The world’s best Neapolitan pizzeria, according to the experts at the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) can’t be found this year in Naples or even in Italy. Instead, the AVPN tipped its collective chef hat to Jędrzej and Lilianna Lewandwoski, owners of Zielona Górka in Pabaianice, a small city in Poland.
Every year the AVPN asks its members, including 1,100 pizza makers from around 50 countries, to vote for the Best AVPN Pizzeria. To wrap up 2024, the voting process took place from November 22 through December 5, with Zielona Górka earning top honors.
Last year’s award went to a restaurant outside of Italy as well—Leggera Pizza Napoletana in Brazil.
Zielona Górka will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, according to TVP World. The husband-and-wife team behind the restaurant are both former architects who reportedly started out making pizzas in their garage. “I never, ever expected to be given such an award,” Jędrzej Lewandowski told the Polish news media. “It’s great publicity for the restaurant, which I run with my wife, but also a great boost for Pabianice and the area.”
The AVPN award is just the latest honor for Zielona Górka over the past year. The restaurant also made 50 Top Pizza’s list of Europe’s best pizzerias for 2024, ranking in the No. 20 spot, and finished at No. 97 in 50 Top Pizza’s ranking of the best on the planet.
“Success in the world’s rankings has made us a household name,” Lewandowski said. “We get clients from all over Poland and from abroad. Recently we had an American customer from New York. He lived in Krakow but came to Pabianice on the train twice to eat our pizza. That is why I feel such great responsibility for what we do.”
Zielona Górka’s pierogi, a quintessential Polish dumpling, has some high-value fans, too, including Taylor Swift’s entourage, TVP World reports.
