Pizza has always been one of the world’s simplest foods: dough, tomatoes and cheese. But as simple as it is, it is just as delicious. Pizza cuts across age, class and gender. It can be the answer to a late-night craving, the centerpiece of a Shabbat family ritual, a quick lunch or a culinary destination for a date over a glass of wine.
What was once considered fast food has entered a new, serious and almost scientific playing field, where even flour is no longer just flour, but a crucial choice: white Italian, whole local, high-protein or full of character.
On this list, you’ll find boutique pizzerias with modest menus, places that spend two or three days working on the dough before baking, pizzerias loaded with decadent toppings and others that change toppings with the seasons. If they all have one thing in common, it is the perfect bite, because good pizza cannot be faked.
Pizza Fresca
One of Israel’s most talked-about pizzerias, Pizza Fresca made the prestigious 50 Top Pizza list for Asia-Pacific. It serves personal pizzas made from dough that undergoes a long fermentation of more than 70 hours. The menu includes carbonara pizza, four-cheese pizza, wine and beer.
Kibbutz Afikim
Pizza Siciliano
A Galilee pizza bar in a commercial area, combining pizza with a casual night out. The menu features personal and family-size pizzas with standard but generous toppings. The beer menu is relatively large for a pizzeria, and the whole place has the pace of a neighborhood bar.
46 Derech HaGalil, Rosh Pina
Neopolitan
A boutique Neapolitan-style pizzeria beloved by critics and foodies, some of whom would swear on the Italian flag that it is the best in the country. The dough is soft and airy, the ingredients are seasonal, and the pizza is not overloaded. An excellent informal pizza bar.
37 Hanamal St., Haifa
Pizza Halalit
A bold new pizzeria inside Haifa’s Talpiot Market that has quickly become a destination. The dough can handle daring toppings and unusual flavor combinations: citrus peels, seasonal vegetables and about 10 rotating combinations, such as grapes and rosemary or celery and bacon. If you’re lucky, cherry cake will be on the menu.
12 Sirkin St., Haifa
Casa Mia
A steady, veteran institution operating near the pedestrian mall since the 1980s. The menu also includes an impressive pasta selection, but the pizza is the reason to come. The toppings are anything but ordinary, ranging from shrimp and calamari or pineapple and ham to artichoke and pepperoni.
10 Herzl St., Netanya
Shabtai Pizza & Beer
This is not a chef-driven pizzeria but a lively neighborhood spot with several regular pizzas, rotating specials and toppings that pair well with beer. The menu is short, and the beer is serious.
1 Rimon St., Even Yehuda; Derech Ha’i, Kfar Vitkin; 9 Tarshish St., Caesarea
Forrina
No flashy menu or trendy design here, just a classic Neapolitan pizzeria on a small street, with a beautiful Italian stone oven and a special atmosphere. The menu includes a sweet potato spread pizza and a white mushroom pizza. The tomato sauce is balanced, the mozzarella is high quality, and the whole bite feels like something you would want to eat every day. Arancini, focaccia and salads are also available.
33 Hamoshav St., Pardes Hanna
Roberta Vinci
Chef Ido Feiner’s pizzeria in Karkur is really a small Italian restaurant. The menu features rotating seasonal specials alongside broccoli pizza, pizza bianca, potato and fried egg pizza and pepperoni pizza. There are also pastas, salads, and vegan dishes. The price of the pizza also buys you cosmic quiet and plenty of green scenery.
43 Ahuza St., Pardes Hanna
Dolce
A respected Neapolitan pizzeria located in an industrial zone. The dough, with the puffy edges typical of the style, undergoes a 48-hour fermentation. The menu includes classics alongside original pizzas with plenty of toppings, plus appetizers and pastas. A safe bet.
1 Hamasger St., Ra’anana
Pizza Papano
A glatt kosher neighborhood pizzeria. The menu features airy-dough pizzas with tomato sauce, as well as cream-sauce pizzas: truffle, sabich, artichoke, Alfredo, Tunisian and even pickled herring pizza.
39 Derech Eretz, Harish
Har Sinai
The most popular pizza in Tel Aviv, recently joined by a location at Big Glilot shopping mall, comes with the city’s longest line. But once you get inside and the aroma from the ovens hits, you forget everything. There are not many toppings. The pizza is thin and minimalist, but the bite is terrific.
55 Nahalat Binyamin St., Tel Aviv; Big Glilot complex
Teder
Eyal Shani’s pizza at the Teder complex has thin dough, large slices and excellent flavor. It is self-service, with an atmosphere unlike anywhere else. If the vibe is not for you, grab the box and head to HaMesila Park for some sun.
Beit Romano, Tel Aviv
Brooklyn
An excellent pizzeria known for thin dough, many toppings, fast counter service and constant foot traffic. The menu includes pizza bianca with cheeses and mushrooms, spicy pineapple pizza, artichoke and zucchini pizza, bacon or ham pizza and a long list of vegan options.
88 King George St., 276 Dizengoff St., 45 Yehuda Halevi St., Tel Aviv
HaPizza
A bustling 20-year-old institution on the way to the beach. It is essentially a pizza restaurant, and everyone comes for the pizza, though the menu also includes pasta and salad. The dough is crispy and loaded with toppings.
51 Bograshov St., Tel Aviv
Zutt
A relatively new pizzeria on the lower level of the Link Hotel in Tel Aviv. It serves thin, handmade Neapolitan pizza made from Italian flours and dough fermented for 72 hours, with generous toppings. The menu includes margherita, anchovy, chili and honey, leek and Bûche cheese and gorgonzola with rosemary. Perfect for a quick meal, including a family meal with kids. Alongside the pizza: appetizers, desserts, 1980s arcade machines and a pool table.
39 Shaul Hamelech Blvd., Tel Aviv
Pizza Habayta
A handmade Neapolitan pizza that began as a food truck in the Gaza border area and moved to Ramat HaSharon after the outbreak of the war. The menu includes burrata pizza, artichoke pizza and an “upside-down” pizza with the sauce on top of the cheese. A second, more upscale location recently opened in Hod Hasharon.
106 Shivtei Israel St., Ramat Hasharon; 1 Hanagar St., Hod Hasharon
Lila
A late-night pizzeria that is fun to stumble upon in the middle of the night. It began in Tel Aviv Levinsky Market and expanded to Ramat Hasharon. The pizza is relatively thin but sturdy, and the menu is small but precise. Open until late-night hours, it is a perfect bite to end the day.
4 Merhavia St., Tel Aviv; 79 Sokolov St., Ramat Hasharon
La Tigre
Amid the rough-edged surroundings of Florentin, this pizzeria creates a bubble of precision. It is a real restaurant, not a grab-and-go spot, and the Neapolitan language is clear: puffy edges, a soft, flexible center and carefully built toppings.
6 Yedidia Frenkel St., Tel Aviv
Artzieli
A boutique pizzeria with an interesting interpretation and local products. It serves rectangular Roman-style pizza with thick, crisp dough. Options include burrata, tuna and anchovy. Boutique beers and Israeli wines add to the atmosphere. Its second branch is at the Ono Academic College campus in Kiryat Ono.
7 Malkhei Israel St., Tel Aviv; 5 Naomi Shemer St., Kiryat Ono
Kruzo
A nearly 20-year-old pizzeria with thin dough and surprising toppings. The menu includes goose breast pizza, mortadella pizza, bacon and salami pizza, bacon and mushroom pizza, and shrimp and calamari pizza. Ask for the garlic sauce.
1 Rivka Kaminsky St., Petah Tikva
Pizza X
The pizzeria that began in a Modi'in apartment during the COVID pandemic has grown into an electric five-branch chain, including two locations in Tel Aviv. The dough is carefully made, and the toppings are decadent and unexpected. For anyone ready for an adventure.
76 Emek Hahula St., Modi'in
La Piedra
The dough undergoes a long fermentation, is baked at a high temperature, has a crunchy bottom crust and holds steady from first bite to last. The pizzeria made the 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific list, putting it on the global pizza map. A pizzeria aiming high.
1 Gershon Agron St., Jerusalem
Craft
This excellent pizzeria has four locations. It serves Neapolitan pizza baked in a stone oven, and although the menu also includes pastas and salads, the pizza is the star.
1 Shlomtsiyon Hamalka St., Jerusalem
Pizza 194
The pizzeria from pizzaiolo Raanan Nussel serves New York-style pizza with a crispy base and interesting toppings, including stracciatella, spinach and butter, aged veal, Philly cheesesteak, leek and lamb bacon, and mushroom pizza.
194 Ahad Ha’am St., corner of Yaakov St., Rehovot
Fabrica
A small Neapolitan pizzeria with a large selection that also includes starters and desserts. The pizzas are personal size, and the sourdough undergoes a long fermentation. The menu offers classics alongside specials such as burrata pizza and crème fraîche with potatoes.
203 Herzl St., Rehovot
Pizza JAJA
Crisp, airy dough. Toppings are priced separately, so diners can build what they like. Options include smoked onion and white wine pizza, and sweet potato flakes with spinach. The menu is classic Italian with Mediterranean inspiration.
86 Rothschild St., Rishon Lezion
Farino
A Neapolitan pizzeria in a commercial center in Ashdod’s Quarter A, with no seating at all, meaning you eat standing up, straight from the pizza box. The menu is small, the handmade sourdough is thin and airy, and the edges are thick. Alongside a classic margherita, you’ll find interesting combinations such as oregano and garlic confit, basil and corn, and leek with onion chips.
9 HaEshel St., Ashdod
Zot
Thick American-style pizza with stretchy cheese that tastes good and photographs well for Instagram. There is a range of toppings, including meat, and the pizza is served in wide slices with a sturdy crust.
1 Mafkura St., Ashdod
Caldo
A veteran, original neighborhood pizzeria with the feel of a food bar, located inside a residential neighborhood. The dough is thin, crunchy and sturdy enough to hold the toppings. Options include several kinds of onion, spicy eggplant and zucchini, pineapple and feta, white pizza with beets and Roquefort, plus anchovy or sardine pizzas. Beer and wine are also served.
47 Derech Masada, Be'er Sheva
Padre and Madre
A kosher Italian restaurant. The dough is balanced, not too thin and not too thick, with a good crust and golden edges. The atmosphere is family-friendly, and the house-made Italian gelato is recommended for dessert.
Peretz Center, Dimona
Fortuna Coolla Pizza
A pizza bar with music, drinks and a homey atmosphere. Here, pizza becomes an experience: The dough is treated seriously, baked in the oven, and topped with roasted vegetables, herbs and distinctive cheeses. The menu includes eggplant pizza, fig pizza and polenta pizza, as well as worthwhile starters, pastas and salads. Don’t skip the tiramisu.
15 Almogim St., Eilat