Best Pizza in San Francisco: Every Style, Compared

San Francisco is not a one-style pizza town. North Beach alone will sell you a Neapolitan Margherita, a thick Sicilian square and a Chicago deep dish within three blocks of each other, and the best answer to “where should we get pizza” depends entirely on which of those you actually want.

What is the best pizza in San Francisco?

Tony’s Pizza Napoletana at 1570 Stockton Street in North Beach, if you want one answer. Tony Gemignani has won the world pizza championship more than once, the restaurant makes seven or eight distinct styles in separate ovens, and it is the only San Francisco pizzeria that turns up on global top-pizzeria lists. Order the Margherita from the wood oven or the coal-fired pie. The wait at weekends is real; put your name down and have a drink on Washington Square.

If you want a slice rather than a restaurant, Golden Boy at 542 Green Street, fifty metres away, does a thick focaccia-like Sicilian square for around five to eight dollars. It is the late-night classic and it is what most people in North Beach are actually eating.

Which pizza style do you want?

Where is the best pizza with kids?

Golden Boy, for simple logistics: you buy a square at the counter, you eat it standing up or walking, nobody has to sit still, and it costs almost nothing. For a sit-down meal, Little Star on Valencia Street handles families well and a deep dish is easy to share. Arizmendi is the underrated one — it is a worker-owned bakery that makes a single rotating pizza flavour each day on a sourdough crust, sold by the slice, and the Inner Sunset branch at 1331 9th Avenue is a five-minute walk from Golden Gate Park. Note it is closed on Mondays.

Tony’s is a genuinely good restaurant but it is loud, busy and often has an hour’s wait, which is a poor combination with a small child. Go early, at 5pm, or go without them.

Is North Beach the best neighborhood for pizza?

Yes, and it is not close. Tony’s, Golden Boy and Flour + Water Pizzeria are within a two-block walk of each other around Washington Square, which means you can decide what you feel like on arrival rather than in advance. It also means one of the three will usually have a shorter queue. The Mission is second, with Little Star and Arizmendi on Valencia Street.

Which pizzerias have closed?

Two that people still ask for. Del Popolo, the Michelin-recognised pizzeria that started as a truck, closed in May 2026 after more than ten years; the owners have said they are moving to a frozen retail product rather than reopening. And Little Star’s original Divisadero Street location closed in November 2023 after nineteen years — the Valencia Street branch is still open and is the one to go to.

Can you get a decent slice late at night?

Golden Boy on Green Street is the standard late answer in North Beach, and the queue after 11pm is part of the experience. Beyond that, San Francisco is not a great late-night eating city; the Mission taquerias stay open much later than the pizzerias do, and El Farolito runs until three in the morning.

Prices and hours were checked in September 2026 and can change, so confirm before you go. We take no payment for inclusion.