Columbus pizza runs two tracks: the party-cut houses that built the city's reputation and the newer rooms chasing wood-fire crusts and specialty pies. This list mixes both, plus the tavern-style and New York lanes that fill out a metro too big for one style to claim it.
№ 01
The Pizza House
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The combo plate, chicken parm, ravioli, rigatoni and spaghetti under red sauce, tells the real story here: this is an Italian-American dinner house that happens to sell pizza, not the reverse. The pesto pizza runs a cracker-thin crust rather than the traditional party cut. A dependable choice for a family table that wants variety on one order.
What to orderpesto pizza, chicken parm, rigatoni
№ 02
Natalie's Grandview
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The Margherita and the charcuterie board anchor a menu built to pair with a live music calendar, and the room draws repeat regulars who order the same plate every time. It functions as much as a music venue with a kitchen as a pizzeria, and the two-space layout will read differently depending on which side gets the table.
What to orderMargherita pizza, charcuterie board, Neapolitan pizza
№ 03
Casa Di Pizza
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The Tikka Masala pizza is the draw, a loaded, spice-forward pie that breaks from the standard pepperoni-and-cheese script. The Sicilian toasted sub and the sausage-and-red-onion counter builds hold up the rest of the counter-service menu. Online ordering has run behind its own quoted times, so pad the pickup window.
What to orderTikka Masala pizza, Sicilian, Turkey sub
№ 04
Big Tony’s Pizza & Wings
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Build-your-own is the entire premise: beef pepperoni, beef sausage and mushroom on an extra-large runs cheap enough to make it a fallback when a first-choice pizzeria is closed. Wings and fries round out the counter-service order. The pasta dishes are a weaker bet than the pizza itself.
What to orderbuild-your-own pizza, wings, fries
№ 05
The Original Josie's Pizza
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A larger dining room now backs a menu built entirely around one thing: the pizza, made consistently enough that regulars call it the city's best. The record is split, though; the sauce reads as salty and thin to some tables, so a first visit is worth treating as a test rather than a sure bet.
What to orderPizza
№ 06
Pizzanos Express
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The MSP, mushroom, sausage and pepperoni, is the house order, generous with toppings and out the door in about twenty minutes for carryout. A vegan cheese option is a genuine rarity on a party-cut-adjacent menu, and the kitchen doesn't skimp on it. This is a counter-service pickup operation, not a sit-down room.
What to orderMSP (Mushroom, Sausage, Pepperoni), Vegan Cheese Pizza, Pepperoni Pizza
№ 07
Luna Pizza Kitchen - Bethel Road Columbus
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Pizza, focaccia and calzone come out of a strip-mall storefront on the Bethel Road corridor, a plaza better known for its East Asian counters than its Italian ones. The menu runs bigger than expected for the space. Online ordering has quoted wait times that ran hours past estimate, so calling ahead beats the website.
What to orderpizza, focaccia, calzone
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The Thurman Burger is the reason this German Village room has a line, not the pizza; wings and nachos round out a menu built for a crowd. Saturday afternoons pack the waiting room and an hour wait is normal, not a sign anything has gone wrong. Go with a group and go hungry.
What to orderThurman Burger, wings, nachos
№ 09
Hounddog's Pizza
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Tavern-style pepperoni and cheese pies are the whole point, thin and cut for sharing across a table that didn't need a reservation to get seated fast. Service swings depending on the night and the server, a real inconsistency worth knowing before a group books it for a big Friday.
What to ordertavern style pizza, pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza
№ 10
Mikey's Late Night Slice
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A gluten-free pie option sets this counter apart from most late-night pizza in the city, and delivery through third-party apps keeps it running past when most kitchens have closed. The record on service and staff conduct is mixed enough that newcomers should treat any single account, positive or negative, with some skepticism.
What to orderpizza, gluten-free pizza, pie
№ 11
Adriatico's New York Style Pizza
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The Sicilian slice and the hand-tossed New York pie are the two orders worth making near the university district, where the room runs small and the wait can run long against expectations. Delivery is reliable and consistent with the chain's other Ohio locations, though the pizza arrives notably greasy.
What to orderSicilian, hand tossed pizza, New York style pizza
№ 12
JT's Pizza & Pub - Linworth
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Thin crust with a real crunch is the calling card at this Linworth sports bar, a build that rewards repeat visits over any single showstopper dish. Pasta and last-minute takeout round out a menu that regulars order from two or three times a month. The room reads as a neighborhood bar first, a pizzeria second.
What to orderthin crust pizza, pasta, pizza
Frequently asked
What is the best pizza near me in Columbus?
It depends on which side of the city and which style. This guide ranks Columbus pizza rooms by Insider Score, a measure built from the public review record, not payment; no restaurant buys its way onto this list. Check the entries closest to your neighborhood, since Columbus pizza runs strip malls, tavern rooms and campus counters alike.
Is Columbus-style pizza the same as Columbus, Ohio party-cut pizza?
Not every pizzeria on this list serves the traditional Columbus-style party cut, thin, edge-to-edge toppings sliced into squares. Some entries here run New York, Neapolitan, or tavern-style crusts instead. The write-ups say which style each kitchen actually makes.
Which pizza places on this list are inside Columbus proper versus a suburb?
All twelve restaurants in this guide are located within the city of Columbus itself, including neighborhoods like German Village and areas near the university district and Bethel Road. None are in separate municipalities like Bexley, Grandview Heights, or Upper Arlington.
How is the Insider Score calculated for these pizza places?
The Insider Score comes from an analysis of the public review record for each restaurant, weighing volume and consistency of feedback over time. It is not a paid placement; restaurants cannot purchase a higher position on this list.
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The data first, then the verdict
We start with the review record, not a press release. Every room here is a real kitchen with a strong rating across a meaningful number of reviews, ranked on our 10-point Insider Score. We weight consistency over time and the rooms locals return to, not the ones tourists pass through once. The list updates as the data does. How we work →
Ruth Ackermann
Staff Writer · Top of Columbus
Ruth Ackermann is the Food Editor at Top of Columbus. Raised in Merion Village in a family from the old German south side, she worked pastry and the line in two Short North kitchens before moving to the notebook. She covers the institutions, the chef-driven rooms, and every dining room where the occasion matters.
