Release 5

Welcome to the fifth release of the Definitive Seattle Pizza Rankings. This is one of the most pizza packed releases yet, so as always, feel free to jump straight to the rankings.

Updates since last time

I ate a lot of pizza in the last quarter. There are five new pizza spots entering the rankings and I have some fun highlights from pizza eaten both in and out of Seattle that are worth sharing!

Delancey Pizza Class

I went to a pizza making class hosted by Brandon Pettit, the founder/owner of Delancey (#1 in the rankings). The class was focused on techniques for making good pizza at home and included wine, lots of freshly made pizza, and a few Delancey recipes. I can’t recommend it enough. Brandon was so generous with his time and willing to go deep into details on just about anything. It was a really special experience. I do have a few fun tidbits worth sharing though:

• Brandon started experimenting with pizza at home well before Ooni and Gozney pizza ovens were available. Legend has it that back then (lol as in 15 years ago), enterprising pizzaiolos would cut the locks on their oven, run the self-clean cycle, and cover their oven thermometers with cold towels to get their pizza ovens to the smoking hot temperatures needed for good at home pizza.

• Brandon recommended a pizza steel over a pizza stone. Pizza steels transfer heat better than stones and are less likely to dry out the dough. I just got a pizza steel and really like it.

• My go-to pizza at Delancey is a white pie with pepperoni and preserved lemon. It’s not on the menu, but it was accidentally delivered to our table once and we’ve been getting it ever since. I told Brandon about this pizza and it turns out it was invented by James Beard award winning Seattle chef and restaurateur Renee Erickson. She’s the only one who orders it, which means we accidentally stole her pizza that night. Sorry Renee! Thanks for introducing us to another one of your incredible culinary inventions!

My Friend Derek’s is still great

I finally got my hands on some of My Friend Derek’s (#2 in the rankings) pizza! He’s back on a more regular cadence. Check out his website (I believe on Mondays) to order. There’s a few slots available for pickup tomorrow, as of the time of writing. He also makes a somehow incredible gluten free detroit pizza for those gluten intolerant folks in your life. I ate it and would eat it again even though I can tolerate gluten.

Pizza on the road

If you ever find yourself near Mt Baker, you could do a lot worse than North Fork Brewery. It was a great pizza-pick-me-up after a weekend in the woods.

If you ever find yourself free at 3 pm in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, you could do a lot worse than lining up to get a slot for a sit down evening pie at Lucali. Lucali is widely considered one of the best pizzas in New York. I was lucky enough to try it because my brother-in-law waited in line mid-afternoon to get us a 6 pm seating. There’s no menu, they just tell you what’s available. When you make pizza that good, you can get away with that. The pizza is fantastic and it was a great outing. It’s also BYOB (with a corkage fee) and cash only, so plan ahead!

Pizza news

The Seattle Times pizza bracket concluded since my last release. Stevie’s Famous (#16 in the rankings) won over Bar del Corso (#8 in the rankings), after taking down Delancey and Post Alley (#27 in the rankings) respectively. I think the Definitive Seattle Pizza rankings speak for themselves, so I won’t offer any further comments.

Lastly, you may have seen Seattle was rated the #1 pizza city in the US in a study by Mandoe Media, an Australian company. As someone with a background in data science and analytics, I have concerns about their methodology, notably the categories they chose as proxies for “love of pizza” and their unnormalized use of public ratings. Most concerning, their initial map listed Washington, DC in the State of Washington, so again, I won’t offer any further comments.

New Entrants

45 - Magnolia Pizza and Pasta

The company where I work has ordered this pizza for happy hour a few times. I would not have tried it if it wasn’t served at happy hour, so thank you to my employer for providing me the opportunity to try new pizza! It is in the style of “bad” pizza though. Sometimes “bad” pizza can be nostalgic, like Vera’s (#37 in the rankings), but Magnolia Pizza and Pasta is just ok, “bad” pizza, whereas Vera’s is good, “bad” pizza. The real reason this pizza is ranked second to last though is because it made my stomach hurt after eating it and unfortunately I am not the only one in my office who feels this way.

32 - Tutta Bella

I’ve had Tutta Bella at Lumen Field (#44 in the rankings) on the list for a while because I received a free pizza from them after a Seattle Reign game. I was treating these as separate pizza restaurants because they are clearly working with different tools. I was surprised at how similar there pizzas were though. It’s clearly better than their stadium pizza, but it was expensive for its size, the ingredients were low quality, and the topping coverage was sparse. The dough was decent, but that’s about it.

20 - Jackson Street Pizza Lounge

I had the pleasure of eating this pizza with subscriber Max, who I met up with for a run before we ate here. I was obviously hungry when I sat down and the pizza hit the spot. It had great cheese, a flavorful sauce, and a crispy crust. The only things holding it back were its excessive greasiness (some is expected, but this was a lot) and cornmealy crust (it was just a bit too much corn flavor).

12 - Strega

I went here with subscriber David for a lovely neighborhood meal. Strega is the pizza venture of Pasteria Lucchese, a delicious pasta vendor at the Ballard Farmer’s market. I enjoyed their pizza quite a bit! Their pie had a sturdy dough for a quick fired pizza and was topped with a rich sauce, full helpings of pepperoni, and a well balanced cheese. Our server also offered us a taster of Strega, which is yellow Italian liqueur that I would describe as a more complex, better version of limoncello. Also Strega means witch in Italian, so maybe I was bewitched, who knows!

9 - Via Tribunali

I thought I didn’t need to try Via Tribunali, because it’s owned by the same owners as Cornuto (#24 in the rankings) and their pizza seemed pretty similar. I wish I’d eaten here much earlier! This pizza was really good. It’s out and out Neopolitan style, with a certification hanging on the wall and everything, but similar to Strega, it had a sturdy base, so it wasn’t too “wet” or floppy. The dough brought enough depth to stand on its own, but nicely complemented their superb ingredients. They have an excellent sauce, covered by just enough cheese to keep your bites evenly cheesed. It’s a great pizza and I’m glad I finally tried it.

The Rankings

Seattle No

Pizza you don’t really want to eat, but you feel bad saying no.

46. Ian's

45. Magnolia Pizza and Pasta

44. Tutta Bella at Lumen Field

43. Varlamos

42. Pagliacci*

41. Bambino's

40. MOD

39. Mainstay Provisions*

38. La Roca

37. Vera's*

36. Sunny Hill*

35. Nine Pies

34. Ballard Pizza Co

33. Big Mario*

32. Tutta Bella

Neighborhood Good

Pizza that works great as a neighborhood pizza place, but no one is traveling out of their way to eat.

31. Rocco's*

30. Elemental Pizza

29. Trail Bend Taproom

28. Slicebox*

27. Post Alley*

26. Cornelly

25. Humble Pie

24. Cornuto

23. Serious Pie

22. Proletariat Pizza*

21. Oxbow*

20. Jackson Street Pizza Lounge

19. Dino's Tomato Pie*

18. Supreme*

17. Lupo

Tier 2

Now we’re talking! People are planning an outing around this pizza!

16. Stevie's Famous*

15. Windy City

14. Good Luck Bread

13. Bar Cotto

12. Strega

11. Vespucci*

10. Independent Pizzeria

9. Via Tribunali

8. Bar del Corso

7. Ballard Beer Box

6. Dantini

Tier 1

Once you start, it’s hard to stop eating this pizza, it’s that good.

5. Tivoli*

4. West of Chicago

3. Moto

2. My Friend Dereks

1. Delancey

*Sells pizza by the slice