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Best Pizza in London, Ontario: 8 Local Favorites to Try

Finding the best pizza in London Ontario depends partly on what you want on your plate. The city has wood-fired Italian pies, foldable New York-style slices, thick Detroit-style squares, deep-dish monsters and old-school neighbourhood pizza. We narrowed this guide to local restaurants that give visitors a reason to skip the familiar chains, starting with one choice where we readily admit we have a home-field bias.

Guests of Best Western Plus Stoneridge Inn & Conference Centre don’t even have to leave the hotel for our first pick. Pasto’s Grill is located right here at 6675 Burtwistle Lane, while the rest of the list gives you several very different reasons to explore London’s pizza scene.

1. Pasto’s Grill

We should probably acknowledge our bias right from the start. Pasto’s Grill is our restaurant here at Best Western Plus Stoneridge Inn & Conference Centre, and we think it serves some of the best pizza in London.

Pasto’s isn’t a traditional pizza shop. It’s a full-service Italian restaurant where pizza shares the menu with pasta, seafood, steaks and other Italian-inspired dishes. The pizzas are handmade with a thin crust, and the menu ranges from familiar combinations to pies with ingredients you won’t find at the average neighbourhood pizza place.

If you like to keep things simple, the Margherita combines tomato sauce, mozzarella and fresh basil. The Classic adds pepperoni, mushrooms and fresh peppers, while meat lovers can go straight for the Carnivore, which piles Italian sausage, pepperoni and bacon over a spicy tomato sauce and mozzarella.

Some of the more interesting choices are where Pasto’s really separates itself. The San Michelle combines pesto and garlic with sliced tomato, grilled chicken, spinach, goat cheese and mozzarella. The Sorrenti pairs Italian sausage with roasted red peppers and goat cheese.

Then there’s the Quattro Stagioni, one of the pizzas we’d point first-time visitors toward. It combines prosciutto, artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, basil and mozzarella over tomato sauce. It’s also earned enthusiastic feedback from Pasto’s diners, including an OpenTable reviewer who described the Quattro Stagioni as a “must try.”

Pizza isn’t the only option for someone craving dough, sauce and cheese, either. Pasto’s also serves panzerotti, giving you a folded alternative to its thin-crust pizzas.

What makes Pasto’s especially useful for travelers is that you don’t have to convince everyone at the table to order pizza. Someone can have a handmade pie while everyone else explores the restaurant’s pastas, Italian specialties and grill menu. The casually elegant dining room and full-service atmosphere also make this more of a dinner destination than a quick pizza stop.

And for guests staying at Stoneridge Inn, there’s one final advantage that’s difficult for the other restaurants on this list to beat: Pasto’s is located right inside the hotel. You can have dinner, enjoy a drink or bottle of wine, and simply head back to your room when you’re finished.

• Best for: Handmade thin-crust pizza, Italian dining, date nights, groups and Stoneridge Inn guests
• Try: Quattro Stagioni, San Michelle, Carnivore or Margherita
• Address: 6675 Burtwistle Lane, London, ON N6L 1H5
• Phone: (519) 652-7659
• Menu: View the Pasto’s Grill menu

2. Pizzeria Madre

If your idea of great pizza begins with carefully made dough and a wood-fired oven, Pizzeria Madre belongs near the top of your list. The downtown restaurant takes a restrained approach to toppings, allowing the crust, sauce, cheese and carefully chosen ingredients to do the work.

Tourism London highlights Madre for its seasonal and artisanal ingredients and its wood-fired pies, and the restaurant is also a recurring recommendation in local discussions about where to find standout pizza in the city.

This is the kind of pizza that is particularly enjoyable straight from the oven, making Madre a better choice for a sit-down meal than a pie destined to spend a long time inside a delivery box.

• Best for: Wood-fired pizza and diners who appreciate a less-is-more approach
• Address: 320 Thames Street, London, ON N6A 5N8
• Website: pizzeriamadre.ca

3. Through Thick & Thin Pizza

Can’t decide between a thin New York-style pie and something thicker? Through Thick & Thin built its identity around exactly that dilemma.

The Old South pizzeria serves both New York and Detroit styles, so two people can walk in with very different definitions of great pizza and still leave happy. Its New York pies deliver the thinner, foldable experience many visitors are looking for, while the Detroit side of the menu heads in a thicker, crispier direction.

The restaurant also isn’t afraid of more adventurous combinations. Alongside familiar choices, the menu has featured pizzas built around ingredients and flavours such as jalapeño poppers and eggplant parm.

It’s one of the city’s most frequently discussed pizza destinations and an especially useful recommendation when someone asks for a particular regional style rather than simply “a good pizza.”

• Best for: New York and Detroit-style pizza
• Address: 350 Ridout Street South, London, ON N6C 3Z5
• Phone: (226) 663-6363
• Website: throughthickandthinpizza.com

4. 8 Piece Pizza

8 Piece Pizza is a good example of London’s newer generation of independent pizza shops. The menu starts with recognizable favourites such as cheese, pepperoni and Margherita, then quickly moves into more creative territory.

Signature combinations have included everything from bulgogi to chicken pizzas, while the current menu continues to rotate through bolder creations. The restaurant makes its signature dough in-house and also offers vegan, vegetarian and dairy-free choices, plus a gluten-sensitive crust option.

That flexibility makes 8 Piece Pizza particularly useful for groups where everyone wants something different. Takeout is a major part of the business, but casual dine-in seating is also available.

• Best for: Creative toppings and groups with different dietary preferences
• Address: 140 Ann Street, Unit 109, London, ON N6A 1R2
• Phone: (548) 866-0488
• Website: 8piecepizza.com

5. Formaggio’s Pie Shack

Sometimes subtlety is overrated.

Formaggio’s Pie Shack is the choice for diners who want their pizza thick, substantial and loaded. The restaurant is particularly well known for deep-dish pies with generous amounts of cheese and toppings.

This is not the same experience as eating a delicate wood-fired pizza at Madre or folding a New York-style slice at Through Thick & Thin. That’s exactly why it belongs on this list. London’s pizza scene is interesting because the city’s best-known shops aren’t all trying to make the same kind of pie.

If you’re hungry and believe pizza should require some commitment, Formaggio’s is worth investigating.

• Best for: Deep-dish pizza and hearty appetites
• Website: formaggiospieshack.com

6. Pizza Projekt

Pizza Projekt is another option for diners who like having choices. Its menu moves between more traditional Italian-inspired pizzas and much heavier creations, including Chicago-style deep dish.

The restaurant makes its dough and sauce in-house, uses Italian tomatoes and incorporates locally sourced produce and herbs where possible. The broad menu makes it a useful choice for groups that can’t agree on a single style.

It’s also another reminder that ordering “pizza” in London can mean very different things depending on which restaurant you choose.

• Best for: Variety and diners looking for Chicago-style deep dish
• Address: 720 Proudfoot Lane, London, ON N6H 5G5
• Website: pizzaprojekt.ca

7. Tony’s Famous Italian Restaurant

For a taste of old-school London, Tony’s Famous Italian Restaurant has history on its side. The restaurant dates back to 1961, when Italian food was far less commonplace in the city than it is today.

Pizza remains part of the attraction, but Tony’s is also known for its broader Italian menu and especially its panzerotti. The atmosphere and history make this a very different experience from London’s newer craft pizzerias.

Travelers who enjoy seeking out long-running local institutions rather than simply following the newest restaurant opening should have Tony’s on their radar.

• Best for: Old-school London pizza, Italian comfort food and panzerotti
• Address: 980 Dundas Street, London, ON N5W 3A2
• Website: tonysfamousitalian.com

8. Richmoor’s Pizzeria

Richmoor’s is the neighbourhood-pizzeria entry on our list. This small family-owned shop makes its dough and sauce in-house and offers both familiar pizzas and more elaborate signature combinations.

One of the things that separates Richmoor’s from the more traditional spots is its willingness to treat a pizza crust as a canvas for other comfort-food flavours. Tourism London has singled out creations such as the dill pickle bacon cheeseburger pizza, which should give you a pretty good idea of the approach.

It’s a fun choice when a standard pepperoni pie simply isn’t what you’re after.

• Best for: Hearty neighbourhood pizza and unusual specialty combinations
• Address: 3 Glenroy Road, London, ON N5Z 4H2

So, Where Should You Go?

There isn’t really one style of “London pizza,” and that’s good news for visitors.

For a sit-down Italian dinner and our decidedly biased house favourite, start with Pasto’s Grill. Choose Pizzeria Madre when you want a carefully constructed wood-fired pie. Head to Through Thick & Thin when New York or Detroit style is calling your name, and consider Formaggio’s or Pizza Projekt when only something thick and substantial will do.

8 Piece is particularly good for creative combinations and varied dietary preferences, while Tony’s offers a connection to London’s old-school Italian restaurant scene. Richmoor’s fills the neighbourhood-pizzeria role with some unconventional creations of its own.

The better question, then, may not be who makes London’s single greatest pizza. It might be what kind of pizza you’re craving tonight.

Pizza Without Leaving the Hotel

For guests of Best Western Plus Stoneridge Inn & Conference Centre, trying our number-one choice couldn’t be easier. Pasto’s Grill is located inside the hotel, so you can settle in for an Italian dinner without getting back in the car after a day exploring London.

Best Western Plus Stoneridge Inn & Conference Centre
6675 Burtwistle Lane
London, Ontario, Canada N6L 1H5
Phone: (519) 652-6022
stoneridgeinn.com