The Best Pizza In Columbus: 26 Pizza Spots Grouped By Style

Columbus got a spot on Eater’s list of America’s great pizza cities in March 2026, and the hometown style did plenty of the talking. We’re talking thin, crisp crust, sweet sauce, provolone that runs right to the edge, and those unmistakable little squares. But there’s more to the local pizza scene than tavern-cut pies: you’ll also find proper New York-style slices, wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, Detroit-style squares and a couple of places making a case for deep dish.

This guide rounds up 26 pizzerias, from old-school Columbus-style staples to spots serving slices that need a two-handed fold. Prices reflect the menus when we checked and may change, so consider them a snapshot rather than a promise. National chains are out, but Columbus-born names like Massey’s are in; for those, we’re listing the original shops. And yes, a few of these places also make heart-shaped pizzas every February, because romance is better with extra cheese.

The 26 at a glance

Find one near you

Most of these spots are in or near the city core, with fewer options once you get farther south or west. Use this neighborhood-by-neighborhood list to find a pie nearby, then jump straight to the full entry.

• Central (Downtown, Short North, Italian Village, Franklinton): Aracri Pizzeria, Paulie Gee’s Short North, GoreMade Pizza, Mikey’s Late Night Slice, Yellow Brick Pizza (also Olde Towne East)
• Campus, Old North and Clintonville: Adriatico’s, Hounddog’s Pizza, Gatto’s Pizza (also a counter inside Hoof Hearted on Fifth Avenue), Harvest Pizzeria
• North (Beechwold, North Linden, Worthington): East Coast Pizzeria, Terita’s Pizza, The Pizza House, Borgata Pizza Cafe (also inside Old North Arcade)
• Northwest (Grandview, Fifth by Northwest, Upper Arlington, Bethel Road, Linworth): Natalie’s Grandview, Meister’s Bar, Tommy’s Pizza (also Dublin), Papa Giorgio’s, JT’s Pizza & Pub (Linworth; also Grandview Heights and Jerome Village)
• East (Bexley, Whitehall, Gahanna, East Side): Rubino’s Pizza, Bexley Pizza Plus, Massey’s Pizza, Sexton’s Pizza, Pizza Nerds, TAT Ristorante di Famiglia
• South and West (Parsons Avenue, Wilson Road): Plank’s Cafe & Pizzeria, Minelli’s Pizza

Columbus-style pizza

Columbus-style pizza has a pretty recognizable formula: dough rolled thin and docked so it won’t puff up in the oven, then baked on a stone deck that’s often dusted with cornmeal. The result is crisp, with sweet-leaning sauce and a provolone blend that stretches all the way to the edge. Pepperoni usually follows suit, and the finished pie gets cut into squares.

The local pizza family tree goes back at least to 1929, when TAT Ristorante opened. TAT says it brought the first pizza to Columbus. The earliest menu with pizza on it that Jim Ellison, who wrote a history of Columbus pizza, has found is from 1934.

About 20 years later, Jimmy Massey and Romeo Sirij opened Romeo’s, considered the city’s first proper pizzeria. Massey had baked in Chicago, where tavern-cut pizza was taking hold. Today, Massey’s says a large pie can carry 155 pepperoni slices; Donatos, another Columbus-born name, fits 100. Plenty of local shops use pepperoni from Columbus family business Ezzo Sausage Co., whose slices curl and char in the oven.

A large pizza generally lands around $20, which helps explain the style’s enduring appeal. Eater’s March 2026 feature made the case, too.

Massey’s Pizza

Jimmy Massey helped found Romeo’s before opening his own shop a few years later. The Whitehall location on East Main is the original, and the square-cut pies still nod to the tavern pizza he encountered in Chicago. The much-repeated count of 155 pepperoni slices on a large pie comes from Massey’s itself, and it certainly isn’t shy with the toppings. The business has since grown to about a dozen locations around central Ohio and one in South Carolina. Massey eventually sold the company to Guido Casa, so it’s still family-run, just by a different family.

Where: 4464 E. Main St., Whitehall
Order: a large pepperoni, no substitutions

TAT Ristorante di Famiglia

The Corrova family has been running TAT since 1929, and the restaurant claims the distinction of serving Columbus’ first pizza. Its name comes from Transcontinental Air Transport, a coast-to-coast air-and-rail route launched in 1929 that passed through Port Columbus. The pizza sticks to the old-school formula: thin crust, cut into squares. The Godfather is the loaded option, topped with pepperoni, mushroom, sausage, onion, green pepper, hot pepper and black olive. Plan accordingly: TAT is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and weekend service starts at 3 p.m.

Where: 1210 S. James Rd., Columbus
Order: The Godfather

Plank’s Cafe & Pizzeria

Plank’s has been holding down Parsons Avenue since 1939, making it the oldest pizzeria on this list after TAT, which dates to 1929. It’s very much a neighborhood tavern, complete with breakfast and 14 TVs, so you can make a pizza run at pretty much any point in the day. A large cheese or one-topping pie is $18, with the familiar thin crust and sweet-leaning sauce.

Where: 743 Parsons Ave., Columbus
Order: a large one-topping and a beer

Tommy’s Pizza

Tommy’s has been serving Columbus since 1952, and its signature crust is so crisp the restaurant compares it to a cracker. Pies come square-cut unless you request otherwise. A large cheese is $17.50, but the All-the-Way is the move if you want the full experience: pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, green pepper and onion. The Lane Avenue campus location closed in June 2024 after 45 years, but the Upper Arlington shop farther west on Lane and the Dublin location on West Dublin-Granville Road are still serving.

Where: 1350 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington (also 4279 W. Dublin-Granville Rd., Dublin)
Order: the All-the-Way

Gatto’s Pizza

Brothers Joe and Jimmy Gatto opened the first shop on North High Street in Clintonville in 1952, relying on family recipes for everything from dough and sauce to meatballs and Italian sausage. These days, the original operation is on Indianola Avenue. A 15-inch cheese pizza costs $17, with toppings adding $2 each. In August 2026, Gatto’s also opened a counter inside Hoof Hearted Brewing on East Fifth Avenue, for anyone who thinks pizza pairs nicely with a hazy IPA.

Where: 3420 Indianola Ave., Columbus (also 26 E. Fifth Ave., inside Hoof Hearted)
Order: a large pepperoni

Rubino’s Pizza

Rubino’s has been a Bexley staple since 1954, and part of the charm is that it hasn’t chased every modern convenience. Bring cash, choose between water and canned soda, and call if you want carryout; online ordering isn’t a thing here. The crust is very thin and crunchy, the pies are square-cut, and a large cheese costs $16. Hours are limited to evenings Wednesday through Sunday, so plan your craving accordingly.

Where: 2643 E. Main St., Bexley
Order: a large pepperoni, and bring cash

Terita’s Pizza

Gus Iannarino opened Terita’s in 1959, and his son Tom now carries on the family recipe. The shop has been named Central Ohio’s Pizza of the Year by Pizza Connoisseurs of Columbus three times: 2018, 2019 and 2022. The sausage is made in-house, and the Terita’s Special brings it together with pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers and onions. According to Terita’s, people drive in from around Ohio to take a pie home. That tells you something.

Where: 3905 Cleveland Ave., Columbus
Order: the Terita’s Special

The Pizza House

The Pizza House has been around since 1961, but 2026 has been a particularly good year for bragging rights. It won 97.1 The Fan’s Pizza Madness bracket in March, then took Pizza Shop of the Year from Pizza Connoisseurs of Columbus for the second year in a row in October. The thin Columbus-style crust gets provolone, and the All The Way, billed on the menu as the pizza that started it all, comes loaded with pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushroom, onion and green pepper. A 14-inch cheese is $15.50; the same size All The Way is $24.25. Sunday service begins at 3 p.m.

Where: 747 E. Lincoln Ave., Columbus
Order: the All The Way

Minelli’s Pizza

Minelli’s opened on the West Side in 1967, founded by Guy Ferrelli and Bob Minshall. Jeff Ferrelli later took over the shop his father opened, and his twin daughters joined the family business after graduating from Ohio State. The pizza is classic Columbus-style, and the 16-inch cheese is a good baseline order. One scheduling note: Saturday hours start at 4 p.m., later than the rest of the week.

Where: 1189 Wilson Rd., Columbus
Order: a 16-inch cheese, then add pepperoni next time

Bexley Pizza Plus

Just a few doors down Main Street from Rubino’s, Bexley Pizza Plus makes a crust that lands between thin and thick, with a crunchy base and a softer middle. Co-owner Brad Rocco won Best Traditional Pizza at the 2014 International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas with the Ultimate, a pepperoni-and-mushroom pie finished with mini pepperoni. Good news for anyone curious: it’s still on the menu.

Where: 2651 E. Main St., Bexley
Order: the Ultimate

Hounddog’s Pizza

Hounddog’s beat Adriatico’s in the 2022 r/Columbus pizza showdown, taking more than 62% of the final-round vote. Despite the name, Elvis isn’t involved; the restaurant was named for the owner’s basset hound. The pies are big, you can add garlic butter to the crust, and Friday and Saturday carryout runs until 1 a.m. Late-night pizza has a way of earning fans, but Hounddog’s has accolades beyond the after-hours crowd: it also won Best Traditional Pizza in (614) Magazine’s 2026 reader poll.

Where: 2657 N. High St., Columbus
Order: a large square-cut pepperoni

JT’s Pizza & Pub

Joe Hartnett started making pizza in the kitchen of the old Linworth Bier Stube in 2007, gave it the JT’s name in 2011 and bought the bar in 2015. The pizza is cracker-thin and square-cut, right in the Columbus-style wheelhouse. The wings are worth a look, too, with traditional or boneless options and more than a dozen sauces. If you’re looking for somewhere to watch a game, the Grandview Heights location that opened in late 2024 has TVs across most of its walls. A third location arrived in Jerome Village in Plain City in January 2026.

Where: 2390 W. Dublin-Granville Rd., Columbus (also 845 Goodale Blvd., Grandview Heights, and 12066 Sycamore Trace, Plain City)
Order: the Founder’s Favorite and wings in Greg’s Sauce

New York style

Sometimes you want a square-cut pie; sometimes you want a big slice you can fold in half without losing half the toppings. These spots specialize in the New York-style approach. For a deeper dive, check out Columbus Navigator’s guide to New York-style pizza in Columbus.

Aracri Pizzeria

Palmo Aracri and his wife opened Cafe Napolitana downtown in 1992, followed by Aracri Pizzeria near campus in 2018. The family now operates one shop on Gay Street, where the menu leans into New York-style pizza. Palmo earned the title of pizzaiolo in 1985, and the family has spent decades refining its recipes in Columbus. Start with the 16-inch cheese if you want the basics, or spring for the Margherita as the specialty pie.

Where: 51 E. Gay St., Columbus
Order: the Margherita

East Coast Pizzeria

East Coast Pizzeria opened in north Clintonville in January 2017, across from Graceland Shopping Center. Its founder had already spent nine years working at a New York-style pizza shop, and the pies here are hand-tossed and brick-fired. A 16-inch cheese costs $19.99. The shop is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and it sometimes shuts down early when the dough runs out, so don’t leave your pizza plans until the very end of the night.

Where: 5060 N. High St., Columbus
Order: a 16-inch cheese

Borgata Pizza Cafe

Borgata has been serving New York-style pizza and homemade pasta in Worthington since 2010, and the 20-inch pies are the main event. There’s also a counter inside Old North Arcade on North High Street, where you can pair a slice with a round of pinball.

Where: 2285 W. Dublin-Granville Rd., Worthington (also 2591 N. High St., inside Old North Arcade)
Order: a 20-inch pie

Sexton’s Pizza

In 2016, brothers Joey and Jamey Sexton bought a $6,000 food trailer with a big goal: make some of Ohio’s crunchiest pizza. The round pies are New York-style, 16 inches across and cut into eight slices. But don’t overlook the Motown, a deep-dish square baked in a 10-by-14 pan with Detroit-style energy. Gahanna is the flagship, with additional locations in Hilliard, Lewis Center and Little Grand Market at Grandview Crossing. Readers of (614) Magazine named Sexton’s Best Gourmet Pizza in 2026. One practical tip from the restaurant itself: it sells out often, so order early.

Where: 943 E. Johnstown Rd., Gahanna
Order: the spicy pepperoni, round

Neapolitan and wood-fired

Harvest Pizzeria

Chris Crader and Bethany Lovell opened Harvest’s first location on a quiet German Village block in 2011, with a menu built around Ohio farms. The dough is naturally leavened and the pizzas are wood-fired. Harvest now has five locations in Clintonville, Bexley, the Brewery District, Dublin and Granville, with Hilliard and New Albany on the way. The Clintonville shop is closed Mondays, and menus vary a bit from location to location.

Where: 2885 N. High St., Columbus
Order: the Margherita

Paulie Gee’s Short North

This is the Columbus outpost of the Brooklyn wood-fired pizzeria, with the original menu’s big personalities intact. The Hellboy, topped with soppressata and hot honey, is the signature for a reason. The Big Cheesy costs $19, and the Pepperoni Square brings a cheddar-edged crust and Ezzo pepperoni, though it’s listed as available only sometimes. One catch: the doors open in mid-afternoon, so this isn’t a lunch stop.

Where: 1195 N. High St., Columbus
Order: the Hellboy

GoreMade Pizza

Before GoreMade had a home in Italian Village, Nick Gore spent about five years running a wood-fired catering operation out of a Subaru. Now the restaurant serves Neapolitan-style, farm-to-table pies, including a Chef’s Choice that changes with what’s fresh and available. It’s closed Mondays, and Tuesday through Thursday service starts at 4 p.m.

Where: 936 N. Fourth St., Columbus
Order: the Chef’s Choice

Natalie’s Grandview

Natalie’s Grandview is first and foremost a music venue, but the kitchen gives you a good reason to arrive hungry. Pizza is served at dinner Wednesday through Sunday, and the bar stays open later. The Margherita is a good test of the oven. Check the show calendar before you go; the music is the main attraction, and you may want to plan the whole night around it.

Where: 945 King Ave., Columbus
Order: the Margherita and whatever’s on stage

Detroit-style squares

Pizza Nerds

Pizza Nerds is a Gahanna pickup counter with a ’90s arcade theme, games to play while you wait and thick pan pizza inspired by Detroit-style pies. The specialty pizzas are named for ’90s TV and video game characters, because of course they are. The Mario combines red sauce, banana peppers, pepperoni and hot honey; a large thick pie costs $24. You can get thick pies cut into six or nine pieces, plus a thin-crust nine-cut. And save room for the quarter-pound stuffed cookies, which have their own fan base.

Where: 1376 Cherry Bottom Rd., Gahanna
Order: The Mario, thick

A couple of other spots on this list also offer square pies: Paulie Gee’s Pepperoni Square and Sexton’s Motown.

Deep dish

Meister’s Bar

Meister’s looks like a little German cottage tucked along Chambers Road in Fifth by Northwest, and inside you’ll find pool tables, darts and $1-can nights on Thursdays. It doesn’t have a website, so this is a place to embrace the old-fashioned approach. The deep dish bakes in a pie tin and comes out with a crust that practically asks for a fork. In 2025, Step Out Columbus compared it with Chicago heavyweights Lou Malnati’s and Giordano’s and came away impressed. Expect a wait; Experience Columbus estimates about 45 minutes and says it’s worth it.

Where: 1168 Chambers Rd., Columbus
Order: the deep dish pepperoni, and give it time

Yellow Brick Pizza

Yellow Brick made its name with New York-style pies and combinations that aren’t afraid to get a little weird. The Franklinton location also keeps a piece of local pizza history alive with the Chicago-style stuffed pizza once served by Tristano’s, the now-closed Grove City shop. You’ll find Yellow Brick on West Rich Street in Franklinton and at East Market in Olde Towne East. If deep dish isn’t your thing, the Flying Pig is the signature round pie, loaded with pepperoni, sausage, bacon and ham.

Where: 415 W. Rich St., Columbus (also the East Market shop in Olde Towne East)
Order: the Tristano’s stuffed pizza, Franklinton only

Sicilian and grandma pies

Adriatico’s

Adriatico’s has been fueling Ohio State students on Neil Avenue for about 40 years. Tasting Table has even called it the unofficial pizza of the university, which is a bold title in a town full of pizza opinions. You can choose extra-thin, thin or thick Sicilian crust, but the thick is the one to try. A large Sicilian costs $23. The Buckeye is an 18-by-26-inch sheet of pizza that the menu simply labels “huge”; in thick crust, it costs $43.50.

Where: 1618 Neil Ave., Columbus
Order: the Buckeye, Sicilian thick

Papa Giorgio’s

Papa Giorgio’s dough recipe dates to 1987, when Mario the Baker taught the owners’ father how to make pizza. The sausage and pepperoni come from Columbus-based Ezzo, and the Sicilian pan pizza is the standout: a 14-by-10 pan cut into eight squares, with those crispy cheese edges that are hard to resist. A 16-inch cheese pizza costs $17.49. The shop opens at 4 p.m. daily.

Where: 5216 Bethel Center Mall, Columbus
Order: the Sicilian pan pizza

By the slice

Mikey’s Late Night Slice

Mikey’s helped make the late-night street slice a Columbus institution, with shops conveniently close to bars and other places where a slice sounds like a very good idea. Start at the Short North location on High Street, or find counters around town, from South Fourth Street downtown and Pearl Street near campus to Easton and Hollywood Casino. The Plain-Ass Pepperoni is exactly what it sounds like, finished with a little Parmesan. The Cheese with Fresh Basil is another classic.

Where: 1030 N. High St., Columbus
Order: a Plain-Ass Pepperoni slice

Gone since the last round

Some names that still pop up in older pizza roundups are no longer serving pies. The Wizard of Za in Clintonville closed on Jan. 20, 2025, and Tommy’s campus shop at 174 W. Lane Ave. closed June 14, 2024. The Upper Arlington and Dublin Tommy’s locations remain open. Catfish Biff’s on West 11th Avenue is also gone. Pie of the Tiger, the Detroit-and-Sicilian counter inside Short North Tavern, has closed; Sunday Gravy, known for Roman-style pizza and Italian sandwiches, has since taken its place. Osteria Pizzeria on Oak Street was closed for renovations after storm damage when this guide was checked, so call before making the trip. Side Piece Pies, the Austin slice shop at the Rambler complex on West Lane Avenue, has closed, while Uncle Frico’s by Sexton’s now sells slices next door to Victory Lap.

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