The 5 Best Pizzas I Ate In 2024

Every year I look forward to counting down my five favorite pizzas from the past 12 months. I started this annual recap back in 2013 (that year, pies from Pizza Brain, Colony Grill, Table 87, Micucci Grocery, and Luna D’Autunno — a pizzeria in Vietnam!) made the cut. Since then, top accolades have gone to Pizzeria Pico (2014), The Parlor (2015), Westwind Orchard (2016), Pie For The People (2017), Mama’s Too (2018), La Morra Pizzeria (2019), Pizza Rita (2020), Kingston Standard Brewing (2021), Testo (2022), and JBGB (2023).

The most fascinating insight about this list is that only once in the past 11 years was the best pizza I had in New York City (Mama’s Too in 2018). The #1 slot went to pizza places in California three times and the Hudson Valley three times. I’ve always been a strong believer that New York City has the best pizza. After all, it’s where I’ve lived for the last 22 years. But maybe the data proves otherwise?

Did a New York City spot top my 2024 list? You’ll find out momentarily. Let’s go!

5) RAMP IT UP
Bad Larry’s
Brooklyn, NY

I’m a sucker for ramp pizza — what can I say? Ramp pies have frequented these lists over the years (most recently courtesy of Wizard Hat in 2022). Bad Larry’s is an NYC-based pizza pop-up that frequently slings pies out of the original Other Half Brewery. I swung by in mid-May specifically to try this pie and it did not disappoint. It featured cultured garlic cream (I love a garlic cream with sophisticated interests!), fresh mozz, boursin, roasted garlic oil, fennel pollen, and ramps. Like many ramp pies — it could have used more ramps. But nevertheless, was delicious enough to make the list.

4) PAN PIZZA
Pequod’s
Chicago, IL

I don’t love deep dish pizza. But I do believe that this is about as tasty as deep dish pizza gets. So for the first time in eleven years, I’m including a deep dish (well, technically a “pan pie” on this list). I’d been to Pequod’s once before back in 2011. And I wouldn’t classify it as a particularly memorable experience. But over the past decades Chicagoans and visitors to Chicago have consistently rated this as one of the best — if not the best — deep dish pizza in the city. So after 13 years I returned to the scene of the crime to give it another shot. And it hit the spot. I don’t believe you can really compare deep dish pizza to other styles of pizza. But in the “deep dish” category, it doesn’t get more satisfying than this.

3) YEARLY TRADITION
Nowon
Brooklyn, NY

By far the “funkiest” pizza I had this year, Nowon is a Korean restaurant (with outposts in the East Village and Bushwick). They serve six pizzas with toppings that aren’t often found on pizza in the US — think gochu red sauce, roasted kimchi, and rice cakes. I’ve tried a handful of their pies over the years, but the Early Tradition (Pulled Brisket, Rice Cakes, Garlic, Egg, Toasted Seaweed) stood out to me as particularly unique and tasty. What a fun combination of ingredients!

2) ELOTE PIZZA
Mama’s Too
New York, NY

Mama’s Too is hands down one of my favorite pizza places. I eat there multiple times every year. And with the opening of its West Village outpost in 2024, their mouth watering slices are even more accessible. I’ve been eyeing their seasonal elote pie for years, but was never able to make it up to Morningside Heights to try it. But this August, I found myself in the West Village craving some pizza and swung by. Mama’s Too doesn’t offer many seasonal or rotating pies, but this appears each summer for good reason. This is not a light slice — it’s doused with roasted corn, cojita cheese, crema, guajillo, ancho, and chili piquin powder. And wow is it good.

1) CHEESE PIZZA
Shaner’s Pizza
Sarasota, FL

My favorite pie of the year is from a pizza spot in Sarasota, Florida that is run by a former Major League baseball player: Shane Rawley. While the restaurant is a shrine to baseball, the pizza was unexpectedly phenomenal. I’ve tried my fair share of bar/tavern style pies in recent years and this was genuinely delicious. It’s not on any “best of” lists. It hasn’t received any national press, as far as I can tell. But let it be known that this simple pie at Shaner’s Pizza was the best I had in 2024. Sorry, New York City.