A New Ranking Claims That 2 Of America's Top 3 Pizzerias Are In This State — And It's Not New York

There's an ongoing rivalry between New York City and Chicago about who has the better pizza — surprisingly, though, it appears that California has become a strong competitor in the American pizza scene. 50 Top Pizza has released its 2025 ranking of the best 50 pizza places in the U.S., with both the second and third places claimed by California pizzerias.

According to 50 Top Pizza, America's second-best pizzeria is Pizzeria Sei – the same pizzeria that tops Tasting Table's ranking of the 20 absolute best pizza places in Los Angeles. Pizzeria Sei prides itself on its intimate atmosphere and concise menu. It only offers eight different, Neapolitan-style pizzas. Not only is it recognized as one of the best in the U.S., but 50 Top Pizza also crowned it as the ninth-best pizzeria in the world in 2025.

Following Pizzeria Sei as the third best pizza place in the U.S. is Tony's Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco. The restaurant operates with a full bar, seven ovens, and a very expansive menu that offers pizzas baked in 12 different styles — including the regionally popular California-style pizza. All made with ingredients largely sourced from Italy, Tony's Pizza Napoletana also ranks as the 10th best pizzeria in the world in 2025. 

Despite California claiming the second and third best pizzerias in the country, New York City still has bragging rights. According to 50 Top Pizza, the best pizza in the U.S. is still made on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, at a restaurant called Una Pizza Napoletana. The restaurant also held the title as the best pizza in the world in 2024 and 2022, and tied with I Masanielli in Caserta, Italy as the best pizza worldwide in 2025. Despite its popularity, the pizzeria only has one location, keeping its operations on a small scale. This is reflected in the menu, which only offers six Neapolitan-style pizzas.

Anthony Mangieri is both the owner and the beating heart of the restaurant — he prepares the dough for the pizza every single morning and has done so for nearly three decades. If he can't make it to work, the pizzeria doesn't open. He founded the restaurant in 1996 and has kept its spirit intact ever since, even though the physical location has changed multiple times. In fact, Una Pizza Napoletana once resided in California, too. From 2010 to 2018 it was based in San Francisco before ultimately moving back to the East Coast. So, for a time, California did have the best pizza in the world.