Pizzerias recognized as the best in the U.S. by 50 Top Pizza are still rightly celebrating the honor, but a lesser-ballyhooed list from the Italian guide should not be overlooked.
Earlier this month 50 Top Pizza heaped accolades on an additional 33 independent pizza shops, singling them out as “Excellent Pizzerias.” The list spans the nation from Providence, Rhode Island, to Seattle and from Key West to Laredo, Texas.
Unlike the 50 Top Pizza USA 2025 guide that rated pizzerias from No. 1 through No. 50, the Excellent Pizzerias list doesn’t actually rank the restaurants. No matter: It’s safe to say making that list puts these pizzerias squarely in the country’s top 100—or, more accurately, top 83—and that’s worth bragging about.
Related: 50 Top Pizza: Mangieri Won’t Budge from No. 1, But New Entries Emerge in Ranking of Best U.S. Pizzerias
550 Pizzeria, owned by Laredo’s own Janet Zapata (a speaker at PMQ’s upcoming Pizza Power Forum in Atlanta), made the Excellent Pizzerias list for the second year in a row.
According to 50 Top Pizza, Zapata “has created her own world of pizza [rounds]. There are many fusion flavors for [pies] inspired by the soft and thin dough that she [calls] Laredough, dedicating it to Laredo—the city where she lit her sign….The very varied menu also includes tasty appetizers, salads, pasta dishes and stuffed calzones.”
It should be noted that Zapata has opened her second 550 Pizzeria location in Laredo’s Golondrina Food Park this week.
Some pizzerias on the list are long-running stalwarts, such as the famous and venerable John’s of Bleecker Street in New York (boasting a “dough that is firm to the bite and a well-cooked base” plus a “flavorful and well-balanced” sauce) and New Haven’s Modern Apizza, whose pies serve as “the ideal bridge between Italy and the U.S. as a symbol of identity.”
Laura Meyer’s Pizzeria Da Laura (Berkeley, California) also claimed a spot on the list alongside pizza legend Chris Bianco’s Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix) and Sarah Minnick’s Lovely’s Fifty Fifty (Portland).
The Neapolitan-inspired pizzas at San Francisco’s Flour + Water Pizzeria, co-owned by Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow, feature “carefully leavened dough, topped with fresh ingredients chosen with care and paired [in the] typical Italian tradition, although there are some creative fillings as well,” according to 50 Top Pizza. The menu is “inspired by the different Italian regions, from the North to the South, paired with influences from Northern California.”
Meanwhile, Mercurio’s in Pittsburgh “always [offers] a tasty and enjoyable slice,” and for guests at Roostica in Key West, 50 Top Pizza says, “Don’t miss the pizza with ricotta and meatballs and pair it with a good glass of red wine.”
As usual, large metro areas dominated 50 Top Pizza’s list, but one small-town shop made the cut—Righteous Slice in Rexburg, Idaho, owned by Bill Crawford. “His slices are tasty, made with good ingredients, and he is very proud to prepare and talk about them…during events where he shares his story and his pizza,” the guide notes.
Here’s the full list of 50 Top Pizza’s Excellent Pizzerias in the U.S. for 2025:
550 Pizzeria, Laredo, TX
Al Forno, Providence, RI
Apizza Schools, Portland, OR
Basil & Barley Pizzeria Napoletana, Colorado Springs, CO
Croccante Artisan Pizza, Napa, CA
Del Popolo, San Francisco, CA
Diavola, Indianapolis, IN
Flour + Water, San Francisco, CA
Gallucci, Chicago, IL
Grandma Bob’s Handmade Pizza, Detroit, MI
John’s of Bleecker Street, New York, NY
Lovely’s Fifty Fifty, Portland, OR
Lucali, New York, NY
Marco’s Coal Fired, Denver, CO
Mercurio’s, Pittsburgh, PA
Milkflower, New York, NY
Modern Apizza, New Haven, CT
Mother Pizzeria, Newport, RI
Pequod’s Pizza, Chicago, IL
PiAzzi, Frenchtown, NJ
Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix, AZ
Pizzeria Da Laura, Berkeley, CA
Pizzeria Vetri, Philadelphia, PA
POMO, Scottsdale, AZ
Porta, Jersey City, NJ
Righteous Slice, Rexburg, ID
Roostica, Key West, FL
San Matteo, New York, NY
Scottie’s Pizza Parlor, Portland, OR
Serious Pie, Seattle, WA
Song E Napule, New York, NY
Spacca Napoli Pizzeria, Chicago, IL
Spark Pizza, Redmond, WA
