pizzawarePortland is the west coast’s edgiest, hippest metropolis that has become synonymous with counterculture. Portland natives take pride in all things obscure, independent, and unconventional, whether fashion, music, or food. Whether you’re living in Portland or just visiting, you can find the best pizza in Portland with our help!
Portland’s food scene blends its natural bounty and counterculture movement seamlessly, offering a myriad of locally owned eateries that use locally sourced ingredients and innovative culinary techniques and dining experiences.
Portland’s pizza restaurants are a great example of culinary innovation and small, independent entrepreneurship. You can find the best pizza in Portland at independent pizzerias, slice shops, and Italian eateries that express Portland’s novelty.
Read on to explore my list of the best pizza spots in Portland to experience both delicious pizza and fun, one-of-a-kind atmospheres.
Best Portland Pizza Shops
- Ken’s Artisan Pizza
- LIFE OF PIE
- Apizza Scholls
- Nostrana
- East Glisan Pizza Lounge
- Lovely’s Fifty Fifty
- Red Sauce Pizza
- Handsome Pizza
- Oven and Shaker
- Sizzle Pie
- Hot Lips Pizza
- Giants N
- Y Pizza & Subs
Ken’s Artisan Pizza
304 SE 28th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
Phone: (503) 517-9951
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Ken’s Artisan Pizza is an artisanal pizzeria specializing in Neapolitan-style wood-fired pizzas and cooking techniques using imported Italian tomatoes, house-made mozzarella, and an authentic Italian fermentation process for the pizza dough.
Located in Belmont, Ken’s Artisan Pizza is owner, baker, and James Beard Award winner Ken Forkish’s latest creation.
Like his sister bakery, Ken’s Artisan Bakery, Ken’s pizza is a national treasure, with accolades in Epicurious, Salon, Food and Wine, and many more noteworthy culinary and national publications.
The perfectly blistered crust is well worth the hype. My favorite pizza is the Arrabbiata with tomato sauce, Calabrian chiles, mozzarella, and basil.
Life Of Pie
1765 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97210
Phone: (503) 820-0083
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Located in Northwest District, Life of Pie is a casual, contemporary Neapolitan c and pub in a sleek space with industrial-chic décor and a beautiful wood-fired dome-shaped oven on display in the open kitchen.
They have an unbeatable happy hour daily for lunch through 6 pm with cheap Margherita pizzas and even cheaper glasses of wine and beer.
You can also get fresh-made spaghetti with a build-your-own format where you choose your sauce and toppings. Their authentic wood-fired pizzas come in a small yet delicious selection of interesting specialty pies.
My favorite is the bacon, goat cheese, leeks, and caramelized onion with an olive oil base.
Apizza Scholls
4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97215
Phone: (503) 233-1286
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Apizza Scholls is a funky and off-beat Belmont favorite for artisanal Neapolitan-style pies, a great craft beer selection, and vintage arcade games galore.
The small, cozy, all-wood dining room and bar opens into a backroom filled with ancient video games like Pacman, Donkey Kong, and Frogger.
The pizza is classic Neapolitan with a perfectly charred crust and restrictions on building your own pie to uphold the integrity of the delicate, thin crust.
They have amazing calzones four nights of the week, but they only make 15 a night, so get there early if your heart’s set on one.
Nostrana
1401 SE Morrison St Ste 101, Portland, OR 97214
Phone: (503) 234-2427
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Owned by Chef and James Beard Award finalist Kathy Whims, Nostrana is a high-end Italian eatery in the Central Eastside, sourcing ingredients from local purveyors while offering the most authentic versions of Italian food from every region.
Chef Whims’ award-winning food has been featured in publications such as Eater, The New York Times, and Bloomberg.
The menu is a classic multi-course Italian meal with antipasti, primi, pasta, pizza, and entrees. The pizza is traditional Neapolitan using mozzarella made by hand, in-house.
My favorite pizza is the Funghi Verde with shiitake and maitake mushrooms, mozzarella, arugula, pecorino, and lemon agrumato.
East Glisan Pizza Lounge
8001 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR 97213
Phone: (971) 279-4273
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Located in an old, refurbished Mexican food restaurant in Montavilla, East Glisan Pizza Lounge is a hip bar and pizzeria specializing in both thin-crust and Detroit-style pizza.
They also offer a fully vegan pizza menu and a vegan version of daily specialties. They have six local beers on a rotating tap, not to mention a long list of wines and craft cocktails.
Detroit-style pizza is a form of Sicilian square pan-pizza with a thick, dense crust that has a beautiful char and the cheese and toppings come to the very edge.
It is one of my favorite pizza styles, so I recommend trying the Detroit, which is a build-your-own pie. They have a great menu of specialty and vegan thin-crust pies as well.
Lovely’s Fifty Fifty
4039 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97217
Phone: (503) 281-4060
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Lovely’s Fifty Fifty is an example of Portland innovation, putting an artistic culinary twist on classic Neapolitan-style pizzas.
Located in a hip, casual eatery in Boise, Lovely’s Fifty Fifty is an artisanal pizzeria and ice cream shop known for its unique and beautiful specialty pizza topping combinations. They’re almost too pretty to eat, and the sourdough crust sets them apart even more.
They also offer an impressive list of wines that include local natural wines. The ice cream is as unique as the pizzas with flavors like Fig Sambuca and Buckwheat Honey Toffee.
My favorite pizza is the incredibly colorful Radicchio with crushed tomatoes, capers, Castelvetrano olives, Calabrian chilies, and regiano.
Red Sauce Pizza
4641 NE Fremont St, Portland, OR 97213
Phone: (503) 288-4899
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Located in Beaumont-Wilshire, Red Sauce Pizza is a family-friendly pizza joint with a small, cozy dining room and a dog-friendly patio with a cute canine mural on the outside wall.
Owned and operated by chef and baker Cheryl Dunes, Red Sauce Pizza sells artisanal wood-fired pizzas, house-made sourdough loaves, giant hoagies, and the best Calzones I’ve tasted.
You can only get their giant hoagies on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They have vegan versions of pies, calzones, and hoagies. I loved the Bubba calzone with pesto, beef pepperoni, and green olives.
My favorite pizza, the Georjean, didn’t have red sauce at all, but vodka sauce, ricotta, basil, sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil.
Handsome Pizza
1603 NE Killingsworth St, Portland, OR 97211
Phone: (503) 247-7499
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Handsome Pizza is a light and airy café, bakery, and pizzeria in the Vernon neighborhood.
Handsome Pizza prides itself on partnering with only local purveyors from flour mills to coffee roasters to produce and dairy farmers. Their fantastic selection of pastries, inventive coffee drinks, freshly baked bread, and pizzas are an ode to Oregon’s bounty.
I recommend coming for breakfast for a pastry or croissant and coffee while you await a delectable breakfast pizza.
My favorite is the Everything with cheddar, bacon, onion, kale, hot sauce, and everything bagel spice with an oven-fried egg on top.
Oven and Shaker
1134 NW Everett St, Portland, OR 97209
Phone: (503) 241-1600
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A second venue owned and operated by James Beard finalist Cathy Whims, Oven and Shaker is a bustling, sleek pizzeria and bar, offering wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, creative cocktails, and Italian street food.
Located in the iconic Peral District, Oven and Shaker has a casual, fast-paced ambiance and is a great place to enjoy a cocktail and gourmet pizza with friends.
Not only do they have authentic Neapolitan pizzas, but they have a selection of Sicilian pizzas with the thickest, densest dough and a perfect outer crunch. You can start with a gourmet salad or Italian snack to accompany an award-winning cocktail.
Both Neapolitan and Sicilian pizzas are incredible. I chose the Neapolitan Maple Pig, with apple, pork belly, smoked ham, maple, and ricotta.
Sizzle Pie
926 W Burnside St, Portland, OR 97205
Phone: (503) 234-7437
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With locations in Central Eastside, Downtown, Hollywood District, Moda Center, and Providence Park, Sizzle Pie is a popular, hip, and family-friendly New York-style pizzeria and slice shop in an ample, warehouse-like industrial dining space.
They have a wide selection of local brews, wine, and a big glass case displaying the day’s slice selection.
There are daily slice specials, plus a full menu of vegan pizzas as delicious as the dairy and meat versions, using cashew and tofu cheeses and vegan meats.
I recommend their vegan Buffalo 666 with shredded jackfruit buffalo, vegan mozzarella, red onions, fresh green onions, and a colorful drizzle of vegan ranch and wing sauce.
Hot Lips Pizza
2211 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214
Phone: (503) 234-9999
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Family-owned by couple David Yudkin and Jeana Edelman, Hot Lips Pizza is Portland’s pioneer gourmet pizzeria, starting the sustainable, farm-fresh gourmet pizza craze with their first restaurant in 1984.
Thirty-eight years later, Hot Lips pizza has five locations and a soda brewing brand, repping local pride and donating food to homeless kitchens daily.
They’ve got locations in the Pearl and Hawthorn neighborhoods, to name a few. Their pizza is classic New York-style, sold whole pizza or by-the-slice.
My favorite is the Pepperpineapeno, with pepperoni, hand-cut pineapple, jalapeno peppers, and house-made marinara.
Giants NY Pizza & Subs
4415 SE 92nd Ave Suite B, Portland, OR 97266
Phone: (503) 709-7223
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Giants NY Pizza and Subs is a classic New York-style slice shop and Italian American restaurant in a family-owned, no-frills dining room overlooking Lents Park in the Foster-Powell neighborhood.
The family opened Giants NY Pizza in 2012, recreating their original Washington D.C. restaurant they owned for seven years before moving to Portland.
Giants NY is a great, family-friendly neighborhood spot where the staff treats you like family, and the prices don’t break the bank. In true NYC fashion, they have baked pasta dinners, hot and cold subs, stromboli, calzones, and giant, thin-crust pizza.
Try the decadently cheesy Pizza Bianca with fresh garlic, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, reggiana, and romano.
Final Thoughts
Whether you want a cheap New York slice or a multi-course bistro meal, Portland’s unique and creative pizza scene has it all.
The best pizza in Portland comes in many forms, and you can enjoy it in any number of dining experiences at the shops, cafes, bakeries, and restaurants on my list.
Portland also stands out as an eco-friendly haven where you can take full advantage of the natural scenery. Trails, bridges, and bike paths abound, not to mention a great electric mass transit rail to cut back on car pollution.
Visitors won’t want to miss the incredible Washington Park with its spectacular views of Mount Hood, a Japanese Botanical Garden, and the Portland Zoo. Enjoy your time in Portland!
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