7 Hole-In-The-Wall Pizza Joints That Crash And Burn Your Cravings, With 8 Underrated Slice Kings Making America Drool
Pizza lovers unite!
Nothing beats discovering those secret pizza spots where the cheese stretches for miles and the crust crackles with perfection. From tiny corner shops with lines out the door to family-run operations passing down secret recipes for generations, America’s pizza landscape is filled with hidden treasures just waiting to be devoured.
Ready to embark on the cheesiest, sauciest adventure of your life?
1. Di Fara Pizza
Legendary Dom DeMarco spent 53 years crafting each pie by hand until his passing in 2022. His legacy lives on through his children who maintain his meticulous standards.
Hand-snipped basil, imported Italian ingredients, and pizza-making that borders on performance art make this Midwood institution worth the notorious wait times. Grab your slice and witness pizza perfection!
2. Santarpio’s
Step into a spot where the décor whispers 1950s charm, but the flavors roar with timeless excellence. Santarpio’s skips the frills, no glossy menus or curated aesthetics, just straight-up great food.
What began as a bakery in 1903 transformed into pizza paradise that locals guard jealously. Their charred, chewy crust topped with just-enough cheese and tangy sauce creates pizza perfection that’s worth crossing town for!
3. Pequod’s
Forget what you think you know about Chicago deep dish! Pequod’s signature caramelized crust – that glorious blackened cheese ring, changes the game entirely.
Hidden in Lincoln Park since 1970, this neighborhood legend serves pies in cast-iron pans that create the magical, crispy cheese perimeter. Though lines snake around the block, patient pizza pilgrims discover why locals keep this spot to themselves.
4. Apizza Scholls
Holy pizza perfection! This unassuming Portland powerhouse limits dough production daily, meaning when they’re out, they’re OUT.
Fanatics line up before opening for good reason – their obsessive approach to fermentation and temperature control creates crusts with ethereal chew and perfect char. Though their rules seem strict (limit three toppings max!), these dough wizards know exactly what makes pizza transcendent.
5. Sally’s Apizza
What if I told you some of America’s best pizza comes from a tiny Connecticut spot that hasn’t changed since 1938? Sally’s thin-crust magic emerges from scorching coal ovens that few establishments still use.
Family-owned for generations, this Wooster Street institution serves “apizza” with minimal toppings and maximum flavor. Their slightly charred, chewy-yet-crisp crust makes pizza purists weep with joy. Share this hidden gem with fellow pizza enthusiasts!
6. Prince Street Pizza
Tucked into a tiny Nolita storefront, Prince Street’s SoHo Square slice has achieved cult status among pizza aficionados. Those crispy, curled pepperoni cups that form perfect little pools of spicy oil? Pure genius!
Lines form daily for their upside-down Sicilian style – sauce on top of cheese, with a crust that achieves the impossible balance of airy interior and crunchy bottom. Snap a pic before devouring, then tag your foodie friends!
7. Pizza Man
Rising like a phoenix from devastating flames that destroyed its original location, Pizza Man embodies Milwaukee’s resilient spirit. After a 2010 fire razed the beloved original, locals mourned until its triumphant 2013 rebirth.
Famous for wine-soaked wild mushroom pies and cream cheese-laden artichoke offerings, these unique combinations sound bizarre but taste revolutionary. Grab a friend and split their massive creations—your taste buds will thank you!
8. Pizzeria Bianco
Amid scorching desert heat, Chris Bianco crafts cool pizza perfection that draws pilgrims from across the globe. James Beard winner Bianco sparked America’s artisanal pizza revolution from this unassuming Phoenix location.
Though the wait often stretches hours, his wood-fired Rosa – topped with red onion, rosemary, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Arizona pistachios – redefines what pizza can be. Visiting Phoenix without trying Bianco’s creations? Absolutely criminal!
9. Scarr’s Pizza
Bam! Scarr’s revolutionizes New York slices by milling organic grain in-house daily. While other joints cut corners, owner Scarr Pimentel creates health-conscious pizza that tastes ridiculously good.
Housed in a retro-styled spot that feels straight out of 1982, these picture-perfect triangles feature naturally leavened dough and carefully sourced toppings. Despite celebrity fans and Instagram fame, Scarr’s maintains its scrappy neighborhood soul. Worth every penny!
10. Buddy’s Pizza
Detroit-style pizza wouldn’t exist without Buddy’s, the 1946 pioneer that transformed automotive industry parts into pizza perfection. Those blue steel pans originally used for storing small factory parts? They’re the secret behind the legendary caramelized cheese edge.
Square slices with crispy bottoms, light interiors, and that signature cheese-to-the-edge technique have spawned countless imitators. Yet nothing compares to experiencing the original Buddy’s magic in Motor City!
11. Joe’s Pizza
Forget fancy toppings and gourmet pretension! Since 1975, Joe’s has perfected the quintessential New York slice, thin, foldable, and utterly perfect in its simplicity.
Founder Joe Pozzuoli, who emigrated from Naples, still oversees operations well into his 80s. Celebrities, tourists, and late-night revelers all stand in the same democratic line for pizza that represents the platonic ideal of what a slice should be. A true NYC experience!
12. Emmy Squared
Whoa! Who dared bring Detroit-style pizza to Brooklyn’s hipster heart? Emmy Squared boldly reinvented square pies with crispy cheese borders and creative topping combinations that cause spontaneous food euphoria.
Their Colony square, topped with pepperoni, pickled jalapeños and honey, creates a sweet-spicy-savory trifecta that’s sparked countless imitators. Beyond pizza, their double-stack burger has developed its own cult following. Tell your friends about this game-changer!
13. Frank Pepe’s
Established 1925! Frank Pepe created pizza history with his coal-fired white clam pie, no sauce, no mozzarella, just freshly-shucked littlenecks, garlic, olive oil, oregano and grated cheese on a charred, chewy crust.
Though tourists flock to the original Wooster Street location, locals know all Connecticut outposts maintain the same exacting standards. The distinctive oblong shape and slightly blackened bottom tell you you’re eating pizza royalty. Connecticut’s greatest culinary gift!
14. Lucali
Mark Iacono transforms pizza-making into performance art at this cash-only Carroll Gardens gem where celebrities wait alongside locals, no special treatment!
Watch mesmerized as dough gets rolled with wine bottles instead of pins, fresh basil is cut with scissors tableside, and pies emerge from the wood-burning oven with perfect leopard-spotted crusts. Though the menu offers just two items, pizza and calzone, both achieve transcendent perfection. Worth every minute of the notorious wait!
15. Slab
Holy moly! These massive, pillowy slices weigh nearly a pound each! Chef Stephen Lanzalotta perfected his “hand-slab” over decades, creating a unique Maine interpretation of Sicilian pizza that’s neither traditional American nor strictly Italian.
The secret lies in the dough, a focaccia-like creation with olive oil-crisped bottom and cloud-like interior. Topped with tangy sauce and just enough cheese, these slabs have developed a passionate New England following. Grab extra napkins and prepare for pizza bliss!
