Top Rated Pizza Joints in Taormina That Locals Swear By
Words by
Sofia Esposito
Where to Find the Best Pizza in Taormina According to the People Who Actually Live Here
I've been eating pizza in Taormina for years now, long after the summer hordes have packed up and gone home, and I can tell you that the gap between what tourists stumble into and what locals actually line up for is enormous. If you want the top rated pizza joints in Taormina, you have to forget the places right off the Corso Umberto, no matter how pretty the terrace looks. The real deal is on the side streets, down the stepped alleyways, and in the neighborhoods where Taorminesi actually take their families on a Friday night. What follows is the list I would give my own sister if she flew in tomorrow hungry for a proper Sicilian pizza.
Nobody visiting Taormina for the first time realizes that many of the actors and crew who worked on The Godfather Part III retreated to small neighborhood pizzerias after long days of filming around the Teatro Antico and the old streets above the town. That appetite for honest, unpretentious food never left. It lives on in the wood-fired ovens and the flour-dusted counters I'm about to tell you about.
1. Pizzeria Villa Zuccaro — The Old Faithful on Via Pirandello
You'll find Pizzeria Villa Zuccaro along Via Luigi Pirandello, the sloping street that runs southwest from the center of Taormina toward the Messina gate. This is not a glamorous address, and that is exactly the point. The space is open-air in warmer months, shaded by a canopy, and the tables fill up by 8 PM with the same families you will see here week after week. The owner runs the front while his brother tends the wood-fired oven, and between the two of them they have been turning out pizzas here for well over twenty years.
What to Order: The pizza delle zucchine, with thinly sliced courgettes, local cacioricotta, and a scattering of mint leaves. It tastes like a Sicilian summer.
Best Time: Tuesday or Wednesday evening around 7:30 PM. By Friday, the wait can stretch past forty minutes and the noise level climbs.
The Vibe: A family-run joint where the menu is handwritten and the wine comes from the owner's cousin's vineyard in the Etna foothills. The outdoor pavement tables can get slippery after a rain, and the overhead heating lamps in winter barely take the chill off, so bring a jacket if you are eating outside after dark.
What most tourists do not know is that this pizzeria was a late-afternoon haunt for several crew members shooting location footage in the early 1990s around Taormina. The interior still has framed local newspaper clippings that reference that era, tucked behind the counter near the wine bottles. It makes sense that a film crew looking for something authentically Sicilian after hours would end up far from the tourist drag on the Corso.
2. Pizzeria da Nino — The Corso Alternative That Locals Actually Approve Of
I know I just told you to avoid the Corso Umberto, but there is one exception, and it is Pizzeria da Nino, tucked along a short side lane not far from the main walkway. This is where my neighbor, Signora Caruso, brings her grandchildren on Sunday after church. The pizza is reliable, the prices are not inflated the way they are on the piazza-facing strip, and the staff will look at you like you belong there rather than like a walking credit card.
What to Order: The marinara, which sounds simple but lets you judge the quality of the dough and tomato sauce in one go. A proper marinara in Sicily tells you everything about the kitchen.
Best Time: Early lunch, around 12:30 PM on a weekday. The lunch rush from nearby offices and the hotel staff on break hits hard at 1 PM.
The Vibe: Straightforward, no-frills tables, tile floors, and a straightforward menu. The space is small, so when it fills up everyone is elbow to elbow. In July and August the air conditioning struggles, and you may find yourself eating at full sweat if you get a seat near the back wall.
This place sits quietly in a stretch of the Corso's orbit where football was once played informally in the narrow streets before the alleys narrowed further. The battered walls of the buildings on this lane have absorbed centuries of summer heat, afternoon arguments, and children's laughter. The pizzeria carries on in that tradition, feeding whoever walks through the door without ceremony.
3. Lo Scarabocchio — The Neighborhood Secret Along Via Bagnoli Croce
Lo Scarabocchio hides along the Via Bagnoli Croce area, closer to the public gardens and slightly removed from the main commercial strip. This is one of the best casual pizza Taormina has for anyone who wants to sit outdoors, eat well, and pay something close to a reasonable price. The space opens onto a pleasant patio, and the mix of tourists and locals here feels balanced rather than lopsided. The owner is hands-on and will walk over to your table to make sure the pizza arrived the way you wanted.
What to Order: The pizza siciliana con salsiccia di suino nero, made with the black pork sausage from the Nebrodi mountains. It is rich, earthy, and unlike the industrial sausage you get from tourist-kitchen pizzerias.
Best Time: Saturday evening around 8 PM for the full neighborhood energy. The kitchen turns out its most consistent work on weekends when the owner is personally overseeing the oven.
The Vibe: A relaxed outdoor setting with string lights and a mixed crowd that feels like a house party rather than a restaurant. In September, when the jasmine is dying back and the air turns slightly cool, this is my favorite outdoor eating experience in town. The downside is that the limited parking along the street fills fast and you may have to walk fifteen minutes back to your car.
What most visitors do not realize is that this road leads to the entrance of the Giardini della Villa Comunale, the public gardens that a Scottish gardening aristocrat established back in the 1890s. Lo Scarabocchio fits into that quieter residential pocket behind the gardens, a layer of Taormina that most day-trippers never reach because they turn around the moment they have taken their selfie at the garden's edge.
4. Etna Pizzolando in the Alleyways Near Porta Catania
The streets threading south and east from Porta Catania are where I send anyone who tells me they want to find local pizza spots Taormina is supposedly hiding. Among the lanes in this neighborhood, you'll find Etna Pizzolando, a proper neighborhood pizzeria that draws a crowd of after-work locals and university-age kids on weeknights. The interior is utilitarian. Red-checkered tablecloths, a TV usually cycling between news and whatever football match is on, and waiters who have known half their regular clients since those clients were children.
What to Order: The pizza con le melanzane, topped with roasted eggplant, tomato, and shavings of ricotta salata.
Best Time: Thursday evening. This is when the pizzeria is at its most alive, with a hum of conversation and clinking plates that makes you feel like you stumbled into a block gathering. Arrive by 7:45 or be prepared to stand.
The Vibe: A working pizzeria for working people. The noise level is fierce when full, and families with young children claim the front tables early, so if you want a quieter corner aim for the back, near the wine rack. The ventilation in the kitchen area wafts a fine mist of flour and wood smoke through the whole room, so do not wear your one good shirt.
This area around Porta Catania carries layers of history that have nothing to do with mass tourism. The gate itself is one of the old entry points to the medieval town, and the streets radiating outward were working-class neighborhoods where Taorminesi lived for generations before the boutique hotels arrived. Etna Pizzolando is a direct continuation of that working-town tradition, serving solid food at prices people can actually afford.
5. Fratelli Bufi — The Spot That Hooked Me on Sfincione
On a quieter stretch where the residential lanes of lower Taormina meet the older commercial streets, Fratelli Bufi operates the kind of open-fronted bakery and pizza counter that smells like heaven when you walk past. This is where I first tried sfincione, the thick-crust, spongy Sicilian pizza topped with tomato, onion, anchovies, and breadcrumbs instead of mozzarella. I had seen it described in food books and never expected to have a life-changing slice handed to me on a piece of wax paper while I stood on the sidewalk.
What to Order: The sfincione, eaten standing up if you have to. Ask for it warm from the oven rather than reheated, which makes a noticeable difference.
Best Time: Late morning, around 11 AM, when morning batch comes out fresh. By mid-afternoon, the remaining slices are good but have lost that just-baked sponginess.
The Vibe: A bakery counter with a row of folding tables outside. No waiter, no fuss, and that is exactly the charm. It is the kind of place where you eat fast and walk away feeling grateful. Seating is practically nonexistent on weekends, and the counter area gets swamped between 12 and 1 PM. If you find yourself waiting, the espresso next door is passable.
Sfincione was historically Palermo's specialty, but it spread across Sicily over the decades, and you will occasionally find it in bakeries and counters around Taormina that have family ties to the western side of the island. Fratelli Bufi is one of those urban links, a taste of Palermo's rougher streets transported into this polished hilltop town. It is an unexpected layer of Sicilian culinary history that most visitors in Taormina never encounter, because they stick to the margherita and the quattro stagioni.
6. Il Girasole — Deep in the Residential Quarter Above Corvo Street
One of the places I almost hesitated to include is Il Girasole, a small pizzeria up in the residential lanes climbing above Via del Corso's eastern reaches, where the stone staircases grow narrow and the tourists thin out dramatically. This is a neighborhood fixture. The owner knows every kid on the block by name, the pizza is consistently good, and the bill will make you wonder why you ever spent twenty euros on a margherita anywhere else.
What to Order: The pizza con funghi, made with porcini when in season and good-quality cultivated mushrooms the rest of the year. The base is thin and slightly charred at the edges.
Best Time: Weekday evening, Monday through Thursday, ideally around 7 PM. On weekends it fills with families from the surrounding apartments and the wait stretches.
The Vibe: A true neighborhood haunt with plain tables, local gossip flying across the room, and a kitchen that runs like clockwork. The owner does not stoop to tourist-friendly frills. The Wi-Fi password is scribbled on a Post-it near the register and changes every few weeks. One honest complaint: the restroom is down a tight flight of stairs that would challenge anyone with mobility issues.
These upper lanes trace the old residential routes that connected Taormina's medieval core to the agricultural terraces below. Before the international hotels and the cable car to the beach, these were the streets where teachers, fishermen's wives, and shopkeepers lived. Il Girasole is rooted in that world, a neighborhood kitchen operating in a house that has probably served food in some form for generations.
7. Al Settimo Cielo — Cheap Pizza Taormina Street-Style Near the Porta Messina End
Finding cheap pizza Taormina can be a real challenge, which is why I want to highlight a place that locals whisper about near the Porta Messina end of town. Al Settimo Cielo is a pizza-by-the-slice operation that runs out of a low-ceilinged room with a dedicated lunch crowd of students, workers, and pensionets who know that a generous slice here costs a fraction of what you would pay four blocks closer to the Corso.
What to Order: Whatever the daily speciale slice is. Rotate your choices across multiple visits. The pizza bianca with mortadella and pistachio is a standout when available.
Best Time: Lunchtime, 12 to 2 PM, when the oven is at peak production. The pre-made slices on display by late afternoon are reheated and lose texture.
The Vibe: A functional, fluorescent-lit room where the turnover is fast and nobody lingers. You eat, you chat, you leave. It is the Taormina equivalent of a New York slice counter in the best possible sense. The ventilation is imperfect, and you will carry the smell of woodsmoke on your clothes for the rest of the day if you sit too close to the oven vent.
This area around Porta Messina has always been a transition zone, the threshold between the historic town and the approach road from Messina. It has long been where practical, affordable services operated to serve the townspeople who needed to eat before catching a bus or driving down to the coast. Al Settimo Cielo inherits that utilitarian DNA, providing honest food at honest prices right at the gateway to the old city.
8. A'Trugghia — The Delivery Kitchen That Locals Call First
Every city has a pizza place that does not bother with decor because the food is the entire point, and in Taormina that place is A Trugghia. Located along one of the streets branching off the main avenues, this place has a dine-in setup but its real reputation is built on delivery and takeaway. I have called them after long nights of work and had a pizza at my door that still made me sit down on the floor of my kitchen to eat it properly.
What to Order: The pizza con patate and rosemary, a classic Sicilian combination that A Trugghia executes better than anywhere else I have found in town.
Best Time: Friday night, order by 8 PM to avoid the backlogged delivery window that runs from 8:30 to nearly 10 PM during peak season. For dine-in, the same Friday crowd means waiting unless you show up early.
The Vibe: No-frills in the extreme. The dining room looks like it was furnished in 1985 and never updated, and the owner prefers it that way. The focus is entirely on the oven. There is an odd charm to the place once you stop caring about aesthetics, and regulars treat it like a second family kitchen. If you eat in, the newspaper rack still has copies from the previous week, which tells you exactly how the owner views his dining room.
The neighborhood around A Trugghia sits in the mid-altitude band of Taormina where old apartment buildings mix with small workshops and the odd private garden. This was historically where the middle class lived, people who worked in the town's service economy and needed reliable everyday food. The pizzeria is still feeding that same community model, one delivery at a time, and its refusal to pretty itself up is its most honest statement.
When to Go / What to Know Before You Eat Pizza in Taormina
Taormina's pizzerias follow rhythms that are different from the rest of Italy. Dinner service typically starts at 7:30 PM and does not fill up until 8 to 9 PM, even on weekends. If you show up at 7 PM on a Saturday night in August, you will get a table, but you will also be eating before the kitchen hits its stride, which means the oven temperature and ingredient timing are not yet dialed in. Between October and March, many pizzerias close one extra day per week, often Monday or Tuesday, and some reduce service to evenings only. Always call ahead in winter.
Cash is still preferred at several of the smaller neighborhood spots, and those places will not always advertise a minimum card purchase, but they may quietly prefer you pay in bills. A pizzeria meal for one, with a pizza and a drink, runs between 10 and 18 euros depending on the neighborhood and the toppings, but several of the local spots listed above will feed you for closer to 10 euros and the quality exceeds what that modest price suggests.
Sicilian pizza in Taormina tends toward a thicker, spongier base than the Neapolitan style you might expect in northern or central Italy. The sfincione influence is strong, and even standard pizzerias here shy away from cracker-thin crusts. Embrace it. The thicker base is designed to carry the generous Sicilian toppings that local kitchens pile on. One thing I wish someone had told me years ago: do not eat a full lunch and then expect to appreciate a proper dinner pizza save these experiences for days when you have been walking and deserve the reward.
The summer of the year when Taormina hosted the G7 summit saw a temporary influx of international attention, but the effect on the pizzerias in the residential neighborhoods was minimal. Security cordons kept the political crowds within the upper tourist circuits, and the kitchens kept cooking as if nothing had changed. That is the beauty of the local pizza scene in this town. It exists to serve the town, and the flow of global events washes around it without altering its essential rhythm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the tap water in Taormina safe to drink, or should travelers strictly rely on filtered water options?
The tap water in Taormina is drawn from Sicilian municipal supplies that meet European Union safety standards and is generally safe to drink. Many locals drink it without issue, though the mineral content varies depending on the specific water source feeding different neighborhoods, and some expatriates find the taste occasionally brackish during dry summer months when reserves dip. Travelers with sensitive stomachs may prefer filtered or bottled water as a precaution during the first few days.
Is Taormina expensive to visit? Give a realistic daily budget breakdown for mid-tier travelers?
A mid-tier daily budget in Taormina typically falls between 120 and 200 euros per person, covering a mid-range hotel double room shared (70-100 euros per night per room), two meals at modest restaurants (30-50 euros), local transport and entrance fees (10-20 euros), and incidentals. The most significant variable is accommodation, which can spike to 250 euros or more per night during the peak summer months of July and August or during major events. Eating at local pizzerias and trattorias rather than the Corso-facing restaurants can cut food costs by 30 to 40 percent.
Are there any specific dress codes or cultural etiquettes to keep in mind when visiting local spots in Taormina?
Taormina is a small Sicilian town with a relaxed dress code at most casual pizzerias and trattorias, where shorts and sandals are perfectly acceptable even in the evening. However, when visiting churches such as the Duomo in the town center, covered shoulders and knees are expected, and you may be turned away otherwise. At the more upscale restaurants along the Corso, smart casual attire is appreciated, and some establishments will not seat diners in beachwear. Tipping is not obligatory, but rounding up the bill or leaving 5 to 10 percent is a common gesture of appreciation.
How easy is it to find pure vegetarian, vegan, or plant-based dining options in Taormina?
Vegetarian options are widely available across Taormina's pizzerias and restaurants, with standard offerings including pizza marinara, caponata, pasta alla Norma, and various vegetable antipasti. Fully vegan options are more limited but growing, with several pizzerias now offering pizza without cheese and a handful of restaurants in the town center explicitly marking plant-based dishes on their menus. In the residential neighborhoods, vegan choices are scarcer, and it is advisable to ask directly at the counter rather than relying on menu labels.
What is the one must-try local specialty food or drink that Taormina is famous for?
The single most iconic local specialty is granita, particularly the almond and lemon varieties, which originated in Sicily and are best experienced at a proper bar or gelateria in Taormina during the morning or early afternoon. The almond granita made with almonds from the Avola area on the eastern coast is a revelation, and locals traditionally eat it with a brioche for breakfast. For a savory specialty, pasta alla Norma, made with fried eggplant, tomato sauce, ricotta salata, and basil, is the dish most closely associated with eastern Sicily and is served at virtually every trattoria and pizzeria in Taormina.
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