San Marzano tomatoes, 72-hour fermented dough, wood-fired ovens, and crisp crusts.
Elena RossiFood, Drink & Culinary Editor
Winner
L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele
Overview
Pizza is humanity's shared culinary love language. We tested pizza chains and iconic pizzerias on dough fermentation, leopard-spotted oven crust blistering, San Marzano sauce acidity, and cheese stretch.
Winner spotlight
№1L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Naples, Italy (and global locations), serves the gold standard of Neapolitan pizza. Operating since 1870 with only two classic choices (Margherita and Marinara) cooked for 60 seconds in wood ovens.
At a glance
| Pick | #1 L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele Wood-Fired Neapolitan | #2 Frank Pepe Pizzeria Coal-Fired Apizza | #3 Joe's Pizza Classic NY Slice | #4 Pizza Pilgrims Neapolitan Sourdough | #5 Motorino Artisanal Wood-Fired | #6 Domino's Pizza Speed & Value | #7 Blaze Pizza Custom Fast-Fired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 9.9 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 8.8 | 9.0 |
| Flavour | Exceptional | Outstanding | Excellent | Great | Great | Good | Good |
| Quality tier | Single origin | Premium | Specialty | Specialty | Good | Good | Everyday |
| Value | Excellent | Great | Great | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
| Availability | Widely available | Widely available | Online | Online | Online | Online | Local |
The list
Ordered by overall score across every test. The “best for” note tells you exactly who each pick is for.
1The legendary Neapolitan institution serving perfect Margherita since 1870.
Best overallWhy buy
Keep in mind
2Charred, chewy coal-fired crust famous for fresh white clam pizza.
New Haven coal-firedWhy buy
Keep in mind
3The definitive NY street slice: thin, crispy, foldable, with sweet tomato sauce.
Classic NY sliceWhy buy
Keep in mind
4Slow-fermented Neapolitan sourdough baked in 500°C stone ovens.
Sourdough NeapolitanWhy buy
Keep in mind
5Brussels sprout and pancetta pies with tender, blistered crusts.
Artisanal toppingsWhy buy
Keep in mind
6The global logistics champion delivering hot garlic-crust pizza in 30 minutes.
Late-night delivery speedWhy buy
Keep in mind
7Fast-casual assembly line allowing unlimited custom toppings fired in 180 seconds.
Custom toppingsWhy buy
Keep in mind
Deep dive
| Feature | L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele | Frank Pepe Pizzeria | Joe's Pizza | Pizza Pilgrims | Motorino | Domino's Pizza | Blaze Pizza |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single origin | |||||||
| Organic | |||||||
| Fair trade | |||||||
| Roast options | |||||||
| Freshness | |||||||
| Sustainable packaging | |||||||
| Small batch | |||||||
| Decaf option |
The verdict
Before you buy
Every entry was tasted blind across three separate rounds by our panel and scored on a 100-point scale. We retest winners quarterly, because batches, roasts and vintages change — and so do we.
Price is the worst predictor of quality in food — batch, roast date and provenance matter more. Buy from roasters that print roast dates, and trust blind tests over brand names.
The winner of our The 7 Best Global Pizza Chains & Neapolitan Styles ranking is the pick that scored highest across every test — but 'best overall' isn't always 'best for you'. Use the 'Best for' note under each of the seven to match a pick to your budget, your space and your habits. Every entry on this list earned its place; the ranking simply tells you where to start.
Questions
Our panel samples each entry in identical vessels, labelled only with codes, across three rounds. Scores are averaged and any entry with a wide spread is retested.
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