A Slice Above: How San Francisco Ranks Among America's 50 Best Pizza SpotsPhoto: Little Star Pizza/Yelp
Hoodline
Published on August 01, 2017

Whether it's thick Chicago deep-dish, crispy New York thin-crust, or blistered Neapolitan, there's nothing quite like a fresh, hot-from-the-oven pizza to make any day just a little better. And living in the Bay Area means that we're lucky enough to sample all the best styles of pizza the country has to offer, without hopping on a plane. 

But how does San Francisco's wide array of pizza stack up to the best pie-slingers around the country? To find out, we turned to Yelp, combining their user ratings with our own secret (pizza) sauce to find the 50 most popular pizzerias in America. 

While many Americans think of New York as America's pizza capital, San Francisco actually tied the Big Apple for the largest number of popular pizzerias, at eight each. Throw in the entire Bay Area, with spots ranging from Oakland to San Jose, and that number rises to 13. 

The highest-ranking SF pizza joint on the list actually takes its inspiration from Chicago: coming in at #7, the Mission location of Little Star Pizza is known for its cornmeal-dusted deep-dish pies. In terms of U.S. deep-dish spots, it's only bested by East Bay rival Zachary's Chicago Pizza, whose Oakland outpost ranked just above it, at #6. (Chicago's most popular deep-dish spots, Pequod's and Lou Malnati's, are actually further down the list, at #20 and #21 respectively.)

SF is also known for its stellar slices: coming in at #8 is North Beach's Golden Boy Pizza, a favorite late-night destination for thick Sicilian-style slices. And if you want an authentic NYC-style slice, look no further than, well, A Slice of New York in San Jose, which ranks #10.  

Right behind them at #13 is the Sunset's Arizmendi Bakery, which has a cult following for its rotating daily slices with seasonal toppings. (Longtime Berkeley favorite Cheese Board Pizza, which served as the original inspiration for Arizmendi, also made the list at #24.) 

Further down the list, you'll find some spots specializing in authentic Italian-style pies, including Redwood City's Vesta (#27), the Richmond's Pizzetta 211 (#34), the Mission's Beretta (#35), SoMa's Zero Zero (#40), and North Beach's Baonecci (#47). 

But if you're interested in sampling everything the pizza world has to offer without leaving SF, make a date to visit Tony's Pizza Napoletana in North Beach (#25)—despite its Naples-centric name, chef Tony Gemignani offers nearly every style of pie known to man, from Detroit to New Haven to New York. 

Here's the full list of the 50 most beloved pizza spots in the U.S.: 

1. 786 Degrees (Los Angeles)
2. Joe Benny's (Baltimore)
3. Home Slice Pizza (Austin)
4. Bronx Pizza (San Diego)
5. Base Camp Pizza (South Lake Tahoe, CA)
6. Zachary's Chicago Pizza (Oakland, CA)
7. Little Star Pizza (San Francisco)
8. Golden Boy Pizza (San Francisco)
9. Lombardi's Pizza (New York)
10. A Slice of New York (San Jose, CA)
11. Barbuzzo (Philadelphia)
12. Bestia (Los Angeles)
13. Arizmendi Bakery (San Francisco)
14. Ciao! Pizza and Pasta (Chelsea, MA)
15. Cibo (Phoenix)
16. Pupatella (Arlington, VA)
17. Buona Forchetta (San Diego)
18. Juliana's Pizza (New York)
19. Moose's Tooth (Anchorage)
20. Pequod's Pizza (Chicago)
21. Lou Malnati's (Chicago)
22. Flatbread Company (Paia, HI)
23. Pizzeria Mozza (Los Angeles)
24. Cheese Board Pizza (Berkeley, CA)
25. Tony's Pizza Napoletana (San Francisco)
26. Secret Pizza (Las Vegas)
27. Vesta (Redwood City, CA)
28. Artichoke Basille's (New York)
29. Cortina's Italian Market (Anaheim, CA)
30. Serious Pie (Seattle)
31. Prince Street Pizza (New York)
32. Masa of Echo Park (Los Angeles)
33. Piece Brewery & Pizzeria (Chicago)
34. Pizzetta 211 (San Francisco)
35. Beretta (San Francisco)
36. Pizzamaniac (Vista, CA)
37. The Goat & Vine (Temecula, CA)
38. Paulie Gee's (New York)
39. Little Deli & Pizzeria (Austin)
40. Zero Zero (San Francisco)
41. Lucali (New York)
42. Colosseum New York Pizza (Milpitas, CA)
43. L&B Spumoni Gardens (New York)
44. Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana (Henderson, NV)
45. Matchbox (Washington, D.C.)
46. Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana (Fullerton, CA)
47. Baonecci Ristorante (San Francisco)
48. Di Fara (New York)
49. Antico Pizza (Atlanta)
50. Uncle Tony's Pizzeria (North Hollywood, CA)