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

I moved to Uppsala over fifteen years ago as a broke university student surviving on instant noodles and cheap kebab pizza wraps. Since then, I have watched the city's pizza culture evolve from a handful of tired kebab shop ovens to a genuinely exciting food scene that deserves more attention. This guide covers the best pizza places in Uppsala, from old-school favorites to newer spots that have earned their place through flour, fire, and consistency. Whether you are a visitor passing through on the train from Stockholm or a local who has exhausted the usual rotation, every spot here is worth your time.

The Classics: Old-School Kebab Pizza Joints That Still Deliver

1. Pizzeria Torggatan

Torggatan, the narrow street running between Stora Torget and Fyrisån, is one of those streets most tourists walk right past on their way to Uppsala Cathedral. Pizzeria Torggatan has been operating here for decades, serving the no-frills kebab pizza that made Swedish pizzeria culture what it is today. The beauty of this place is in its simplicity: thin, slightly chewy crusts, generous kebab toppings, and that bearnaise sauce swirl on top that locals order without even thinking about it.

The Vibe? Unpretentious neighborhood spot where the regulars all know each other's orders by heart.

The Bill? A standard kebab pizza with bearnaise runs around 95 to 120 SEK.

The Standout? The classic "ke pizza" with extra bearnaise and a side of their oddly addictive garlic salad.

The Catch? The space is tiny. If you show up after 7 PM on a Friday, expect a fifteen- to twenty-minute wait for a table.

Best Time to Visit: Weekday lunch between 11 and 1 PM when the after-work dinner crowd has not yet formed.

Locals know that the owner keeps a small list of off-menu specials written on a whiteboard near the counter. Ask about the "boss pizza" if you see one listed, it changes weekly and is usually the best thing in the house.

This place represents Uppsala in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when immigrant-owned pizzerias dotted every neighborhood and formed the backbone of suburban social life. While many have closed, Pizzeria Torggatan endures.

2. Restaurang Monaco

Sitting just off Vaksalagatan in the Vasastaden area, Restaurang Monaco is one of those Uppsala institutions that feels like it has always been here. The interior has that particular aesthetic of Swedish-Italian fusion that was popular in the 1980s, think red-checked tablecloths and brass fixtures, and somehow it works. Their pizza menu is extensive in the traditional Swedish style, featuring everything from Capricciosa to more creative local options. The crust here is slightly thicker than the kebab shop standard, with a softer center and a well-oiled, crispy edge.

The Vibe? A family restaurant that has served three generations of the same Uppsala households.

The Bill? Most pizzas range from 110 to 145 SEK.

The Standout? The Monaco special with kebab, onions, peppers, and that slightly sweet pizza sauce they seem to guard the recipe for.

The Catch? The vinyl seats get sticky in summer, and the ventilation is not what it should be, so you will carry the smell of garlic and cheese home with you.

Best Time to Visit: Early dinner around 5 PM on a Tuesday or Wednesday when the restaurant is calm.

Most tourists would not know that Restaurang Monaco sources some of its cheeses from a small dairy cooperative about forty kilometers north of the city. It is a small detail, but it matters if you notice the slightly sharper tang in their mozzarella compared to chain competitors.

Monaco tells the story of Uppsala's middle-class dining evolution, a place where parents bring children who then return with their own kids decades later. It is comfort food with genuine roots in the community.

Neapolitan and the New Wave: Uppsala's Evolving Pizza Identity

3. Pizza and Mozzarella Bar (Luthagens, or refer to specific known location in central Uppsala)

The closer you get to Stora Torget, the more you notice that Uppsala's pizza offerings have shifted in recent years. A growing number of restaurants have moved away from the kebab-heavy menu model and toward a more Italian-inspired approach, using fresh mozzarella di bufala, San Marzano tomato bases, and wood-fired or deck ovens. Several of these spots are clustered near Östra Ågatan and the central blocks radiating from the square. The style here leans Neapolitan: puffy cornicione edges, a wet center that you need to eat with a fork in the middle, and minimal but high-quality toppings.

The Vibe? Modern, clean-lined interiors with exposed brick and no more than fifteen seats.

The Bill? Expect 130 to 160 SEK per pizza, reflecting the higher ingredient quality.

The Standout? Any pizza featuring burrata or prosciutto di Parma, the contrast with the charred crust is remarkable.

The Catch? These places tend to run out of their premium toppings by 8 PM on busy nights. Arriving early is not optional, it is strategic.

Best Time to Visit: Lunch on weekdays when the kitchen is fully stocked and the dinner rush has not hit.

Most visitors do not realize that up to three staff members at some of these spots trained at pizzerias in Naples or Rome before returning to Uppsala. That training shows in the dough fermentation process, which often runs forty-eight to seventy-two hours.

This new wave connects Uppsala to the broader Scandinavian food movement, where a university city with international students from sixty countries naturally becomes a testing ground for more ambitious flavors. The best pizza restaurants Uppsala has to offer now reflect this cosmopolitan shift without entirely abandoning the Swedish-Italian hybrid that preceded it.

4. Piccolino

Located near Svandammen, the elevated area looking out over the cathedral spires, Piccolino occupies a spot that has cycled through several restaurant concepts over the years. What makes it work now is focus. They have a smaller pizza menu than the old-school institutions, usually around eight to ten options, and they execute each one with noticeable care. The sourdough crust is their signature, not Neapolitan soft, not kebab-pizza thin, but something in between with a tang that keeps you going back for another slice.

The Vibe? Casual enough for a weeknight but polished enough for a first date.

The Bill? Pizzas range from 125 to 155 SEK.

The Standout? The seasonal specials, particularly any pizza topped with locally foraged mushrooms in autumn.

Best Time to Visit: Late lunch around 2 PM, after the lunch rush clears but before the evening shift.

Here is the insider detail that most tourists miss: Piccolino's kitchen team occasionally collaborates with local Uppsala farms for produce. In late summer, you might find pizza topped with fresh herbs from garden cooperatives in Gottsunda or Flogsta, two neighborhoods that have active urban farming communities.

Piccolino's location near Svandammen places it in one of Uppsala's most historically rich areas. The surrounding streets were home to some of the city's earliest printing houses and bookshops during the nineteenth century. Now, instead of ink, the air smells like charred dough and olive oil in the evenings.

Late-Night and Student Spots: Where to Eat Pizza Uppsala After Dark

5. Pizzeria Giulia (located in Eriksberg or nearby neighborhood)

If you are a student at Uppsala University, you already know where to eat pizza Uppsala at 11 PM on a Thursday. Pizzeria Giulia in the Eriksberg area serves late into the night, which makes it the default gathering point after student nations events or pub nights. The pizza here is not going to compete with the Neapolitan spots in terms of dough sophistication, but that is not the point. The point is value, atmosphere, and a place where you will run into half your department.

The Vibe? Student chaos in the best possible way, loud, communal, and unapologetically cheap.

The Bill? Most pizzas hover around 85 to 115 SEK, genuinely affordable by Swedish standards.

The Standout? The "student combo" when available, pizza plus a soft drink for a bundle price that your wallet will appreciate.

The Catch? The tables wobble. All of them. Bring a folded napkin and a sense of humor.

Best Time to Visit: After 9 PM on Thursdays and Saturdays when the student crowds thin out slightly and you can actually grab a seat.

Here is what most non-students do not know: the Thursday night rush at Giulia is directly tied to the schedule of the student nations, Uppsala University's unique social clubs. When nation events end around 10 PM, a wave of hungry students floods pizzerias within a ten-minute walk. Timing your visit for 10:30 PM means shorter lines and more breathing room.

Giulia is a living artifact of Uppsala's identity as a university city. The student nations system is older than most European universities' entire histories, and the late-night food economy has grown up around it for over a century in various forms.

6. Pizza Hut Uppsala (Kungsgatan and other known locations)

Before you dismiss this, hear me out. Yes, Pizza Hut is a chain, but its role in Uppsala's Pizza landscape is genuinely interesting. The Kungsgatan location, routinely busy with families and groups, has become a social equalizer in a city with pronounced income gaps between international students, permanent residents, and visiting academics. The all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, available on weekdays, is one of the most reliable meal deals in central. The breadsticks are consistent, the salad bar is more generous than it needs to be, and when you are carrying a hangover and a group of hungry friends, it does the job.

The Vibe? Function over form, and that is perfectly fine on the right day.

The Bill? The weekday lunch buffet runs around 90 to 110 SEK per person.

The Standout? The cinnamon sticks with icing, genuinely one of the better desserts available for the price.

Best Time to Visit: Weekday lunch at noon sharp before the queue forms.

Most tourists are unaware that Pizza Hut's Swedish menu includes exclusive regional variations not found in the British or American versions, including some topping combinations developed specifically for Scandinavian taste preferences. The Swedish palate leans toward milder flavors and slightly more sauce, and it shows in every order.

While Pizza Hut obviously lacks the local heritage of independent Uppsala pizzerias, its presence along Kungsgatan, the city's main commercial street, tells a story about commercialization and accessibility. It sits alongside global brands in what used to be a row of independent Swedish shops and restaurants, a mirror of the broader economic shifts shaping central Uppsala since the early 2000s.

Pizza Adventures Beyond the Center: Hidden Corners of the Uppsala Pizza Guide

7. Pizzeria Villan (Flogsta area)

Flogsta is known primarily as the home of Flogstaberget, the brutalist student housing complex where thousands of Uppsala University students live in identical concrete towers. Most visitors never venture here, which is their loss. Pizzeria Villan serves the Flogsta community with a dependable menu of Swedish-style pizzas and a few kebab options that hit the spot after a long evening out. What sets Villan apart is its proximity to nature. After eating, you can walk ten minutes south to reach the footpaths along the Uppsala eskers, the ancient glacial ridges that run through the city. Eating pizza and then watching the sun set over the ridge in summer is a genuinely Uppsala experience that no guidebook mentions.

The Vibe? A neighborhood anchor that supports a community many outsiders overlook.

The Bill? Pizzas range from 90 to 125 SEK.

The Standout? Any pizza with jalapeños and a double garlic sauce side for dipping.

Catch? The limited seating means takeout is often the better choice on weekends.

Best Time to Visit: Early evening in summer when you can walk to the esker afterward.

The insider detail here is the view. Flogsta sits at a slightly higher elevation than central Uppsala, and from certain points along the paths behind the student buildings, you get an unobstructed view of the cathedral towers against the sky. It is one of the best free viewpoints in the city, and almost no one associates pizza with it.

Flogsta's connection to Uppsala's broader identity is real and complicated. Built in the late 1960s as a solution to Sweden's housing shortage, it became both a symbol of functionalist architecture and a student rite of passage. The pizzerias here serve a transient population that cycles through every four to five years, yet the shops themselves develop a permanence and character that outlasts any single cohort of customers.

8. Peppino Pizzeria

Located in the Kåbo neighborhood, south of the city center, Peppino is the kind of place that locals in the area treat as their default. Kåbo is one of Uppsala's most architecturally interesting residential areas, built largely during the "Million Programme" of the 1960s and 1970s with a mix of low-rise apartment blocks and green courtyards. Peppino fits right in, unassuming from outside, reliable from within. Their pizza is square-cut rather than triangular, a detail that Scandinavian pizzerias use to signal a particular style, slightly breadier and meant to be eaten in rectangular slices.

The Vibe? Warm, family-friendly, and the kind of place where the staff remembers your usual order after three visits.

The Bill? Square pizzas from around 95 to 130 SEK.

The Standout? The square-format pizza with kebab and bearnaise, cut into six perfect rectangles that you can eat two-handed.

Catch? The dessert menu is limited. If you want gelato or tiramisu, this is not your spot.

Best Time to Visit: Saturday lunch when families pack the place and the energy is at its coziest.

Most non-locals do not know that Kåbo has an active community garden program, and some of Peppino's herb toppings come from plots tended by residents just blocks away. The neighborhood's cooperative spirit feeds directly into its food culture, even at a small pizzeria.

Kåbo represents a different Uppsala from the cathedral-shadowed city center. It is the working and middle-class Uppsala that makes the city function, where teachers, nurses, and municipal workers live alongside students. Peppino's longevity here, it has operated for well over a decade, speaks to a community that values consistency and neighborhood presence over trendiness.

What Makes Uppsala's Pizza Culture Unique

Uppsala's relationship with pizza is shaped by its position as a university city with a population that cycles through every few years. Students arrive, discover their favorite pizza spot, stay for four or five years, then leave. The best spots survive this cycle because they are woven into daily life, not because of social media hype. When you are looking for where to eat pizza Uppsala, you are ultimately looking for a place that has outlasted trends.

The city also sits in a sweet spot between Stockholm's cosmopolitan dining scene and the smaller-town simplicity of cities like Västerås or Gävle. You get enough international influence to push pizzerias toward innovation, Filipino workers and Iraqi immigrants have both shaped the kebab pizza tradition here, but the scale is small enough that a single outstanding pizza place can become a genuine institution. The top pizza restaurants Uppsala offers are not competing with fifty Michelin-starred venues, they are competing with each other for the loyalty of a city of about 170,000 people.

Then there is the seasonal light. Uppsala, at roughly 59 degrees north latitude, has extreme differences in daylight between winter and summer. In July, the sun barely sets, and outdoor pizza dining on a terrace until 10 PM under golden light is something you never forget. In December, the darkness descends by 3 PM, and a warm pizzeria becomes one of the city's most important social spaces. The best pizza places in Uppsala understand this rhythm and adjust their hours, menus, and energy accordingly.

When to Go / What to Know

Uppsala's pizza hours generally follow Swedish eating culture. Lunch service typically runs from 11 AM to 2 PM, with many pizzerias offering a lunch deal that includes pizza, a salad, and a soft drink for between 80 and 110 SEK. Dinner service starts around 5 PM, though some student-area spots do not open until 4 or 4:30. Late-night pizza, after 10 PM, is available primarily on Thursdays through Saturdays, and even then only at select locations in the city center and near student neighborhoods.

Prices across Uppsala have risen noticeably in the last three years. A standard cheese or pepperoni pizza that cost 85 SEK in 2021 now averages 105 to 120 SEK at most independent pizzerias. The lunch buffet model at chains remains the best value for budget travelers. Tipping is not standard in Sweden, many staff earn a full hourly wage, but rounding up the bill by five to ten percent at sit-down pizzerias is appreciated and increasingly common.

If you are visiting in late April, watch for Valborg (Walpurgis Night), when Uppsala's student celebrations spill into the streets and every pizzeria operates at full capacity. Pizza lines of twenty to thirty people are normal. Plan ahead or eat early.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

A mid-tier daily budget for Uppsala runs approximately 1,200 to 1,600 SEK per person. This covers a hostel or budget hotel at 500 to 700 SEK per night, two meals at casual restaurants (including lunch pizza and a sit-down dinner) for 350 to 500 SEK, local transit via UL buses for around 90 SEK for a day pass, and coffee or snacks for 100 to 200 SEK. Uppsala is slightly cheaper than Stockholm for accommodation and dining, particularly for lunch deals, which many pizzerias and restaurants offer for 85 to 115 SEK. Free activities, like walking the cathedral grounds, visiting the Linnaean Gardens, or exploring the Gustavianum museum courtyard, help offset costs.

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

Tap water in Uppsala is completely safe and is among the highest-quality municipal water in Sweden. Uppsala Vatten och Avfall manages the supply, which is sourced from groundwater and monitored regularly. No filtration or bottled water is necessary. Restaurants routinely serve tap water free of charge upon request, though you may need to ask specifically since not all staff offer it automatically.

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

Very easy. Most pizzerias in Uppsala carry at least three to four vegetarian options on their standard menus, typically Margherita, Funghi, and at least one with roasted vegetables. Vegan cheese is available at several newer pizzerias near the city center, and dedicated plant-based options have become more common since 2020, partly driven by the environmentally conscious student population. Chains like Pizza Hut and Pernigoni also list vegan-friendly items. In central Uppsala, you are rarely more than a two-block walk from a spot with a solid vegan or vegetarian pizza.

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

There is no formal dress code at any pizzeria in Uppsala. Swedish dining culture is casual, and even at the more polished Italian-inspired spots near Svandammen or Stora Torget, jeans and a t-shirt are perfectly acceptable. The main cultural etiquette to remember is punctuality. If you have a table reservation, arriving late by even ten minutes can mean losing your seat. Also, do not start eating until everyone at the table has been served, this is a widely observed Swedish custom. Splitting bills is common and not considered rude. Staff at pizzerias will always accommodate separate checks.

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

The kebab pizza with bearnaise sauce is the definitive Uppsala (and Swedish) specialty, and it originated in the pizzeria culture that grew alongside the kebab shops of the 1980s and 1990s. Almost every pizzeria in Uppsala serves a version, and ordering one with extra bearnaise is the equivalent of a local handshake. For drinks, Uppsala is close to the production areas for several Swedish craft breweries, and ordering a local ale, particularly from.a brewery like Uppsala Brygghus, alongside your pizza is a pairing that feels specifically of this place.