Best Pizza in San Gimignano: Where to Eat It

Best pizza in San Gimignano: the short answer

Forno Boboli is the bakery to head for. It is a historic forno in the middle of town that was taken over in 2022 by the Bruni twins with the original founders' heirs, and now runs as a modern bakery selling country loaves on mother yeast, filled focacce and pizza in teglia, the trayload style baked in big rectangular sheets and cut to order. It sits in the centre, so it slots into a walk between the towers without a detour.

For a sandwich built on flatbread, Da I' Mariani on Via di Quercecchio is the other essential stop. Its speciality is schiacciata, the Tuscan flatbread, made to order and served with generous boards of salumi and cheese. The room seats only about six to eight people, so it is standing room or takeaway rather than a sit-down meal.

Beyond those two, the town's other addresses are restaurants, bruschetterie and paninoteche rather than pizzerias. That is not a problem: it tells you what to expect. Order pizza and focaccia at lunch from a counter, and book a table for Tuscan cooking in the evening.

Pizza by the slice and focaccia at Forno Boboli

Forno Boboli is the clearest answer to a craving for a quick slice. The bakery's offer runs from country bread and filled focacce to pizza in teglia and the traditional sweets of the town, including the Pan co' Santi, a sweet loaf associated with San Gimignano. A good part of the shop is given over to seating, so it works for breakfast through to a light lunch.

Buy by the piece, pay at the counter, and eat there or walk with it. Trays come out through the day and the choice narrows as they go, so arriving early in the lunch window gives you the best pick of the focaccia and the pizza. To round it off, the gelateria Dondoli is a short walk away on Piazza della Cisterna.

Schiacciate and taglieri at Da I' Mariani

Da I' Mariani is a hole-in-the-wall on Via di Quercecchio with a handful of seats and a queue that forms around lunch. The schiacciata is made on the spot and filled to order, and the taglieri of salumi and formaggi are substantial enough to share. It is one of the best-value places to eat well in the centre.

Schiacciata is not a Neapolitan pizza. It is a Tuscan flatbread, thinner and crisper than a pizza rossa, usually split and filled rather than topped and baked with mozzarella. If you arrive expecting a blistered, soupy-centred margherita, you will spend the first five minutes disappointed; order it for what it is and it delivers.

Because the space is tiny, plan this as a lunch or early-evening stop rather than a late dinner, and expect to wait or take it away. It is also a good place to taste local salumi before committing to a restaurant dinner elsewhere.

The pizza and street food stops in the old town

DOC San Gimignano, just off the busiest lanes, is a paninoteca rather than a pizzeria: a minimal, bright room with a counter loaded with gastronomic products. Almost everything is made in house, from sourdough bread on local flours to pickles, preserves and sauces, and the fermentation obsession runs through the menu. You fill focaccia or ciabatta with combinations such as fermented beetroot carpaccio with radicchio and walnuts, or guanciale of Cinta Senese with broccoli and stracciatella.

The same kitchen fries its primi: lasagne, pici with butter and Parmigiano, and carbonara come out as fritti, a street-food twist that is worth trying once. For anyone weighing up cooking classes in San Gimignano, this is the sort of place that shows how the local larder is used before you try it yourself.

Echoes Bruschetteria on Via Mainardi is another informal stop, built around bruschette in every variation, with first courses such as tagliatelle and pici, plus craft beer and local wine. It is a bruschetteria, so do not expect a pizza oven.

Sit-down options for pizza and primi in the centre

If you want a table, a cloth and a view, the centre's strength is Tuscan cooking rather than pizza. Bel Soggiorno on Via San Giovanni has worked for five generations, with a menu that includes a mixed antipasto of salumi, formaggi and crostini neri, a selection of seven pecorini from local producers with jam, onion soup gratinata, and pici with wild boar ragù. It is a good choice when the group wants a proper lunch and someone still wants something bread-based to start.

Outside the walls, Da Pode at Località Sovestro is a trattoria next to the Hotel Sovestro, in a stone farmhouse with house olive oil, wines and liqueurs from its own land. The menu is proudly Tuscan: tripe salad with beans and onion, a terrina of Chianina, pici with saffron sauce or wild boar ragù, and bistecca alla fiorentina. As an indication of level, CiboToday lists the terrina at 18€ and the bistecca at 62€ per kilo, which gives you a sense of the spend before you sit down.

Il Ceppo Toscano, tucked down a side street in the centre, cooks over a Josper charcoal oven and specialises in quality cuts of meat, with vegetarian options alongside. It is a good place to go when the group wants a serious dinner instead of a slice.

What pizza costs and how it is served

Counter pizza and focaccia are sold by weight or by the piece, and you pay at the till before or as you collect, as in any Italian bakery. That makes a bakery lunch the cheapest way to eat well in the centre without paying for a table.

At table, expect the coperto and a printed menu with prices; the CiboToday figures for Da Pode's terrina and bistecca show the kind of level a full Tuscan meal reaches. Pizza is not a dinner institution here, so the value lies in the lunch counter. For a broader map of where to eat at midday, see lunch in San Gimignano.

Eating pizza without a booking in high season

The old town is small and the good counters are tiny. In high season, aim for lunch before the day-trippers arrive or for an early-evening slice after they leave, and treat a late dinner pizza as unlikely. Da I' Mariani's handful of seats and Forno Boboli's busy counter both reward timing over patience.

Table-service restaurants in the centre fill up and are best reserved ahead. For the sweet finish, Gelateria Dondoli sits on Piazza della Cisterna and is known for its Crema di Santa Fina with saffron and pine nuts, made by Sergio Dondoli.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano with a slice

San Gimignano is surrounded by vineyards, and Vernaccia di San Gimignano is the local white. Echoes Bruschetteria lists local wines alongside craft beers, and a glass with a slice is a simple way to finish a lunch.

If your pizza stop turns into a longer lunch, keep the wine modest and the pace slow. A single glass of Vernaccia with the focaccia, followed by a gelato on the piazza, is a better use of an afternoon than a second bottle.

Which pizza stop should you pick?

Go to Forno Boboli for pizza in teglia and focaccia in the centre, and to Da I' Mariani for a schiacciata filled to order. Add DOC San Gimignano if you want fermented, house-made fillings, and Echoes Bruschetteria if bruschette appeal more than bread. Plan these for lunch rather than a late dinner.

For a proper sit-down meal, look at Bel Soggiorno or Da Pode and order the Tuscan dishes they do well instead of hunting for a pizzeria that is not there. For a wider map of the town's table-service places, see Best Restaurants in San Gimignano. Finish with a gelato on Piazza della Cisterna, and the day is complete.