Sushi is great, ramen is amazing, but sometimes, you just really, really want pizza. And because there are some cravings that just cannot be ignored, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite Tokyo pizza restaurants.
Plenty of pizzas in Tokyo are tragic: soft, lukewarm discs with unidentified bland cheese and no discernible crust are proffered; hearts are broken. There’s no escaping it unless you make the effort to visit some of the better or even some of the amazing places that are on offer across the city. You may not be able to walk into any old joint and expect something decent, but a little planning goes a long way—and that counts when you have a hangover only pizza can solve. There have been, and always will be, endless debates about the best pizza in town, and this is by no means the definitive list, but here are our four favorites, sliced into styles to suit your craving.
Classy Neapolitan takeaway from Frey’s
Takeaway pizza may have a bad rap, but when you can pick up a freshly baked Neapolitan-style pizza for 1,000 yen–1,500 yen and sit in the sun, ideas can change. Frey’s Famous Pizzeria is an unpretentious and simple cafe on a side street in Roppongi, with plenty of charm to boot. The handwritten menu board details a simple selection made with fresh, high-quality ingredients, while the furnace-like oven glows in the background.
The lunch sets, if you prefer to stay in, are reasonable: a pizza with salad is 1,000 yen. However, with Hinokicho Park only a few minutes’ walk away, takeout is a great option. Grab a few drinks from the convenience store, pick up your pizza and enjoy an afternoon in the sun!
Go customizable at 800 Degrees
If you like unusual topping combinations and find menus boring, you may like the 800 Degrees approach. It’s basically Subway for pizza, but fancy. With everything a choice—from base, to sauce, to toppings—you work your way along the DIY counter, eventually watching your Neapolitan-style creation slide into a burning hell fire, before being returned when your number is called.
Although you can easily run up some impressively expensive pizza, you can keep it low—it just depends on your toppings. With everything from kale chips to meatballs to truffle cheese to tempt you in, it can be a bit of a challenge, but stay strong. It’s particularly good if you have vegans or a mixed group as everyone can pick and choose as they like.
There’s a cocktail bar with a suited-and-booted mixologist to give the place some class, and you can easily forget you’re across the road from the JR Station.
New York–style by the slice
For a reasonably priced slice of a New York–style 20-inch pizza, you can head to Pizza Slice or Pizza Slice 2. If one slice just isn’t enough, you can mix and match, or buy the whole thing—topped with a birthday message if needed. Who needs cake when you have a birthday pizza?
They offer a simple menu with about eight options, including cheese, mushroom, pepperoni, a homemade meatball option, and a rotating special. You can order a freshly baked garlic knot as a side and a beer too—what else could you need?
Open until late, the two branches of Pizza Slice are both suitably trendy and pretty popular, but large group tables mean it’s perfect for get-togethers.
California-style pizza, fresh from the wood-fired oven
California-style pizza may not be as well known as some of the classics, but it should be. With a New York Italian–style thin crust and fresh, creative topping combinations taken from California cuisine—it’s basically delicious, and nowhere more so than at Two Dogs Taproom in Roppongi.
With a giant wood fire oven waiting, you can try roasted chicken and homemade BBQ sauce topped with dollops of sour cream and jalapenos, or the pork sausage, salami, pancetta and chili. Not to mention, there are white-base options and classic choices too. A feather in the Two Dogs cap is their full-vegan pizza menu, which includes homemade vegan cheese, three sauce choices and plenty of toppings.
While lunch sets are usually cheaper in Tokyo, the best time to come for this pizza is actually Sunday evening when any medium pizza is half price between 5 pm and 9 pm. Handily, 5 pm to 7 pm is also happy hour, so you can enjoy your half-price pizza with a sized-up glass of craft beer!
