Best Pizza Spots in Charlotte, NC
From oversized New York-style slices to neighborhood pizzerias, Sicilian pies, old-school Italian restaurants, and build-your-own pizza, explore pizza spots across Charlotte.
Ask someone in Charlotte who makes the best pizza, and you will probably get a different answer every time. We have New York-style slice shops, family-owned pizzerias, Italian restaurants that have been around for decades, and newer places doing their own thing. You can find pizza in Uptown, NoDa, Plaza Midwood, South Boulevard, Steele Creek, and nearly every other part of the city. Whether you want one slice or a whole pie, Charlotte has plenty of places to try.
There is a reason New York-style pizza is so easy to find here. According to Axios Charlotte, 87,749 Mecklenburg County residents were born in New York. And that figure does not include people who lived in New York before moving here but were born somewhere else. Charlotte has a substantial connection to New York, and you can see some of that influence in our pizza shops. Of course, New York-style pizza is only part of the story.
We live here, we know Charlotte, and we have our own opinions about food. But pizza is a matter of personal taste. We might love a slice that you would never order again, and your favorite place might not be ours. At the end of the day, only you can decide who makes the best pizza in Charlotte. That is why this guide is about discovery, not rankings. The places below are listed in no particular order, and we will keep adding more as Charlotte readers share their favorites. If we have missed a restaurant you think belongs here, tell us about it.
Discover Pizza Restaurants Across Charlotte
Looking for a New York slice, a thicker Sicilian pie, or somewhere to sit down for pizza and pasta? Explore the restaurants below, read about what makes each one different, and use the maps, phone numbers, and restaurant websites to plan your visit.
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How this guide was selected: Charlotte Vibes chose these pizza restaurants through local knowledge, familiarity with Charlotte neighborhoods, and original photographs. This list is not a reader poll, a paid placement ranking, or a claim that we have tasted every pizza featured here. Our dedicated restaurant reviews contain our more detailed opinions when available. Restaurant information may change, so confirm details directly before visiting.
Carmella’s Pizza Grill
Carmella’s Pizza Grill fits right into the Montford Drive restaurant and bar scene. Its New York-style pizzas come by the slice or as whole pies, and the menu goes well beyond basic cheese and pepperoni. You can order a white pizza with ricotta and basil, the spinach-and-feta Spanikopizza, or the Picnic Pizza topped with chicken tenders. Wings, strombolis, calzones, and hot heroes make it a useful stop when everyone wants something different. The Montford location has a casual neighborhood-bar atmosphere, so you can sit down for pizza and a game or grab a pie to take home. We also have a full review of this location.
Address: 1513 Montford Dr., Charlotte, NC 28209
Phone: (704) 679-3072
Pizza Style: New York-style pizza and pub fare
Benny Pennello’s
Benny Pennello’s is one of those NoDa pizza shops that is hard to miss once you see the size of the slices. Its pies measure 28 inches across, producing oversized slices that can easily turn a quick snack into a meal. Cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage, and garlic mushroom are among the regular choices, with rotating specialty creations adding variety. Opened in 2015, the shop sits on North Davidson Street near NoDa’s breweries, music venues, and nightlife. Whether you are splitting a giant pie with friends or stopping in for a late-night slice, Benny’s offers a very different experience from a sit-down Italian restaurant. Read our Charlotte Vibes review for a closer look.
Address: 2909 N. Davidson St., Suite 100, Charlotte, NC 28205
Phone: (980) 949-8398
Pizza Style: Oversized New York-style slices
500 Degrees New York Style Pizzeria
500 Degrees New York Style Pizzeria brings the classic slice-shop format to South Boulevard. The kitchen makes New York-style pizza with a thin, foldable crust and offers both individual slices and whole pies. There are also Sicilian pizzas for anyone looking for something thicker, along with familiar choices such as meat lovers, buffalo chicken, and vegetable pies. The menu covers garlic knots, wings, calzones, strombolis, pasta, and salads as well. Located in the South Boulevard shopping corridor, this is a practical stop for lunch, an easy dinner, or a takeout pizza on the way home. Our guide features its South Boulevard location specifically.
Address: 6037 South Blvd., Suite A, Charlotte, NC 28217
Phone: (704) 554-6601
Pizza Style: New York-style and Sicilian pizza
MOD Pizza
MOD Pizza takes a different approach from Charlotte’s traditional New York-style shops. At the RiverGate location, guests build their own individual pizzas from a wide selection of toppings, with the price based on the pizza rather than each additional topping. Signature combinations include the Mad Dog with pepperoni and sausage and the Caspian with barbecue sauce and chicken. Salads are available if someone in the group is not ordering pizza. Because the pies are made to order, everyone can choose something different without sharing the same toppings. This guide features the RiverGate restaurant in Steele Creek, not MOD’s other Charlotte-area locations.
Address: 14318 RiverGate View, Suite 500, Charlotte, NC 28273
Phone: (980) 474-3325
Pizza Style: Customizable artisan-style pizza
Hawthorne’s NY Pizza & Bar
Hawthorne’s NY Pizza & Bar has been part of Charlotte’s pizza scene since 2004 and now has locations around the area. The original Seventh Street restaurant in Elizabeth serves traditional New York-style pies as well as its thick, square Sicilian pizza. The Elizabeth Special combines pepperoni, Italian sausage, vegetables, and mozzarella, while the Buffalo Wing pizza offers a different flavor profile. Wings, salads, pasta, and a bar menu give diners plenty of other choices. Hawthorne’s works for a family pizza night or a relaxed meal with friends. The map below points to the Seventh Street location, so check the restaurant website if another branch is more convenient.
Address: 1701 E. 7th St., Charlotte, NC 28204
Phone: (704) 358-9339
Pizza Style: New York-style and Sicilian pizza
Zämbies Pizza Shop
Zämbies Pizza Shop has become another convenient stop for big slices in NoDa, especially when the neighborhood is busy after dark. Located on North Davidson Street, the shop has a walk-up window for getting pizza without committing to a full restaurant meal. Cheese, pepperoni, specialty slices, and garlic knots make up the core of the experience, with meat-free choices also appearing on the menu. The shop is known for staying open late on weekends, which fits the surrounding bar and music scene. It is a good place to know about when you are walking around NoDa and want a slice rather than an entire pie. The name is styled Zämbies, not Zombies.
Address: 3204 N. Davidson St., Charlotte, NC 28205
Phone: (781) 718-1718
Pizza Style: Oversized slices and late-night pizza
Portofino’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria
Portofino’s combines a full Italian restaurant with a traditional pizzeria menu. You can order a straightforward cheese or pepperoni pie, choose a white pizza with spinach or broccoli, or go for a Sicilian-style pizza. Specialty choices include Margherita and Florentina, while calzones, strombolis, pasta, seafood, and other Italian dishes round out the menu. That makes Portofino’s a good option when one person wants pizza and another would rather have a plate of pasta. The restaurant has several locations in and around Charlotte. We are featuring the Park Road location here, with its address and contact information below.
Address: 5126 Park Rd., Charlotte, NC 28209
Phone: (704) 527-0702
Pizza Style: Italian restaurant and traditional pizza
The Open Kitchen
The Open Kitchen is part of Charlotte’s restaurant history. Founded in 1952 by the Kokenes brothers, it was serving pizza when the dish was still unfamiliar to many local diners. Its story connects the city’s early pizza culture with the Italian, Greek, and American dishes that helped the restaurant become a West Morehead landmark. Pizza is one reason to visit, but the larger menu and old-school dining room are just as much a part of the experience. In a city where new restaurants open regularly, The Open Kitchen gives you a chance to see a much older side of Charlotte’s food scene. This one is about the history as well as the pie.
Address: 1318 W. Morehead St., Charlotte, NC 28208
Phone: (704) 375-7449
Pizza Style: Traditional pizza and Italian-American classics
Enrico’s Italian
Enrico’s Italian serves pizza as part of a broader Italian menu in the Berewick area of southwest Charlotte. Traditional red-sauce pies share the menu with white pizza, calzones, pasta, and other familiar Italian dishes. This is more of a neighborhood Italian restaurant than a late-night slice counter, making it an option when you want to sit down for a full meal instead of picking up a single slice. The Berewick Town Center location also offers carryout and delivery for those staying closer to home. If you live around Steele Creek or are exploring restaurants on Charlotte’s southwest side, Enrico’s adds another pizza choice to the list.
Address: 4815 Berewick Town Center Dr., Suite A, Charlotte, NC 28278
Phone: (704) 594-2340
Pizza Style: Italian pizza, calzones, and pasta
Tony’s Pizza and Wings
Tony’s Pizza and Wings keeps the focus on two things that work well together: pizza and wings. The South Boulevard restaurant offers customizable pies with different crust styles, including a New York-style option, along with sauces ranging from traditional marinara to buffalo, barbecue, and Alfredo. Oven-roasted wings are a major part of the menu, giving families and groups an easy way to order more than pizza. The restaurant handles pickup and delivery as well as casual meals. Whether you want an uncomplicated cheese pie or prefer building something with several toppings, Tony’s offers a straightforward option along the South Boulevard corridor.
Address: 4200 South Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28209
Phone: (704) 200-3005
Pizza Style: Custom pizza and oven-roasted wings
Fuel Pizza Café
Fuel Pizza Café has been serving Charlotte since 1998, when its New York-born founders opened a pizza shop in a former gas station on Central Avenue. The concept grew around the kind of New York-style slice they missed after moving south. Today, the Plaza Midwood location is known for pizza by the slice and whole pies, along with wings, salads, and sandwiches. Its Central Avenue address makes it easy to include in an evening around Plaza Midwood, and the shop offers late-night hours. Fuel also has one of Charlotte’s more recognizable pizza backstories, connecting the city’s growing New York influence with a local business that has been around for decades.
Address: 1501 Central Ave., Charlotte, NC 28205
Phone: (704) 376-3835
Pizza Style: New York-style slices and whole pies
Toppers Pizza
Toppers Pizza is known for delivery-friendly specialty pies and its signature Topperstix, cheesy breadsticks served with dipping sauces. Rather than concentrating only on classic New York slices, the chain offers a wide range of toppings and combinations for people who like to experiment with pizza. Topperstix are worth knowing about because they are a major part of the brand’s menu, not merely a side item. This guide features the South Boulevard store, one of several Toppers locations in Charlotte. It is a convenient option for a group order, a casual pizza night, or anyone who wants breadsticks with their pie. Use the restaurant website for the current menu and ordering options.
Address: 5033 South Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28217
Phone: (704) 523-1669
Pizza Style: Specialty pizza and Topperstix
Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers
Mellow Mushroom brings a different pizza style to Uptown with stone-baked crusts, specialty topping combinations, and a colorful restaurant setting. The menu stretches beyond standard pepperoni pies to vegetarian-friendly choices, calzones, salads, and appetizers, with beer and cocktails available for the adults in the group. Its Uptown restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is within reach of Charlotte’s stadiums, entertainment venues, and other downtown attractions. That makes it useful before or after an event as well as for a regular pizza dinner. Charlotte also has a Ballantyne location, but the map and contact details below are for the Uptown restaurant.
Address: 255 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28202
Phone: (704) 371-4725
Pizza Style: Stone-baked specialty pizza
Know a Great Pizza Place We Missed?
This guide is just the beginning. Charlotte has more pizza restaurants than we can fit into one article, and we want to keep discovering them. If you know a local pizza shop that deserves a place on this list, tell us where it is and what makes it worth trying. We will review suggestions and expand the guide as we go.
Suggest a Pizza RestaurantAbout the Authors
Robert Beadle
Robert Beadle covers Charlotte news, businesses, restaurants, development, sports, and the people shaping the city for Charlotte Vibes.
Silvano Prescod
Silvano Prescod covers Charlotte restaurants, businesses, events, neighborhoods, and community stories, with local photography and on-the-ground reporting.
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