Three of nation’s best pizza shops are in NC, report finds. Why customers love them

Simone Jasper
·3 min read
9
An Asheville pizza shop was one of three in North Carolina that received national recognition.

Whether you like your pizza plain or loaded with toppings, you may not have to travel far to get a mouth-watering slice in North Carolina.

That’s because the state is home to three of the nation’s best places to get pizza, a new report finds. The North Carolina shops that landed on the list:

  • Geno D’s Pizza in Charlotte

  • Fahrenheit Pizza & Brewhouse in Asheville

  • Village Pizza in Nags Head

To create the list of top 100 pizzerias in the United States, the restaurant review website Yelp said it studied pizza-related businesses across the country. It then “ranked those spots using a number of factors including the total volume and ratings of reviews” that customers left over time.

Of the North Carolina restaurants that made the list, Geno D’s Pizza ranked the highest at No. 15. The restaurant is known for bringing a taste of the Northeast to Charlotte, McClatchy News reported.

The shop focuses on “New Jersey-style pizza,” and some Yelp users said the sauce and crust reminded them of slices served in that state. People also were fans of garlic knots and other offerings, helping the restaurant earn five out of five stars.

“Don’t miss out on their signature ‘Grandma Pizza,’ cooked in a rectangular pan and topped with fresh mozzarella and housemade pesto,” Yelp wrote in its report.

The restaurant — a vendor at The Market at 7th Street — isn’t a stranger to receiving acclaim. Yelp also recently gave it a spot on a separate list of the “Top 100 Places to Eat in the United States.”

Two other North Carolina restaurants earned national recognition from Yelp after scoring more than four out of five stars. On the pizza-focused list, Fahrenheit Pizza & Brewhouse in Asheville landed in the No. 26 spot, while Village Pizza in Nags Head was No. 63.

On Yelp, fans raved about the pizza at Fahrenheit, which they said was made with fresh ingredients. While some people loved the customer service, they also couldn’t get enough of the self-service beer taps.

The pizzeria is located on Lee Street South in the mountain tourist town of Asheville, which is teeming with breweries. Fahrenheit said it started with a “dream of building a community around a neighborhood table, that serves delicious, crispy, New York style pizza, and follows in the tradition of Asheville’s Beer City America fame.”

Across the state, Yelp users said Village Pizza is known for loading toppings onto crispy crust. The restaurant — located along South Croatan Highway on the Outer Banks barrier islands — said one of its “local favorites” is the sea harvest, which is topped with shrimp, scallops, cheese, spinach, garlic and a “house-made scampi base.”

But if you want a slice, you will have to wait. Village Pizza is closed for the season and plans to dish out pizzas again starting March 22, the restaurant told McClatchy News in an email.

Overall, Yelp said the nation’s top place for pizza was Sapori Di 786 Degrees in Pasadena, outside of Los Angeles, California.

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