Valencia is rice country. The whole world knows it for paella, for the wide socarrat pans and the Sunday lunches that stretch into the afternoon, so almost nobody flies in thinking about pizza. That is exactly the surprise. While everyone was busy ordering rice, Valencia and the wider Comunidad Valenciana quietly turned into serious pizza country.
The best Neapolitan pizza here runs from charred, blistered margheritas in the old town to contemporary pies built on three-day doughs, and the wider region now holds a top-40-in-Europe pizzeria, a four-time world freestyle champion, and the reigning best pizza in Spain. Here is where to eat, in the city and just beyond it.
Where do you eat the best pizza in Valencia city?
Start in Valencia proper, where the scene splits cleanly between the Neapolitan purists and the dough-obsessed contemporary crowd. The old-town and Ruzafa pizzerias are walkable, the ovens run hot, and the gap between the top names is narrow enough that you can argue about it over a second pie.
Il Cortile is the spot most locals name first, and the trophies back it up. The kitchen runs 48-hour fermented doughs and treats the margherita like a research project, which is how it ended up holding one of the most decorated reputations in the city. The crust comes out airy with a leoparded cornicione, and the toppings stay disciplined: good tomato, real fior di latte, nothing piled on for show. If you want one pizza to understand why Valencia matters, order the margherita here and pay attention.
Il Cortile Valencia
€€€€ · 283 reviews
Pizza Lovers say: "The Cánovas location of Valencia's award-winning Il Cortile group serves gourmet Neapolitan-style pizza including national championship-winning d'autore creations; reservations are advisable as the compact room fills quickly on weekends."
Casa d'Aragona sits on Cavallers in the old town and leans into a thicker, pillowy Neapolitan crust. The current owners run long 72-hour fermentations and finish pies with the kind of detail that separates a good pizzeria from a great one: Cantabrian anchovies, mortadella cut fresh to order, a slow-cooked ragù that tastes like somebody cared. It reads gourmet without tipping into fussy, and the room is small enough to feel like a neighborhood place.
Mamma Pazzo on Conde Salvatierra is the crowd favorite, and not by accident. The Neapolitan base is light and quick to fold, and the house specials are where it gets fun: the Parma e Sole, the Bravíssima with stracciatella, pepperoni, and a house brava sauce that has no business working as well as it does. This is the spot for people who want a great pie without a lecture about fermentation hours.
Mamma Pazzo
€€€€ · 656 reviews
Pizza Lovers say: "An exuberant Italian trattoria in Valencia's Eixample with theatrical decor and a weekend roaming opera singer; the Nonna Lucia pizza with speck, mushrooms, and truffle and the burrata with confit tomatoes draw consistent praise, though families with young children have noted the reception can feel unwelcoming."
What about Barrio del Carmen?
El Carmen, Valencia's tangle of medieval streets, has the most interesting newcomer. Bottega Marsengo on Carrer de Sant Tomàs offers three different doughs and was among the first in the city to put a real pizza tasting menu on the table at a fair price. Coming in for the menu is the move: you get to taste a thick-edged Neapolitan, a thinner contemporary base, and the kitchen's range in one sitting, which almost nobody else in Valencia is doing this well.
Bottega Marsengo
€€€€ · 40 reviews
Pizza Lovers say: "Tucked into Valencia's El Carmen, Bottega Marsengo turns out artisan Neapolitan pizza with gluten-free options and a menu that surprises with real picture-perfect quality; a hidden gem the reviewer stumbled on in the rain that rewarded the visit completely."
A few streets over, Il Ghiottone Napoletano on Sagunto grew from a tiny takeaway project into a proper sit-down reference for Neapolitan pizza in about six years. The dough is soft and built for many combinations, and the classics hold up: a clean marinara, a salsiccia e friarielli that tastes like Naples. It is the kind of steady, unglamorous place that quietly feeds a neighborhood for a decade.
Il Ghiottone Napoletano
€€€€ · 142 reviews
Pizza Lovers say: "The first pizzeria in Valencia to offer pizza fritta and panuozzo, Il Ghiottone Napoletano respects the verace 72-hour fermentation protocol and uses 100% Italian ingredients; the friendly staff and generous portions make it a go-to for Valencia's Italian community and late-night pizza seekers."
Reference: Best Pizza in Valencia and the Region
| Rank | Spot | City | Style | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harinella | Valencia | Italian | Extramurs; Reigning best pizza in Spain, Kaori Chan masterpiece |
| 2 | Infraganti Pizza Bar | El Campello | Coast; Top 40 Europe two years running, best Neapolitan in Spain | |
| 3 | Pizzería Venezia Alginet | Alginet | Alginet; Four-time world freestyle champion, theatrical but fundamentals real | |
| 4 | Il Cortile Valencia | Valencia | Old town; Locals' favorite, 48-hour fermented doughs, refined margherita | |
| 5 | Casa d'Aragona | Valencia | Neapolitan | Old town; 72-hour ferments, gourmet without fussy, small neighborhood feel |
| 6 | Mamma Pazzo | Valencia | Italian | Conde Salvatierra; Crowd favorite, quick light base, signature house specials |
| 7 | Il Cammino dei Briganti | Albal | Neapolitan | Albal; Technician's pick, clean execution, precision dough work |
Which Valencia pizzeria won best in Spain?
Harinella, in the Extramurs neighborhood, took the reigning best pizza in Spain title. The kitchen comes out of Puglia rather than Naples, so the cooking leans Pugliese: fresh pasta, artisanal pies, a balanced hand on the dough. The winning pizza, the Kaori Chan, is a genuine curveball, a Japanese-Mediterranean build with fior di latte, bonito, sweet red onion, ponzu, celery, and katsuobushi that reinterprets the old tuna-and-onion pizza into something you have not had before. Named for the founder's wife, it is the rare competition pizza that actually belongs on a regular menu.
Harinella
€€€€ · 88 reviews
Pizza Lovers say: "Excellent thin and crispy pizzas, tasty tiramisu, and friendly service. Continually helpful without being invasive."
Learn more about neapolitan pizza styles and techniques to understand the regional distinctions you will encounter across the Comunidad Valenciana.
Is it worth driving outside the city for pizza?
Yes, and this is where the Comunidad Valenciana gets bragging rights. Some of the region's best pizza is a short drive from the city center, and a couple of these names are good enough to plan a trip around.
Infraganti Pizza Bar sits on the coast near Alicante in El Campello, and it is the highest-ranked pizzeria in the whole region: a top-40 spot in Europe two years running, climbing the list rather than coasting. The founders trained in Naples before opening, and it shows in the Neapolitan pies, all blistered crust and restraint. The room is industrial and minimalist, concrete and low light and communal tables, the opposite of red-checkered-tablecloth Italian. It earned best Neapolitan pizza in Spain along the way, and the drive down the coast is part of the appeal.
Infraganti Pizza Bar
€€€€ · 225 reviews
Pizza Lovers say: "This beachside Neapolitan pizzeria on Playa Muchavista uses slow-fermented sourdough and seasonal Italian and Spanish ingredients for pizzas starting from 7 euros; the packed dining room on evenings means service can sometimes lag."
Just south of the city in Albal, Il Cammino dei Briganti is the quiet technician's pick, the kind of place that wins respect from other pizzaioli before it wins crowds. The dough work is precise and the Neapolitan execution is clean, with the certifications to prove the kitchen takes the craft seriously. It is an easy detour if you are already heading south of Valencia.
Il Cammino dei Briganti
€€€€ · 19 reviews
Pizza Lovers say: "Winner of best Neapolitan pizza in Spain in 2023, this Albal gem run by Italian pizzaiolo Tommaso Cristiano draws serious pizza fans from across the Valencia region; the small terrace and warm Italian service add to the charm, though the modest size means reservations are a must."
Out in Alginet, Pizzería Venezia is the showpiece. The kitchen is run by a pizzaiolo who is the only Spaniard to win the world freestyle championship four times, working alongside a two-time world champion, so the dough handling is on another level. The style here is Romana: a 32-hour ferment that bakes up crisp and light rather than soft and foldable. The signature Veni, Vidi, Vici stacks mortadella di Bologna, stracciatella, candied cherry tomatoes, arugula, and black truffle cream, and yes, there is gold dust. It is theatrical, but the fundamentals underneath are real.
Pizzería Venezia Alginet
€€€€
Pizza Lovers say: "Open since 1986 in the small town of Alginet, Pizzeria Venezia is a world-champion operation run by four-time World Pizza Championship winner Francis Tolu, whose wood-fired dough sets a high bar for gourmet pizza across Spain and beyond."
Further up the coast in Castellón de la Plana, Le Otto rounds out the regional map. It is a contemporary Neapolitan kitchen worth knowing if you are in the north of the Comunidad, with a careful base and a short, confident topping list. Not every great pizza in the region is in Valencia city, and Le Otto is a reminder that the whole coast is worth your time.
Le Otto
€€€€ · 2,262 reviews
Pizza Lovers say: "Perfectly made dough, quality ingredients, and delicious starters like the tomato salad and pumpkin pizza. Reservations are needed."
If you want to compare regional approaches, see how Madrid is shaping its contemporanea movement at best pizza in Madrid.
How to plan a Valencia pizza crawl
If you have one night, stay in the city: Il Cortile or Casa d'Aragona for the Neapolitan benchmark, Mamma Pazzo if you want house specials, Bottega Marsengo if you want a tasting menu. If you have a car and a free afternoon, point it down the coast to Infraganti or out to Alginet for Venezia. The region rewards the drive, and the gap between a good pizza and a great one out here is smaller than you would expect.