I have had the world’s best pizza many times. During my years living in New York City, I’ve lost count of the number of times people have assured me that the pizza slice I was about to eat was undeniably the world’s finest. I’ve devoured $1 slices in the rain on an empty stomach in the East Village and nearly tasted heaven. I’ve eaten fluffy, sauce-drenched slices at four in the morning on the streets of Florence, Italy. I still think the best pizza I’ve ever had came from the pizza place around the corner of my childhood home—though a slice at Joe’s Pizza near Union Square I once ate on a freezing night might be a close second.
All that is to say that the answer to the question of the world’s best pizza just might be a rather subjective one. Everyone has their favorites, of course, including some of our favorite celebrity chefs, restaurateurs, and lifestyle gurus. Read on to discover where Gordon Ramsay, Martha Stewart, Guy Fieri, and more food experts love to chow down on a slice of melted cheese on bread.
Guy Fieri – Pizza Lola, Minneapolis, MinnesotaAnthony Bourdain – Di Fara Pizza, Brooklyn, New YorkGordon Ramsay – Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix, ArizonaDuff Goldman – Gino’s East, Chicago, IllinoisWolfgang Puck – Spago, Beverly Hills, CaliforniaAlex Guarnaschelli – Razza Pizza Artigianale, Jersey City, New JerseyGuy Fieri – Pizza Lola, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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It’s hard to say where Guy Fieri’s exact favorite city to eat pizza is, as the man has tried—and praised—a lot of different slices in different cities. Yet one slice he ate in Minneapolis, Minnesota truly seemed to stop him in his tracks. That was a Korean-inspired pie served at Minneapolis’s Pizza Lola, which comes crowned with toppings including sausage, scallions, and kimchi, among other delights. “Of all joints we’ve tried, without question, this is way up there,” Fieri said in an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. “Just dynamite.”
Anthony Bourdain – Di Fara Pizza, Brooklyn, New York
Chef Anthony Bourdain has a drink at Tintol restaurant | New York Daily News Archive/GettyImages
Anthony Bourdain had a profound love for New York. The travel documentarian and chef traveled around the world seeking out great food and incredible stories, but he constantly praised New York—and, like many others, was particularly fond of its pizza. Out of all New York’s amazing pizza restaurants, Bourdain praised one above the others: Brooklyn’s Di Fara Pizza, which he called “the best of the best” in a 2005 interview with The Guardian.
Gordon Ramsay – Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix, Arizona
Gordon Ramsay on the “The Jennifer Hudson Show” Season 4 | Warner Bros. TV/GettyImages
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has eaten, and criticized, a lot of food. But he wasn’t shy about praising one particular pizza place: Pizzeria Bianco in Arizona, which was founded by Chris Bianco. “Chris’ pizzeria—they say it’s the best in America and one of the best pizzas in the world, and I can absolutely vouch for that,” Ramsay told Tasting Table. “It was brilliant.”
Ramsay has also expressed admiration for Connecticut’s pizza scene. In an episode of Hell’s Kitchen, he praised the state’s pizza and name-dropped some of the state’s most famous pizza places, including “Sally’s Apizza, Frank Pepe’s, and of course the iconic Mystic Pizza.” He went on to cite these establishments as examples of how to make “an incredible, elevated pizza.”
Duff Goldman – Gino’s East, Chicago, Illinois
Duff Goldman at the Critics Choice Real TV Awards | Variety/GettyImages
Chef and television personality Duff Goldman might specialize in pastries, but he loves a good slice—and his favorite can be found in Chicago, Illinois. According to Food Network, Goldman is a huge fan of the deep-dish pizza at Chicago’s Gino’s East, where he loves the meaty Sausage-Patty-Style Pizza.
Wolfgang Puck – Spago, Beverly Hills, California
Wolfgang Puck at the 98th Oscars Governors Ball Preview | Michael Buckner/GettyImages
Wolfgang Puck, a chef and restaurateur known for catering the Oscars’ Governors Ball and other major events, has cited one particular pizza as his favorite: his own. Puck’s preferred pizza is one of his signature dishes: a pizza topped with smoked salmon and caviar, which he began serving at his Beverly Hills restaurant Spago in 1982. “A smoked salmon pizza with caviar and a glass of champagne?” he told Yahoo: Life. “There’s nothing better than that.”
Alex Guarnaschelli – Razza Pizza Artigianale, Jersey City, New Jersey
Alex Guarnaschelli at the Grand Tasting Village Day 1 | Alexander Tamargo/GettyImages
Food network personality and chef Alex Guarnaschelli surprised some fans when she picked New Jersey over New York as her favorite place to grab a slice of pizza. Apparently, her very favorite spot in America for a slice is Jersey City’s Razza Pizza Artigianale, a spot run by chef Dan Richer. “It’s the whole thing. It’s everything that Dan is doing there,” Guarnaschelli said of why she loves this place so much. “He makes his own cultured butter. He makes his own bread. By the way, do not sleep on the desserts there. They are as good as the pizza.”
In terms of her own order, Guarnaschelli praised the spot’s margherita slices. “I’m a Margherita person because I think a Margherita is the test of a place,” she said. “It’s the benchmark, and I always have it and I love it.”
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