1724 North Farwell Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Zaffiro's being at the top of our list is probably not a huge surprise to many Milwaukeeans. Zaffiro's may not be home to the very first Milwaukee style thin-crust pizza, but it is home to the best. What started as bar food served at the Zaffiro family's tap room in the 1950s has since become an iconic Milwaukee establishment. Zaffiro's has kept people coming back for more for almost 70 years for its soda cracker-like crust and addictive sweet tomato sauce. It is also important to note that while many of the Marcus movie theaters do offer Zaffiro's while you catch a flick, it is not the same as the Farwell location's pies, so make sure you check out the original while you are here.
Style: Milwaukee Thin-Crust
3246 South 27th Street Milwaukee, WI 53215
Second on the list is also a Milwaukee style pie, located in South Milwaukee since the late 60s. Ned's is an employee-owned eatery that many Milwaukeans claim as their favorite dough and sauce combo. For those who don't know, a Milwaukee style pie is described as an oblong shaped pizza with cracker-thin crust, a light layer of sauce and cut tavern style into squares. For those familiar with Chicago tavern style, it differs in that the crust is thinner and crispier. To make it a real Milwaukee classic, make sure you order sausage with onions and mushrooms (and of course, with cheese).
Style: Milwaukee Thin-Crust
352 East Stewart St., Milwaukee, WI 53207
While Santino's Neapolitan pizza is not technically AVPN certified, this old-school Italian spot in Bay View uses all the classic ingredients (Caputo 00 Flour, Grande Mozzarella and San Marzano tomato sauce). Their classic take on the Margherita and a Sinatra-esque atmosphere make Santino's our favorite Neapolitan in Milwaukee. And if you're wondering, Milwaukee does offer one AVPN certified pizza at San Giorgio Pizzeria, but we found it to be a little too bitter for our liking.
Style: Neapolitan Wood-Fired
722 N Milwaukee St. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The first time we had Flour Child was at a pop up where they served a very bready Detroit-style that we honestly weren't in love with. But we are glad we tried again once they opened their brick and mortar location downtown. This is because Flour Child is home to our favorite "creative" pizza, the Doritos Locos pizza which comes with a white sauce, confit chicken, cheese curds and mozz, pico, scallions, baja sauce, and of course, doritos. Simply addicting. To add to the fun, Flour Child has an imaginative cocktail list and for ranch lovers, you can order a "Ranch Flight" of 3 different sauces.
Style: Mix of New York, New Haven and Detroit Style
2797 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207
At Classic Slice, you have an option of ordering the whole pie, but you may just want to stick to the enormous slice that they offer- often with unique and inventive toppings. Located on Kinnickinnic in Bay View, Classic Slice is the city's best option for New York style pizza. They also offer a new creation "slice of the week" to keep things exciting.
Style: New York
316 North Milwaukee Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Brute is a great option if you are in the downtown area and want to take your pizza to go. Located at the same spot as Donut Monster in the Third Ward, Brute offers Sourdough pies that undergo a three day fermentation process. Once built, they are cooked in an 850°F oven for 5-7 minutes. Pizzas, which are slightly larger than individual size, are thin in the middle and thick and chewy on the edges.
Style: Hand Tossed Sourdough
8121 W National Ave, West Allis, WI 53214 on Wednesdays only, also a food truck (check website or social media for schedule)
No, this isn't a duplicate- Milwaukee has both a Flour Child and a Flour Girl, both offering delicious pies. Flour Girl is one of the most sought after food trucks in Milwaukee, towing along with them a large wood fire oven powered by kiln dried Wisconsin cherrywood. 10 inch pies take only 90 seconds to cook, and are topped with in season Wisconsin grown ingredients. Even better, Flour Girl is a woman-owned business and a popular representative of the LGBTQ+ community.
Style: Wood-fired, occasionally Detroit style
800 S 2nd St, Milwaukee, WI 53204
Steny's continuously wows us with the quality of their many menu offerings, especially when one might assume their main purpose is to provide a gathering place to watch the game, or even shuttle you to the game. This wowing also applies to their specialty pizzas, and in particular, The Dill Pickle Pizza- a pickle brine base topped w/ mozzarella cheese, dill pickle coins, bacon, dilly cream cheese chunks & fresh dill. We know, we've seen that look of detest in reaction to the idea of it many times. But don't knock it until you try it.
Style: Thin Crust
2961 N Oakland Ave
Looping back to Milwaukee's own style, Lisa's has been offering finger-licking good thin crust pies since the 60's on Milwaukee's east side. This no-frills dining room also offers sandwiches, Italian and American dishes, but it's the pizza that they are known for.
Style: Milwaukee Thin-Crust
2535 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207
Sorella specializes in a variety of Southern Italian-style comfort food, and after a few visits we put them on our Best Italian list mainly because of their tasty wood-fired pizza offerings. Sorella (which means "Sister" in Italian) is located in the beautiful Kinn Guesthouse in Bay View, and the menu is updated seasonally, including specialty pizzas, though menu staples like the margherita and marinara are always available.
Style: Wood-fired
515 South 8th St, Sheboygan, WI
A bit far outside of Milwaukee (or it may otherwise top our list), Il Ritrivo in Sheboygan serves the best Neapolitan pizza in the state. Il Ritrovo impressively became the 5th U.S. Certified Vera Pizza Napoletana member in 2000. Their use of slow-fermented dough, fresh mozzarella made from Wisconsin curd daily, air-shipped Bufala mozzarella, and San Marzano tomatoes make for a tasty pie that just can't be beat.
Style: Neapolitan Wood Fired
2148 Mead St, Racine, WI 53403
When it comes to a thin, cracker-crust you may be hard pressed to find one more crispy and thin than the pizza at Wells Brothers in Racine. Milwaukee style pizza recently attracted renowned pizza reviewer Barstool Sports to Wisconsin to explore what we had to offer, and for him, Wells Brothers beat the rest (direct quote: "a f*ing spectacular undercarriage"). And this was after he had tried A LOT of pizza. We have to agree, this was the real deal, mouthwatering, cracker crust pizza.
Style: Milwaukee Thin-Crust