London’s best restaurants for pizza

Had enough of the ubiquitous, doughy Neapolitan-style pizza that's taken London by storm over the past decade? Then get yourself to backstreet Hammersmith pub, The Chancellors. Here you'll find thin, stiff and perfectly rendered New York-style slices. Cooked up by Carl McCluskey inside his grandma's boozer, these pizzas are worth the mission. Keep your eyes open too, for the occasional collab with the likes of pasta supremos Padella. 

Slinging NYC-style square ‘nonna’ pizza from the kitchen of Hackney cocktail bar You Call The Shots until the end of the year (following a super succesful residency at Forno bakery), Bing Bong Pizza offer up chunky and pleasingly crust-heavy pies. Want something a whole lot more substantial than the thin-crust alternatives currently doing the rounds? Come and eat here. Our favourite? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-tastic April O'Neil special; crown prince squash puree, fennel salami, salsa verde, hot honey and crispy sage. 

Earthy, unrefined and with heritage grain bases, veg-forward toppings and a promise to work with ethical providers and growers; Flat Earth do pizza a little differently. If you want to feel better about stuffing your face, this is the place to do it, with seasonal pizzas that'll make you feel all good inside. Sample the likes of a kimchi fiorentina with house-made kimchi, Somerset mozzarella and cheddar, Cacklebean eggs, beetroot crumb and tomato passata or vegan cauliflower, butter bean and tahini pizza. Angelic. 

Dough Hands is a roving pizza proposition currently in permanent residence at the always lively Spurstowe Arms by London Fields. The project of chef Hannah Drye, her mega New York-style pies are big and heartily topped behemoths, with brittle (in a good way) crispy crusts and a pleasingly oily array of toppings. If you don't like getting your fingers dirty, then Dough Hands isn't for you – red oil runs down your elbows, ready to stain shirts and shorts with little compassion. You'll let it though, because pizzas such as the Jode (tomato, mozzarella, n'duja, hot honey and stracciatella) are masterpieces. The garlic and herb dip is a must for any leftover crusts.

So, the head chef at Napoli on the Road got voted the literal best chef in the world. No, really. The world! And hey, the pizza really is very good, all light and fluffy crusts and fresh AF tomato sauce and delicious dollops of fior di latte, with some really out-there flavour combos too. The fritti are a must-order: get the frittatina (literally deep-fried cheesy bucatini) and the very good supplì. Add an aperol spritz, or one of the delicious wines on offer that the staff team hand-picked in Napoli. The best pizza in London? Probably not. But a serious contender? Certainly.

An atmospheric, noisy spot off Marylebone High Street, Alley Cats is an ideal place to indulge in those New York-style, crispy crackly pizzas that are way lighter than their comparatively doughy Neopolitan cousins. The menu’s short, but who needs choice when the standard offerings are so effective? There are seven styles of pie on offer, all served at a hunger-busting size of 14”, including a fantastic pizza take on the classic penne alla vodka that’s every bit as moreish and comforting as the dish that inspired it. If you are in the market for starters, both the candied bacon and sauce-slathered meatballs should not be missed. A great addition to London’s varied and ever-evolving pizza scene.

Five Points Brewing Co's Hackney home is also where you'll find some seriously good pizza. Ace Pizza's stonebaked pies owe their deliciousness to their cold fermented 'biga' sourdough starter, which means the dough and base remains crispy at the bottom as well as on the crust. They come as 12" individual pizzas, with local specials like the vegan Clapton Cowboy, topped with plant-based Texas 'beef', pink pickled onions and jalapenos. Add a chilli-honey drizzle to your pizza for an extra £1.50 or some rightfully addictive crack sauce for crust dipping purposes. 

If you're looking for deep dish in Soho, you've come to the right place. Japes does Chicago-style pizza – and these big sloppy beasts have come to steal your heart. They laugh in the face of a thin, crispy sourdough crust, and instead serve up seriously juicy pies with the most sensational cheese pull in town. We recommended ordering the pizzas ‘London style’, basically a Detroit/Chicago/grandma style mash-up. It was invented in this actual restaurant and is absolutely delicious. 

Detroit-style pizza is on the up in London – but which of the capital’s pizzerias will perfect it first? Ria’s in Notting Hill stylishly flicks its hat in the ring. Detroiter pizzas have a rep for being weighty on both the scales and the stomach – instead Ria’s are delicate and scrupulous, each bite meticulously measured to sink just the right amount, to crunch at exactly the right depth. The toppings are equally weighted, dollops of mozz, sweet caramelised onions and tangy lemon basil sauce all sitting atop airy crispness. Motor City flawlessly refined in the heart of west London.

Santa Maria has nailed the trifecta of peerless pizza: fresh ingredients, traditional methods, spectacular sourdough. The margherita at this Fitzrovia branch of the revered restaurant was practically perfect. Finding nowhere in London to match the pizza of their upbringing, Angelo Ambrosio and Pasquale Chionchio first set about recreating a slice of Naples in Ealing. There are also branches in Fulham and Islington as well as this Fitzrovia joint.

Yard Sale pizzas are served fresh from the oven in either 12" or 18" stone-baked sourdough rounds. Toppings range from classic margherita to the crowd-pleasing TSB with tenderstem broccoli, parmesan and pine nuts. They peddle gluten-free bases and fully vegan toppings too. There are 12 branches spread far and wide across London – from Clapton to Tottenham, and with the latest outposts in Hither Green and Tufnell Park – so you’re never too far from one of their sublime pies. 

The London outpost of the UK’s first vegan pizzeria (its other branches are in Brighton and Manchester), Purezza offers a range of plant-based toppings – from smoked tofu to beetroot carpaccio – on a Neapolitan-style sourdough base. Try the Parmigiana Party, topped with rich aubergine pieces and lightly smoked ‘mozzarella’, made from fermented brown rice milk. 

Another one of our prefered alternatives to the dominance of Naples-style pizza is squidgy, cake-like square pie that is Detroit-style pizza. With two locations in London – Spitalfields and Upper Street in Islington – Detroit Pizza cook their creations in steel pans to give it a soft but crunchy and deep crust. Eat it or use it as a pillow - the choice is yours. Their marinara too, is something special. Try their house special, the Detroit, made with pepperoni, jalapeño, honey, parsley and parmesan. 

This rapidly expanding pizza chain does extremely tasty and light Neapolitan-style pies such as the vegan Agnello Vegana, which comes topped with extremely convincing plant-based lamb and garlic-roasted tenderstem broccoli. They also do all the classics (marinara, marghertia, capricciosa, calabrese etc) as well as regular specials and banging desserts. Don't forget to order chilli honey and nduja aioli for drizzling and dipping purposes and a potent rum baba for pud. The Shoreditch location joins outposts in Soho and on Tottenham Court Road, and there's a Spitalfields branch too. 

Sodo may look a little rough around the edges, but it’s really all about the pizza at this cheery branch of the mini-chain. Margheritas never have a lot to hide behind and our version was superb: the Neapolitan-style sourdough base (so-do, geddit?) was thin, crisp, delicious and impressively topped. Look out for ‘The Wicker Man’ (with ’nduja, mascarpone and pepperoni) and the ‘Jon Bon Chovy’, with tomato, mozzarella, anchovies and capers. Gluten-free options come on a base fashioned from butterbeans. There are branches in Hoxton, Bethnal Green, Deptford and Walthamstow. 

This small chain’s original restaurant in Neal’s Yard dishes out pizzas fresh from a wood-fired oven – and boy, are they big ’uns. Thankfully, most of these thin-crusted beauties are available by the slice – although you can order a whole 20-incher, enough to feed you and two of your pals. They’ll even let you have more than one choice from the topping selections if you ask nicely. Homeslice has other branches in Marylebone and the City, too.

This neighbourhood Neapolitan pizza joint in Peckham has a second branch in Fitzrovia. Come for the house pizza — the 081 — an expertly pimped up margarita, with a paper-thin base and thick, airy crust, topped with a generous helping of pillowy discs of juicy DOP mozzarella di bufala. The parmigiana pizza is a little more exciting, made with silky aubergine that's so brilliantly smokey you might mistake it for meat. If you frequent London’s many pizza spots, you’ll know by now that the crust dip is having a moment. 081’s pesto dip is a special one, sweet, tangy and herby. 

Four Hundred Rabbits in Nunhead is a restaurant that serves pizza and craft beer. So far, so Nunhead. The former is made with organic sourdough (thus chewy rather than brittle), while toppings are equal parts familiar and inventive – think chipotle-rolled goat’s cheese, rhubarb and piquillo peppers, or courgette with feta and pine-nut pesto. Also, snap up the banging specials, like the lamb mince, roasted cauliflower florets and pistachio dukkah. There are branches across south-east London, including West Norwood and Crystal Palace, too.

Bright blue colours set the tone in this Stokey pizzeria where the pizzas are gigantic and properly luscious. Vicoli di Napoli means ‘alleys of Naples’, which is where some say pizza was born – and the sisters who run this spot are doing a sterling job of keeping it alive and kicking. Mariana and margheritas are the house specials, but veer into the calzone and prosciutto e funghi section of the menu and you won’t be mad about it. Wash it down with some aperitivo. There’s even a Nutella pizza for pud – but we recommend the tasty tiramisu. 

Opened by Highbury locals Claudio Vescovo and Gianluca d’Angelo, Zia Lucia serves up an old-fashioned Italian family feast in a contemporary setting. Various 48-hour fermented doughs give the menu its USP: there’s a deliciously nutty wholemeal option, an impressive-looking vegetable charcoal one and even a gluten-free crust. Toppings are new classics (’nduja, aubergine, broccoli etc) and there’s also a vegan version involving butternut-squash cream. There are further branches across the capital, including Boxpark Wembley, Hammersmith, Stoke Newington, Balham and Chelsea.

A trendy street-food stall gone permanent, this cool pizza joint comes with a moody lick of paint and a stylish marble bar – although it’s all about the blistered Neapolitan-style specialities that are pulled out of the oven. Our top pick from a range of inventive toppings is the version strewn with merguez sausage (from Flock & Herd across the road), red onion, shredded cavolo nero and fior di latte – a Peckham classic in the making. 

An impeccably hip drop-in selling seriously delicious pizzas by the slice up to 22" New York-style whoppers. The hours are long, portions are gigantic and the menu is downright wacky. Try a ‘Giorgio Moroder’ or a ‘Hot Mix 5’, while for the veggies there's a ‘Vegan Queen’, with artichoke hearts, green olives, red onion, sun-blush tomatoes and green sauce. The OG branch is over in Dalston. 

Theo’s is similar to indie artisan setups such as Franco Manca, dishing up Neapolitan-style sourdough pizzas and very little else. But this joint has made itself the crown pie-prince of Camberwell, with crusts that are soft and chewy on top and crisp underneath. Additions include datterini tomatoes, chestnut mushrooms, anchovies and pork in various guises – and they come piled high. There is also a branch in Elephant & Castle.