From Neapolitan and New York-style to nostalgic pies and coeliac-friendly crusts, this is your beginner’s guide to Auckland’s best pizzas.
Auckland might be on the opposite side of the world from the birthplace of pizza, but distance doesn’t dampen passion. Pizza chefs across the city take their craft seriously, turning out impressive renditions in umpteen different styles.
You can grab production-line pizza for as little as $7, and logic dictates it will quell any hunger pangs. Its price point relies on automated processes – large-scale dough mixing and machine pressing, and mass-produced toppings oozing with E-numbers. It tends to taste a bit like … is plastic on a bed of cardboard too harsh?
Pizza made one at a time, by hand, using good-quality ingredients and techniques honed over years, feeds more than your stomach ... it feeds your soul, because you can feel the soul that’s gone into it.
Whether classic or creative, a good pizza carries a balance of flavours and textures, and boasts a crust that deserves not to be ditched at the end of a slice.
There are many, many good pizzas in Auckland City and this guide highlights some of the best. It’s not an exhaustive list – there are plenty more worthy of a mention – but pick anywhere from this lineup and you’ll be thoroughly satisfied, body and soul.
Neapolitan-style
Whether or not pizza Napoletana (Neapolitan pizza) is the original pizza is like many things up for debate, but it’s certainly the dominant prototype. It has its own regulating body, Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), whose certified venues make pizza according to strict rules around preparation (including a long, slow fermentation of dough), ingredients and cooking methods.
Napoli Contemporanea
Like it says on the tin, this Parnell restaurant specialises in contemporary Neapolitan pizza, which, in a nutshell, hinges on dough with a higher hydration level – up to 80%. This allows the crust to puff up in the oven even higher than classic-style Neapolitan pizza.
Demonstrating the effect, pizzaiolo (pizza chef) and owner, Naples-raised Rocco Pezzullo, pulls a freshly baked pizza from the oven and presses down gently on the cornicione (outer crust) – its thin shell crackles in response (pizza ASMR) and cuts into the cornicione with a pair of kitchen scissors to reveal the hollow inside.
Toppings feature ingredients imported from Italy for the most part, with the exception of a few local products Rocco deems on par, which include Clevedon Buffalo Co’s mozzarella. Italian whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed between the fingers to achieve the right balance of flesh and sauce, give all pizzas with a red base the requisite sweet-tart-umami foundation.
Napoli Contemporanea, which has been open three years, was named in the Top 50 Pizza list for Asia Pacific for the second year running.
297 Parnell Rd, Parnell, napolicontemporanea.co.nz
Dante’s
Founded in Huapai in 2003, Dante’s was the first pizzeria in the country to gain AVPN status, in 2007, and today cooks its contemporary Neapolitan-style pizza in wood-fired ovens across three locations in Auckland.
Owner and pizzaiolo Enis Bacova describes the foundation of his pizzas as “long-fermented, highly hydrated sourdough designed to be extremely light and digestible”. Once cooked, it’s “soft, airy and melts in the mouth”, and while the menu offers a variety of toppings to choose from, Bacova recommends Margherita as “the benchmark … the purest expression of the craft”.
Dante’s has ranked in the global “50 Top Pizza” list consistently, appearing both in world top 50 and ranking in the Asia-Pacific Top 50 (making number 13 this year).
Takapuna, Ponsonby and Eastridge, dantes.co.nz
Pizza Haven
Born in Morocco, Khalid Bouladam learned to make pizza the traditional way as a teenager living in Naples. The pizza he pours his efforts into at his shop, tucked away in an industrial part of Mt Roskill, is inspired by pizza Napoletana, “in the way we prepare the dough and use our wood-fired oven”, Bouladam says, “and we are certified by pizza academies in Naples”.
But he and his wife Jeanne, who has Chinese-Indonesian heritage, enjoy adding touches from their different backgrounds – like a rendang pizza using a family recipe of Jeanne’s – to make their offering unique. Everything in the shop is halal.
70 Carr Rd, Mt Roskill, www.firewoodpizzahaven.com
Also try:
Farina, Ponsonby – a member of AVPN for 10 years.
Umu, Kingsland – a more relaxed Neapolitan-influenced approach with emphasis on the sourdough crust.
That’s Amore, Auckland central – consistently excellent with a wildly large menu
Settebello, New Lynn – another frontrunner in the AVPN status, serving the West Auckland crowd with aplomb
Posto, Howick – the best Neopolitan pizza in the East.
New York-style
Extra-wide discs, with slices so large you need to fold them over on themselves to transport them to your lips, characterise the style of pizza made famous in the Big Apple. New York-style pizza parlours often offer it by the pie, or by the slice.
Epolito’s
Founded 11 years ago by a New Yorker, Epolito’s pins its reputation on generously proportioned, hand-stretched, thin-crust pies, with large slices you have to fold in half to transport to your salivating mouth. Toppings range from more classic to inventive, and key items including slow-cooked tomato sauce, spicy fennel sausage and meatballs made in-house. The Eastside, with artichokes, thin sliced lemon, and parmesan, is a party in your mouth.
166 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn, epolitospizzeria.co.nz
Also try:
Gorgeous, Mt Eden –loved by locals for its wide menu, customers can also build their own toppings. It also offers “take and bake” pizzas, which are handy when entertaining a crowd.
NY Kai, Uptown –primarily a takeaway spot, NY Kai offers a short menu by the pie or slice, with half-half options to boot.
Chicago-style
Don’t be fooled by that cardboard box in the supermarket freezer promising Chicago-style pizza … it’s not even close to the real thing. Baked over a comparatively long period of time (40 minutes or so) in a deep dish, it’s an almost casserole style of pizza.
Hello Chicago
Layered in a sturdy buttery crust are oodles of mozzarella and fillings, then the rich tomato sauce sits on top, protecting all the treasures beneath during the long cook time.
G04A/100 Parnell Rd, Parnell, hellochicago.co.nz
Roman-style
Wider than a Neapolitan with more emphasis on the toppings.
Master & Margherita
Pizza Romana is the specialty at Master & Margherita, which boasts locations in two beautiful settings. “We focus heavily on fermentation, with our dough resting anywhere from a minimum of 48 hours up to 72 hours, which gives it that light, digestible texture and depth of flavour,” says owner Ivan Janic. Pizzas are cooked in a wood-fired oven custom-made in Italy, using manūka as fuel.
108 Surrey Cres, Grey Lynn and 6 Rugby Rd, Birkenhead, themasterandmargherita.co.nz
Detroit-style
Baked in rectangular steel pans, pizza from the Motor City sees a layer of Wisconsin cheese directly on top of the base and pushed right to the edges; the cheese caramelises during cooking to create a crisp edge. The dough, thought to come from a Sicilian recipe, creates a fluffy, focaccia-like base.
Slabs
Slabs brings Detroit pizza to the Auckland table, with individual slices cooked in special blue steel trays, caramelising the cheesy crust to perfection. The base is light and fluffy, toppings generous and saucy. Slabs’ most popular take on the craft is the “Angry Hawaiian”, featuring pepperoni, bacon, pineapple, and their house hot honey.
178 Onehunga Mall, slabspizza.co.nz
Your own personal pizza
If you don’t want to share, these options serve individual-sized pizzas you’ll be able to finish in one sitting.
Ooh-Fa
Ooh-Fa’s pizzas are the perfect size for enjoying all by yourself, but also work well for sharing – if there’s a few in your party, you have the chance to try all the pizzas on the short menu. When I sought opinion on people’s favourite pizzas in my Lazy Susan Facebook group, Ooh-Fa was one of the most mentioned spots, but one detractor commented “The most expensive pizza in NZ”. The size of a 45″ vinyl, they sell from $18 for the simplest (tomato, garlic, oregano – the aromas mingle with that of piping hot leopard-spotted crust to drive you wild), to $40 for limited-edition seafood toppings. But value needn’t be measured by the inch; Ooh-Fa is always packed out, and that speaks volumes.
357 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden, oohfa.co.nz
Also try:
Lillian in Grey Lynn and Sfera in Northcote Point also give pizza pride of place in bistro settings.
Nostalgic American pies
Beyond the lowered, office-style venetian blinds, minidisks, mutant turtles, and other nods to the 90s lend an air of nostalgia to small but mighty pizza shop Brave.
Owner Tom Thurston, who spent a decade honing the pizza craft in Seoul, makes “Straightforward, classic American pizza”. Simple toppings are selected for balance, so pizzas “Come out as more than the sum of their parts”, but he’s not constrained by tradition – jalapeno rubs shoulders with cream cheese and bacon, pickled pineapple jives with hot honey. As well as five choices on the menu, Brave offers half-half options. Do add a pottle or two of sauce to dip your ‘za into: garlic parm and ranch, and occasional specials like blue cheese sauce are well worthy of the extra couple of dollars.
Thurston is always experimenting with ideas and often has pan pizza, Detroit-style or Grandma pizza (homestyle, tray-baked with layered toppings starting with cheese) up for grabs. I tried the latter recently and, with the oil-crisped crunchy bottom on a fluffy, focaccia-like base, I predict big things for Grandma. Ordering at Brave is walk-up only at present: No online, phone ordering or delivery. Now, if we could organise a Blockbuster store to open next door, the 90s dream would be complete.
410 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn, bravepizza.co.nz
Pizza & Beer
It’s telling that people who don’t even like beer make a beeline to Epic Taproom purely for its woodfired pizzas. And those who do like beer along with good pizza are very much in luck – the taproom sits in the middle of Epic Brewery with plenty of the stuff on tap. With 300g of dough stretched out for each pie, these are generously sized offerings, and when it comes to toppings, “We don’t hold back”, says owner Luke Nicholas. Pepperoni is perennially popular, he says, and the Epic Loves Bacon, featuring guanciale, is “a bit of an Epic insider pizza”.
230B Neilson St, Onehunga, epicbeer.com
Coeliac-friendly
Giapo co-owners Gianpaolo Grazioli and Annarosa Petrucci both grew up in Naples with tomato in the blood. A selection of their signature family recipes, including pizza, have now made the leap from their home table to the menu, joining their world-famous ice cream and baked goods.
The couple have spent years crafting a gluten-free pizza, which is suitable for coeliacs thanks to the entirely gluten-free kitchen.
“The base is light and crisp”, says Petrucci, “topped with fresh ingredients”.
Toppings include pared-back marinara with garlic, extra virgin olive oil and oregano, Margherita, pepperoni, and homemade meatballs.
12 Gore St, Auckland central, giapo.com
But wait, there’s more!
- Sicilian-style pizza – focaccia-like dough baked with sauce on top and then layered with fresh toppings such as prosciutto, mortadella, rocket and soft cheese, is a mainstay at Rosalia’s in Mt Eden.
- Panuozzo, a kind of folded pizza you can eat on the go, has taken off in Auckland of late. Get it at Passa Passa, Mama, and Rosalia’s.
- For pizza in an atmospheric dine-in setting at a pretty friendly price, Mama delivers. Pizzas start from $27 up to mid $30s for the excellent Storm Clam (Marlborough storm clam, pecorino crema, green chilli, mozzarella) and are generously sized.
- Al Volo closed the doors on its Eden Terrace shop a while back but chef Luca Villari has taken his famous woodfired pizza on the road, cooking from his custom-built 1960s Piaggio Ape pizza truck to cater for events (operating seasonally).
- Coco’s Cantina pizzas, and the place itself, are always a good time. Plus they’re just $17 during happy hour.
- Woodspirit (in a pop-up in Proper Kebab, Ellerslie) specialises in Turkey’s answer to pizza, puffy boat-shaped pide stuffed with moreish fillings.
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