{"type":"article","siteId":"dish-finder-toronto","siteName":"DishFinder","canonicalUrl":"https://www.dishfinder.co/articles/best-pizza-in-toronto","title":"Best Pizza in Toronto: 6 Pizzerias, Compared by Style","description":"Stop comparing thin New York slices to thick Detroit pans. Here is how Toronto's top six pizzerias stack up when you actually group them by style.","category":"pizza_restaurant","keywords":["best pizza in toronto","pizzeria badiali","descendant detroit style pizza"],"author":"DishFinder","datePublished":"2026-07-21T20:22:18.081+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-24T13:48:31.219769+00:00","keyTakeaways":["Pizzeria Badiali is the New York-style slice pick for long-fermented dough and chef-driven toppings, though the Dovercourt wait can be long.","North of Brooklyn Pizzeria is the sesame-crust alternative for premium thin-crust pizza with faster turnaround.","Descendant Detroit Style Pizza is the deep-dish pick for blue-steel pans and caramelized cheese edges.","Slowhand Sourdough Pizza is the sourdough pan option for a lighter, airy crust.","Pizzeria Libretto remains the certified Neapolitan choice.","Bar Sugo pairs thin-crust wood-fired pizza with a lively, retro Italian-American diner experience."],"sections":[{"heading":"Summary","text":"Key Takeaways - Pizzeria Badiali is the New York-style slice pick for long-fermented dough and chef-driven toppings, though the Dovercourt wait can be long. - North of Brooklyn Pizzeria is the sesame-crust alternative for premium thin-crust pizza with faster turnaround. - Descendant Detroit Style Pizza is the deep-dish pick for blue-steel pans and caramelized cheese edges. - Slowhand Sourdough Pizza is the sourdough pan option for a lighter, airy crust. - Pizzeria Libretto remains the certified Neapolitan choice. - Bar Sugo pairs thin-crust wood-fired pizza with a lively, retro Italian-American diner experience."},{"heading":"Best Pizza in Toronto: 6 Pizzerias, Compared by Style","text":"Comparing pizza spots in Toronto often feels like comparing apples to oranges. It makes no sense to measure a delicate, wood-fired Neapolitan pie against a heavy, caramelized Detroit square using the same yardstick. Instead of relying on generic lists that lump every style together, you can find the city's absolute best pizza by looking at how these top spots stack up within their specific categories."},{"heading":"Best New York Slice: Pizzeria Badiali","text":"Pizzeria Badiali ($$, 181 Dovercourt Rd) operates out of a bright Victorian corner lot in Beaconsfield Village. Founded by chefs Ryan Baddeley, Owen Walker, and Nick Halligan, this shop has earned a massive local following. The kitchen uses Italian flour to create a dough blend of 00 and bread flour, which undergoes a strict two-to-three-day fermentation process. Slices are cut from massive 19-inch jumbo pies, while whole ordered pizzas are 16 inches. Popular menu items include the classic pepperoni, vodka slice, and the mushroom bianco. Customers frequently order their creamy garlic mayo dip mixed with minced pepperoncini to go with the crust. Because of its popularity, lines at the Dovercourt location regularly run about 45 minutes long. The space is not accessible and offers limited seating, with just eight indoor counter seats and a small seasonal patio. If you want to know more about what makes their process so special, you can read about Badiali's Two-Day Crust: Why Toronto Waits in Line for a Slice."},{"heading":"Best Sesame-Crust Pizza: North of Brooklyn Pizzeria","text":"North of Brooklyn Pizzeria ($, 650 Queen St W) offers a different take on the thin-crust style, famous for its signature sesame crust. Founded by Josh Spatz and Alex Potter in partnership with Frank Pinello of Brooklyn's Best Pizza, this Queen West location features a very limited dine-in setup with only eight walk-in seats. The menu focuses on 14-inch and 18-inch pies. Standout options include the Killer Bee, topped with calabrese sausage, jalapeños, pickled red onions, and honey, as well as the Truffle Shuffle, which features smoked cheddar, truffle cream, cremini mushrooms, and caramelized onions. The crust balances crispy, fluffy, and chewy textures. For those looking to avoid the long Dovercourt lines at Badiali, North of Brooklyn offers a highly reliable, fast-turnaround alternative for premium thin-crust pizza. For a deeper look at how these two giants compare, check out Badiali or North of Brooklyn? Toronto's Slice Rivalry, Settled."},{"heading":"Best Deep Dish: Descendant Detroit Style Pizza","text":"Descendant Detroit Style Pizza ($$, 1168 Queen St E) holds the title of Toronto's first-ever Detroit-style pizzeria. Located in Leslieville, the kitchen uses authentic blue-steel pans and a meticulous 48-hour cold fermentation process to build its signature thick, chewy Sicilian-style crust. The cheese is spread all the way to the edges to create a dark, caramelized border, with the sauce ladled directly on top of the toppings. Pizzas come in small (8x10 inch) and large (10x14 inch) sizes. The menu features creative combinations like the Jaffna, which is topped with a cheese blend, kothu roti, mango chutney, sour cream, green onions, and Calabrian chilis. Another favorite is the Gatt-Daddy, featuring house-made fennel sausage. The restaurant is a compact, 22-seat space with a casual vibe, and it operates on a walk-in basis for dine-in alongside a busy takeout service."},{"heading":"Best Sourdough Pan Pizza: Slowhand Sourdough Pizza","text":"Slowhand Sourdough Pizza ($$, 99 Pape Ave) challenges Descendant's pan dominance with a unique sourdough crust that blends Roman and Detroit-style techniques. Founded by east-end dads Dan Ewing and Brett Feeley, this Leslieville spot uses a slow-fermented San Francisco sourdough culture. The result is a deceptively light, airy crust that avoids the heavy, dense feeling of traditional deep dish. Their signature pie is the Peter Piper, loaded with pickled peppers, pepperoni cups, black pepper, ricotta dollops, and hot honey. Slowhand operates primarily as a pickup and delivery-focused shop out of the old Billy's Burgers space, featuring a small dog-friendly patio. Pizzas are sized to feed about two people. For diners who want the caramelized cheese edges of a pan pizza but prefer a lighter, highly digestible sourdough base, Slowhand is the ideal alternative to Descendant's classic, heavier Detroit style."},{"heading":"Best Neapolitan Tradition: Pizzeria Libretto","text":"Pizzeria Libretto stands as Toronto's original AVPN-certified destination, offering reliable, wood-fired Neapolitan pies alongside a family-friendly sit-down menu. Located in the heart of the Danforth, this location features dual wood-burning ovens that burn at high temperatures to produce the signature blistered, charred, and chewy crust of traditional Neapolitan pizza. As a certified member of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the restaurant adheres to strict standards regarding ingredients and preparation methods. Beyond classic pizzas like the Margherita, the menu includes house-made pastas, antipasti, and gelato. The Danforth location is particularly well-suited for families, featuring a dedicated lower dining room that hosts hands-on kids' pizza-making classes on the second Saturday of each month. The restaurant also offers daily lunch specials and weekday happy hours, making it a highly accessible, reservable sit-down option compared to the city's smaller, takeout-heavy slice shops."},{"heading":"Best Red-Sauce Diner Experience: Bar Sugo","text":"Bar Sugo combines crisp-tender wood-fired pizzas with a high-energy, retro Italian-American atmosphere perfect for group sharing near Lansdowne Station. Owned by Conor Joerin, Michelle Pennock, and Alex Wallen, with Joerin serving as chef, this Bloordale Village spot operates in the space formerly known as Conzo's. The restaurant features a nostalgic, old-school diner aesthetic complete with red-and-white checkered tables, a chalkboard menu, and a small bar. Visitors should note that the historic venue is not fully accessible. The kitchen specializes in thin-crust, wood-fired pizzas alongside hearty red-sauce classics like veal parm, rigatoni bolognese, and house meatballs. Bar Sugo is open for dinner service only and is incredibly popular, with walk-in wait times regularly stretching past an hour. To accommodate larger gatherings, the restaurant offers reservations exclusively for groups of five or more who book their family-style sharing menu in advance."}],"linkedEntities":[{"type":"restaurant","name":"Pizzeria Badiali","canonicalUrl":"https://www.dishfinder.co/restaurants/pizzeria-badiali","category":"pizza_restaurant"},{"type":"restaurant","name":"Descendant Detroit Style Pizza","canonicalUrl":"https://www.dishfinder.co/restaurants/descendant-detroit-style-pizza","category":"pizza_restaurant"},{"type":"restaurant","name":"North of Brooklyn Pizzeria","canonicalUrl":"https://www.dishfinder.co/restaurants/north-of-brooklyn-pizzeria","category":"pizza_restaurant"},{"type":"restaurant","name":"Bar Sugo","canonicalUrl":"https://www.dishfinder.co/restaurants/bar-sugo","category":"pizza_restaurant"},{"type":"restaurant","name":"Pizzeria Libretto","canonicalUrl":"https://www.dishfinder.co/restaurants/pizzeria-libretto","category":"pizza_restaurant"},{"type":"restaurant","name":"Slowhand Sourdough Pizza","canonicalUrl":"https://www.dishfinder.co/restaurants/slowhand-sourdough-pizza","category":"pizza_restaurant"}],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.dishfinder.co/articles/best-pizza-in-toronto","url":"https://www.dishfinder.co/articles/best-pizza-in-toronto","name":"Best Pizza in Toronto: 6 Pizzerias, Compared by Style","description":"Stop comparing thin New York slices to thick Detroit pans. 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