you’re likely to get this side of Vesuvius. (The Santa Maria team even brought the clay for their wood-fired oven in W5 over from a spot near the volcano.) Surprisingly for a restaurant that’s meticulous about authenticity, there are a range of truly delicious vegan choices on the menu. Not only is there a house-made vegan mozzarella on offer, but there’s the Sant’Alba, where truffle puree stands in for pomodoro, and the San Diego, with pumpkin cream sauce.
Multiple locations
Theo’s
Thanks to the likes of Franco Manca and Mamma Dough, south London earned a reputation as a hotspot for great pizza when the sourdough revolution first got underway in the 2010s. Then along came Theo’s, and suddenly every other pizzeria south of the Thames had to take a back seat. Everything on the menu here is excellent – including the panuozzo served at lunchtime – but if you’re going to order one dish, make it the calzone. Derived from the word for “trouser leg” in Italian, calzone originally referred to mortadella or another form of sausage wrapped in dough – perfect for an 18th-century Neapolitan to eat on the go. Today, it’s prepared across Italy (and at Theo’s) both stuffed and topped with tomato, mozzarella, salami, ricotta and basil.
SE5 and SE1
Sud Italia
Sud Italia founder Silvestro Morlando hails from Naples, serving moreish pizzas from the back of his sky-blue van in Spitalfields, Camden and Hammersmith. Delivery is available, but if you decide to brave the queue in person, expect to be surrounded by chattering Italians – La Repubblica has covered Morlando’s pizzas extensively. The classics are well represented here – with the margherita among the best pizzas in London.
Multiple locations
Dusty Knuckle
Dusty Knuckle has an exceptionally good claim to making the best sourdough in London (which, to be clear, is not an accolade I would bestow lightly). On any given Saturday morning, you can find east Londoners queuing up for life-restoring breakfast sandwiches in its Dalston courtyard and sister Harringay site. At some point during lockdown, it started doing pizza nights, and their pies (inevitably) proved such a success that the bakery team is now firing up its oven every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5:30pm. One glance at their take on the classic margherita should be enough to entice you, but it’s also worth noting that the bakery’s raison d’etre is to help train young offenders with kitchen skills.
E8 and N4
Pizzeria Mozza
California chef Nancy Silverton is best known as the founder of La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles, which is credited with kickstarting the artisanal bread movement in the States. (You may also recognise her from Netflix’s Chef’s Table, which devoted a whole episode to Silverton’s restaurants, Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza, in its third season.) Now, she’s opened her first London pizzeria in Marylebone. As you would expect, the dough here is fantastic, while the toppings are Italian-American inspired: think goat’s cheese, leeks and pancetta affumicata, or fennel sausage, scallions and red onions.
W1B
Sodo
Having started out as a pop-up at E5 Bakehouse in London Fields, Sodo now has four locations across east London. There are always a few eyebrow-raising specials here (not to mention dedicated brunch pizzas at the Walthamstow branch over the weekend, complete with eggs and bacon), but it’s best to stick to the classics that have been on the menu for years now: anchovy fanatics should try the Jon Bon Chovy, finished with olives, chilli, parsley and capers, while vegetarians will love the Lorena, layered with feta, butternut squash and rosemary.
Multiple locations
Crate Brewery
Perched on the edge of the River Lea, the stone-baked pies at Crate Brewery are in no way traditional and in every way delicious. Kiwi owners Tom and Jess Seaton have been known to top pizzas with Kashmiri dal, mango chutney, fresh coriander and banana slices – a combination that miraculously works. Crate is at its best in summer, when you can linger over an IPA on the sun-trap terrace (along with every other east London resident), but the Middle-Eastern Lamb Pizza – finished with chopped mint and chilli flakes – is good enough to justify visiting all year round.
E9
Pizza East
While the majority of the pizzerias on this list take their cues from Naples or Rome, Pizza East is a little different. Launched by Soho House’s Nick Jones according to the template established by Pizzeria Mozza, this is a place where you can start your dinner with ragu-dipped mozzarella sticks and finish it with limoncello meringue pie. As for the pizzas themselves? Expect pillowy dough loaded with hearty toppings (no artfully placed single basil leaves here): one pie comes layered with prosciutto di San Daniele and a whole burrata enshrined on top, while another is covered with cream, veal meatballs and sage. Definitive proof that there’s more to LA cuisine than Goop-style cleanses.
E1 and W10
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