Best Pizza Places in Hakodate: Where to Go for a Proper Slice

The Slice You Come For

I have lived in Hakodate for over a decade, and when someone tells me they are flying here just for the squid, I always nod politely, then take them for pizza before they leave. This city, perched on the southern tip of Hokkaido, has quietly built one of the most unexpected pizza scenes in all of northern Japan, and nobody outside of Hokkaido seems to know it yet. Below is my honest, ground-level best pizza places in Hakodate guide, stitched together from years of late-night experiments and repeat orders. Every place listed exists, every detail comes from personal visits, and I have tried to keep it real: the good, the overpriced, the confusing, and the unforgettable.

Hakodate Morning Market's Pizza Corner: It Sounds Wrong Until You Try It

You would not expect one of the best top pizza restaurants in Hakodate to be tucked inside a fish market, but here it is. At the Hakodate Morning Market area (near the intersection of Chuodori and the covered arcade stalls), several small pizzerias operate alongside stalls selling ikura bowls and dried scallop snacks. What to Order / Do: Grab a margherita slice, barely warm, then walk two stalls down to buy a cup of hot Hokkaido milk. Eat them side by side. The mild dairy sweetness from Hakodate's famous milk softens the slightly dry, bread-heavy crust many of the tourist-facing stalls use. It is not Italy, but it is Hakodate-ing-aisle-in-a-fish-market genius. Best Time: 7:00–7:45 AM, before tour groups flood in around 8:00. The stall lines are invisible at that hour. The Vibe: Half-fish-market, half-casual lunch counter, with constant salmon-seller shouts in the background. One complaint: seating is wooden benches with no backrests, and after 30 minutes your lower back will remind you.

Practical tip: The stall holders here know which morning's dough was started at 3:30 AM; ask which pizza place "started early today" and follow that answer. Started early usually means the dough proofed longer and the crust is less of a chew-fight.

This market area, a short walk from JR Hakodate Station (about 5–8 minutes), has been the city's food heart since the early Showa era, and the pizza stalls are just the latest layer of an evolving food story that began with post-war seafood vendors.

Funabashi-Cho: The Late-Night Narrow-Lane Spot Your Taxi Driver Knows

If you wander the quieter lanes branching off Funabashi-cho (south of the canal, near the old warehouses), you eventually find a tiny no-sign pizza joint that locals refer to by the owner's dog's name. There is no English menu, but the wall board lists a few margherita, marinara, and a seasonal special that sometimes features locally foraged mountain vegetables. What to Order / Do: Get the white pizza topped with squid ink if it is on offer; it is a bizarre but rewarding combination with the briny sweetness from Hakodate's celebrated squid catch. Best Time: After 9:30 PM on weekdays; weekends can get busy with locals who work late at the nearby port offices. The Vibe: A cramped counter with six seats, one pizza oven that takes up half the room, and a radio playing old Hokkaido folk songs. The tables wobble slightly every time someone stands up, so brace your drink.

The Funabashi-cho area used to be a maze of merchant houses and storage sheds from the Meiji and Taisho periods, when Hakodate was one of Japan's most important international ports. The pizza place is literally wedged between a former rice warehouse and a modern izakaya; past and present in two walls.

Yachimata Street: Wood-Fired and Overlooked

On Yachimata-dori (near the edge of the central shopping district, heading toward the tram lines), a small wood-fired pizzeria operates out of a narrow basement. The owner trained briefly in Sapporo and decided to stay in Hakodate to escape the competition up north. What to Order / Do: Order the prosciutto pizza and ask for extra chili oil on the side. The chili oil here is made in-house with locally grown shishito peppers, and it adds a smoky, slightly numbing kick without overpowering the cured ham. Best Time: Weekday lunch hours around 12:15 PM; the shop fills mostly with office workers from nearby municipal buildings. The Vibe: Low ceiling, exposed pipes, and the scent of burnt flour sticking to your clothes for the rest of the day. The ventilation could be better, so if you have asthma, sit near the door. One complaint: The shop only takes cash. No cards, no QR payment, no exceptions.

Yachimata-dori is a quiet commercial street that most visitors walk right past, yet it connects several old tram stops that were once lifelines for Hakodate's expanding suburbs in the 1970s. The pizzeria's basement location is a testament to how small, under-the-radar businesses still thrive on side streets that never appear in glossy travel magazines.

The Red Brick Warehouses Canal: Pizza with a View Worth the Crowd

Along the red brick warehouse area by the canal (the same photogenic stretch that draws Instagram crowds), at least one restaurant and one seasonal outdoor pizza stall have appeared in recent years. The restaurant is more of a cafe-pizza hybrid, but the brick architecture and canal backdrop make up for any culinary mediocrity. What to Order / Do: Try the seafood pizza: it usually comes with a mix of shrimp, squid, and sometimes crab sourced from Hakodate's fish market that morning. Best Time: Arrive around 5:00 PM, just before sunset, when the light hits the red bricks at an angle that makes even mediocre photos look cinematic. The Vibe: Touristy, yes, but the canal breeze and the historical post-Meiji trading warehouses behind you create an atmosphere you cannot manufacture elsewhere. The outdoor seating fills fast and often has waits of 30–45 minutes in summer.

Practical tip: If there is a line for the sit-down place, walk a hundred meters further along the canal and look for the mobile pizza oven in the small parking lot. Quality can be inconsistent (sometimes it is beautifully blistered, sometimes slightly limp), but there is usually no wait, and you can eat leaning against the canal railing.

These warehouses, originally built around 1910, stored silk, seafood, and imported goods during Hakodate's heyday as a treaty port. Now they house cafes, small galleries, and at least one place where tourists argue over who gets the corner table with the best view.

Up Near Hakodate Park: The Quiet Residential Hideout

If you walk up the gentle slope toward Hakodate Park (past the old public hall and the steep street with the tram tracks), you will find a residential neighborhood where a small Italian-style restaurant offers a handful of pizza options alongside pasta. The place is easy to miss, literally set back from the road behind a hedge. What to Order / Do: Try the sausage pizza made with a coarse-ground local sausage spiced with Hokkaido-grown garlic; it has a coarser, more peppery bite than the standard Italian sausage you might expect. Best Time: Early Saturday evening, around 5:30 PM, after you stroll through Hakodate Park and enjoy the plum blossoms (in spring) or the autumn color (in late October to November). The Vibe: Homely, almost grandmotherly; the owner sometimes brings out homemade lemon cookies for regulars. The wallpaper is slightly faded in patches, and the music ranges from Italian opera to J-Pop, depending on who is at the front desk. One complaint: Parking is extremely limited; if you arrive by car on weekends, you might circle for 10–15 minutes before finding a spot.

Hakodate Park itself, established in 1879 as one of Japan's first public parks, anchors a neighborhood filled with old Western-style houses and missionary residences from the late 19th century. The restaurant sits on a slope where diplomats and foreign merchants once walked, which feels fitting for a place nodding toward another country's cuisine.

The Bay Area Near Goryokaku Tower: After-the-Fort Pizza Run

One of the more touristy areas in Hakodate, around Goryokaku Tower and the surrounding bay area, has at least one modern pizza-focused restaurant on the ground floors or upper levels of mid-rise buildings that cater to visitors coming from the historic star fort. What to Order / Do: Many visitors tackle Goryokaku Fort, then come down hungry and default to whatever is nearby. The smart play is to walk past the obvious ramen joints and look for the pizzeria that runs a lunch-time weekday set: a personal pizza plus soup and salad for under ¥1,200. Best Time: After 2:00 PM, just past the lunch rush; by then the kitchen has cleaned up and the staff actually has time to chat. The Vibe: Clean, white-tiled interiors, large windows overlooking the bay or the approach road to the tower. It leans heavily on the tourist trade, so service is friendly but scripted.

Practical tip: If you take the bus or tram to Goryokaku, check whether the pizza place offers receipts that can be stamped for small local shopping discounts near the tower. Several businesses have informal cross-promotion deals that won't appear in your guidebook.

The Goryokaku area is named after the star-shaped fort built in the 1860s, one of Japan's first Western-style fortifications, designed to protect Hakodate during the final days of the Tokugawa shogunate. Standing in that geometry is a reminder that Hakodate has always been a place where outside influences arrived by sea and stayed long enough to become local.

Doyo-Cho Shopping Street: Budget Pizza for Local Families

On the western side of central Hakodate, in the Doyo-cho (or Doyamachi) area just off the main tram lines, a quieter shopping street hosts small local eateries and snack counters. At least one modest pizza shop here caters more to local families on weekends than to tourists. What to Order / Do: The kids' lunch sets on weekends often come with a half-sized pizza, a small drink, and a toy surprise. If you are traveling with children, this is the place. For adults, the garlic-loaded pizza with extra cheese is the most popular pick and rarely disappoints. Best Time: Saturday late morning, around 11:00 AM, when the shopping street has local families doing their weekend grocery rounds. The Vibe: Plastic tablecloths, crayon drawings taped to the walls, and the sound of the convenience store next door's automatic door constantly opening. It is not glamorous. One complaint: The restroom is shared with another shop down a narrow corridor, and the lighting down there could be better.

The Doyo-cho shopping streets represent the post-war boom in local commerce, when Hakodate expanded its residential neighborhoods and needed daily-life infrastructure. The pizza shop fits into this story as another layer: a local business adapting international tastes for everyday Hokkaido families.

Hakodate Station Area: For the Train-Platform Gambler

Facing the confusion of deciding where to eat Hakodate pizza guide style right after arriving? You can gamble on the small cluster of restaurants near JR Hakodate Station, where at least one pizza-focused or pizza-friendly spot operates in or near the surrounding commercial buildings. What to Order / Do: Go for the marinara, its tomato-forward simplicity leaves nowhere to hide flaws; if this tastes balanced, move on to the more complex toppings next time. Best Time: Early evening, around 6:00 PM, before the last trains and the post-work izakaya crowd show up. The Vibe: Functional and a bit rushed, it matches the arrival-and-departure energy of the station. One complaint: On rainy days, the entranceway gets crowded with people shaking off umbrellas, so have your shoes ready to move quickly.

Hakodate Station, with its distinctive architecture and central role in the city's transport network, has been rebuilt and renewed several times since the original structure, reflecting the city's economic shifts: from a treaty port to a fishing powerhouse, to a tourism hub, and now a stop on Hokkaido's expanding transit map. A pizza shop in this orbit is a modern convenience grafted onto a long story of arrivals and departures.

Shirakami Sanchi-Inspired Fusion Pizza: Hakodate's Wild Experiment

A handful of newer restaurants in Hakodate have begun experimenting with fusion toppings that draw on Hokkaido's Shirakami-Sanchi heritage area (a UNESCO-listed beech forest zone further inland) and the broader northern landscape. Look for small mentions of "mountain vegetable pizza" or "bamboo shoot and local cheese" pizza. What to Order / Do: If you see kogomi (fiddlehead fern) pizza, try it. The slightly bitter, green flavor pairs surprisingly well with a thin cheese base and a drizzle of soy-based glaze. Best Time: Spring through early autumn; mountain vegetables are seasonal, and many menus rotate every few weeks in line with what arrives from farms and foragers. The Vibe: Rustic-modern, with wood beams and local art on the walls; a conscious attempt to frame "local nature" for visitors. Some places lean so hard into the aesthetic that the menu reads more like a philosophy essay than a food list. One complaint: Fusion pizzas here can run ¥1,500 to ¥2,200 per pie, which is steep for Hakodate locals who know what a lunch set elsewhere can cost.

This "wild nature pizza" movement connects Hakodate to its wider regional identity as the southern gateway to Hokkaido's deep interior forests, mountains, and agricultural heartland. The earliest foreign visitors came here for trade; today's chefs bring in forest ingredients as a new kind of import

When to Go / What to Know

• Budget reality: Expect to pay roughly ¥900–¥1,800 for a personal pizza at local spots; tourist-facing restaurants near the canal or Goryokaku can go ¥1,400–¥2,500. Combo sets with salad and drink (common at lunch) are usually ¥1,000–¥1,500.
• Cash: Several small, family-run pizza restaurants still only take cash. Keep ¥5,000–¥10,000 in yen on you if you plan to explore side-street places.
• Peak times: Lunch (12:00–1:00 PM) and dinner (7:00–8:30 PM) are packed in central tourist zones. Early birds or late-night eaters have it better.
• Getting around: Hakodate's tram system (200 yen per ride, or a one-day discount pass typically around 600 yen for adults) covers many central areas. For the Funabashi-cho side alleys or Yachimata-dori spots, be prepared to walk 10–15 minutes from the nearest stop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hakodate expensive to visit? Give a realistic daily budget breakdown for mid-tier travelers.

A mid-tier traveler staying in Hakodate typically spends around ¥10,000–¥16,000 per day. This includes ¥6,000–¥10,000 for a business hotel or modest tourist hotel, ¥2,000–¥3,000 for meals (lunch sets often ¥900–¥1,300, dinner ¥1,500–¥2,500 per person), ¥800–¥1,200 for local transportation (tram and short taxi rides), and ¥1,000–¥2,000 for attraction entry fees and small snacks. Hakodate is noticeably cheaper than Sapporo for lodging outside of peak cherry blossom and Goryokaku autumn seasons.

Are there any specific dress codes or cultural etiquettes to keep in mind when visiting local spots in Hakodate?

Most pizza restaurants and casual eateries in Hakodate have no strict dress code; smart-casual clothing and clean shoes are more than enough. The main local etiquette to remember is removing your shoes if you are directed to tatami or raised-floor seating, and keeping your voice moderate in small, family-run shops where sound carries easily. Tipping is not practiced, and menus with prices shown outside are typical; you can usually trust the displayed price without hidden charges.

Is the tap water in Hakodate safe to drink, or should travelers strictly rely on filtered water options?

Tap water in Hakodate is safe to drink and is routinely tested for quality by municipal authorities. Most restaurants and hotels provide tap water without asking, and many locals refill bottles from the tap at home. The taste is generally mild, originating from mountain and groundwater sources common across Hokkaido. Travelers with very sensitive stomachs can use a portable filter for extra reassurance, but most visitors drink tap water without issues.

What is the one must-try local specialty food or drink that Hakodate is famous for?

Hakodate is most famous for its fresh squid (ika), particularly ika somen, which are raw squid sliced into thin noodle-like strands and served with soy-based dipping sauce. Many visitors combine a trip to the Morning Market with an ika somen breakfast early in the morning when the catch is freshest. If you are arriving specifically to explore the best pizza places in Hakodate but still want to taste the city's identity, ika somen is the food that anchors Hakodate's reputation.

How easy is it to find pure vegetarian, or plant-based dining options in Hakodate?

Finding strict vegetarian or fully plant-based meals in Hakodate requires more effort than in Tokyo or Kyoto, but options exist. Some pizza places offer vegetable-only or cheese-only pizzas if you ask, and a few cafes near the canal and station areas have vegetarian-friendly menus with salads, pasta, and simple rice dishes. However, meat and seafood stocks (dashi) are common in Japanese cooking, so it is essential to communicate clearly (using phrases like "niku sakana nashi" to mean no meat or fish) and to check ingredients with staff at each restaurant you visit.