Every foodie needs to know where to find the best pizza in town. It’s one of those staples – so simple yet also so good. Unfortunately its simplicity can work against it as all too often restaurants serve pizza with doughy pie, low quality tomato sauce and mozzarella, and poor quality ingredients in questionable combinations. Pizza Hawaii anyone?!?
Luckily the quality of pizza has improved significantly in Amsterdam over the last years and Amsterdam now has four pizzerias worth a trip: Da Portare Via, Forno Communale, Renato’s and Yam Yam! All four are somewhat off the beaten path. All require reservations at least a few days in advance, except Da Porate Via, which is a take away as its name suggests. And all four serve great pizza – thin crust, from a wood fired oven, with fresh ingredients and generous toppings.
Da Portare has great quality pizza to take away. There are two locations, one in the Jordaan and on in De Pijp that also has a few tables. Newcomer Restaurant Forno Communale in West behind Overtoom draws a younger crowd with a simple and fairly priced menu. Renato’s Trattoria in de Pijp is small and traditional and stacks its pizza with fresh greens and herbs. And Yam Yam Trattoria, west of the Jordaan, is very busy with tables close to each other, an artsy feel to it and an incredible truffle pizza.
Da Portare Via
Da Portare Via makes thin crust pizzas to go at two locations – one on Leliegracht in the Jordaan and the other on Frans Halsstraat in de Pijp. Da Portare Via has some classics like Margarita and Napoletana as well as more interesting garnishings such as my favorite Don Floert with thinly sliced Parma ham and large humps of Ricotta cheese. All pizzas are available in small and normal size. The location in De Pijp also has some tables where you can enjoy your pizza with other guests. You order at the counter, pick up some drinks or a bottle of wine and wait for your pizza to be delivered at your table.
www.daportarevia.nl
Leliegracht 34 (take away only)
1015 DG Amsterdam
Frans Halsstraat 63
1072 BM Amsterdam
No phone.
Restaurant Forno Communale
Forno Communale opened in 2007 as a neighborhood pizzeria in West, behind Overtoom. It draws a young crowd with its stylish, modern interior and fairly priced menu. Forno uses trendy ingredients such as Gorgonzola, apples, raisins, Italian speck and wild salmon. There are some standard pizzas with a twist and some highly unusual ones like the pizza Forno with Gorgonzola, ham, apple, raisins and rucola. The crust is thin and the pizza baked briefly in the hot wood fired oven. The service is quick and many guests swiftly move on to one of the local bars. The wine – organized by categories cheap, decent, good and special – goes down well. And all pizzas are also available to-go – just order directly from the kitchen and wait for your pizza on one of the bar stools.
www.restaurantforno.nl
Rhijnvis Feithstraat 43
1054 TW Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 618 74 15
Renato’s Trattoria
Renato’s Trattoria is a small, authentic and family-run Italian in de Pijp. There are many bars and restaurants in the area and Renato has built up a great reputation with consistently good food and friendly, quick service. The interior is traditional Trattoria style with a large bar by the entrance, wooden tables and chairs, some food posters and a dominating Italian flag. The pizza selection is mostly classics. Renato uses fresh ingredients – some of them home-grown – on his quest for the perfect pizza. The dough is Italian style, made from the best flour. Toppings are generous, often garnished with heaps of greens and herbs, added after the pizza has been baked. One of my favorites is the pizza with Parma ham and rucola. Renato’s attracts mostly locals from de Pijp, especially in the summer when they bring out tables and chairs to the sidewalk.
www.renatotrattoria.nl
Karel du Jardinstraat 32
1072 SK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 673 23 00
Yam Yam Trattoria
Yam Yam is a pizzeria and trattoria with a simple decor and a friendly, alternative flair. It’s located west of the Jordaan, has two dining rooms and an open kitchen and wood fired oven. The tables are very close to each other and Yam Yam has a busy and sometimes noisy atmosphere. The same friendly and cosmopolitan staff has been running the restaurant for a long time. The trattoria menu is written on a black board and the pizza selection is divided into classic and special. I go to Yam Yam for the unusual flavors of the special pizzas, using eclectic ingredients such as mascarpone, goat cheese or fennel salami. My absolute favorite is their pizza Yam Yam with truffle sauce, Parmesan, rucola and ham. The crust of the pizzas is very thin, forming large crusty bubbles in the oven. The crowd is mixed, consists of locals and visitors and anybody from couples on dates and to small groups and families.
www.yamyam.nl
Frederik Hendrikstraat 90
1052 HZ Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)20 681 50 97
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Do you have ny feedback on La Perla in Jordaan?
http://www.pizzaperla.nl/en.htm
Hi Jimmy,
I’ve been to La Perla a few times and liked it. They opened more recently, less than a year ago.
Like the other pizzerias on my list, they have a wood oven. They do mostly take away but have one large, communal table that is fun. There are also some seats on a bench outside that are great for people watching in the Jordaan on a warm summer evening.
I like their parma ham pizza a lot!
–dutchgrub
La Perla makes most definitely the best pizza in town. They use fresh buffel mozzarella and all the ingredients they use are of high quality. The crust of this pizza is so good, you won’t see anyone here with crust leftovers on their plate…!
as far as I know, Renato´s does not have a wood oven.
Amsterdam has 16 wood-oven pizza places. Check my website: http://www.pizzatest.nl
As a hobby, I`m searching for the best pizza in Amsterdam.
Yam Yam, Renato`s, Forno and Pizzabakkers and other places mentioned are ok, but the best pizzeria`s are Mangiamore (maasstraat) and Mangiancora (Ferdinand Bolstraat).
Hi Emiel,
Nice list of wood-oven pizzerias! It’s definitely amazing how many new places serving good pizza have opened over the last few years. Even just five years ago, it was quite hard to find wood-ovens, thin crust and fresh ingredients. Now we have quite a selection.
Have never been to either Mangiamore or Mangiancora and couldn’t find much info on your site. Would be curious why you prefer them over Yam Yam, Renato’s, Forno Communale and Da Portare Via!
–dutchgrub
The website is still under construction, I have to add information about every single pizzeria (with pictures of the pizza)….
I like the naepolitan style pizza with a bread-crust and original ingredients, which are served by Mangiamore and Mangiancora. The other pizzeria`s are more Roman-style, with a thin “cracker-crust”. I like Yam Yam as well. Maybe it is just a matter of taste, but if I hear people talking about Da Portare Via as “the best pizza of Amsterdam”, I always say: please try the other pizzeria`s in town and then we`ll talk again!
Since I have been in Amsterdam I tried La Perla, Yam Yam, Da Portare Via and De Pizzabakkers and I think the best pizza from those is at La Perla.
Mostly it is because of the ingredients used and it is the closest dough to a true Italian pizza.
I was very disappointed with Da Portare Via and De Pizzabakkers. At Yam Yam it was nothing special.
I will try the other suggestions there are here just in case.
Good blog, keep it up.
Now, in january 2011, Amsterdam has 19 wood oven pizzeria`s! New locations are: Pazzi, Pazzo and Secchetti. See my website http://www.pizzatest.nl (independent, non profit).
Although the oven of Forno communale looks like a wood fired oven, it is not! It is a gas oven! They are misleading people by calling themselves a “wood oven restaurant”. So, I will delete that restaurant from my website.
Yes! Indeed! La Perla really makes good quality pizza, and they are very irresistible!! 🙂 I just love their pizzas. And they are fresh from the oven. So, you should better eat it while it’s hot! 🙂 Wood oven is also good in making pizza. It could produce good smelling pizza. 🙂 yummy!! I really love pizza especially mozarella! Now, I am craving!~
I swear by this site.
I come to Amsterdam a lot for work. Mainly for the Amsterdam Dance Event in the Autumn. And I’ve been going to that for nearly 15 years. Plus, I come over a lot for other music related stuff too at all times of the year.
I started using this site to help me find places to eat at least 2 years ago if not more.
You transformed my experience of eating in Amsterdam.
But, I never commented before.
However, I was there last week and tried the pizza at La Perla – some kind of super spicy salami. Amazing.
Thanks for consistently helping me find gems on my travels whilst all my freinds are eating crap out of those weird machines!
Ian Clifford
Webmaster
MiiM – expert advice in music marketing
hi there!
have you tried http://fuocovivo.nl/ ?
It’s great pizza and popular with italians living in amsterdam…if you try it let me know what you think 🙂
Hi fraukje,
I’ve never been to Fuoco Vivo, but it definitely looks interesting, so will have to try it out. Really amazing how much more good pizza you can find in Amsterdam today compared to even just a few years ago. So much improved!
–dutchgrub
Ciao, i m Antonio,i m Italian and i think that the best pizzeria in Amsterdam is District5 Cucina Italiana>located in de pijp.Is the real italian restaurant 100%.The pizza is Superior and the food is excellent.All other restaurants are really jurrasic.This wat i think in Asterdam.
Greetings Antonio
One of my favorite pizzas in Amsterdam is Pazzi (http://www.pazzislowfood.nl). I find the Boscaiola with truffles pretty good. It was initially a takeaway place, but now they also have simple seating (4 tables). The Pizza has been consistently good there, worth a try.
Hi Ducthgrub,
I went to Yam Yam and Il Forno. Being Italian myself, I must admit the pizza was actuallt pretty good in both places, however a dinig experience requires great food, but that is, however necessary, not enough. I found that both places lacked of atmosphere and passion, that a pizzeria would require. Yam Yam in particular was very quite, not because empty, and the service was pretty slow for the sort of food served.
All in all I had a pleasent night, I was craving for my pizza fix so bad 🙂
Hi Emanuele again!
Can imagine that you are missing some Italian passion and noise. Renato’s might come closest from our list. Let us know if you discover another gem that fixes your pizza craving with an Italian vibe!
–dutchgrub
Hi Hisham,
Good one! The pizza list is definitely due for an update, and Pazzi as well as La Perla are clearly candidates to be added.
Quite amazing how much the pizza situation in Amsterdam has improved over the last years!
–dutchgrub