The 20 Absolute Best Pizza Shops In Brooklyn

New York City is known for having some of the best pizza outside of Italy, some of it even giving the pies from the old world a run for their money (although Chicago, a long-time archrival of New York in the pizza department, might have something to say about that). Within New York, there are several pockets where the pizza is especially good, and Brooklyn is one such place. So much so, in fact, that in 2006, Domino's claimed there was such a thing as a Brooklyn-style pizza, made with a thinner crust than the one that defines a typical New York-style pizza. Although many Brooklyn residents categorically refute this notion, as reported by The New York Times, there seems to be a general recognition that locals prefer to eat their pizzas in larger slices that can be folded over. This doesn't preclude a Manhattanite from doing so, nor does it mean that Brooklyn can't also sell very good Sicilian-style pizza, which comes in thick squares and would require a great deal of awkward contortion to be folded.

All debates aside, this list is concerned with quality, first and foremost. So let us take a look at the top pizza shops in all of Brooklyn, leaving the questions of style, nomenclature, and other lofty analytical matters to another day, dedicating ourselves instead to the pure and simple pleasures of good pizza.

When you're dealing with a relatively simple dish like pizza, the quality of the ingredients is paramount, as is the method of cooking. Lucali owner Mark Iacono has dedicated himself fully to both ventures, creating what is by many accounts one of the best pizzas in Brooklyn, if not all of New York City. 

Indeed, the joint is so popular that getting a table there is not an easy matter –- with no reservations accepted, your best bet is to show up at 4 p.m. to put your name down on the waitlist, and you might encounter a line even then. Once you get in, though, you'll know why it was worth it. Order a simple large pie with basil to fully appreciate the artistry, or add a spicy pepperoni topping for a bit of pizzazz.

One of the main draws of pizza is that it's quick, or express, if you will. That seems to be one of the driving forces behind Espresso Pizzeria. But what not all such pizza joints can claim, is to also have good pizza, and in that department, this restaurant really stands out. The crust is at once soft and crunchy, while the tomato and cheese add flavor without dominating the slice. 

Everything about this pizza embodies the concept of back-to-basics is best. On top of that, Espresso Pizzeria offers delicious garlic knots, which are locally famous and which use fresh dough made especially for this purpose, rather than scrap pizza dough. This yields a delightful fluffy snack served with garlic butter, parsley, and Parmesan.

The name suggests this joint might be a little full of itself, at least until you try the pizza and find out that it is indeed perfect. What you get at Ace's Perfect Pizza is a Detroit-style pizza, and if you've never had such a thing, know that it's something halfway between a Sicilian-style, square pizza with a thick crust and a Chicago deep-dish pizza, baked in a deep, heavy tray that facilitates a light, fluffy effect. 

The Williamsburg location offers personal, medium, and large size pizzas with a variety of mouth-watering toppings, like the classic sausage, green bell pepper, and onion Supreme, and a more hopping Hot Burrata, with Ace's special cheese blend, tomato sauce, burrata, Calabrian chili, and basil. You'll find that one of the qualities that makes this place perfect is that it doesn't skimp on the toppings.

For a true, original Italian pizza, as in, from Naples, the birthplace of pizza, head to Totonno's Pizzeria Napolitana in Coney Island, a veritable Brooklyn pizza institution. The place opened way back in 1921, long before a law was passed in New York City banning the use of coal ovens. As such, this is one of the few places in the city where you can still try that gritty crust only a coal oven can provide. 

Not only that, but you'll be treated to ingredients like pure tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and homemade dough prepared the same day it's baked, as reported by The New York Times. But if Coney Island seems like too much of a trek, you can always order Totonno's pizzas through Gold Belly, which ships nationwide.

If there ever was a Brooklyn-style pizza, at least in terms of modern-day, ultra-hipster Brooklyn, it might be the one served at Ops. First of all, the site of the restaurant is an old garage, fixed up and remodeled with wooden features and industrial-chic lighting. Second, the place serves natural wines, and lastly, the toppings are decidedly modern hip, with offerings such as ricotta salata and broccoli rabe, both features of the Juno pizza. Not to mention the sourdough pizza and seasonal, farm-to-table ingredients used in many of the pies. 

Everything screams Brooklyn hipsterdom, but when it comes to food, at least, that can only be a good thing. Indeed, whatever your private notions of Brooklyn life might be, this pizza is a delicious, high-quality affair that is not to be missed.

A simple cheese or margherita pizza is always a good choice, but it's also okay to be in the mood for something a bit wilder once in a while. Enter Cuts and Slices, which provides some of the wackiest toppings you'll find on a Brooklyn pizza. 

Chicken and waffle pizza is really a thing here, and so is the shrimp and lobster black truffle Alfredo. You might even consider trying your very first oxtail here, in the form of the delicious sweet chili oxtail pizza or the more dubious-sounding but delightful brown stew oxtail pizza. But whatever you choose, don't limit yourself to one crazy concoction. Order a number of different slices and see which outlandish combination works best for your tastebuds.

Greenpoint has no shortage of good restaurants, but when it comes to pizza, Paulie Gee's is probably the best in the neighborhood. Their dine-in-only policy highlights the importance of savoring a pizza fresh out of the wood-fired oven when it's at its crispiest and most flavorful. As a patron, it certainly makes you feel well cared for –- the owners only want the best for your taste buds. 

For the best illustration of this, try their trademarked Hellboy, made with fresh mozzarella, California tomatoes, spicy soppressata, and Mike's Hot Honey, a chili-infused honey developed by Mike Kurtz right there at Paule Gee's back in 2010. If you can't get a table and try it at the restaurant, grab a slice at the nearby Paule Gee's Slice Shop.

With two locations in Brooklyn –- in Bushwick and Williamsburg, at Domino Park –- Roberta's has made itself indispensable to the local pizza scene. Although it may seem like a casual location at first glance, this establishment is frequented by celebrity heavyweights such as the Clintons, and supported by culinary titans like Alice Waters, who helped create an on-site garden that supplies some of the ingredients used in the pizzas. 

But it's not all just sound and fury. The pizzas are elegant, tasty, and fully satisfying with every bite. They're also funny: With the tongue-in-cheek Porchettaboutit pizza, you can enjoy a delightful combination of porchetta, taleggio, red onion, garlic, basil, fennel seed, olive oil, and lemon, all while discussing whether anyone has figured out what the original phrase actually means.

Burrata tends to be a tricky ingredient to use as a pizza topping. Its heavy moisture content risks reducing the pie to a soggy, wet mess. But L'Industrie manages to achieve a puddle-free burrata-topped pizza just fine, and if it can do that, it can do anything. Indeed, the rest of the pizza menu, which is the only menu available here, is not too shabby. 

Mike's Hot Honey makes a well-deserved appearance here on the Mike HH Pie, along with ricotta and Italian ham, while the pepperoni pie, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni, is miles above most other pepperoni pizza slices in the area. Whichever option you choose, you can be sure it will have been made with high-quality ingredients and old-world techniques.

The Sicilian-style pizza at this joint has consistently been rated one of the best of its kind in all of New York, never mind Brooklyn. The original owner, Ludovico Barbati, initially sold his pizzas out of a cart drawn by a horse named Babe before opening his first brick-and-mortar establishment in 1938. Since then, his descendants have been running L&B Spumoni Gardens for generations, and this slice of family history can almost be tasted in the pizza. 

The pizza menu is small and the topping selection short, but who needs pomp and circumstance when you already have a great thing going? Sample these crispy, chewy pizza slices at the restaurant in Bensonhurst, or wait for the grand opening at the Dumbo location.

A regular, individual pie may set you back upwards of $30 here, but every last cent of that money will be well spent. Between the high-quality ingredients imported from Italy and the effective pizza-making technique developed by original owner Domenico De Marco himself, each and every pizza at Di Fara is well worth the trip to Avenue J in Midwood. And although De Marco, who cooked many of the pizzas himself for more than 50 years, sadly passed away in 2022, the quality of the food has not suffered. 

Don't expect anything fancy, at least not in terms of presentation. The place is as basic as can be, with only a handful of tables and spare decor. But once you taste the pizza, none of that will matter.

At a restaurant named Farina, which is Italian for flour, you're bound to find good pizza, a recipe that simply could not come together without the all-important flour-based dough. But this Farina doesn't just use any old farina. It goes all out, employing sustainably grown new and old-world grains to create a bespoke blend of seven different types of flour. The mixture is designed to lead to the best possible pizza dough, and once you try it, you will immediately see that the bet has paid off. 

Although the oven itself is of Irish origin, the pizzas are very much Southern Italian in ingredients, texture, and composition. Even the shape, which the restaurant calls "irregolare," has its own form shape inspired by old Italian traditions.

One of the qualities that makes New York pizza what it is is the slice factor. All around Italy, you can get great pizza, but how often do you really see pizza sold by the slice there? Sometimes, but not often, and when you do, it's unlikely to be good. Even in Chicago, a deep-dish pizza sold by the slice might present you with some logistical problems. 

But Mo's General, in Williamsburg, has thoroughly leaned into its local roots and embraced the concept of selling pizza by the slice (although you can also get it whole if you really must). Beyond that, you also have the option of ordering square pies, round pies, or building your own on a red or white sauce base.

There was a time when New York City, including Brooklyn, was able to offer $1 slices of pizza, some of which were actually good. But now, all over the city, it's possible to see pizza parlor awnings with that 1 painted over, crossed out, or otherwise obscured. Between inflation and other financial woes, gone are the days of that $1 pizza. 

With Fini, we have now officially entered the era of the $5 pizza slice, which, all considered, doesn't seem so bad, especially since this particular spot — run by a co-owner of the famed and celebrated Williamsburg restaurant Lilia — makes it worth your while. In particular, the basic cheese pizza is made with San Marzano tomatoes -– royalty among nightshades. Meanwhile, the white pizza elevates the whole experience with a dash of lemon juice over the already delicious cheese blend.

When it comes to pizza shapes, Leo does not discriminate, and neither should you. Leo makes both round and square pies well, so you might have to come to this joint at least twice to try each one — unless you think you can accommodate multiple tastings in one sitting. 

But if you manage to only stop by once, don't miss the clam pizza, which comes with bechamel, chili flakes, and pecorino, or the San Giuseppe, complete with spicy sausage, onions, olives, and provolone. And while Italians traditionally snub wine and pizza pairings, opting instead for beer, the wine list at Leo is extensive enough for even the pickiest Italian to find the ideal wine for each pizza on the menu, whether they prefer red, white, bubbly, or skin contact wines.

We couldn't leave Best Pizza out of a list of the best pizza places in Brooklyn, especially since it firmly deserves a spot. Owner Frank Pinello has a strong pedigree in the pizza department, having grown up in Bensonhurst, a big Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and cut his teeth at pizza institutions like Roberta's. 

Drawing from his Sicilian roots and a real live wood-burning oven, Pinello delivers high-quality pizza pies, including a gluten-free version that actually tastes like pizza rather than the typical chalky stuff celiacs and other gluten-intolerant people must endure. The toppings list –- which includes caramelized onion and Calabrian chili -– is short but sweet, but you'll hardly notice, since quality is the defining factor of these pizzas, not quantity.

The Brooklyn-style pizza is alive and well at Williamsburg Pizza, where the crust is reliably thin and crunchy, the sauce is invariably made with the best San Marzano tomatoes around, and the cheese is consistently fresh. Go simple with The Brooklyn, comprised of a mozzarella blend with tomato sauce, where you can enjoy the full effects of these top quality ingredients. Or go old-school with the Grandma, a square pizza made with pecorino, basil, Parmesan, olive oil, garlic, homemade fresh mozzarella, and tomato sauce. 

Stop by for a slice of each, and maybe a few more, on your way home from work. The place may look unassuming from the outside, but this just proves the notion that you can't judge a pizza shop by its storefront.

Emily's motto is that pizza loves Emily, but it feels equally right to say that we love Emily's pizza. These lovely round pies come with a delightful crust, but you might not notice that as much as the toppings, which practically spill over the sides in their zeal to please. Indeed, the toppings take center stage on Emily's pizzas. Take, for example, the Colony, which includes pepperoni, honey, and pickled chili. 

Another great option is the Quinn, a white pizza made entirely with different cheeses, including ones you've probably never heard of. All this should be plenty to keep your pizza craving at bay, but if what you really yearn for is a square pizza, you can always head to Emmy Squared in Williamsburg, Emily's sister restaurant, which serves similarly outlandish toppings on their pizzas, but in square form.

Although not primarily a pizza joint, this Italian restaurant in Williamsburg has a wood-burning oven, so serving pizza is pretty much required. And luckily, the pizza at Barano is not just an afterthought. It's made with homemade, hand pulled mozzarella and no commercial yeast to speak of, illustrating just how much care chef Albert Di Meglio puts into his pizza creations. 

And the topping combinations are just as carefully constructed. In the 'nduja pizza, the mild ricotta perfectly balances out the spicy pork and Calabrian honey, while in the heritage, there is an ideal combination of sweet and salty courtesy of sweet sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, and red onions. Last but not least, don't be afraid to order a gluten-free pizza here. It's par for the course and no one is going to bat an eyelash.

This pop-up pizza joint is currently located inside a bakery in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, but blink and you might miss it. That would be a shame, because Wizard Hat Pizza fully embodies the spirit of the Brooklyn pizza: its thinner-than-average crust can easily be folded, the quality of the ingredients is top-notch, and the whole operation is always on the go, or at least it feels that way. 

In fact, instead of using a wood-burning oven or other large, unwieldy appliance, chefs here use an electric countertop oven to achieve what Pete Wells of the New York Times calls "the crunchiest crust I've eaten on a pop-up pizza." See for yourself by ordering a classic cheese pizza, or try their version of a Hawaiian, made with provolone, pecorino, chili, pineapple, and Speck instead of boring old ham.