Best Pizza Places in Haarlem: Where to Go for a Proper Slice
Words by
Lars van der Berg
Looking for the Best Pizza Places in Haarlem? Here's Where Locals Actually Eat
If you've landed here because you're tired of scrolling through tourist-trap lists, you came to the right person. I'm Lars, and I've eaten more mediocre pizza in this city than I care to admit. But after years of testing, comparing, and arguing about it over beers at the Barteljorisstraat bars, I've narrowed down a list of top pizza restaurants Haarlem that actually deliver. This isn't some algorithm-generated ranking. These are the spots I'd drag a friend to on a Friday night, and in this Haarlem pizza guide, I'll tell you exactly where to sit, what to order, and what to avoid once you arrive.
Haarlem sits just 15 minutes west of Amsterdam and has its own proud food identity. The city has been a market town since the 12th century, with the Grote Markt as its beating heart. Pizza arrived here later than you might think. It wasn't until the influx of Italian guest workers in the 1960s and 70s that real pizza culture started brewing. Today, the best pizza places in Haarlem range from wood-fired Neapolitan exports to Dutch-Italian hybrids that make my nonna roll in her grave (in a good way, mostly).
Local Insider Tip: "Most of these pizza spots get slammed between 18:00 and 19:30. If you show up at 17:30 or wait until 20:00, you'll usually skip the line entirely.
My own worst nights have been when I walk in at 18:15 thinking I'm being early and end up standing on the sidewalk for forty minutes."
1. La Porchetta, Grote Houtstraat
La Porchetta sits right along the Grote Houtstraat, Haarlem's main shopping drag, just a block south of the Grote Kerk. You'll find it wedged between a clothing boutique and a kringloopwinkel. It's one of those places that has been around long enough that locals barely mention it anymore, which is both a compliment and a crime.
What makes La Porchetta worth your time is its consistency. They've been serving the same wood-fired margherita since before Instagram existed. I stopped by last Thursday around 17:40 and snagged a sidewalk table without any wait. Order the Diavola if you want something with heat (proper Calabrese salami, not just generic pepperoni) or the Quattro Formaggi if you're in a comforting mood. Their house wine comes from a small vineyard in Abruzzo they rotate seasonally—ask what's on tap and don't overthink it.
La Porchetta's story ties directly to Haarlem's history as a merchant city. The owners hail from a small town near Pescara and opened the place in 1987 when the city's Lombardstraat corridor was still lined with family butcher shops. They adapted the menu toward Dutch tastes over time, adding gouda-based pizzas alongside the classics. The neighborhood shifted from industrial to retail-focused, and La Porchetta survived by refusing to change its core.
Local Insider Tip: "If you sit at the bar counter instead of a table, you can watch the pizzaiolo assemble each pizza and sometimes get a free sample of whatever experimental topping they're testing that week. Last time it was a nduja-stuffed crust and it was unreal.
Parking within a 500-meter radius is basically a nightmare after 16:00 on weekdays and all day Saturday. Park your bike or take the train to Haarlem Spaarnwoude and walk twelve minutes.
2. De Haarlemmer Barteljorisstraat Location, Barteljorisstraat
The Barteljorisstraat is Haarlem's liveliest commercial artery, running north from the Grote Markt toward the Haarlemmerhout park. This particular restaurant at that address has changed hands a few times but has settled into a reliable groove. The space is long and narrow, with exposed brick that's either original or convincingly fake—I genuinely can't tell anymore, and honestly, it doesn't matter once the pizzas arrive.
What I appreciate here is the quality of the dough. They ferment it for 48 hours, and you can taste the difference. The crust has a genuine chew with that slightly sour character you'd expect from a place that actually cares. Last Saturday I ordered the Funghi Porcini with truffle oil and it was under EUR 14, which felt almost suspiciously reasonable for the quality. The Burrata pizza is another standout—they add fresh burrata after the oven so it melts lazily over the top.
This restaurant taps into something that's been happening in Haarlem over the last decade: the Barteljorisstraat has gone from a shoe-shop-lined corridor into the city's dining backbone. You'll find Thai, Surinamese, Mexican, and increasingly good Italian spots competing for your attention. De Haarlemmer holds its own by not trying to be everything at once.
Local Insider Tip: "They run a weekday lunch special from Monday to Thursday, 12:00 to 14:00, where any personal pizza plus a salad runs about EUR 11. It's not advertised outside. Walk in, ask for the lunch deal directly.
The Wi-Fi signal is reliable near the front entrance but drops out badly toward the back tables near the kitchen, so if you need to work between courses, grab a window seat.
3. Il Girasole, Zijlweg
Zijlweg is one of those Haarlem streets where you transition from the tourist core into the daily rhythm of the city, and Il Girasole sits quietly doing its thing. The place is small, maybe eight tables, with a handwritten menu on a chalkboard near the entrance. No online menu. No QR code. Just the chalkboard, a smiling host, and a tiny kitchen visible through a window.
Their thing is authenticity taken seriously. The owner trained in Naples for two years. The flour comes from Caputo. They use San Marzano tomatoes. The mozzarella is bufala, not fior di latte, and it arrives at your table slightly closer to room temperature than it should be—which is actually how it's eaten in Campania. I go there when I want pizza that respects the source material. Order the Margherita DOC and stop adding toppings entirely. Let the ingredients speak for themselves.
Il Girasole connects to a quieter chapter of Haarlem's story. Zijlweg used to be a working-class street where bargemen and factory workers grabbed cheap meals. Now it's transitional, with gallery spaces and independent food shops replacing the old warehouses. Il Girasole opened in 2003, right when Haarlem's identity as a food destination was starting to solidify independently of Amsterdam's shadow.
Local Insider Tip: "Sit at table six if you can. It's the one closest to the kitchen window. You get subtle heat radiating from the oven, which keeps the pizza at the perfect eating temperature an extra five minutes, and the owner sometimes leaves a plate of bruschetta on the house for regulars without being asked.
They only open Wednesday through Sunday. Showing up on a Tuesday is a waste of a trip I made exactly once and do not recommend repeating.
4. Forno, Grote Markt (Food Stall/Takeout)
Forno on the Grote Markt operates differently from the sit-down places on my list. It's a food stall, more or less, set up on the historic square. The Grote Markt is dominated by the Sint-Bavokerk (the Grote Kerk), Stadhuis, and the weekly Saturday market. Forno slots right in, and its al fresco setup makes it one of my favorite places to eat on warm evenings.
The selling point is speed and quality at a fair price. Pizza al taglio, Roman-style, sold by weight. You point at the tray, they cut, you pay by the gram. A generous single slice with prosciutto crudo and rocket typically lands around EUR 5.50. The dough is airy and crisp in equal measure, and the toppings rotate based on seasonal availability. Last visit in late September, they had a zucchini flower and anchovy combination that I still think about.
This kind of food stall is deeply Haarlem. The city's identity lives in its markets. Saturday market on the Grote Markt has run since medieval times. Forno represents the modern evolution of that market culture, where the cheese stalls and herring vendors now share space with genuinely interesting food startups. It's the kind of thing that has made Haarlem increasingly attractive to people who moved here from Amsterdam seeking something more grounded.
Local Insider Tip: "Go after 14:00 on a Saturday. The fish market vendors are packing up, foot traffic thins, and whatever experimental toppings the chef has been developing all week are often still left over. Last time, I paid EUR 6 for a slice of a porcini and walnut pizza that technically wasn't on the menu.
The outdoor seating on the Grote Markt gets uncomfortably cold in anything below 15°C with wind, which in Haarlem is basically most of October through April. Bring a jacket if you're planning a long, slow dinner.
5. Bella Vita, Houtmarkt
Houtmarkt is a smaller square that edges onto the Spaarne river, less crowded than the Grote Markt but equally scenic. Bella Vita sits right there, and it's the kind of restaurant that locals book for family dinners. White tableclothes, a small terrace, and a staff that remembers you if you've been twice.
I started going here because a friend's birthday landed us at this spot, and I've returned at least six times since. Their pizza list leans creative rather than strictly traditional. The Truffle Shuffle pizza with wild mushrooms, fontina, and a drizzle of black truffle oil is the one I keep ordering. They also do a surprisingly good calzone, which I'd normally avoid but the filling-to-dough ratio here is properly weighted. Expect to pay around EUR 14-18 per pizza, which is toward the higher end for Haarlem, fair warning.
Bella Vita fits into Haarlem's growing food scene the way a good fit suits a tailored jacket. Houtmarkt has always been more local, more residential. Tourists tend to cluster around the Grote Markt and wind down by the river without wandering this far west. That's precisely why the restaurant can afford to prioritize regulars over one-time visitors. It's been around since about 2010, and in a city where restaurants close fast if they don't build local loyalty, that track record means something.
Local Insider Tip: "There's a small back terrace hidden past the restrooms with four tables that are technically reserved for regulars but are almost always empty before 18:30 on weekdays. If the host recognizes you, they'll seat you back there without prompting.
Service slows down noticeably during Friday dinner rush. I once waited 40 minutes for my pizza on a Friday at 18:30 and that particular memory has actively damaged my relationship with the place, though I keep going back.
6. De Kroon, Kleine Houtstraat
Kleine Houtstraat is the lesser-known sibling of the Grote Houtstraat, running parallel one block east. De Kroon sits on that strip, and it's less of a dedicated pizza joint and more of a brasserie-pizzeria hybrid where the pizza happens to be the best thing on the menu. This is important context. If you're looking for a full Italian restaurant experience with antipasti, pasta, and wine pairings, this isn't that. Go here for a proper drink-and-pizza night with friends.
The vibe is casual and unpretentious. Dark wood, chalkboard specials, and a bar area that fills up with locals weeknights. The pizzas run EUR 12-16, with a Margherita that's solid if unspectacular and a Capricciosa that's loaded with enough artichoke hearts and ham to satisfy anyone who grew up on northern Italian-style pies. It's comfort food, not a culinary event, and sometimes that's exactly what you need.
De Kroon reflects an interesting thread in Haarlem's restaurant culture. Kleine Houtstraat has always been the "real" Haarlem, away from the tourist-facing Grote Houtstraat. The restaurants that survive here do so because residents keep coming back. De Kroon has been in this space (or one very near it) in various forms for over 20 years, adapting from a brown café into a more food-focused spot as the city's expectations changed.
Local Insider Tip: "Ask for whatever the daily pizza special is. It's written on a small chalkboard near the bar on the counter-side menu, and the kitchen usually tests new topping combinations there before committing to the full menu. Last week it was goat cheese with red onion marmalade and I'd order it again tomorrow.
The noise level spikes hard after 20:00 when the bar crowd shifts from drinks to pizza orders. If you're trying for a conversation-heavy evening, go early or pick a different spot.
7. La Forca, Schagchelstraat
Schagchelstraat is a small, north-south artery connecting the Grote Markt area to the Bakenesserkerk neighborhood. La Forca tucked onto this street in a compact space that barely seats 20. It feels like walking into someone's well-organized living room, if that person happened to own a professional pizza oven.
This is the spot in my rotation for when I want pizza that leans harder into regional Italian diversity. They offer a pepperoni pie that uses 'nduja (spicy spreadable salami from Calabria), which brings a heat and richness that standard pepperoni can't match. The Marinara, garlic-forward and without cheese, is excellent. At roughly EUR 11-15 per pie, it's one of the better value stops on this list. I brought a friend here last month who had been complaining that Haarlem had "no real pizza options," and La Forca shut him up completely.
La Forca arrived around the time Haarlem's dining scene realized it didn't have to compete with Amsterdam to be interesting. Schagchelstraat itself has a long history as a quiet residential corridor, the kind of street where clergy from the nearby churches lived and walked. Now it's lined with small shops and restaurants that serve the people who actually live in the city. La Forca fits that evolution perfectly.
Local Insider Tip: "Don't skip the dessert pizza. They do an Ella hazelnut and dark chocolate one, about EUR 7, that they bring out with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's absurd and you need it.
8. Prego, Donkere Spaarne
Donkere Spaarne is a street that runs along the north side of the Spaarne river, away from the main tourist corridors. Prego sits in a low building near the water, and getting there requires you to actually walk through Haarlem rather than just stumble into it. That physical difference matters. The people eating at Prego are there because they made a deliberate decision to go there, not because they passed it while shopping.
Prego is worth mentioning for its different approach to pizza-making. They do a thicker, almost focaccia-like base on certain options, which isn't my personal preference but is done with enough skill to justify inclusion on any list of the best pizza places in Haarlem. The seafood pizza with mussels, shrimp, and a garlic cream sauce is genuinely unusual and works better than it has any right to. Main pies run EUR 13-17, and they have a decent wine list that leans Italian, which you don't always get at pizza-focused spots in this city.
The Donkere Spaarne area captures something important about Haarlem. The city isn't just the Grote Markt and the shopping streets. The Spaarne river weaves through residential neighborhoods, local schools, and parks. Restaurants like Prego that sit along these stretches serve the daily life of the city, not its postcard version. Haarlem's appeal as a place to live (and to eat) comes from exactly these kinds of neighborhood spots that most visitors never find.
Local Insider Tip: "Use the side entrance on the Schotersingel when coming from outside the center. The main door on Donkere Spaarne is easy to miss and I watched three tourists walk past it last month before I pointed it out."
Their opening hours shift seasonally and they occasionally close without notice for private events. Call ahead if you're making a special trip, a lesson I learned from a wasted Thursday evening walk.
When to Go and What to Know About Eating Pizza in Haarlem
Haarlem's pizza scene runs on rhythms that aren't always obvious from the outside. Lunch hours at full-service restaurants generally stretch from 12:00 to 14:30, though some places serve food continuously from noon until close. Dinner service typically kicks off around 17:30 or 18:00, and the real pressure window is 18:00 to 19:30. If you can dodge that peak, your experience improves dramatically.
Cash is being phased out but not everywhere. I still keep 20 euros on me just in case a smaller spot or market stall has a card machine issue. Most established restaurants accept debit and credit cards without problem. Tipping culture in the Netherlands is less aggressive than in the US. Rounding up the bill or leaving 5-10 percent at a sit-down restaurant is more than sufficient. Service charges are typically included.
If you're visiting on a Saturday, be aware that the Grote Markt market means certain streets are busier and some smaller restaurants adjust their hours or close entirely. The Barteljorisstraat restaurants are generally unaffected, but the Grote Markt-area spots sometimes have reduced capacity due to market-day foot traffic.
Haarlem is compact. Most of these restaurants are within a 15-minute walk of the train station, and you can realistically walk between any two spots in the city center in under 20 minutes. Cycling is the local mode of transport, and there are fietsenstallingen (bike parking garages) near the center if you're visiting from elsewhere in the Randstad.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the one must-try local specialty food or drink that Haarlem is famous for?
Haarlem is historically tied to the brewing industry, with the Jopen beer brand originating from the city. The Jopenkerk, a converted church on the Gedempte Voldersgracht, serves as both a brewery and tasting hall where you can sample locally brewed beers like the Jopen Hoppenbier and Koyt. Haarlem was also the home of the first-ever Dutch newspaper and has connections to the tulip trade through the Haarlem bulb-growing region, but the brewing heritage remains its most consumable claim to fame.
Are there any specific dress codes or cultural etiquettes to keep in mind when visiting local spots in Haarlem?
No formal dress codes exist at the pizza restaurants in Haarlem. The general standard is smart casual at most sit-down spots, though some places along the Grote Markt or on terraces are perfectly happy with whatever you walked in wearing. One genuine tip: avoid loud phone calls at the table, as Dutch dining culture values the social meal and excessive noise is considered rude regardless of venue type.
Is the tap water in Haarlem to drink, or should travelers strictly rely on filtered water options?
Tap water in Haarlem is completely safe to drink and is in fact among the highest-quality municipal water in Europe. The Netherlands has some of the strictest water quality standards in the EU, and Haarlem's supply undergoes rigorous testing. Restaurants will serve tap water upon request, though you may need to ask as bottled water is the default in some places. There is no health reason to seek out filtered or bottled alternatives.
How easy is it to find pure vegetarian, vegan, or plant-based dining options in Haarlem?
Vegetarian options are standard at virtually every pizza restaurant in Haarlem, with most offering at least two or three meatless pizzas on the regular menu. Vegan options are increasingly common, with several major pizza spots offering plant-based cheese or dedicated vegan pies. Dedicated vegan cafés and restaurants have also opened in the city center over the last few years, particularly along the Zijlweg and near the Grote Markt. Availability is significantly better than it was five years ago.
Is Haarlem expensive to visit? Give a realistic daily budget breakdown for mid-tier travelers?
A mid-tier daily budget for Haarlem looks roughly like this: accommodation runs EUR 90-150 for a decent hotel or Airbnb, meals average EUR 12-18 per pizza at a sit-down restaurant plus another EUR 20-30 for other food across the day, drinks add roughly EUR 10-20, and local transport (if not walking) costs about EUR 5-10. Altogether, a comfortable daily budget excluding accommodation falls around EUR 50-80. A full day including a hotel stay and three meals out brings the total to roughly EUR 140-230 depending on choices. Haarlem is generally 15 to 25 percent cheaper than Amsterdam for equivalent dining and lodging.
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