My Top Five Pizza Places in Puerto Escondido
This was one of my favorite blogs to work on. I ate all of this pizza for you!
Most Friday nights I eat Pizza. If I’m being honest, sometimes it’s Dominos. I’m not a pizza snob, and I’ve rarely met a pizza I don’t enjoy. However, there are a number of pizza places in Puerto that are pretty disappointing; Cardboard crust with soulless ingredients. I hope this helps you steer clear of that sad fate.
The five spots that made this list are all genuinely amazing. I reworked the order of the top five a few times, but in the end, this feels most accurate based on what I’m looking for in a pizza joint. All that to say, each spot in my top 5 is an 8 out of 10 or better. If you end up at any of these places with a craving for a pizza pie, you’ll leave a happy camper.
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, head to one of these top five places for pizza in Puerto Escondido!
Note: My food rankings are always based on an undefined internal-algorithm that takes into consideration taste, price, and overall experience.
1. La Spezia (Rinconada)
The owner and head pizza maker of La Spezia looks like a drawing of the perfect Italian pizza maker. In fact, there is a hand-drawn caricature of the boss making pizzas hanging on the wall. Immediately upon entering Spezia—when you clock the huge pizza oven, the size of the staff, the tables full of regulars, and the caricature of a pizza maker on the wall—you know you’re in a place that takes its pie seriously.
Spezia’s medium-sized six-slice Italian-style pizzas are handmade with fresh ingredients, and they’re all cooked to order in a large gas-fired dome oven. The pizza menu is fairly deep, but mostly focused on executing the classics. They also have a wide range of other Italian staples, and I’ve heard their handmade pasta is some of the best in town as well.
I also really love that they offer a simple but satisfying 100 peso marinera pizza, and a 130 peso margherita pizza (pictured above). For me, these affordable basic pies are a sign of a proper pizza hole. Il Salento and the bonus Mazunte pizza joint at the end of this list both do the same.
I just discovered La Spezia about six months ago, and they’ve rocketed up this leaderboard to the number one spot in that time. For me, they perfectly execute delicious Italian-style pie at a very fair price.
2. Il Salento (La Punta)
I might have a little bit of neighbor bias with Salento being number two on the list. I lived on the same block as them for over a year after they first opened. I watched them build the pizza oven and got excited when I realized it was going to be a legit Italian-run operation. Hence the name Salento.
I used to eat a pizza from Salento at least once a week during that year. I ordered so often that once they brought a pizza down the street to my house because someone named “Travis” ordered a pizza and they assumed it was me. When I asked the nice delivery guy what was on it, he opened it, saw black olives, and immediately knew it wasn’t mine.
I almost always ordered the salami con arugula and I knew most of their employees by name. This frequency was in part because of convenience, but also because I really do believe Salento makes one of the best pies in town, and I love pizza.
I’ve sampled their offering over 50 times now, and I still think nobody does quality Italian-style pizza any better. They have slowly raised their prices over the past two years, which I don’t love (and why they fell out of the #1 spot), but the pizza… the pizza I love very much.
Note: Salento normally has delivery drivers available for those nights when you just want to stay in bed stuffing pizza in your face.
3. Non Solo Pizza (Centro)
Non Solo was my first pizza love when I moved to Puerto in 2020. I was told by some new friends that they were the best in town, and I understood why they held that reputation after my first order. Their pizzas come in two sizes, and the large is the largest pizza I’ve seen in Puerto Escondido. There’s a huge selection to choose from, the entire menu is fairly priced, and whatever you choose will be top quality.
They have an incredibly extensive menu of various pastas, pizzas, and an ever-changing “menu de dia,” which includes soup, a large main course, and an aqua de dia for just 170 pesos.
Their restaurant space is located in Centro, and not very large, but if you can find a table, it’s a charming little space where you can watch a hard-working team try to meet the demand for their great menu. If you have a picky eater in the group, this place has options galore, and I have yet to eat something at Non Solo that wasn't great, including their jumbo pizzas.
4. Mundaka (La Punta)
You know the pizza’s good when you eat half before remembering to get a photo for the review. Manduka is a long-standing pizza joint right at the main intersection in La Punta. They recently renovated the space, adding a whole second floor, but the pizza has remained their calling card.
The “Blue Bacon” pizza with bacon, blue cheese, and caramelized onions is the half-eaten pie pictured above. It’s so good that it’s hard for me to order anything else at Manduka, but they have a huge pizza menu with a lot of interesting options (see above). They also have pasta, salads, starters, hamburgers, and options for dessert.
They have a huge menu, but their unique pizzas are what stand out. This Blue Bacon is 240 pesos (and it’s not the most expensive pie), so overall, it’s on the pricier side of options in Puerto. But if you want a nice vibe for a group dinner, or you’re just craving an amazing pizza regardless of cost, go seat yourself on their new second-floor patio.
Note: Manduka consistently has delivery drivers available for those lazy or rainy nights.
5. Boneyard (La Punta)
If I’m being entirely honest, I’ve had this review done, besides the fifth spot, for about 6 months. The four pizza joints listed above have been pretty solidified, for me, as the best options in town (especially after discovering Spezia at the start of the year).
I asked my closest Puerto group chat if they knew any other great pizza options outside the top four here, and multiple people encouraged me to go back to The Boneyard. I remembered trying the pizza when they first added it to the party at The Boneyard, but it didn’t leave an impression.
On my return visit, I was very impressed by their menu and the recommendation from the pizza chef. He told me that “Sweet and Spicy” is one of their best sellers, and I was glad I took his advice. That pizza features jalapenos, pepperonis, and a hot honey drizzle. They have a proper pizza oven, great crust, quality ingredients, and a very legit menu. A few bites in I knew they had secured the fifth spot on this review, but it wasn’t quite enough to jump them over any of these institutions above.
All of their pizzas are medium six-slice pies that cost 160 pesos. It’s a big meal solo, but not quite enough for two people to be full. The Boneyard has always been one of the best places to go hang out with a beer while watching the skaters rip the bowl. Now, I also consider it one of the best places in town for a tasty pizza pie at a fair price!
Honorable Mentions: Benditos, El Perla Snack Bar, and Barbarenas Pizza Night.
Paid subscribers always get a little bonus, and this one below happens to be my favorite pizza place in all of Mexico, just down the coast from Puerto Escondido!
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