Best Pizza in Istanbul: 12 Pizzerias That Get the Dough Right

Istanbul takes pizza more seriously than most visitors expect. The best of it clusters in Beyoğlu and the Teşvikiye blocks of Şişli, with wood-fired standouts in Beşiktaş and a few honest exceptions in the old city. Pizza went mainstream here in the Ninja Turtles era and never left, so the city has had three decades to get good at it.

Turks will also point you toward their own flatbreads, pide and lahmacun, and they have a case. Nobody books a flight for pizza; our guide to the best food in Istanbul covers what the flight is actually for. This list is for everyone else: travelers far enough into a long stay to miss a proper crust, families whose kids have hit their kebab limit, and anyone avoiding dairy, since Miss Pizza, The Upper Crust, and 400 Derece all bake cheese-free pies.

The list is grouped by neighborhood so you can match a pie to wherever your day already takes you. Our neighborhood food guides plan whole days the same way.

The full list at a glance

Place	Area	What to order	Why go
Pizzeria Pera	Beyoğlu (Asmalı Mescit)	Wood-fired pie with creative toppings	Italian and Turkish wines
Pizzeria Pidos	Beyoğlu (Gümüşsuyu)	Pepperoni pizza	Jazz on the speakers, delivers to hotels
49 Çukurcuma	Beyoğlu (Çukurcuma)	İzmir tulum cheese salad plus a pizza	Word-of-mouth favorite
Miss Pizza	Beyoğlu (Meşrutiyet Cd.)	Truffle oil or honey pies; cheese-free option	Reserve ahead
Ozi Pizza and Pasta	Sultanahmet	Pizza with a fresh pomegranate juice	Open morning to midnight
Pizza de Lavia	Sirkeci	Pizza or pide	Cheap eat near the Blue Mosque
Forno Balat	Balat	Pizza and salads in the garden	Ingredients from neighborhood suppliers
Paper Moon	Etiler	Thin-crust pies	Special occasion, old-Hollywood room
The Upper Crust	Bebek	Half-and-half pie, up to 18.5 inches	30+ options, cheese-free “red” pizza
Da Mario	Etiler	Seasonal pies or a calzone	Special occasion, wood oven since 1993
Cortiletto	Teşvikiye	Neapolitan pie on three-day dough	Naples-association-approved oven
400 Derece	Teşvikiye	Build-your-own	One pie comfortably feeds two
Mr. Hamza PLUS (bonus)	Halaskargazi	The HAMZA pizza burger	Vegan versions available

Beyoğlu

Four of the twelve sit on the Beyoğlu side, which makes this the easiest neighborhood to plan around.

1. Pizzeria Pera

A dim, cave-like room in Asmalı Mescit where a wood-burning brick oven does the heavy lifting. The dough stays close to the Italian playbook while the topping combinations take real risks. The wine list runs Italian and Turkish in both red and white, and matching a local bottle to a pie is half the fun. One of the best pizzas in Istanbul, full stop.

Address: Asmalı Mescit, Mahallesi, Gönül Sk. No:6/A, 34430 Beyoğlu/İstanbul

2. Pizzeria Pidos

Pidos delivers to hotel rooms, and fast. Eat in anyway. The room is stylish in a quiet, unshowy way, jazz plays over the speakers, and the service carries none of the attitude the decor might suggest. Order the pepperoni. Stepping back onto a Gümüşsuyu side street afterward feels mildly disorienting, since the room reads like a small Italian town.

Address: Gümüşsuyu, Dünya Sağlık Sk. No:13, 34437 Beyoğlu/İstanbul

3. 49 Çukurcuma

The cheese list tells you what this kitchen cares about: mozzarella next to Turkish tulum, mascarpone, organic mushrooms on top. Despite sitting on a busy street, it stays easy to walk past, and word of mouth handles all of its advertising. The waiters speak English and the card machine works.

Address: Kuloğlu, Turnacıbaşı Cd. No:49, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul

4. Miss Pizza

Miss Pizza blends in toppings most pizzerias will not touch: truffle oil, steamed broccoli, marinated eggplant, fennel, prosciutto, zucchini, even honey. There is a cheese-free pie for vegans and the lactose intolerant. The room is snug and minimal, and it fills up every night. Book a table or budget hours of waiting.

Address: Evliya Çelebi, Meşrutiyet Cd. 86A, 34430 Beyoğlu/İstanbul

The old city: Sultanahmet, Sirkeci, Balat

5. Ozi Pizza and Pasta

Tucked into the backstreets near the Blue Mosque and open from morning to midnight. The pizzas come out well built and photogenic, and the salads with a fresh pomegranate juice cover anyone at the table eating lighter. What lifts the place is the staff. They will walk you through the menu if you have allergies and recommend a wine for each dish without being asked twice.

Address: Binbirdirek Mah., Su Terazisi Sok. No:9, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul

6. Pizza de Lavia

A short walk from Sultanahmet’s big sights, in the Hocapaşa pocket of Sirkeci. The kitchen does both Italian-style pizza and Turkish pide, so a split table does not have to compromise. Portions run generous, the staff go out of their way to accommodate, and the doors stay open from morning until midnight, which covers a quick lunch between museums and a late dinner once the crowds thin out. On this list’s price scale, this is the cheap eat.

Address: Hocapaşa, Nöbethane Cd., Sirkeci, Fatih/İstanbul

7. Forno Balat

Set up to feel like the kitchen of the grandmother next door, except the industrial ovens sparkle like they were bought yesterday. Sit inside and you watch the kitchen work. Sit in the green garden and you get salads in the sun. The ingredients come through long relationships with family butchers and neighborhood greengrocers, and you can taste the difference that sourcing makes.

Address: Vodina Caddesi, Fener Kireçhane Sk. No:13/A, 34087 Fatih/İstanbul

Beşiktaş: Etiler and Bebek

The Bosphorus-side picks. Two of the three are special-occasion territory.

8. Paper Moon

The room looks lifted from Hollywood’s Golden Age, with Rita Hayworth on the wall and a clientele that skews older and moneyed. The service is impeccable, the wine collection deep, and the thin-crust pizzas hold their own against both. Better suited to a quiet family dinner or a business meeting than a loud night out. You can reserve a table online.

Address: Etiler, Ahmet Adnan Saygun Cd., 34340 Beşiktaş/İstanbul

9. The Upper Crust

Bebek’s attempt to bring Boston to the Bosphorus, with students taking orders and chefs who clearly know their craft. This is the customizer’s pizzeria: wholegrain dough alongside the regular, a cheese-free “red” pizza, a tomato-free “white” one, and over 30 combinations you can split half-and-half if you cannot choose. Pies run up to 18.5 inches, and the kitchen actively likes it when tables share. The base is a thin, crispy crust under a tomato sauce they keep secret.

Address: Bebek, Küçük Bebek Cd. No:6, 34342 Beşiktaş/İstanbul

10. Da Mario

One of the oldest Italian restaurants in Istanbul, with a wood-fired oven working since 1993. White tablecloths, attentive service, and a kitchen unafraid of pork, octopus, or clams, with dishes rotating by season. The wine list is long, the negroni is reliable, and the dessert list deserves its own visit. It costs more than anywhere else here, which makes it the birthday and date-night pick rather than the Tuesday one.

Address: Etiler, Dilhayat Sk. No:7, 34337 Beşiktaş/İstanbul

Şişli: Teşvikiye and Halaskargazi

11. Cortiletto Pizzeria & Bar

Brick walls, wooden tables, white flowerpots, and the most serious dough program on this list. Fermentation takes three days, and the baking happens in an oven approved by the Naples Pizzeria Association. The chef trained under Massimiliano Crocetti, who takes only two students at a time. The room stays quiet and relaxed, a rare thing in this city, and the menu shifts as the kitchen keeps experimenting.

Address: Teşvikiye, Ahmet Fetgari Sk No:22, 34365 Şişli/İstanbul

12. 400 Derece

A 15-minute walk from World Peace Park, under a window brimming with flowers, with a hip young crowd at the tables. One pizza comfortably fills two people. If none of the 34 listed options land, the build-your-own route offers five kinds of cheese and toppings all the way down to almonds. There is one vegan pie, and the “bacon” is substitute meat, so the menu stays pork-free. The topping-to-dough ratio is dialed in, and the crust is what you would get in Italy.

Address: Teşvikiye, Av. Süreyya Ağaoğlu Sk. 13/A, 34365 Şişli/İstanbul

Bonus: Mr. Hamza PLUS

HAM from hamburger, ZA from pizza. The signature is a kapalı (closed) burger: the patty and toppings wrapped fully in thin, almost pastry-like pizza dough. They call it a HAMZA, the fusion menu runs deep, and several versions are vegan.

Address: Halaskargazi, Zafer Sokaği No: 5/A, 34371 Şişli/İstanbul

When the craving passes

Pizza is the break. The rest of the Turkish table is the trip. When you are ready for it, our Istanbul food tours will handle the finding, including that perfect slice of pide and lahmacun you came across two paragraphs ago.