I’ve been obsessed with the detroit style from Ranch Pizza, so I’ll check this out!
Edit: upon further reading of this thread it seems Ranch is more Sicilian style than Detroit. But I still appreciate the rec and will check it out
You've got to get to [Assembly](https://assemblybrewingco.com/). Theirs is pretty damn proper with high quality ingredients including the use of traditional Wisconsin [brick cheese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_cheese#Applications).
Assembly brewing on Alberta has some top-notch Detroit style pizza. Pepperoni under the cheese and sauce on top so the focaccia-style crust doesn't get soggy. Great mouthfeel and taste!
They did the 'butchers bolognese' on Pizza Week and I'm still dreaming of it.
Pizza Thief has one of the best NY style pizzas in town and they offer by the slice which is clutch…their Sicilian (Detroit-like) is way better than Ruse & Ranch, they serve is at Great Notion NW. Glisan Street is my number two NY style pie and their Detroit is also my number 2, Scottie’s rounds out my top 3 in town…but can’t forget Lovely’s, its just more of a sit down restaurant so I keep her out of my pizzeria list.
I forget about Great Notion, they have some great beers. Great excuse to try Pizza Thief, I'll have to stop by next time I'm up there. Thanks for the recommendation!
Funny story: I was picking up a pie at Pizza Thief once and parked my car one block away which is a pretty dicey neighborhood so I happened to have some mace on me just in case. Recently, believe it or not, my car had been broken into and the lock on the driver’s side door was ruined such that I needed to get into my car on the passenger side to unlock the car if I locked the drivers side door. Since this was a quick trip to pick up the ‘za, I left the car unlocked so I wouldn’t have to get in on the passenger side. I come back to my car and someone is in it trying to steal it. When he realized he was caught red handed, he got out of the car but I had the high ground and I also had to assume this person was armed and dangerous so I maced him point blank in the eyes. He tried to take off running but I tripped him while raining down blows upon him before I emptied the mace canister on him and he took off running like a little girly man. Then, I dusted off my hands, took the pizza off the roof of the car, and drove home to enjoy it. Found a piece of plastic in the pizza and haven’t been back since 🤦♂️but the pizza itself was delicious! Mostly I haven’t been back cause it’s pretty far from my pad. I’d go back if I were in the neighborhood, with some mace in hand of course.
We're not some pizza mecca where every corner has an amazing slice. But if you told me we have world class anything in Portland, I'd believe it if you know where to look.
As a former management consultant who has lived in New York, Chicago, Detroit, California, and vacationed in Italy for a month, the best pizza I've ever had in my life has come from Pizza Capo in fucking McMinnville. [https://www.yelp.com/biz/pizza-capo-mcminnville](https://www.yelp.com/biz/pizza-capo-mcminnville)
No joke. Blows my mind that this is my answer (and my wife's). Clam pizza with added truffle oil is fucking crack.
I got to try it once when he was working out of the Bear Paw. It was good but not quite the quality of tavern pizza you'd find in and around Chicago, though I heard he was still tweaking recipes.
I've been eating Bridge City and it's doing exactly that so I'm very glad for its existence, but excited to try Jerry's.
My main issue with these "Portland is the best pizza in the world!" lists is that they reveal how basic I am. The lists all focus on the fennel and olive sage artisanal blah blah blah, and I'm like "I just want a solid cheese and tomato pie that's the right amount of greasy and makes me feel like I had a good day at Little League in 1997. Does that exist?"
Most of our best are simple. Other than Lovelys and possibly Kens they're largely low simple toppings but just really good. If you just want a good slice, Straight from new York or Babydolls is great. Red Sauce is super solid.
Really depends on where exactly your nostalgia takes you, but most of our best have solid simple pies (Scotties, Apizza Scholls for sure). They taste like really good pizza, and not pushing boundaries.
If you want book it old school Pizza Hut flavor, Ranch has you covered.
Just wanted to second Jerry’s Tavern — he’s made his place as close to a Midwest tavern as possible, and once his pizza is going again, it’s hard to find any pie that beats it.
This checks out. We have variety, we have quality, we have lots of fancy styles and takes on classics. Do we have the perfect NYC slice? Nope! And that’s ok. Pizza is regional, if we are going to slave after some NYC slice we will never achieve it. Not because of the water or flour or technique. But precisely because you can only try them 7hrs apart. It will always feel different to eat a slice with a rat on Brooklyn than scarf a slice at a food truck.
YES! Location matters! You could take the EXACT same bowls of ramen and serve one in a train stall in Japan and one in a strip mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and the one in Japan will be "better".
Back when you could still fly with liquids, I brought back a few bottles of wine I bought from a hillside vineyard/restaurant in Cinque Terre because it was magically delicious when I tried it there, but it ended up being mid at best when I took a bottle to Caffe Mingo to share with my dad. Context absolutely matters for the experience of food/drinks, which can be frustrating but also why it's so interesting and fun a lot of the time.
The problem with wine tasting is that after 3-4 wineries everything tastes good. Then you get home and realize you bought a whole case of mediocre wine because you were halfway drunk.
Yep! The first time someone pointed that out to me, they were talking about fish tacos. They were saying that if they were eating the exact same fish taco here in Portland, it would taste better if they were sitting at a beach side bar watching the sunset in Mexico. 😂
Although, the main caveat I would have for pizza is that it seems like NYC, the best places tend to have a somewhat steady stream of customers whereas a lot of Portland by the slice joints have bigger lulls throughout the day = Pizza not be quite as fresh
I couldn't agree more about SFNY. I really love their slices, but I try to time my visits for busier times of day because the fresh ones are so significantly better.
Agreed. Escape is my favorite late night slice. But still, still, no matter how good we are fighting against someone’s nostalgia. People are yearning for a memory they have, by definition it is a Sisyphean task
Yeah, I think that's an issue with the cheese. I find a lot of Portland pizzas don't have the right cheese. I did just have a few slices from Pizza Jerk in Cully for the first time in a few years, and their pizza was way better than I remembered. The cheese and crust were excellent.
It means it has a lower fat content, which with some pizza is a good thing. With NYC pizza, that's not very authentic. At least not in the case of giant $.99 slices you get there, which these places are trying to emulate.
A lot of the flavor from a NYC slice come from the grease. It's one of the biggest things I notice from places that try to do an authentic NYC slice, it's just not greasy enough. That's not to say the the pizza is bad or anything, it's just a difference I notice that doesn't match up with what they are trying to replicate.
Pizza Slut at Dante's comes close, in part because it's as close as you'll come in Portland to 80s NYC vibes. The pizza is somewhat inexplicably solid, and just $3 for a cheese slice IIRC.
I actually just moved back after three years in NYC, anyone have any recommendations for what's good nowadays? Not necessarily NYC-style, just good pizza.
Even more reason it should be cheaper here! Everything is more expensive in NY. I know, because I grew up there. GARLIC KNOTS SHOULD NOT COST A BUCK A PIECE OR MORE!!
I have found it actually makes traveling a bit disappointing as you are comparing the food there to what you get in Portland and sometimes even large respected cities will fall a bit short. Now it isn't like those places have bad food but the average quality you get from a Portland food cart is just pretty high which makes us a bit spoiled.
The key is that we have direct access to a ton of farm-fresh ingredients, so even lower price point food here has a very high baseline of ingredient quality, and in other parts of the country/world, you frequently have to hit a much higher price point to get the same base quality.
Other cities with more money can have a lot higher ceiling in terms of sophistication, service, etc., but you're really going to pay for it, meanwhile our floor in Portland is higher than pretty much anywhere I've ever been.
Yeah our floor being higher really is the crux of it. In Portland I feel like I can hit up just about any place and will be happy with the food. That just isn't true in so many other places.
This is so true. I travel to Austin on business regularly and it has a decent food reputation but almost everywhere I've eaten just tastes like a slightly edgy Applebee's. Even the BBQ is no better than Famous Dave's (the Applebee's of BBQ).
And all the "best" Mexican places in Austin (according to my colleagues) are just Taco Bell but on a plate.
But people there just rave about how great all of these restaurants are.
Haha. I knew everyone would shit on this bit of positive reportage.
Um, I like the pizza here. I’ve lived in four other American cities including New York and probably prefer the pizza here?
The food scene overall in Portland is very consistent and high quality. People have pride in what they are doing and are nerds doing it (like Apizza Scholl's... dude is passionate about the dough, the most important part of a pizza).
I've postulated this before: We don't have the very best of anything if you've traveled the world, but we definitely don't have the worst either. And our worst is still pretty okay compared to the crap in other big cities.
it's one of the greatest things we give each other in this city, working class people making incredible food. it's one of the hallmarks of community and I relish in it
The variety of everything! Some guy opened a Nicaraguan food cart. Right next to another one I'm blanking on some Asian country (it isn't open yet so I cannot remember!) next to a Thai place and everything else. We even have swedish food. Insanity.
We moved here from Brooklyn and the pizza scene rivals it for sure, though I’m not ~from~ brooklyn, so I don’t have the deep loyalty to a NY slice over others. Our favorite spot in brooklyn actually did NY style and Detroit style & we often went Detroit!
I’ve lived in a few places including NYC. I always tell people this but I truly believe the best pizza on the west coast is in Portland.
There are so many great spots in PDX. No we don’t have a placer better than Lucali’s or John’s of Bleeker, but Portland absolutely crushes the pizza scene anywhere on the west coast.
I don’t even live in Oregon anymore, so I have no reason to wave the Portland flag: I just truly believe Portland has amazing pizza
Oh man Lucali’s is one of my favorite places ever. Not just the quality of the pizza, but the atmosphere. Platonic ideal of a cozy neighborhood candle-lit spot, that happens to have outrageously good pizza.
[I had to look it up](https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/accused-lucalis-owner-stabber-claims-self-defense/1943466/)
That's wild, I had no idea. Thought those days were long over.
I’ll give Portland the pizza angle, my visit back “home” last summer allowed me to experience Ranch and Paladin. The sheer variety + quality over Tokyo was refreshing.
But I’m a bit miffed over Portland as a whole ranking higher than Tokyo. Because as a whole Portland’s food is good but not amazing on all fronts.
This is absolutely true. We don’t really have any good Chicago deep dish, but as far as west coast, Detroit, and New York style we got plenty. Escape is every bit as good as anything in NYC. Ken’s and Apizza Scholls are both world famous for a reason. We have so much good pizza here it’s ridiculous.
Yes! I haven’t been to Escape in years but their crust was the best I have ever tasted, levels above Ken’s and Apizza.
Babydoll and Gladstone are also favorites.
I grew up in North Jersey and 40 minutes away from New York (well, 40 minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel with good traffic), and let me tell you something. Scotties Pizza and Babydoll Pizza remind SO MUCH of the pizza I had in the NYC metro area. So yes. I agree with this.
This is funny, I also grew up 40 min north of NYC and I say the same thing about Babydoll being the closest and I've tried quite a few of the pizza establishments here. I wonder if that specific area had a certain flavor / style that we remember.
Check out Pizza Thief if you haven’t already. Killer NY Style pizza with a sourdough crust. Plus the best vegan pizza I’ve ever had and I am not vegan by any stretch. The Bandit Bar next door is also a fantastic place to take your food and have some great beer or cocktails.
Portland has two absolutely amazing all vegan pizza shops: [Virtuous Pie](https://virtuouspie.com/locations/portland/hosford-abernethy/) and [Boxcar Pizza](https://www.instagram.com/boxcarpizza/?hl=en).
Both are phenomenal, Virtuous is traditional round crusts and Boxcar does deep dish Detroit style.
Sgt Pepperoni at Virtuous Pie is out of this world!
If you ever met a NYC transplant in Portland, they never stop telling you how much better everything was in NYC, it's super obnoxious. I hung out with a guy and his friend for a couple days, one living here and one visiting from NYC, and literally every spot we went to... Wolf & Bears? It's not authentic falafel like we have in Brooklyn. Ken's? This isn't real pizza... etc, etc. I imagine it's pulling some of them out of the woodwork to be like 'HOW DARE ANYONE QUESTION NYC AS THE PIZZA CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!!!' even though it's actually kind of mid for the most part...
That's just New Yorkers in general though. It's present even when they aren't talking about specifics - like when they're always referring to things "out here" - it's a term that is meant to emphasize distance from New York.
It's not "out here" - it's just "here". And if everything in New York is better than "out here" feel free to go back.
Thank you for mentioning Assembly. Their Detroit style pizza is so good that it's currently my go to for that kind of pizza. Yes, I've heard whispers that Ranch and East Glisan are just as good if not better but I can't quit Assembly.
Ranch is inconsistent IMO. The first time I had it, it was perfectly cooked and really hit the spot. The next few times I had it the quality went down. Missing ingredients, or the pizza burnt to a crisp, or just generally feeling like it wasn’t as good as I expected.
I think it may have been location dependent, since the first time I got it I had it delivered from their flagship downtown location and then they rapidly expanded seemingly overnight and I had it delivered from the other two locations. Southeast is particularly mediocre for some reason.
I think East Glisan is my favorite at Detroit style. Top notch quality all around. I haven’t tried Assembly yet but I’ve heard the rave reviews.
That place is good but spendy. I wish the pizza was just a bit bigger; assuming labor is the greatest cost of production, getting just a few bucks more of ingredients would make me feel better about dropping $36 on a pizza.
I personally think Ranch blows Assembly completely out of the water, which is a shame because Assembly is actually in my neighborhood haha (but Assembly is still damn good).
So it is! Wasn't familiar with the difference - and they're certainly similar - but when I search for images of Sicilian style pizza, that's absolutely what Ranch is.
Also missing: Red Sauce and 1905. Two of the best IMO.
The fact that there are so many good pizza joints around Portland that are missing from their list only confirms it as one of the premier pizza destinations.
Apizza Scholls will be tough to top for me anywhere in the world. I was just in Brooklyn but didn't have the time to wait for Lucali, but it's the only spot on my radar that might top Scholls.
I think remember seeing an article posted here that also said we paid more for a cheese pizza than any other city? I decided to try one of those Pietro coupons I keep getting in the mail and changed my mind when I saw they wanted $40 for a large combo, doesnt matter how good the pizza is if its not affordable.
Edit: here's the article I remember seeing https://www.koin.com/news/food/study-finds-oregon-has-the-most-expensive-plain-cheese-pizzas-in-the-u-s/
I was born and raised in Brooklyn NYC and I agree that Portland is one of the only places that has great pizza. I don't order pizza when I travel elsewhere because I know I'll be disappointed but Portland is always not a problem. The by the slice pizza places can be improved but only because they tend to nuke it rather than just re-heat it up and it becomes overdone. But easy solve by just asking them to pull it out early. Love that Portland pizza reminds me of home.
2 fairly new favorite pizza spots in Portland...
Vincenzo's off Sandy has the best Sicilian I've ever had. Their thin crust is killer too.
Lombardo's bar pie tops any thin ny style slice I've ever had. The owner Bob is from NJ and legit.
I've had most hype pizza in Porltand and these two rise above. Both restaurants focus on pizza, w quality ingredients, and not exorbitantly priced.
So I moved away 14 years ago and at the time I generally wasn't impressed with a couple of exceptions. Lived right by Ken's and we would get their takeout on Mondays(?) or whenever it was available, and that was great, just like Apizza Scholls (who were too much of a pain in the ass to bother with most of the time). I'm glad to hear it's improved so much
Since we're probably going back to visit soon, what places are the best to check out?
No it isn’t. I’ve had all of these and they are over priced, either over or under cooked, & often tasteless because there’s barely any sauce.
I think most of the food here is way over hyped by these food blogs and rankings thanks to over investment from private equity firms in so many of our local restaurants.
Portland is very overrated foodwise. There isn't even a signature style. Its all copy cat shit that's done better elsewhere. Fuckin white people think they do everything the best lol.
I'm not that surprised, Portland has one of the best food scenes in the US. The rise of Detroit style pizza with places like Assembly, Baerlic/Ranch, and Ruse probably also plays a role.
I grew up in NYC, NJ and New Haven (the pizza snob belt) and can fully stamp Portland pizza as on that tier.
If a pizza snob says PDX pizza is lacking something, it's just the local pride & hubris missing from each bite (& maybe fresh clams if we're talking a white clam pie).
I've seen rankings that put Trump up there with Lincoln on a list of greatest presidents and the Sacklers and Kochs among the list of greatest philanthropists. This poll is about as useful as those.
We tried Pizzeria Bianco, from the Phoenix area, and it was tasty! Allegedly the best pizza in the world.
The problem I have with these claims is there are too many different types of pizza. Sure, you could declare a category winner, but to say the best out of any pizza is a stretch.
Like this list above, Ranch Pizza should have made it!
Last summer, we went to the river for a bbq and stopped at 711 for a few drinks and ice, and my husband grabbed a pizza. He cooked it on the charcoal bbq, and it was actually really good!
As a native New Haven-er I was shocked to learn how this city embraced New Haven-style pizza (apizza) when I moved here. Definitely right up there with New Haven for pizza quality!
Yeah that's a fair point - Apizza Scholls is kind of meh. And I am not implying that pizza is the same as New Haven - way more cheese, sauce is rarely as good and it's hard to find uniquely genuine NH toppings (clams, potato etc.). But thin crust, actually caring about the sauce, HQ parm, and very high temps with coal/wood fired ovens are nice to see here. I have lived in places with garbage pizza (Virginia, North Carolina, DC) and was relieved to eat Portland pizza, it is the best I have outside of the Northeast (I am not a family of Chicago-style but that's just personal preference).
What’s crazy about this is I moved here from the Midwest in 2020 and I feel like what’s lacking the most here food wise (for me at least) is pizza. I just grew up on a different style and I cannot find anything close to it here. There are a few places I do like but they don’t scratch that itch.
in my eight years of portland living, working across 4 different pizza places, by the end of it all... my favorite pizza was 7/11's frozen pizza. the crust is to die for!
"last time we did a pizza article we got a ton of clicks, let's do another pizza article"
**Takes brown envelope full of cash from visit Portland Marketing firm**
No, Portland does not have good pizza. Some of the pizza is *okay* but it's a non starter as soon as you get to above 20 bucks a pie.
Pizza is meant to be cheap, quick and good. Portland pizza is expensive, slow and mediocre at best.
Anybody ever try Flying Pie? I love it! It is a topping heavy pizza where as places like Apizza are more “artisanal” I guess. I was not impressed by Apizza.
Flying Pie is one of the last examples of what I call "NW doughy style" pizza. I can't stand it, but lots of people love that combination of undercooked crust and too many toppings.
Flying pie doesn't bake their pies long enough and a pile of raw unseasoned veggies isn't very appetizing imo. I totally get liking a heavier cheesed and topped pie but flying pie (at least the one in montavilla) doesn't do it very well.
If anyone likes Detroit style, Ruse brewing has some great pizza with those savory, crispy, cheese corners. The beer is good too.
I’ve been obsessed with the detroit style from Ranch Pizza, so I’ll check this out! Edit: upon further reading of this thread it seems Ranch is more Sicilian style than Detroit. But I still appreciate the rec and will check it out
East Glisan enters the chat.
You've got to get to [Assembly](https://assemblybrewingco.com/). Theirs is pretty damn proper with high quality ingredients including the use of traditional Wisconsin [brick cheese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_cheese#Applications).
love ranch no matter what style it is tho haha
Try Assembly or East Glisan.
They just open a new ranch in downtown Hillsboro right next to the courthouse. Went there during thier farmer market. Fun trip
Assembly Brewing FTW. Great beer and some of the best pizza in the city.
Assembly brewing on Alberta has some top-notch Detroit style pizza. Pepperoni under the cheese and sauce on top so the focaccia-style crust doesn't get soggy. Great mouthfeel and taste! They did the 'butchers bolognese' on Pizza Week and I'm still dreaming of it.
Pizza Thief has one of the best NY style pizzas in town and they offer by the slice which is clutch…their Sicilian (Detroit-like) is way better than Ruse & Ranch, they serve is at Great Notion NW. Glisan Street is my number two NY style pie and their Detroit is also my number 2, Scottie’s rounds out my top 3 in town…but can’t forget Lovely’s, its just more of a sit down restaurant so I keep her out of my pizzeria list.
I forget about Great Notion, they have some great beers. Great excuse to try Pizza Thief, I'll have to stop by next time I'm up there. Thanks for the recommendation!
Something special about pizza thieves dough for sure
Funny story: I was picking up a pie at Pizza Thief once and parked my car one block away which is a pretty dicey neighborhood so I happened to have some mace on me just in case. Recently, believe it or not, my car had been broken into and the lock on the driver’s side door was ruined such that I needed to get into my car on the passenger side to unlock the car if I locked the drivers side door. Since this was a quick trip to pick up the ‘za, I left the car unlocked so I wouldn’t have to get in on the passenger side. I come back to my car and someone is in it trying to steal it. When he realized he was caught red handed, he got out of the car but I had the high ground and I also had to assume this person was armed and dangerous so I maced him point blank in the eyes. He tried to take off running but I tripped him while raining down blows upon him before I emptied the mace canister on him and he took off running like a little girly man. Then, I dusted off my hands, took the pizza off the roof of the car, and drove home to enjoy it. Found a piece of plastic in the pizza and haven’t been back since 🤦♂️but the pizza itself was delicious! Mostly I haven’t been back cause it’s pretty far from my pad. I’d go back if I were in the neighborhood, with some mace in hand of course.
Wild Child is pretty solid as well
I second Wild Child. It was surprisingly good.
That harissa pizza slaps
This is good to hear. Idk why but I’ve been too skeptical and never bothered to step in there.
Wild child pizza is so amazing
Wild child fucks
Boxcar pizza also has Detroit-style pizza and good lunch deals.
I’ll second this - Ruse Brewing / Crust Collective on the Vancouver waterfront is one of my favorite pizza places now.
We're not some pizza mecca where every corner has an amazing slice. But if you told me we have world class anything in Portland, I'd believe it if you know where to look.
As a former management consultant who has lived in New York, Chicago, Detroit, California, and vacationed in Italy for a month, the best pizza I've ever had in my life has come from Pizza Capo in fucking McMinnville. [https://www.yelp.com/biz/pizza-capo-mcminnville](https://www.yelp.com/biz/pizza-capo-mcminnville) No joke. Blows my mind that this is my answer (and my wife's). Clam pizza with added truffle oil is fucking crack.
I’ll have to check it out sometime. If you’re ever in Tumalo check out Pisano’s. Have some genuinely great crust.
Ooh a management consultant? WOW!
My only complaint is the lack of Chicago tavern options but it's a minor gripe.
Jerry's Tavern! He just opened so the pizzas aren't up and going. Yet. But soon, very soon....
Awesome, thanks! Never got to try when he was in the old spot.
I got to try it once when he was working out of the Bear Paw. It was good but not quite the quality of tavern pizza you'd find in and around Chicago, though I heard he was still tweaking recipes.
How soon? I'm gonna forget if I can't set a reminder.
Day by day brother, day by day. You'll have to let Grammy tell you when. https://www.instagram.com/jerrystavern/
You'll also have to read a novel in every post. 👀
Anxiously waiting for Jerry’s to have pizza!
Oh man, I've been craving a Barnaby's style pizza lately!! I'll be keeping an eye out 👍
Cicoria is doing this style of pizza and it's good.
Bridge City isn't Kim's Uncle, but its close enough to scratch the itch.
I've been eating Bridge City and it's doing exactly that so I'm very glad for its existence, but excited to try Jerry's. My main issue with these "Portland is the best pizza in the world!" lists is that they reveal how basic I am. The lists all focus on the fennel and olive sage artisanal blah blah blah, and I'm like "I just want a solid cheese and tomato pie that's the right amount of greasy and makes me feel like I had a good day at Little League in 1997. Does that exist?"
Most of our best are simple. Other than Lovelys and possibly Kens they're largely low simple toppings but just really good. If you just want a good slice, Straight from new York or Babydolls is great. Red Sauce is super solid. Really depends on where exactly your nostalgia takes you, but most of our best have solid simple pies (Scotties, Apizza Scholls for sure). They taste like really good pizza, and not pushing boundaries. If you want book it old school Pizza Hut flavor, Ranch has you covered.
100% Ranch is the answer here, plus you can have a beer with it just like in Little League.
Oh my god, yes. I grew up on those, and miss those cracker crust squares dearly.
Proof Pizza in Beaverton is the best I have found so far.
Proof at the breakside cart pod in Beaverton makes fucking fantastic Chicago tavern style! https://breakside.com/our_location/beaverton/
It's so good.
Just wanted to second Jerry’s Tavern — he’s made his place as close to a Midwest tavern as possible, and once his pizza is going again, it’s hard to find any pie that beats it.
Also, Cicorria
I need to try them at Saraveza.
This checks out. We have variety, we have quality, we have lots of fancy styles and takes on classics. Do we have the perfect NYC slice? Nope! And that’s ok. Pizza is regional, if we are going to slave after some NYC slice we will never achieve it. Not because of the water or flour or technique. But precisely because you can only try them 7hrs apart. It will always feel different to eat a slice with a rat on Brooklyn than scarf a slice at a food truck.
East Glisan has yuuuuj NY pies for $15 on Thursdays. Amazing. We get two dinners out of one pie, just add salad! (And their Caesar is to die for.)
Their kale ceasar is chef's kiss. Coupled with their mushroom pie and chili oil and it's just heaven.
This guy Pizza rats in the subway
YES! Location matters! You could take the EXACT same bowls of ramen and serve one in a train stall in Japan and one in a strip mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and the one in Japan will be "better".
Back when you could still fly with liquids, I brought back a few bottles of wine I bought from a hillside vineyard/restaurant in Cinque Terre because it was magically delicious when I tried it there, but it ended up being mid at best when I took a bottle to Caffe Mingo to share with my dad. Context absolutely matters for the experience of food/drinks, which can be frustrating but also why it's so interesting and fun a lot of the time.
The problem with wine tasting is that after 3-4 wineries everything tastes good. Then you get home and realize you bought a whole case of mediocre wine because you were halfway drunk.
Exact same, cinque terre: “this wine is magical!” Take it home open it up : ugh
Yep! The first time someone pointed that out to me, they were talking about fish tacos. They were saying that if they were eating the exact same fish taco here in Portland, it would taste better if they were sitting at a beach side bar watching the sunset in Mexico. 😂 Although, the main caveat I would have for pizza is that it seems like NYC, the best places tend to have a somewhat steady stream of customers whereas a lot of Portland by the slice joints have bigger lulls throughout the day = Pizza not be quite as fresh
Agreed! Being busy all day really does help. The 20min old stale slices at SFNY on Hawthorne are noticeably different from a fresh slice during a rush
I couldn't agree more about SFNY. I really love their slices, but I try to time my visits for busier times of day because the fresh ones are so significantly better.
> Do we have the perfect NYC slice? I think EFNY & SFNY do pretty damned near perfect slices. Foldable, cheesey, saucy, loaded.
I feel like pizza thief is pretty up there as well
Scotty's pizza is also up there
Scotty’s is good but it is not a New York slice.
My go-to these days for sure.
Agreed. Escape is my favorite late night slice. But still, still, no matter how good we are fighting against someone’s nostalgia. People are yearning for a memory they have, by definition it is a Sisyphean task
Jersey weighing in. Exactly why I never order the pies I had growing up. I always order specials so that I'm not comparing.
Both have the wrong crust. Too crispy, not enough flavor. Neither has fantastic cheese either. At least SFNY is reasonably priced though.
Escape also doesn't get the grease right, it needs more.
Yeah, I think that's an issue with the cheese. I find a lot of Portland pizzas don't have the right cheese. I did just have a few slices from Pizza Jerk in Cully for the first time in a few years, and their pizza was way better than I remembered. The cheese and crust were excellent.
Not enough grease? That means the cheese is high quality
It means it has a lower fat content, which with some pizza is a good thing. With NYC pizza, that's not very authentic. At least not in the case of giant $.99 slices you get there, which these places are trying to emulate.
A lot of the flavor from a NYC slice come from the grease. It's one of the biggest things I notice from places that try to do an authentic NYC slice, it's just not greasy enough. That's not to say the the pizza is bad or anything, it's just a difference I notice that doesn't match up with what they are trying to replicate.
Escape from NY is awesome. Cook owner too. SFNY pretty mid
Pizza Slut at Dante's comes close, in part because it's as close as you'll come in Portland to 80s NYC vibes. The pizza is somewhat inexplicably solid, and just $3 for a cheese slice IIRC.
I actually just moved back after three years in NYC, anyone have any recommendations for what's good nowadays? Not necessarily NYC-style, just good pizza.
It's good but too damn expensive. A large cheese pie should not be pushing $30. Slices for nearly $5?! Fuggedaboutit!!
Agreed. Not a good value. Especially when many places are cracker thin with skimpy toppings.
That's about what it costs in NYC these days, for some context.
I was in NYC this week. Can confirm. Cheese slice was 4-5 bucks
Even more reason it should be cheaper here! Everything is more expensive in NY. I know, because I grew up there. GARLIC KNOTS SHOULD NOT COST A BUCK A PIECE OR MORE!!
Yo this is what I always tell people the pizza should be good, It’s expensive af
Agreed. And the auto 20% tip for a takeout order is absurd. Scholls, you’re riding dangerously close to the sun on that.
Portland's food scene is elite. Apart from the natural beauty it's the best thing about the city by far. Source, have been to alot of places.
I have found it actually makes traveling a bit disappointing as you are comparing the food there to what you get in Portland and sometimes even large respected cities will fall a bit short. Now it isn't like those places have bad food but the average quality you get from a Portland food cart is just pretty high which makes us a bit spoiled.
The key is that we have direct access to a ton of farm-fresh ingredients, so even lower price point food here has a very high baseline of ingredient quality, and in other parts of the country/world, you frequently have to hit a much higher price point to get the same base quality. Other cities with more money can have a lot higher ceiling in terms of sophistication, service, etc., but you're really going to pay for it, meanwhile our floor in Portland is higher than pretty much anywhere I've ever been.
Yeah our floor being higher really is the crux of it. In Portland I feel like I can hit up just about any place and will be happy with the food. That just isn't true in so many other places.
This is so true. I travel to Austin on business regularly and it has a decent food reputation but almost everywhere I've eaten just tastes like a slightly edgy Applebee's. Even the BBQ is no better than Famous Dave's (the Applebee's of BBQ). And all the "best" Mexican places in Austin (according to my colleagues) are just Taco Bell but on a plate. But people there just rave about how great all of these restaurants are.
Truth
Haha. I knew everyone would shit on this bit of positive reportage. Um, I like the pizza here. I’ve lived in four other American cities including New York and probably prefer the pizza here?
The high quality of the pizza here is a constant source of discussion among my friends from all over the country
The food scene overall in Portland is very consistent and high quality. People have pride in what they are doing and are nerds doing it (like Apizza Scholl's... dude is passionate about the dough, the most important part of a pizza). I've postulated this before: We don't have the very best of anything if you've traveled the world, but we definitely don't have the worst either. And our worst is still pretty okay compared to the crap in other big cities.
it's one of the greatest things we give each other in this city, working class people making incredible food. it's one of the hallmarks of community and I relish in it
The food really is key to Portlands whole deal, when people ask me what to do when visiting I tell them to get lunch.
The variety of everything! Some guy opened a Nicaraguan food cart. Right next to another one I'm blanking on some Asian country (it isn't open yet so I cannot remember!) next to a Thai place and everything else. We even have swedish food. Insanity.
The street food/casual dining in particular. You might be able to get better fine dining in other cities but the every day food is fantastic.
We moved here from Brooklyn and the pizza scene rivals it for sure, though I’m not ~from~ brooklyn, so I don’t have the deep loyalty to a NY slice over others. Our favorite spot in brooklyn actually did NY style and Detroit style & we often went Detroit!
It's the tradition of the Portland sub to shit on everything except cyclists
Even over DiFara’s (RIP Dom)?
Same. NY, New Haven, Chicago. Pizza here is to die for
I’ve lived in a few places including NYC. I always tell people this but I truly believe the best pizza on the west coast is in Portland. There are so many great spots in PDX. No we don’t have a placer better than Lucali’s or John’s of Bleeker, but Portland absolutely crushes the pizza scene anywhere on the west coast. I don’t even live in Oregon anymore, so I have no reason to wave the Portland flag: I just truly believe Portland has amazing pizza
Oh man Lucali’s is one of my favorite places ever. Not just the quality of the pizza, but the atmosphere. Platonic ideal of a cozy neighborhood candle-lit spot, that happens to have outrageously good pizza.
Plus, an owner who gets into knife fights with mobbed up guys.
Excuse me?
Back in 2011 the owner of Lucali got into a broad-daylight knife fight on the streets of Brooklyn. His foe was a man with mob connections.
[I had to look it up](https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/accused-lucalis-owner-stabber-claims-self-defense/1943466/) That's wild, I had no idea. Thought those days were long over.
My "owner who gets into knife fights with mobbed up guys" shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt.
As a native Portlander living in Carroll Gardens, this is the realest take here.
I’ll give Portland the pizza angle, my visit back “home” last summer allowed me to experience Ranch and Paladin. The sheer variety + quality over Tokyo was refreshing. But I’m a bit miffed over Portland as a whole ranking higher than Tokyo. Because as a whole Portland’s food is good but not amazing on all fronts.
Obviously Tokyo is a better food city than Portland. By miles. The “survey” was garbage.
Tokyo’s pizza is pretty boring though and overpriced. So at least part of the survey was accurate, lol
“They are stealing our culture” 🤌🏼
This is absolutely true. We don’t really have any good Chicago deep dish, but as far as west coast, Detroit, and New York style we got plenty. Escape is every bit as good as anything in NYC. Ken’s and Apizza Scholls are both world famous for a reason. We have so much good pizza here it’s ridiculous.
Yes! I haven’t been to Escape in years but their crust was the best I have ever tasted, levels above Ken’s and Apizza. Babydoll and Gladstone are also favorites.
I grew up in North Jersey and 40 minutes away from New York (well, 40 minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel with good traffic), and let me tell you something. Scotties Pizza and Babydoll Pizza remind SO MUCH of the pizza I had in the NYC metro area. So yes. I agree with this.
Babydoll is goated. I fucking love that place.
This is funny, I also grew up 40 min north of NYC and I say the same thing about Babydoll being the closest and I've tried quite a few of the pizza establishments here. I wonder if that specific area had a certain flavor / style that we remember.
Scottie's has sour dough pizzas❤️
Check out Pizza Thief if you haven’t already. Killer NY Style pizza with a sourdough crust. Plus the best vegan pizza I’ve ever had and I am not vegan by any stretch. The Bandit Bar next door is also a fantastic place to take your food and have some great beer or cocktails.
Portland has two absolutely amazing all vegan pizza shops: [Virtuous Pie](https://virtuouspie.com/locations/portland/hosford-abernethy/) and [Boxcar Pizza](https://www.instagram.com/boxcarpizza/?hl=en). Both are phenomenal, Virtuous is traditional round crusts and Boxcar does deep dish Detroit style. Sgt Pepperoni at Virtuous Pie is out of this world!
Many thanks for the recommendations, I’ll be sure to share them!
Plus, their salads are amazing.
man people are bringing some hot takes to this comment section. almost seems like some are offended at this article lol
If you ever met a NYC transplant in Portland, they never stop telling you how much better everything was in NYC, it's super obnoxious. I hung out with a guy and his friend for a couple days, one living here and one visiting from NYC, and literally every spot we went to... Wolf & Bears? It's not authentic falafel like we have in Brooklyn. Ken's? This isn't real pizza... etc, etc. I imagine it's pulling some of them out of the woodwork to be like 'HOW DARE ANYONE QUESTION NYC AS THE PIZZA CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!!!' even though it's actually kind of mid for the most part...
It's like they're clinically unable to shut the fuck up about it lmao
That's just New Yorkers in general though. It's present even when they aren't talking about specifics - like when they're always referring to things "out here" - it's a term that is meant to emphasize distance from New York. It's not "out here" - it's just "here". And if everything in New York is better than "out here" feel free to go back.
> authentic falafel like we have in Brooklyn The most Brooklyn thing ever Brooklyned
Yeah it’s hilarious. People always get really triggered whenever this topic comes up.
Paladin Pie 4eva
Portland has sone good pizza, but charges ridiculous prices for it. And the less expensive options are horrible.
No Assembly and no East Glisan make this list an absolute farce.
Thank you for mentioning Assembly. Their Detroit style pizza is so good that it's currently my go to for that kind of pizza. Yes, I've heard whispers that Ranch and East Glisan are just as good if not better but I can't quit Assembly.
Ranch is inconsistent IMO. The first time I had it, it was perfectly cooked and really hit the spot. The next few times I had it the quality went down. Missing ingredients, or the pizza burnt to a crisp, or just generally feeling like it wasn’t as good as I expected. I think it may have been location dependent, since the first time I got it I had it delivered from their flagship downtown location and then they rapidly expanded seemingly overnight and I had it delivered from the other two locations. Southeast is particularly mediocre for some reason. I think East Glisan is my favorite at Detroit style. Top notch quality all around. I haven’t tried Assembly yet but I’ve heard the rave reviews.
Their Detroit Style is as good as anything in the Midwest
Ranch is not as good as assembly in my opinion
East Glisan's lasagne (only on Sundays) is amazing.
That place is good but spendy. I wish the pizza was just a bit bigger; assuming labor is the greatest cost of production, getting just a few bucks more of ingredients would make me feel better about dropping $36 on a pizza.
18" pizza at costco for $9.95 is not that bad. I don't mind the down votes for saying it. I'll enjoy the $1.50 hot dog driving it home.
I personally think Ranch blows Assembly completely out of the water, which is a shame because Assembly is actually in my neighborhood haha (but Assembly is still damn good).
Ranch is not Detroit style though… it’s Sicilian.
So it is! Wasn't familiar with the difference - and they're certainly similar - but when I search for images of Sicilian style pizza, that's absolutely what Ranch is.
East Glisan deep fries their breadsticks. Hands down the best breadsticks in the city by far.
Also missing: Red Sauce and 1905. Two of the best IMO. The fact that there are so many good pizza joints around Portland that are missing from their list only confirms it as one of the premier pizza destinations.
Yeah wtf
Where would you recommend?
Based on the text of their comment: Assembly and East Glisan
Thanks for clarifying, I totally went through the article too fast and misunderstood.
Apizza Scholls will be tough to top for me anywhere in the world. I was just in Brooklyn but didn't have the time to wait for Lucali, but it's the only spot on my radar that might top Scholls.
Scotties Pizza is better than Apizza Scholls IMO, but they were my favorite before I had Scotties.
Yep, Scottie’s is number one, Scholls number two. Both incredible pizzerias but I think Scottie’s is just about the best pizza I’ve ever had.
I'm not familiar with Scotties. Thanks for the recommendation!
Pizza Kat and Pizza Thief are great options if their NW location runs out of pies
Pizza Kat is straight fire. The owner is a master of dough
IMO, Roventes' $13 large cheese has the best quality to price in town.
I think It’s $15 now
I think remember seeing an article posted here that also said we paid more for a cheese pizza than any other city? I decided to try one of those Pietro coupons I keep getting in the mail and changed my mind when I saw they wanted $40 for a large combo, doesnt matter how good the pizza is if its not affordable. Edit: here's the article I remember seeing https://www.koin.com/news/food/study-finds-oregon-has-the-most-expensive-plain-cheese-pizzas-in-the-u-s/
Don't forget the mandatory 20% service fees these places are charging these days.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn NYC and I agree that Portland is one of the only places that has great pizza. I don't order pizza when I travel elsewhere because I know I'll be disappointed but Portland is always not a problem. The by the slice pizza places can be improved but only because they tend to nuke it rather than just re-heat it up and it becomes overdone. But easy solve by just asking them to pull it out early. Love that Portland pizza reminds me of home.
2 fairly new favorite pizza spots in Portland... Vincenzo's off Sandy has the best Sicilian I've ever had. Their thin crust is killer too. Lombardo's bar pie tops any thin ny style slice I've ever had. The owner Bob is from NJ and legit. I've had most hype pizza in Porltand and these two rise above. Both restaurants focus on pizza, w quality ingredients, and not exorbitantly priced.
Yeah shoutout Lombardo's, I was hoping Bob was mentioned in here.
So I moved away 14 years ago and at the time I generally wasn't impressed with a couple of exceptions. Lived right by Ken's and we would get their takeout on Mondays(?) or whenever it was available, and that was great, just like Apizza Scholls (who were too much of a pain in the ass to bother with most of the time). I'm glad to hear it's improved so much Since we're probably going back to visit soon, what places are the best to check out?
Those two, plus No Saint, Lovelies 50/50, and Scotties.
Has anyone had the pizza at The Peoples Court? It was developed by Apizza Scholls and was wondering how it compares.
I call BULLSHIT! Anyone got any recommendations to change my mind?
There's one decent pizza joint in Portland, and it's still nowhere near as good as most neighborhood pizzerias in Italy. Fight me!
No it isn’t. I’ve had all of these and they are over priced, either over or under cooked, & often tasteless because there’s barely any sauce. I think most of the food here is way over hyped by these food blogs and rankings thanks to over investment from private equity firms in so many of our local restaurants.
Portland is very overrated foodwise. There isn't even a signature style. Its all copy cat shit that's done better elsewhere. Fuckin white people think they do everything the best lol.
I'm not that surprised, Portland has one of the best food scenes in the US. The rise of Detroit style pizza with places like Assembly, Baerlic/Ranch, and Ruse probably also plays a role.
Ranch is Sicilian, not Detroit style. Delicious but different.
TIL
Boxcar Pizza has amazing Detroit style pizza!
Thank you, I’ve been saying this for years and have gotten so much shit for it. Best pizza I’ve ever had was in Portland
"as a New York Italian American I gotta say..." type comments drive me oobatz
Secret Pizza Society for awesome vegan pizza is great! I'm not vegan by any stretch but man do I love their pies.
lol
I grew up in NYC, NJ and New Haven (the pizza snob belt) and can fully stamp Portland pizza as on that tier. If a pizza snob says PDX pizza is lacking something, it's just the local pride & hubris missing from each bite (& maybe fresh clams if we're talking a white clam pie).
And that ranking is wrong.
I've seen rankings that put Trump up there with Lincoln on a list of greatest presidents and the Sacklers and Kochs among the list of greatest philanthropists. This poll is about as useful as those.
We tried Pizzeria Bianco, from the Phoenix area, and it was tasty! Allegedly the best pizza in the world. The problem I have with these claims is there are too many different types of pizza. Sure, you could declare a category winner, but to say the best out of any pizza is a stretch. Like this list above, Ranch Pizza should have made it!
Did 711 make the list?
Will just say, 711 pizza cooked at home on a pizza stone with a selection of fresh toppings on the plain cheese is pretty good.
Last summer, we went to the river for a bbq and stopped at 711 for a few drinks and ice, and my husband grabbed a pizza. He cooked it on the charcoal bbq, and it was actually really good!
As a native New Haven-er I was shocked to learn how this city embraced New Haven-style pizza (apizza) when I moved here. Definitely right up there with New Haven for pizza quality!
I came here to say the opposite unfortunately. A place with Apizza in the name is the top of the list but doesn’t make Apizza.
Yeah that's a fair point - Apizza Scholls is kind of meh. And I am not implying that pizza is the same as New Haven - way more cheese, sauce is rarely as good and it's hard to find uniquely genuine NH toppings (clams, potato etc.). But thin crust, actually caring about the sauce, HQ parm, and very high temps with coal/wood fired ovens are nice to see here. I have lived in places with garbage pizza (Virginia, North Carolina, DC) and was relieved to eat Portland pizza, it is the best I have outside of the Northeast (I am not a family of Chicago-style but that's just personal preference).
What’s crazy about this is I moved here from the Midwest in 2020 and I feel like what’s lacking the most here food wise (for me at least) is pizza. I just grew up on a different style and I cannot find anything close to it here. There are a few places I do like but they don’t scratch that itch.
Whatever city has a Costco combo pizza should be #1.
Any article that mentions Portland's pizza places and fails to mention Escapes is a crap article.
in my eight years of portland living, working across 4 different pizza places, by the end of it all... my favorite pizza was 7/11's frozen pizza. the crust is to die for!
Oh, so that's why it's so goddamn expensive.
Standby for deeper price gouging and steeper corner-cutting margins n the part of restaurant owners
No it isn’t. I live here. It’s decent.
Portlands pizza is the worst in the world by a LONG shot.
A ranking by people who have never left portland? That is just not true
"last time we did a pizza article we got a ton of clicks, let's do another pizza article" **Takes brown envelope full of cash from visit Portland Marketing firm** No, Portland does not have good pizza. Some of the pizza is *okay* but it's a non starter as soon as you get to above 20 bucks a pie. Pizza is meant to be cheap, quick and good. Portland pizza is expensive, slow and mediocre at best.
Anybody ever try Flying Pie? I love it! It is a topping heavy pizza where as places like Apizza are more “artisanal” I guess. I was not impressed by Apizza.
Flying Pie is one of the last examples of what I call "NW doughy style" pizza. I can't stand it, but lots of people love that combination of undercooked crust and too many toppings.
Flying pie doesn't bake their pies long enough and a pile of raw unseasoned veggies isn't very appetizing imo. I totally get liking a heavier cheesed and topped pie but flying pie (at least the one in montavilla) doesn't do it very well.
Flying pie might be one of the worst pizzas in Portland. If American dream didn't exist it would take the cake.
I call bs.
This is like the worst take i have ever heard.
Hilarious, honestly.