The local pizzerias that knock spots off Domino's.
That’s Amore
As Italian-American as the name hints at, That’s Amore stone-bakes freshly made Neapolitan pre-ferment dough with 100% mozzarella and imported ingredients like San Marzano tomato sauce, and Denominazione di Origine Protetta (literally “Protected Designation of Origin”) meats to create the best New York-Neapolitan slices this side of Manhattan.
Check the way the mozzarella and tomato sauce combine into a surface-of-the-sun pattern, no pools of half-cooked cheese falling off and burning your chin here.
Having recently enlisted legendary pizza chef Carmine Lantella - 40-year veteran of Roundhay’s Flying Pizza - you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more expertly-made pizza anywhere in Yorkshire.
Fancy something a bit less authentic? Go for a Pizza Nera base - it contains charcoal which prevents bloating, meaning you can eat more (Also it’s pure black, and looks proper cool)
That’s Amore, 97 Stainbeck Road, LS7 2PR
Dough Boys
I’m going to reveal a secret here. Dough Boys are mathematical hustlers when it comes to pizza. Absolute pythagorean playas. They are - if you don’t count Simpsons Pizza, which I definitely do not - the only place that sells their pizza by the slice. “That’s thoughtful of them”, you think. “I can stop at one or two slices”. You sweet, naive idiot.
So you test the water with a Silvio - their version of a margherita, with torn basil and smoked salt - and indulge your appetites of the flesh with a prosciutto, spianata & black pepper sausage laden Sausage Fest.
You find yourself subconsciously wandering back over to satiate your curiosity about roasted grapes on a pizza with a slice of Queen Brie, try a Baa No More with spiced lamb, pomegranate and pecorino, and eye up the specials board. Before you know it you’re seven slices deep with a parmesan-dust moustache. Good job they’re pretty much always half-price, eh?
Dough Boys at Belgrave Music Hall, 1-1A Cross Belgrave Street, LS2 8JP. £2.40-£3.00 per slice, Half Price Sunday - Thursday 12-7, Friday & Saturday 12-5
Pizza Fella
At the time of publishing, they’ve only been around for two months (although they did have a head start thanks to a couple of years in the street food game) but Pizza Fella’s made an instant impression.
Rustic food and urban-industrial settings share a minimalist ethos: the pizzas contain just four ingredients (Caputo flour, Yorkshire water, salt, and yeast) and there are no fancy faux-talian names. (save the tongue-twisting for the Italian wine list) We recommend the “number eight” with San Marzano tomato, Fior de latte, nduja (spicy, always spicy), and caciocavallo cheese.
A sixty to ninety-second blaze in the woodfired oven later and you’ve got cooked toppings and a floppy base - use a knife and fork if you’re in polite company, but the vibe of the place lends itself to a quick lunch or pub-crawl pitstop with friends, so don’t be afraid to employ the slice-fold technique.
Pizza Fella, 114-116 Vicar Lane, LS2 7NL
Trattoria il Forno
If the demand for tables is an indication of quality, then the fact evening and weekend tables availability is rarer than Charizard tartare says it all. And it’s all the way out in Horsforth. True to its name, il Forno is a Trattoria that serves all kinds of Italian pasta and salads, but the star of the show is the wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas.
Our advice, break with tradition and try one of the Bianco pizzas, with a creamy, garlicky sauce. Or if you’re not ready to fully take the plunge, go for one of their monster 20-inchers (pictured) with half tomato-half bianco (they’re meant to be shared, but who listens to serving suggestions?)
Trattoria il Forno, 85 Town Street, Horsforth, LS18 5BP
Pizza Loco
Probably the barmiest street food set-up we’ve ever seen, Pizza Loco’s wood-fired occupies the bowels of a locomotive train. It’s not just a gimmick, though - their pizza is so good that it’s not even available in Leeds all the time, but it’s still earned its place on the list.
Loco’s dough is some of the most satisfyingly blistered, blackened in the business. It’s like eating a chewy, starchy dalmatian, topped with the likes of San Marzano tomato, Fior de latte, spianata salami, and chilli-infused honey.
You can catch them at Harrogate’s Victoria Shopping Centre Fridays-Sundays until Monday 20 March, when they’ve got thehonour of being the first independent pizza vendor to ever grace Trinity Kitchen.
