10 Best Pizza Spots In New Orleans, According To A Local
New Orleans is known for being a bit, well, different than the rest of the country. We parade through the streets with brass bands at the slightest provocation. We created the masterpiece that is the po'boy, and we made beignets into a local icon. We know where to find great coffee in historic locations. We make mac and cheese with long noodles instead of elbow macaroni. When it comes down to it, incredible (and unique) food is probably what New Orleans is best known for. And while many people associate the city with characteristic foods like gumbo, crawfish, and jambalaya, the Crescent City has a buzzing pizza scene, too.
In fact, certain pizzerias in the New Orleans have large, loyal followings. There are over a dozen pizza styles in the U.S., and you'll find many of them represented throughout the city. Whether you're lucky enough to live in the Big Easy or just passing through, these are a few of the best pizza places in New Orleans to try for the first time or the 50th. As a little lagniappe (Louisianian for "a little something extra"), here are a few of the best ways to reheat pizza. That's if a slice makes it home from the restaurant, of course.
Pizza Delicious
Pizza Delicious is first on this list because it's the pizza I have the fondest memories of. This place had a truly epic journey from its origins as an almost speakeasy-style pizza pop-up to a brick-and-mortar in the very Bywater neighborhood where it was created. The business was the result of two liberal arts majors wanting the kind of pizza they'd grown up with — New York-style pies with thin, foldable crusts and a savory sauce.
The founders' original pop-up was a Sunday-only affair where you had to call a cell phone to place your order. The voice on the other end would tell you a time to be there and the address. My friend Jessica had gotten the number, and we'd gone to the odd alley that led to a small pickup window. That's where you'd receive an oversized pizza box with an outrageously tasty pie. It was my first time trying thin crust, and I was immediately sold.
The rest of the city was too, and soon, so was the rest of the country. Just last year, the restaurant came in at No. 31 on 50 Top Pizza's 2025 list of best pizzerias in the U.S., curated by Italian chefs. Pizza D (as it's called by locals) has also been featured on Dave Portnoy's One Bite Pizza Reviews. He gave the slice a 7.8, but anyone who's tried one for themselves will tell you that's far too low a score.
(504) 676-8482
617 Piety St., New Orleans, LA 70117
Theo's Neighborhood Pizza
Theo's Neighborhood Pizza has five locations in the greater New Orleans area. Founded in 2004, Theo's is known for having a thick, chewy crust that's the perfect bed for a variety of toppings. The restaurant offers lunch specials on weekdays and has other rotating specials throughout the week. There are even seasonal specials, like garlic herb wings or a spicy Thai shrimp pie with Thai sauce, pickled carrots, and sriracha.
The pizzas come in small or large sizes, with classic, specialty, and build-your-own options. Vegans and vegetarians can find pies here, while meat-eaters have the meathead pizza. Most selections fall somewhere in between, with flavors such as chicken pesto, prosciutto and arugula, and bacon and blue cheese. The West Bank combines roasted red peppers, pineapple, and jalapeños with chicken, bacon, and red sauce for an unexpected, but awesome, experience.
Multiple locations
Forbidden Pizza
Walking up to Forbidden Pizza for the first time is a unique experience. The restaurant is housed in a deep blue storefront in the Central Business District of the city. The handles on the doors are large golden snakes, a stylish statement that you're about to enter a spot that's a little different, in a good way. The eatery serves up 20-inch thin-crust pies with Brooklyn flair, and the dough is made with five different flours imported from Italy. It ferments for around 36 hours to give it the perfect texture, while the taste comes from part of the previous day's batch of dough being incorporated. But one of the most unexpected aspects of the place comes from the fact that no garlic is ever used on its pies –not in the sauces or as a topping.
That doesn't mean the pizzas lack flavor, however. In fact, the freshness of the ingredients makes these intensely tasty. There's a Detroit-style pan pizza called "She Thicc," while the Brooklyn-style "Forbidden Fruit" has fig jam and bacon on a lovely thin crust. Perhaps the most popular is the "Burrata Bliss" with its simple and filling combination of basil, creamy burrata, mozzarella, and red sauce.
(504) 233-0821
600 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA 70113
Zee's Pizzeria
Zee's Pizzeria is a pandemic success story. The founder began by selling pies from his home during the crisis, before moving into a pop-up style restaurant. Now, the brick-and-mortar pizzeria is one of the most popular in the city, selling 16-inch Northeast-style pies or single slices. Fresh dough is made daily before undergoing a two-to-three-day slow ferment that adds a delicious sourdough flavor and chewiness. Many of the toppings are made in-house, and the restaurant has both animal milk-based and vegan cheeses for the pies.
My favorite pizza here is the Bye Felicia. Not only am I a fool for hot honey, but the pie itself is well balanced with cupped pepperoni, ricotta, mozzarella, and a savory red sauce. The spicy meatball pizza is also a winner, with jalapeños and onions joining a duo of cheeses and red sauce. There's a white pie, too, that's made with fresh garlic butter and three cheeses. While the pizzas are generally served up in traditional triangular slices, on Monday nights, you can get a square piece for a little variety.
(504) 766-6056
3914 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA 70115
St. Pizza
St. Pizza sits in the corner of a blue building with a large mural on the side. The mural is important to remember, because without spotting it the first time you go, you might pass right by. The restaurant is located between its sister wine shop called Patron Saint and an antique and consignment store near the Interstate 10 overpass. The interior is small but laid out in a way that makes it feel cozy rather than crowded. There's also a window where you can grab a slice if you'd prefer to take it to go. Either way, you're getting hot, fresh, and tasty pizza.
And you'll be glad you took the time to find the place. In addition to recognition from 50 Top Pizza in 2025, the pizzeria was also named one of the best pizza places in the U.S. by The New York Times in 2024. A quick look at the menu will tell you why. The pies are creative, but not overdone, with a mix of classics like sausage and margherita getting clever twists. For instance, the sausage is made in-house and contains fennel, giving it a lovely sweetness, and the margherita is upside-down, meaning the mozzarella is cooked under the sauce. If you try the green pie, you'll get a taste of seasonal greens, confit garlic, ricotta, and a drizzle of Calabrian chili oil (the latter of which is a hot pizza trend with major staying power).
(504) 603-7771
1152 Magazine St., Suite 103, New Orleans, LA 70130
Pizza Luna
Open until nearly 3 a.m. every day of the week, Pizza Luna serves calzones, specialty pies, and luna rolls — crescent-shaped pizza rolls with a variety of fillings — to both daytime and nighttime guests. While it's not hard to find in general, two small baby blue neon signs will let you know you've located the right place. And believe me, you'll be glad you did.
Opened in the Central Business District in the early 2020s, this pizzeria builds its pies around fresh, local ingredients. The regular crust has a nice chewiness, and you can get a thin crust upon request. The shrimp pizza is a popular choice. It's made with plump shrimp, garlic butter sauce, roasted garlic, onions, and parsley. There are also taco and Philly varieties, as well as a breakfast pizza or an egg and cheese. Vegetarians have plenty of options, too, with pies like the veggie, garden, spinach, or pesto.
(504) 218-8656
407 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA 70112
Louisiana Pizza Kitchen
Louisiana Pizza Kitchen has two locations in New Orleans — Uptown and the French Quarter. No matter which one you visit, the long-standing restaurant is well-known for innovative toppings on its wood-fired pies, although they do have different menus. (The one I'm more familiar with is in the French Quarter, so that's the menu mentioned here.)
The thing that stands out most to me is the pizza's incredibly thin, shatteringly crunchy outer crust. But that isn't to say the hype around the eatery's ingredients isn't well earned. After over three decades in business, the place has an extensive list of pizza varieties, including two that are entirely plant-based. On the regular menu, guests can choose from white, wheat, or gluten-free crust options. All of the pies are 10 inches and hand-tossed.
The restaurant sources local and Louisiana-made ingredients whenever it can, and it uses organic meat and poultry for all its dishes. The Italian-Creole style is represented in flavors like the muffuletta pizza, which features olive salad, salami, prosciutto, and provolone. There are also varieties like fried oyster, crab and shrimp, and the Steak & Blue, which does indeed have thin strips of beef alongside blue cheese, bacon, and garlic cream sauce. That's one I'd recommend to anyone who isn't quite sure what to get, provided you like the always divisive ingredient. But if you're more adventurous, Louisiana Pizza Kitchen has even figured out how to put jambalaya on a pie, so whatever you choose, you're in good hands.
(504) 522-9500
95 French Market Place, New Orleans, LA 70116
Margot's
Margot's opened in 2022 after five years of renovations. In that time, Brad Goocher, one of the founders, and his wife, Amanda, had a daughter whom they decided to name their restaurant after. The small business is truly a family affair, with the couple living above the pizzeria. The business turns out more than 100 pies each night, each of which is cooked in under two minutes in a massive wood-fired oven.
Margot's makes sourdough crust for its Neapolitan-style pizzas and uses a limited selection of fresh, high-quality ingredients as toppings. For instance, if you want anchovies on your pizza, you'll be getting boquerones, a Spanish anchovy fillet commonly packed in olive oil after marinating with garlic and vinegar. The crust is chewy and tangy, and the cheese isn't overdone, even on my personal favorite, the Bianca, which has four kinds plus roasted garlic. The puttanesca pizza has a spicy surprise in the Calabrian chili paste, and the fungus-among-us pie features truffled ricotta. Of course, if you're in the mood for something more traditional, you can't go wrong with the pepperoni or margherita.
(504) 224-2892
1243 Frenchman St., New Orleans, LA 70116
Royal's Woodfire Pizza
Making pizzas over traditional wood fires is so important at Royal's that it's in the name. The pizzeria shares a building with Habibi Lebanese Grill and Wine Bar, where each restaurant takes up part of the space. Royal's Woodfire Pizza is slightly smaller than Habibi, with the pizzeria portion seating around 40 guests, while the grill side seats around 80. That doesn't mean that the pizza is getting the short end of the stick, however. Instead, the business' pies are highly focused, with limited toppings and an emphasis on freshness.
There are only nine types of pies on the menu. In addition to classic pepperoni and plain cheese, Royal's takes the Mediterranean theme and runs with it. There's the Greek delight, with ricotta white sauce, gyro meat, oregano, olives, feta, and more. The garlic chicken pizza comes with red sauce, grilled chicken, onions, tomatoes, and green peppers. The veggie lover, meat lover, and Royal deluxe pies have a variety of ingredients for a filling meal, or the margherita makes for a lighter, but still mouthwatering, slice. Open seven days a week, you can satisfy your pizza cravings from Noon to 10 p.m.
(504) 354-1475
2483 Royal St., New Orleans, 70117
Paladar 511
Situated just a block from the Mississippi River and about three blocks from the French Quarter, Paladar 511 is perfectly located. The restaurant serves pizzas in an upscale industrial atmosphere, complete with crystal and iron chandeliers. The pies range from popular choices such as the lamb merguez sausage and smoked spring onion for dinner to farm egg and spicy breakfast pizza options at brunch. The farm egg pizza is a wonderful surprise. It's the only time I've seen collard greens on a pizza, but they complement the eggs and hardwood bacon well. If you want something just as tasty without meat, the roasted mushroom pizza has buttered leeks and fontina cheese, with rosemary and lemon to top it.
The food isn't the only unique thing about the restaurant, either. Like so many places in New Orleans, Paladar is found in a historic building that's been renovated a few times. This particular one began life in 1895 as a hosiery factory before becoming a warehouse. Paladar opened in the remodeled space in 2015, quickly becoming a mainstay in the Marigny neighborhood. The business is open each night for dinner and for brunch on the weekends. It's a good idea to make a reservation for either, just to be sure you won't have a lengthy wait for a table in the modestly sized space.
(504) 509-6782
511 Marigny St., New Orleans, LA 70117
Methodology
I used plenty personal experience to create this list of New Orleans' best pizza spots — I've personally tried all but two of the places listed above. I also spoke with friends, taking into account their recommendations and cross-referencing them with online reviews, comments, and social media posts.