The Absolute Best Pizza In Portland, Ranked
Portland, Oregon, has a pretty vibrant food scene — one that WalletHub recognized when it named the City of Roses as the number one "foodie city" in America in 2022. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that the area is also one of the best pizza cities in America. One of the things that makes Portland's pizza scene unique is that it lacks a regional specialty. As far as we know, there isn't any such thing as a Portland-style pizza or even an Oregon- or Pacific Northwest-style pizza. Instead, Portland pizzaiolos showcase the best styles from around the world. And since Portlanders like to support locals, many chefs are inspired by local farms and utilize seasonal ingredients to make their pizzas.
Narrowing down the multitude of great pizza joints into 20 top options wasn't easy, and we're sure we've missed your favorite spot. We wanted to include a range of pizza types on this list so there's truly something for everyone. From artisanal wood-fired Neapolitan and foldable New York slices to New Haven, Chicago deep dish, Detroit pan pizza, and everything in between.
20. Reeva
You're in for a pleasant surprise if you're not expecting to get fantastic pizza from a food cart because that's exactly what you'll get from Reeva. This tiny pizza oven pumps out some of the best Neapolitan pizza in Portland, a pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven that's so hot that pizzas finish cooking in a mere 90 seconds.
You can certainly go the traditional route here by ordering a margherita or a pepperoni pizza, but we recommend ordering the restaurant's unique "pizzaleada." This pie is a unique take on a baleada, a traditional Honduran dish made of folded flour tortilla around refried beans and cheese. The thin, Neapolitan-style dough folds perfectly around the beans, cheese, and poblano sour cream, and the chewy dough perfectly mimics a tortilla. Don't be afraid to add chorizo, jalapeños, or (our favorite) an egg to the dish. You've definitely never had a pizza like this!
19. Baby Doll Pizza
Baby Doll Pizza is located right down the street from Ken's Artisan Pizza in Southeast Portland, but the two joints couldn't be more different. Baby Doll focuses on New York-style pizzas with a thin crust that's soft enough to be foldable but satisfyingly crispy. The whole pizzas are a massive 18 inches, so you might want to go with a slice if you're not interested in having leftovers for days. That's also helpful if you can't decide between thin crust and the Sicilian-style square pie the restaurant calls "Nonna Pie."
You really can't go wrong with anything on the menu because the restaurant makes its tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella from scratch here. We especially love pies featuring sausage (also made in-house), like the #10, a pizza with sausage, caramelized onions, and garlic.
18. Pizza Kat
We love sourdough bread — a naturally-leavened dough that utilizes a starter instead of commercial yeast — so we're always thrilled when restaurants use the same method to make pizza. We found that at Pizza Kat, where the slow-fermented crust develops an incredible flavor that's pretty hard to beat.
There are plenty of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options here, along with a rotation of special, one-off pizzas using local, seasonal ingredients. While it might sound basic, our favorite pizza is the pepperoni. The cup-and-char pepperoni used here is smaller than what's traditional, so you get a perfect mouthful with every bite. These simple-sized bits also crisp up as the pizza cooks, and they're spicier than most pepperoni, so get ready for a pizza with a little kick.
17. Pinky's Pizza
Pinky's Pizza is primarily a whiskey bar that happens to serve pizza. That might not sound like a shining endorsement, but it's how owner Celeste Kiester described the business to KOIN. When the news organization informed her that the restaurant made Yelp's 2022 list of the top 100 places for pizza in the United States, she wasn't even aware!
This pizza place (ahem, whisky bar) has a bit of a cult following because the pizza pairs perfectly with strong cocktails. The dough is cold fermented for 5 to 7 days, and the toppings are generous. Pinky's is also willing to do half-and-half pizzas, which is good because there are too many tasty options to choose from. We love the ones with interesting topping choices like taleggio cheese, preserved lemons, and figs.
16. Secret Pizza Society
This Montavilla pizza joint isn't exactly a secret — especially for plant-based eaters because this location is serving up some of the best vegan pizza in Portland. Most restaurants in Portland offer vegan modifications, but Secret Pizza Society's menu is 100% meat and dairy free. And the pizza here is so good that omnivores won't have anything to complain about.
The crust here has a unique buttery flavor, which is ironic because it contains no butter. It holds up perfectly to the vast array of toppings loaded onto the pie with reckless abandon. The Chalupa Batman is a local favorite, featuring taco ingredients like seasoned tofu crumbles, chipotle pesto, and fresh tomatoes drizzled with chipotle crema. For a truly unique experience, order the Pyro, a hybrid pizza-gyro made by folding the pizza crust in half.
15. Pizza Jerk
Pizza Jerk's website looks like a 1990s Geocities-hosted site designed by a teen, with an outer space theme and a pizza slice as the cursor. After visiting this community-driven restaurant with its family-friendly vibe, you'll begin to understand that it doesn't mean the website is a joke; it really embodies the restaurant's personality.
The establishment certainly takes its pizza seriously, though. The New Haven-style pies are speckled with char around the crust (we assure you that your pizza is not burnt — this is intentional). Despite its appearance, the crust is perfectly chewy, and it gets even better when it's dunked into a side of house-made truffle ranch. Every pizza is available as an 18-inch thin crust or 12-inch thick pan crust prepared in a cast-iron skillet.
14. The Star
A trip to Portland isn't complete without a visit to the Pearl District, the area in downtown Portland which is home to the famously massive Powell's City of Books. That makes The Star well-suited as a destination for tourists, but it's equally revered by locals (especially when family comes to visit, as the roomy interior is gorgeous and worth showing off).
The menu offers three types of pizza: thin crust, Detroit-style, and deep dish. We think the restaurant's Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas are where it shines. The cornmeal-speckled crust is buttery and rich, with perfectly crispy edges and a satisfying flavor on its own. Loaded up with cheese and topped with a perfectly tangy tomato sauce, this pizza is quite filling. Luckily, The Star offers a personal-sized option during lunch.
13. Society Pie
Society Pie is the story of a husband-and-wife team who ditched their corporate jobs to follow a pizza dream and bring quality za' to Beaverton and Hillsboro. But if you don't venture out to the suburbs, you may not have heard of Society Pie until 2023, when the restaurant became part of the concessions at Providence Park (home to the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns soccer teams).
This pizza doesn't exactly fit into a style category, but the dough is soft enough to be foldable, and eats with a satisfyingly airy chew. The sauce is a highlight, made from 100% Stanislaus tomatoes. To truly taste the ingredients, opt for the simple but delicious Big Parm, featuring red sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and plenty of shaved Parmesan cheese.
12. Cicoria Pizzeria
If you've been around the Portland food scene for a while, you'll recognize the name Ava Gene's. Originally owned by Stumptown Coffee founder Duane Sorenson, the restaurant was sold to chef Joshua McFadden of the restaurant group Submarine Hospitality in 2016. The group has since opened acclaimed restaurants like Tusk, The Woodsman Tavern, and — most recently — Cicoria Pizzeria.
This SE Division pizzeria serves "party cut pizza" inspired by the owner's childhood experience of Midwest square-cut (or tavern-cut) pizzas. Unlike the pizzas made during our childhood, though, this pizza is made with sourdough crust, local ingredients, and hand-pulled mozzarella made in-house. The specific cut on these thin, crispy, cracker-like crust pizzas makes them perfect for sharing, ensuring that there's plenty to go around the table.
11. Life of Pie
Nestled amongst a number of good restaurants on North Williams Avenue is Life of Pie, a wood-fired pizzeria with one of the best happy hours in town. Where else can you find a $7 pizza these days? It's no wonder the line starts to creep out the door as the 6 p.m. conclusion draws near!
The pizzas here are judiciously created, featuring the perfect sauce-to-cheese-to-toppings ratios. The dough keeps its shape instead of flopping over like an overloaded slice, and each pie has ample crust space that's kissed lightly by the oven's open flames. To give a little kick, add Mama Lil's peppers to your pizza: oil-packed, spicy peppers made by a Portland company that sources its produce from Washington's Yakima Valley.
10. Cafe Olli
A wood-fired, brick hearth is at the forefront of Cafe Olli, visible in the open kitchen as soon as you walk through the doors. This employee-owned company is more than just a pizzeria, though: It's an all-day café that happens to make pizza. It uses the oven for baking eggs in the morning and cranking out crispy-edged pizzas in the afternoon.
The menu here is simple: There are only a handful of carefully crafted pizza options, including a pomodoro that celebrates tomato sauce (to which you should probably add stracciatella cheese because who doesn't love the insides of a ball of burrata?). We love Cafe Olli's local focus and attention to seasonality, and the menu changes as new local ingredients become available. For our money, we're loading up on the nettle and sausage pizza with grits while spring nettles are still available!
9. Apizza Scholls
It's possible you might not be able to get pizza from Apizza Scholls. The establishment is open daily until sold out, so you'll want to get there early before the shop is out of pizza dough (especially on weekends). What makes this pizzeria so popular is its no-nonsense approach to a new style of Neopolitan pizza that uses an electric oven instead of wood to provide even cooking and consistent temperatures.
You can choose from the list of fantastic pizza combinations or build your own, but the menu has strict rules about how to do so. "No more than three (3) ingredients per pie, including no more than two (2) meats per pie," it reads (via Apizza Scholls). The idea is that too many toppings weigh down the crust and can make it soggy.
8. Ranch Pizza
If you're looking for a classic, round pizza, keep moving past Ranch Pizza. The only pies you'll find here are square pizzas. Whether you call them Sicilian-style, Detroit-style, or Nonna-style, these pan-baked pizzas are topped with cheese first and sauce second, allowing the cheese to bubble around the edges. That results in a fried-cheese effect on the crust.
The thing that makes this establishment special is how it pairs its pizza with (you called it) ranch dressing. Some pizza places turn their nose down to dipping the crust in this rich, creamy concoction, but Ranch Pizza encourages it. You can pour this homemade dressing on top of the pizza or use it as a dip, but you definitely want to make sure you incorporate it in some way into the entire pizza-eating experience.
7. Pizzeria Otto
There are a lot of Neapolitan-style pizzerias in Portland, and most of them produce crispy-crusted pizzas. One of the things we love most about Pizzeria Otto is that its Neapolitan-style pizzas turn out a little floppy. They still have those characteristic char marks on the edges, but the dough is soft and pillowy in the perfect way.
All the standard pizzas are phenomenal, but we always keep an eye out for the specials. These pies feature seasonal ingredients like local asparagus, honey-glazed carrots, arugula pesto, or delicata squash puree. They're always carefully composed, so the flavors speak to the season. If you're in the mood for something sweet, Otto also offers a dessert pizza with Nutella, ricotta cheese, honey, powdered sugar, and cocoa.
6. Dove Vivi
It's hard to describe Dove Vivi's pizzas. It's made in a pan like a Chicago deep dish pizza, but the crust is in its own category: Buttery like pie crust but savory like a galette and characterized by a crisp texture and cornmeal flavor. It's not necessarily what you think of as pizza dough, but it's absolutely something you'll want to eat again and again.
If you're concerned with where your food comes from, Dove Vivi has you covered. The cornmeal is 100% organic, sourced from Oregon and California, and stone-ground in Portland. The toppings are also local, and many are made from scratch (including curing its own pancetta and bacon). In addition to the traditional offerings, there are two vegan pizzas (and the Corn Cashew pizza is good enough to be loved by vegans and omnivores alike).
5. Lovely's Fifty Fifty
Anyone who watched Netflix's 2022 "Chef's Table: Pizza" knows about Sarah Minnick, the owner of Lovely's Fifty Fifty. Long before the show aired, Lovely's had already established itself as one of Portland's most iconic pizzerias for its chewy sourdough crust. This dough isn't just sourdough in the name; it has a notably tart, acidic, almost funky flavor that is impossible to replicate.
The dough isn't the only thing to love here. The restaurant sources its produce exclusively from Oregon farms. That means the menu is ever-changing, so you don't fall in love with any particular pizza! You'll find pizzas featuring nettles and black trumpet mushrooms in the spring, corn, and cherry tomatoes in the summer, chanterelle mushrooms and kohlrabi in the fall, and potatoes and kale in the winter.
4. Scottie's Pizza Parlor
A visit to Scottie's Pizza Parlor is especially well-suited if you can't decide between a round or square pie. Both types are made with a naturally-leavened dough made from Pacific Northwest-grown wheat, and they turn out lightly crispy after being baked in the restaurant's super hot electric deck oven.
All the pies are incredible, but we can't get enough of the Defino, the square pizza made with fresh and aged mozzarella, tomato sauce, and oregano. When it comes out of the oven, it's finished with a dusting of Pecorino cheese, fresh basil, and garlic oil. Go early before this pizza sells out: The dough must be pressed into the pan and proofed for hours before cooking, so the restaurant can only make so many daily.
3. Pizza Thief
Those of us who grew up on New York-style slices will argue that this is the best (or perhaps, the only) pizza. Pizza Thief is for these eaters, but it's also for anyone who loves a pizza that can't quite be categorized. While the restaurant is making New York-style pizza, it uses a sourdough crust with a noticeable tangy, bright acidity that's unlike any floppy slice you've ever had.
There are so many fantastic pies here. The pepperoni is classic, but the Hot Tony (featuring Calabrian chilis, piquillo peppers, and jalapeños) is perfect when you want a little heat in your life. Of course, you can't go wrong with homemade meatballs or a pizza loaded with creamy sauce and mushrooms.
2. Dimo's Apizza
If you're the type that might complain that your crust is burnt if you see a few black spots, you'll want to avoid this New Haven-style pizzeria at all costs. We've received pizzas there that were almost entirely black around the edges, and we ate every bite (and licked our fingers clean). Why? Because that's how Dimo's Apizza is supposed to turn out. The oven here is extremely hot, and the pizza cooks up in a flash.
The crust is almost cracker-like crunchy, and the tomato sauce is delightfully tart. Our favorite pizza here doesn't have any of that incredible tomato sauce, though. It's called the Tribute, and it honors clams by presenting them in three ways: wood-roasted clam meat, clam aioli, and clam liquor. Toss that together with a little garlic, chili flakes, Grana Padano, and lemon, and you have one special (and killer) pie.
1. Ken's Artisan
When Big7 Travel names a pizza restaurant the number two pizzeria in the world (let that sink in for a minute — in the world), it's an obvious contender for our top pick on this list. But accolades aside, Ken's Artisan Pizza earns its top spot by merit alone. Its 12-inch, wood-fired pizzas are delicious, and they feature some of the best hand-stretched mozzarella we've ever had.
The crust is a perfect blend between the Pacific Northwest's love for sourdough and a traditional Neapolitan yeasted dough. Each pizza comes out perfectly speckled with char from the open flame, and the toppings are craftily chosen to accentuate the dough and sauce. Nothing is too over the top here, but it's not so subtle that you won't leave craving more.