Best Pizza in Austin: 15 Spots Worth Your Time

If you ask five Austinites where to find the best pizza in Austin, you’ll get five different answers, and that’s kind of the point. This city never settled on one pizza identity the way New York or Chicago did, so what you get instead is a sprawling, genuinely exciting mix: wood-fired Neapolitan pies, thin New York-style slices, Detroit-style squares with crispy cheese edges, and a growing pack of New Haven-inspired spots. I spent several weekends working through this list slice by slice (someone had to), ordering the same style at different places back to back so I could actually compare crust, char, and sauce instead of just going on vibes.

The Best Pizza in Austin for Neapolitan Purists

Neapolitan pizza is defined by a thin, soft crust with a blistered, slightly charred edge (the cornicione), cooked in under two minutes in a wood-fired oven hot enough to melt glass. Done right, it’s soft and floppy in the middle, not crisp, and that’s exactly what you’re chasing at the top Neapolitan spots in town.

Bufalina in East Austin is the one most local food writers point to first, and for good reason. The margherita is classic, but the spicy red pie with double garlic and double parmesan is the one regulars order on repeat. There’s also a creamy white taleggio pie with sausage and scallions for anyone who wants to skip red sauce entirely. It’s a genuinely good wine bar too, so it works for a low-key date night as much as a casual dinner with friends. There’s a second location, Bufalina Due, farther north if East Austin isn’t convenient.

Pieous is worth the 30-minute drive out toward Dripping Springs if you’re already headed that way for a brewery day. The dough here gets a long fermentation, which shows up as a chewy, slightly sour bite under the char, and the menu offers more than a dozen pre-set topping combinations, from a straightforward margherita to pepper marmalade with roasted brussels sprouts.DeSano Pizzeria Napoletana leans more traditional, importing Italian ingredients and sticking closely to Neapolitan rules for dough and sauce, with a gluten-free crust option if you’re cooking around dietary restrictions. And if you’d rather eat outside next to a wood-fired oven bolted onto a food trailer, Side Eye Pie at Meanwhile Brewing in South Austin turns out blistered, floppy-centered pies that pair well with a flight of the brewery’s beer.

Best New York-Style Pizza in Austin

If you grew up on foldable, oversized slices, this is the category to start with. New York-style pizza uses a thinner, hand-tossed crust with a bit more chew than Neapolitan, and it’s built to be eaten by the slice.

Home Slice Pizza on South Congress is the closest thing Austin has to a pizza institution. It’s loud, it’s usually crowded on weekends, and the New York-style pies are stone-baked with local produce worked into the toppings. There’s a second location in North Loop that adds Sicilian pies to the menu, but the classic New York-style is still the move. It’s the spot I’d send a homesick New Yorker to first.

Allday Pizza in Hyde Park has become the buzzier newcomer, known for a slightly charred, chewy crust and a stracciatella pie finished with olive oil and fresh basil. Everything’s available by the slice, which makes it easy to order a few different toppings and compare notes with whoever you’re eating with. Pedroso’s Pizza, tucked into a tiny takeout counter that shares a wall with the year-round Christmas bar Lala’s Little Nugget, quietly does several styles well, including a New York pie with a properly thin and chewy crust, an American-style version with more sauce, and even a square-cut grandma-style pie for anyone who wants to try something different.

For something scrappier, Feral Pizza operates out of a trailer in North Loop with dough that ferments for nearly two days, which gives the crust real depth of flavor. The ultra-thin layer of tangy sauce is meant to complement the crust rather than overwhelm it, so don’t be surprised if the simplest tomato pie on the menu turns out to be the best thing you order. Little Deli & Pizzeria in Crestview rounds out this category with a Jersey-style pie: thin, foldable, and just crispy enough at the edges, best eaten at one of its outdoor picnic tables.

Detroit-Style and Beyond: Austin’s Square Pizza Scene

Detroit-style pizza is baked in a square pan, which gives you a thick, focaccia-like crust with crispy, caramelized cheese edges where the toppings meet the pan. Via 313 basically put this style on the map in Austin. Founded by brothers who grew up in the Detroit area, it’s now grown into a multi-location favorite, and the Detroiter, topped with two kinds of pepperoni, is the pie to order.

If you want an only-in-Austin twist, Toss Pizzeria & Pub’s brisket pizza pairs barbecue with pizza in a way that genuinely makes sense once you taste it, especially with the pulled pork or carnivore pie as a backup order for the table. And for a style you won’t find at many other stops on this list, Small’s Pizza serves New Haven-style pies at the Springdale General food court, with a thinner, crispier base than a typical New York slice, best ordered plain as a tomato pie or with anchovies and a sprinkle of pecorino. The sauce leans slightly sweet and tangy, with just enough garlic and oregano to keep every bite interesting, and you can also grab single slices if you’re working through lunch instead of sitting down for a full meal.

Brewery Pizza: Where to Grab a Pie and a Pint

Austin’s brewery-pizza pairing is strong enough to be its own category. Pinthouse Pizza built its reputation on hand-crafted pies that land somewhere between New York and Neapolitan, paired with genuinely well-regarded house beer. Jester King Brewery, out past Dripping Springs, ferments its dough with wild yeast from the property and tops pies with foraged, seasonal ingredients, so the pizza changes with what’s in season, and the pizza program follows the same spontaneous-fermentation philosophy as the beer itself. Oddwood Brewing in Mueller keeps things simpler with extra-thin, crackly bar pies meant to be shared over a flight of IPAs or saisons, and the cozy, wood-paneled interior with retro video games makes it one of the few brewery spots worth eating inside rather than taking your pizza to go.

What’s the Single Best Pizza Spot in Austin Right Now?

If you only have time for one stop, go with Bufalina for a sit-down Neapolitan experience or Home Slice if you want the classic, no-frills Austin pizza night. Bufalina consistently earns the highest ratings from local critics for its wood-fired pies and wine list, while Home Slice remains the most iconic, most-recommended spot for a big group or a first visit to the city.

Best Pizza in Austin for Gluten-Free and Vegan Diners

You don’t have to skip pizza night just because of dietary restrictions. DeSano Pizzeria Napoletana offers a dedicated gluten-free crust alongside its regular Neapolitan menu, and Southside Flying Pizza does the same with its hand-tossed pies. Home Slice added dairy-free and vegan pizza options across all of its locations, available by the slice or whole pie, so a mixed group with different diets can still order together. When in doubt, call ahead. Smaller trailers and food-truck spots don’t always have separate prep space for gluten-free orders, and it’s worth checking if cross-contact is a concern for you.

Where to Look by Neighborhood

If you’re trying to plan a night out around location rather than style, a few clusters make life easier. South Austin and South Congress cover Home Slice, Side Eye Pie, and Show Me Pizza, all within a short drive of each other, which makes for an easy pizza crawl if you’re feeding a big group with different preferences. East Austin has Bufalina and Feral Pizza’s home turf in North Loop nearby, both walkable to other East Side bars if you want to make a night of it. Out west toward the Hill Country, Pieous and Jester King sit close enough together that they’re often visited on the same trip. And if you’re downtown without a car, The Backspace near 5th and 6th Street keeps a wood-fired oven going late, which is genuinely useful after a night out.

What pizza style is Austin most known for?

Austin doesn’t have one signature style the way Chicago has deep-dish. Instead, it’s known for variety: strong Neapolitan and New York-style scenes, a thriving Detroit-style presence led by Via 313, and a wave of food-truck and brewery pizza that blends styles together.

What’s the most authentic Neapolitan pizza in Austin?

DeSano Pizzeria Napoletana and Bufalina are the two most frequently cited for authenticity, both using imported Italian ingredients like San Marzano tomatoes and “00” flour, with dough cooked quickly in genuine wood-fired ovens.

Where can I find good gluten-free pizza in Austin?

DeSano Pizzeria Napoletana, Southside Flying Pizza, and Home Slice all offer gluten-free crust options, and Home Slice also carries dairy-free and vegan pizzas at every location.

Is Home Slice or Bufalina the better choice?

It depends what you’re after. Home Slice is the better pick for a big, loud group dinner and a classic New York-style slice. Bufalina is the better choice for a quieter night out with genuinely excellent Neapolitan pies and a strong wine list.