Pizzeria Bianco

Pizzeria Bianco, at 623 East Adams Street in Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, is widely regarded as producing the finest pizza in the United States — a claim that has been advanced by critics including Nora Ephron, who wrote about it in The New York Times, and food publications that have ranked it the best pizzeria in the country on multiple occasions. The restaurant was founded in 1994 by Chris Bianco, a Bronx-born chef who moved to Phoenix and became determined to make pizza of the same quality he remembered from New York childhood visits, ultimately surpassing anything available in Arizona and attracting visitors from across the country. Bianco makes his own mozzarella daily from whole milk he sources with obsessive care; the tomato sauce is prepared from San Marzano-style tomatoes grown to his specifications; the dough is fermented for extended periods to develop flavor and achieve the blistered, chewy, slightly char-marked crust that defines his style. The menu is simple — six or seven pizzas with names like the Wiseguy (wood-roasted onion, smoked mozzarella, fennel sausage), the Rosa (red onion, Parmigiano-Reggiano, rosemary, pistachios), and the Sonny Boy (salami, fresh mozzarella, olives) — alongside a small menu of antipasti and salads. The wait at the original Heritage Square location has historically been legendary — hours long — though the addition of other Phoenix-area locations and an improved reservation system has made the experience more accessible. Chris Bianco is frequently present in the kitchen and is credited with elevating Phoenix as a culinary destination.