Pizzeria Bianco Might Make the Best Pizza in America
Pizzeria Bianco
No matter where Pizzeria Bianco ends up on this list, know that it’ll probably always be the most important restaurant in Arizona. It’s the place that put Phoenix food on the map. It has its own gravitational pull. Is it the best restaurant though? Is it even the best pizza place? That’s hard to answer. Food critics love Pizzeria Bianco because of its simplicity—the pizzas are all so well crafted, and the ingredients just taste better than other places. Foodies (do we use that word anymore?) love it because the whole vibe just feels special. I can’t even explain it. But people who don’t care about ingredients or the craft of it all sometimes come away feeling underwhelmed. “Pizza’s pizza, amirite?” “No, Jim, it’s not.”
Downtown - 623 E Adams St
Camelback East - 4743 N 20th St
Awards + Accolades
James Beard Awards
2020: Outstanding Restaurant - Nominee
2017: Outstanding Restaurant - Semifinalist
2016: Outstanding Restaurant - Semifinalist
2015: Outstanding Restaurant - Semifinalist
2014: Outstanding Restaurant - Semifinalist
2003: Best Chef: Southwest | Chris Bianco - Winner
2000: Best Chef: Southwest | Chris Bianco - Nominee
AZ Central
2024: 100 Essential Restaurants
2023: 100 Essential Restaurants
2020: Dominic Armato’s 100 Essential Restaurants
2018: Dominic Armato’s Top 100 Restaurants
Eater
2024: The 38 Essential Restaurants in Phoenix
Phoenix Magazine
2024: Artisanal/Fancy Pizza
2023: Best Pizza
2023: Best Neapolitan-Style Pizza
2022: Best Artisanal/Fancy Pizza
2021: Best Fancy Pizza
2019: Top 100 Restaurants
2019: Best Mom
2015: Best Pizzeria
2014: 50 Best AZ Restaurants
2012: Best Pizza
2005: Best Valley PR
Phoenix New Times
2024: The Top 100 Restaurants
2023: Best Pizza
2021: Best Chef | Chris Bianco
2019: Best Pizza
2018: Best Pizza
2015: Best Gourmet Pizza
2014: Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner
2013: Best Gourmet Pizza
2012: Best Gourmet Pizza
2010: Best Gourmet Pizza
2009: Best Gourmet Pizza
2008: Best Gourmet Pizza
2007: Best Gourmet Pizza
2006: Best Place to Take a New Yorker
2001: Best Gourmet Pizza
Reviews
Pizzeria Bianco is confident enough to bet that fresh pizza, baked from scratch in a wood-fired brick oven and topped with first-class ingredients, can draw a crowd. From what I've sampled and seen, I'd say it's going to cash that bet.
- Howard Seftel, Phoenix New Times
I had tasted pizza greatness before in New York, but this was something else. The spirit energizing the restaurant’s team hovered as palpably as the campfire scents. This crew was young and full of justified pride. The misshapen pies sprang from the Neapolitan-American tradition but achieved higher glory under a freethinker's close attention and unusual care with quality ingredients. In that shopping center, Chris Bianco catalyzed the modern pizzeria revolution. I ate many meals at Pizzeria Bianco during that stay in Phoenix. Not just for the food. Watching Bianco and his crew inspired me to pursue excellence in my own life.
- Bill Addison, Eater
What to Get
Flourless Chocolate Cake
But the Bianco family is a tour de force in Phoenix, and if all you've had is the pizza, you're missing out. Marco Bianco takes charge of the bread, and you can often find him at Pane Bianco, a sandwich shop that recently expanded its menu to include more classic Italian fare. And Francesca, the family matriarch, comes in to the Town and Country Pizzeria Bianco location from time to time to make desserts. You can see her recipes on display there, and try her handiwork. The flourless chocolate cake is sweet, rich and dense in all the right ways.
- Amy Silverman, Phoenix New Times
Pappardelle Bolognese
Most folks trek to Chris Bianco’s Town & Country outpost for his famous pies, overlooking the otherworldly pastas. Big mistake. It takes serious technique to produce the wide but thin, ruffle-edged pappardelle from Arizona wheat, and even more skill to cook them al dente. Bathed in a lusty, meaty tomato sauce – made with Arizona grass-fed beef – it’s the Valley’s premiere pasta dish.
- Niki D’Andrea, Phoenix Magazine
Rosa Pizza
In 1988, long before the Valley’s artisanal pizza explosion, Chris Bianco was slinging wood-fired pies in the corner of a local AJ’s Euro-Market and Deli. He later gained international fame making those same flame-kissed, Neapolitan-style pizzas, and none is better than the Rosa, a simple combo of Parmigiano cheese, red onion slivers, fresh rosemary and chopped raw pistachios on lightly charred, chewy crust. You won’t find better execution of the form anywhere. Full stop.
- Phoenix New Times
Sonny Boy Pizza
I knew my gamble had paid off when my New Yorker aunt, fresh off the plane from Sky Harbor, sat on the patio of Pizzeria Bianco and declared her pizza the "best she's had." After further questioning, she clarified that the Sonny Boy red sauce pie, topped with smatters of thick-sliced soppressata, was the best "in that style" and therefore in a different category than classic, cheesy New York. But still, an "11 out of 10."
- Andi Berlin, AZ Central
Wiseguy Pizza
A recent lunchtime pop-in saw me munching on a Wiseguy, Bianco's killer white pie of wood-roasted onion, heady house-smoked mozzarella, and fennel sausage, just a few minutes after I walked in the door. Bliss.
- Laura Hahnefeld, Phoenix New Times
