Best Pizza Places in Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina — updated August 22, 2026
Seven Raleigh pizzerias, from a wood-fired kitchen off Whitaker Mill to New York slices on New Bern Avenue, ranked by how settled their reputations are.
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Raleigh's pizza runs along a few clear lines: New York style on the east side of town near New Bern Avenue, wood-fired pies in the Five Points area, and slice counters downtown and near NC State that stay open past most kitchens. The list below is ordered by how well each place answers the question, with review volume treated as evidence of how settled a rating is. A high score from a few hundred reviews is promising; a high score from a thousand is proven.
1. Oakwood Pizza Box
The strongest combination of score and volume in Raleigh pizza: 4.7 across 1,016 reviews, which is a rating that has been tested by a lot of people over a long stretch. It sits at 610 N Person St, walkable from downtown and the Person Street corridor, which is part of why the traffic is what it is. If you are choosing on the numbers alone rather than a specific style, this is the safest bet on the list. Expect company at peak dinner hours given the neighborhood location and the volume of reviews behind it.
2. Frank's Pizza & Italian Restaurant
The most-reviewed place here, with 1,200 reviews at 4.6, a New Bern Avenue fixture that has clearly been settling that average for years. Plan around the schedule: closed Sunday and Monday, open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 9pm, with the dining room closing at 8:30 and last orders taken at 8:40. The menu lists gourmet and specialty 12-inch pizzas at $17.99 and a 16-inch square Sicilian cheese at $24.99. Cheese by the slice is listed at $2.50 and served after 5pm, so an early lunch means ordering a whole pie.
3. Mike's Pizza
Authentic New York style is the stated pitch, and 975 reviews at 4.6 suggest the kitchen delivers on it consistently. It is also further out New Bern Avenue at 3919, past Frank's, and the menu runs wider than pizza alone: Italian dishes and sandwiches as well. The hours are the thing to note. Mike's opens at 11am Monday through Saturday and closes at 8pm, earlier than most of the pizzerias here, so it works better as a lunch or early-dinner stop than a late one. Ordering online is available through the restaurant's own site.
4. Timber Pizza Co. Raleigh
The highest rating on the list, 4.8, but from 213 reviews, so treat it as promising rather than proven. The draw is wood-fired: handcrafted pies, salads and sides at 627 E Whitaker Mill Rd, near Five Points. It serves seven nights a week, 11:30am to around 9pm Sunday through Thursday and to around 10pm Friday and Saturday, with pickup and delivery available by phone. Of everything here, it is the clearest departure from the New York slice format, which makes it the pick when you want char and a thinner base.
5. Bussin Pizza & Italian Kitchen
The Hillsborough Street option, at 3209, which puts it in range of NC State and the west-side apartments. It holds a 4.6 across 710 reviews, a healthy sample for a comparatively young-feeling operation. Hours are the longest daily stretch on this list: 10:30am to 9:30pm Monday through Thursday, 10:30am to 10pm Friday and Saturday, and 11am to 9pm Sunday, so mid-afternoon works when other kitchens have closed between services. Pasta shares the menu with pizza. Large group orders need 24 hours of notice, worth knowing if you are feeding a floor or a team.
6. Cristo's Ristorante & Pizzeria
A north Raleigh sit-down at 1302 E Millbrook Rd, rated 4.5 from 824 reviews, which makes it a well-established average rather than an early one. The menu covers New York style pizza alongside home-style Italian cooking, and the Grandma pizza is the item the restaurant leads with. Daily lunch specials run until 3pm, which is the practical reason to come at midday rather than at night. It reads more as a full Italian restaurant than a slice counter, so it suits a sit-down family dinner better than a quick pickup.
7. Vic's Pizzeria
The downtown late-night answer, at 1 Glenwood Ave, serving New York style pizza by the slice. Its 4.5 comes from 236 reviews, a thinner record than most of the list, so the rating is less settled than Oakwood's or Frank's. Hours are the real argument for it: 11am to 10pm Monday through Thursday, 11am to 11pm Friday and Saturday with a late-night window running from 11pm onward, and noon to 9pm Sunday. That makes it one of the few places in this guide still selling pizza after the Glenwood South bars have filled up.