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Every year I hope to count down my five favorite pizzas from the last 12 months. I started this annual review in 2013 (That year, urine pizza brain, Parrilla Colony, Table 87, Micucci Grocery Storeand Luna D’Autunno A pizzeria in Vietnam!) made the cut. Since then, the best braces have become Pico Pizzeria (2014), the living room (2015), West Wind Garden (2016), Cake for the people (2017), mom too (2018), Pizzeria La Morra (2019), Rita’s Pizza (2020), Kingston Standard Brewery (2021), Testo (2022), and JBGB (2023).
The most fascinating idea on this list is that only once in the last 11 years was it the best pizza I had in New York City (Mama’s Too in 2018). The number one spot went to pizzerias in California three times and in the Hudson Valley three times. I have always been a firm believer that New York City has the best pizza. After all, it is where I have lived for the past 22 years. But maybe the data shows otherwise?
Did a New York City location top my 2024 list? You will discover it momentarily. Come on!
5) INCREASE IT
bad larry
Brooklyn, New York
I’m a disaster pizza fan, what can I say? Ramp cakes have frequented these lists over the years (most recently, courtesy of Wizard hat in 2022). Bad Larry’s is a New York-based pizza pop-up that frequently features pies from the original Other Half Brewery. I stopped by mid-May specifically to try this cake and it did not disappoint. It included cultured garlic cream (I love a garlic cream with sophisticated interests!), fresh mozz, boursin, roasted garlic oil, fennel pollen, and ramps. Like many disaster pies, it could use more disasters. However, it was delicious enough to make the list.
4) BREAD PIZZA
Pequods
Chicago, Illinois
I don’t love deep dish pizza. But I do think this is just as tasty as deep dish pizza. So for the first time in eleven years, I’m including a deep dish (well, technically a “bread loaf” on this list). I had already been to Pequod’s once in 2011. And I wouldn’t classify it as a particularly memorable experience. But over the past few decades, Chicagoans and visitors to Chicago have consistently rated it as one of the best, if not he The best deep dish pizza in town. So after 13 years, I returned to the crime scene to give it another chance. And it hit the nail on the head. I don’t think you can really compare deep dish pizza to other styles of pizza. But in the “deep dish” category, it doesn’t get much more satisfying than this.
3) ANNUAL TRADITION
Now
Brooklyn, New York
Nowon, by far the “funkiest” pizza I’ve had this year, is a Korean restaurant (with outposts in the East Village and Bushwick). They serve six pizzas with toppings not typically found on U.S. pizzas: think gochu red sauce, roasted kimchi, and rice cakes. I’ve tried a handful of their cakes over the years, but the early tradition (shredded brisket, rice cakes, garlic, egg, toasted seaweed) stood out to me as being particularly unique and tasty. What a fun combination of ingredients!
2) CORN PIZZA
mom too
New York, New York
Mama’s Too is without a doubt one of my favorite pizzerias. I eat there several times a year. And with their West Village outpost opening in 2024, their delicious portions are even more accessible. I’ve been eyeing their seasonal corn pie for years, but never got around to Morningside Heights to try it. But this August, I found myself in the West Village craving some pizza and stopping by. Mama’s Too doesn’t offer many seasonal or rotating pies, but this one shows up every summer for good reason. This is no light slice: it’s sprinkled with toasted corn, cojita cheese, cream, guajillo, ancho, and piquín chili powder. And boy, is it good.
1) CHEESE PIZZA
Shaner Pizza
Sarasota, Florida, USA
My favorite pie of the year is from a pizzeria in Sarasota, Florida, run by a former Major League baseball player: Shane Rawley. While the restaurant is a baseball shrine, the pizza was unexpectedly phenomenal. I’ve had my fair share of bar/tavern style cakes over the last few years and they were really delicious. It’s not on any “best of” lists. As far as I know, it hasn’t received any national press. But let it be known that this simple pie at Shaner’s Pizza was the best I had in 2024. Sorry, New York City.
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