Best Pizza in Rome

Italy Magazine executive editor Elizabeth Heath shares a few open secrets — where to find some of the best pizza in Rome.

IF YOU COME TO ROME and don’t try the pizza, can you really say you’ve been to Rome at all? Pizza may not have originated in Rome — versions of flatbread with toppings date at least as far back as 6th century BCE Persia — but a true Roman pizza is a thing of epic, historic deliciousness.

You’ll find pizza all over Rome, from quick takeaway counters and groceries to sit-down pizzerias and the ubiquitous “tourist menu” trattorias — the latter of which we avoid like Covid. You’ll see Romans eating pizza a taglio (pizza by the slice, usually rectangular, folded, and wrapped in paper) as they walk down the street or commute on public transport. You’ll see families and groups of friends out to dinner for pizza, as it’s always a casual, inexpensive meal.

And you’ll soon learn that you, too, can eat an entire Roman pizza. With their crispy, thin crust and delicious toppings, it’s remarkably easy to eat the whole thing — or nearly all of it, at least!