The Most Expensive Pizza In The World (And Why It's So Pricey)

Among all the different types of pizza in the U.S. and around the world, New York's cheesy, thin-crust style with slices classically folded in half to eat is easily one of the most famous. The City That Never Sleeps also has another pizza claim to fame as home to a restaurant that has the Guinness World Record for the most expensive one commercially available. Industry Kitchen's 24K Gold sells for a whopping $2,700 and was officially recognized as the title holder in 2017.

Industry Kitchen debuted the high-priced pie in 2016, one year after it opened in lower Manhattan. Its creator, then-executive chef Braulio Bunay, told Town & Country in an interview that it was the "epitome of decadence," saying his idea was influenced by the nearby Financial District. It's still on the menu today, but customers must give 48 hours' notice if they want the pizza.

The round, 12-inch pie has a black crust from squid ink that's mixed into pizza dough made with flour from Italy. The other gourmet ingredients that account for its high cost are white Stilton cheese from the United Kingdom, imported French foie gras and truffles, two types of caviar — Ossetra from the Caspian Sea and Almas — and edible 24-carat gold sourced from Germany and Ecuador. To make it, the cheese is first spread on the raw dough, then it's baked in the restaurant's wood-burning oven. After cooking, it's topped with foie gras slices, shaved truffles, gold leaf, sprinkled flakes of gold, spoonfuls of caviar, and scattered vibrant rose petals.

The white Stilton is the only topping that's not terribly expensive (at around $35 for just over 2 pounds). However, that doesn't take into account any import fees, as the mild, lightly tangy cheese must be made in one of three English counties — Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, or Leicestershire, made with local milk only. Foie gras, one of France's most famous products, is pricey because of the expense of raising the ducks or geese and fattening their livers, a controversial process some places have banned, further reducing availability. Truffles take a long time to grow in the very few countries where they're found, and the prized fungus must be located underground by dogs or pigs strictly by smell.

Ossetra caviar comes from Russian sturgeon and is one of the most elite types available. Rarest of all is the Almas variety, whose large eggs are light yellow, debunking one of the many caviar myths that it's always black. They're produced by the Iranian beluga sturgeon, which also has to be albino and have been alive for 60 to 100 years. Finally comes the edible gold, which doesn't have a taste, is required to be at least 90% gold, which is 21.6 carats — though Industry Kitchen uses 24 carats.

Industry Kitchen offers a number of other pizzas, but none are more than $34, and the next most expensive thing on the menu is a $160 seafood tower, one of only three items over $60. As for Guinness, there are dozens of other records related to pizza. They include the largest commercially available pie, a 21-square-foot-plus pie from Moontower Pizza Bar in Burleson, Texas, and the most varieties of cheese used (1,001 kinds) on one made in France in 2023.