The 7 Best Pizza Shops in Budapest

By Tas TobiasLast updated: Jan. 19, 2020

Like other big cities, Budapest has plenty of pizza joints that churn out cheap, but not especially good slices. But in addition to these, there are also a handful of dedicated pizza shops that have mastered the art of pizza-making, using longer fermentations and natural leavenings. Some specialize in Naples or Roman-style pies, others simply put out delicious pizza without devotion to a particular region. Here, the best pizzerias in Budapest.

#1 Pizzica

Pizzica is a small pizza shop in Budapest specializing in pizza al taglio — the Roman invention where rectangular-shaped slices are cut with a scissor and usually taken to-go. The de Bartolomeo brothers, natives from Southern Italy, run this tiny takeout joint in District 6; on most days you'll find them sliding cast-iron pans in and out of an electric oven.

#2 Digó Pizza (Kazinczy Street)

Digó pizza shop puts out some of the best Naples-style pies in Budapest. Digó operates two locations, both of them in the city center. The main one is a polished sit-down venue on Kazinczy Street, right in the heart of the Party District; the other is a seasonal open-air pizza stand by Akvárium. As other upscale pizza shops around the world, Digó uses a wood-burning oven, an extra fine “double-zero” flour, and a long, two-step dough fermentation to enhance flavor.

#3 Pizza Manufaktura

Pizza Manufaktura is a hip pizza shop in Budapest’s District 9. The place makes no secret about its coolness: hipster twentysomethings scurry between the counter while loud music pipes through the speakers. Their pizzas, made with an electric oven, fall between the Roman and the Neapolitan style: the crust is soft and doughy with some air pockets and charred spots, but the texture is firm enough to hold the slice in your hand.

#4 Little Italy Pizzeria

You step into Little Italy Pizzeria, and an oversized photo of Naples and the Mount Vesuvius will face you from the opposite wall. Around it hang myriad blue-and-white soccer scarves emblazoned with “solo Napoli” on them. Many of the servers are Italian natives. It feels like being in a restaurant in Naples, but instead of the Tyrrhenian coast, this pizzeria actually hides in an indistinct Budapest neighborhood a bit outside the city center.

#5 Kemencés Pizza 16

If you’re serious about your pizza and spending more than a few days in Budapest, grab your hiking boots and trek out to Kemencés, which makes some of the best pies in the whole city. It takes about an hour to get to from downtown by public transport, but think of it as part of the experience of discovering Budapest.

#6 MANU+ Pizza

MANU+ is the second location of Pizza Manufaktura, a wildly popular pizza joint not far from here, near Corvinus University. The good news is that this one doesn't usually get as mobbed by people as the original space, meaning that you won't have to wait longer than a few minutes before devouring a Naples-style pie, which is what MANU+ specializes in.

#7 IGEN Pizza

As Neapolitans like to say, “when it comes to clothes and pizza, it’s always Naples over Rome." This proverb is taken to heart at Igen, a spacious sit-down pizza shop on the Buda side. Here, the pizzaiolos churn out Naples-style pies all day long using a wood-burning oven fueled by beech wood to achieve high heat and a smokey flavor. The Naples variety is known for an airy crust with splotches of char and a soupy center.

Rankings are based on a combination of food/drink, atmosphere, service, and price. The author visits all restaurants incognito and pays for his own meals and drinks.