If you’re looking for the world’s best pizza somewhere other than in Italy and the United States, Sao Paulo, Brazil, should probably be your next destination, according to 50 Top Pizza.
In its new list ranking the best pizzerias in Latin America for 2024, 50 Top Pizza, an esteemed guide to pizza excellence on every continent, hailed Sao Paulo as “one of the pizza capitals [of] the world.”
Not only has 50 Top Pizza named Leggera Pizza Napoletana, owned by André Guidon, the No. 1 pizzeria in Latin America, three other Sao Paulo restaurants finished in the guide’s top 10.
Related: How 50 Top Pizza selects the best pizzerias in the world
The guide, which skews heavily toward authentic Neapolitan pizza, conferred the No. 1 honor on Leggera Pizza Napoletana, with QT Pizza Bar, also in Sao Paulo, taking second place and that city’s A Pizza da Mooca coming in at No. 4.
Additionally, Unica Pizzeria took the No. 7 spot, making Sao Paulo the home of four of the top 10 Latin American pizzerias chosen by the Italian pizza experts.
Meanwhile, the No. 3 spot went to Ti Amo, a woman-owned pizzeria in Adrogué, Argentina. Alleria in Providencia, Chile, came in at No. 5; Ardente in Mexico City at No. 6; Imilla Alzada in La Paz, Bolivia, at No. 8; Ferro e Farinha in Rio De Janeiro at No. 9; and Atte. Pizzeria Napoletana in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at No. 10.
In its description of Leggera Pizza Napoletana, which has two locations in Sao Paulo, 50 Top Pizza praised Guidon’s “great passion” for “preparing exquisite pizzas with a soft and typically Neapolitan dough….The environment is simple and informal, [and] the menu selection is vast, almost like taking a stroll in Italy.”
The summary of Leggera’s menu continues: “Among the appetizers you will find Neapolitan meatballs, eggplant Parmigiana and small fried pizza. The pizza menu is divided between white and red, and there’s also the possibility of a calzone, filled with fresh ricotta and ham with plenty of pepper, just like in Naples.”
At no. 2, QT Pizza Bar, owned by Matheus Ramos, provides “a selection of very interesting pizzas, all with a nice, pronounced crust and the typical softness of Neapolitan pizza, served on a wooden board. You must try classics like the Margherita or [the white pizza] with Parmesan and gorgonzola.”
Third-ranked Ti Amo, owned by sisters Carola and Victoria Santoro, “has achieved sensational success with the public and critics over a short period of time,” 50 Top Pizza said. The two women started out making backyard pizzas before opening their restaurant in Adrogue, a neighborhood in metro Buenos Aires. “The pizza is in [the] contemporary Neapolitan style—soft and fragrant—and the dough is soft and bubbly. Excellent raw materials are used, and a lot of attention is paid to the baking process for every single pizza made. The classic Margherita is a must-try; it is just perfect.”
Ti Amo also claimed 50 Top Pizza’s Robo Award for Performance of the Year.
In addition to taking the No. 4 spot, A Pizza da Mooca received 50 Top Pizza’s Latteria Sorrentina Award for Pizza of the Year. That pizza, called the Sobrasada Pirineus, features tomato sauce, mozzarella fior di latte, red onions and sobrasada, a type of raw, cured sausage from Mallorca that’s made with ground pork, paprika, salt and other spices. The pizza is finished with crispy basil and honey.
Alleria, ranked at No. 5, was also honored for offering the best dessert list. “The authentically Italian menu focuses on the Neapolitan-style pizza created by Michele Puzio,” according to 50 Top Pizza. “The thinly rolled disk is made with light dough that is carefully leavened. The raw materials and condiments enrich the classic pizzas, the house specialties, the stuffed calzones and the many…tasty and balanced specialties and ingredients from the tricolor culture….Some of the starters feature the best of cured meats and cheeses, dry pasta and stuffed pasta, creamy risottos and delicious desserts, all accompanied by sodas that ‘speak’ Italian, and wines that are the expression of the best Italian wine production.”
Getting ranked No. 1 on 50 Top Pizza’s list for Latin America was just the most recent accolade for Guidon and Leggera Pizza Napoletana. The eatery also earned top honors in an Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) contest for Best AVPN Pizzeria last year. For that competition, held last December, more than 1,000 pizza chefs from around the world voted for their favorite pizza shop on the planet. Guidon was the first non-Italian to win the contest.
