Best Pizza in Syracuse: Where to Eat and What to Order
A practical pick of the best pizza in Syracuse, from Gambero Rosso-recognised pies to Sicilian toppings, with what to order and how a pizza night works.
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The best pizza in Syracuse comes down to three names: Piano B, recognised with three spicchi in the Gambero Rosso pizza guide, PUROS near Ortigia, which pairs pizza with Sicilian cooking, and Pizzeria Il Matto on Via Francesco Crispi for traditional and special pies. This guide sets out what each one is, which toppings to order — including the Siracusana, Syracuse's own combination of tomato, capers, anchovies, olives and toasted breadcrumb — and how a pizza night here actually works.
Best pizza in Syracuse: the short answer
Choose Piano B if you want the pizzeria the Gambero Rosso guide rates most highly in the city. Choose Il Matto if you want a broad menu of traditional and special pizzas, with small and maxi sizes listed for most of them. Choose PUROS if you want pizza as one part of a wider Sicilian meal a few steps from Ortigia.
All three sit within easy reach of the island of Ortigia, so the choice is less about travel and more about the kind of evening you want. If pizza is one stop on a bigger eating plan, the best restaurants in Syracuse picks cover the rest of the city.
What Syracuse pizza looks like: Neapolitan-style bases and Sicilian toppings
The pizzas at Il Matto are built on San Marzano tomato and fiordilatte, a cow's-milk mozzarella, with extra-virgin olive oil — the Neapolitan-style template you will recognise from pizzerias across Italy. The Sicilian character comes through the toppings rather than the dough: capers, anchovies, olives, toasted breadcrumb, fried aubergine and local cheeses.
Menus are split into traditional pizzas, special pizzas, focacce, calzoni, pizzoli and panuozzi, a folded pizza sandwich from the Campania–Salerno tradition. That breadth matters if you are feeding a group with mixed appetites, because not everyone has to commit to a full pizza.
Piano B: the Gambero Rosso three-spicchi pizzeria
Piano B, run by Friedi Schmuck, held three spicchi in the Gambero Rosso guide to Italy's best pizzerias, scoring 92 out of 100 in the 2024 edition reported in September 2023. That score put the Syracuse pizzeria within a few points of the national leaders, such as Renato Bosco, Francesco Martucci and Franco Pepe, who were rated 96 out of 100.
Treat that recognition as the reason to book rather than a promise of a particular style of pizza: it tells you the guide's inspectors rate the place highly, not what is on the menu tonight. For the rest of the city's dining, from trattorias to seafood, see the best restaurants in Syracuse.
PUROS: pizza and Sicilian cooking near Ortigia
PUROS, in the historic heart of Syracuse a short walk from Ortigia, describes itself as both a ristorante and a pizzeria, with chef Tony Baio building the menu around Sicilian ingredients — ancient Sicilian grains, seasonal vegetables, and fish from the market balanced against inland meats. The pizza side is presented as artisan work with sourdough starters rather than a separate, simpler offer, so expect a full sit-down meal rather than a quick slice.
The restaurant promotes its own Google and Tripadvisor star ratings on its site, which are its claims rather than an independent verdict; the Gambero Rosso recognition for Piano B is the more useful benchmark if you are comparing pizzerias. PUROS makes sense for a mixed table where one person wants a pizza and others want seafood or meat.
Pizzeria Il Matto: traditional and special pies on Via Crispi
Pizzeria Il Matto sits at Via Francesco Crispi 21 in Siracusa, a short walk from the Ortigia bridges. The menu runs from a plain marinara through margherita, diavola and four cheese to a numbered list of specials with burrata, porcini, truffle oil and stracciatella, so there is a clear cheap end and a clear treat end.
It also does montanare — small fried discs of dough topped like a pizza, listed here with San Marzano tomato, fiordilatte, basil and black pepper — plus fritti, focacce and a build-your-own panuozzo section. That makes it the most flexible of the three for a casual meal, a takeaway, or feeding children who want a plain margherita.
The Siracusana: the local topping to order
The Siracusana is Il Matto's local pie: San Marzano tomato, capers, anchovies, olives, toasted breadcrumb (mollica tostata) and olive oil. The breadcrumb is the giveaway — it is a southern Italian way of adding crunch and savour to a pizza without cheese, and it carries the saltiness of the anchovies and olives.
Order it if you like punchy, savoury flavours and are happy to skip mozzarella; skip it if anchovies are not for you, because they define the pie. It is the clearest single answer to what pizza Sicily is known for on a Syracuse menu, and it is usually the cheaper end of the list.
Normal or maxi: how the size tiers work at Il Matto
Most pizzas at Il Matto are listed in two sizes, normale and maxi, and the gap is large: a margherita normale and a margherita maxi are roughly a two-person and a four-person proposition respectively. The maxi is designed for sharing, which is why it appears across the traditional list rather than as a separate item.
As a rule, one normale per person is right for adults with an appetite, especially if you start with fritti; one maxi between two to three people leaves room for a fried starter and dessert. The specials are priced individually rather than as a normal-maxi pair, so read the line before you assume.
Fried starters and montanare: what to order before the pizza
The fried section is where a Syracuse pizza night really starts: crocchè (potato croquettes), montanare and other fritti are designed to be eaten with your hands while the pizza goes in the oven. A montanara is a fried dough base finished with tomato and cheese, which is why it turns up both as a starter and as a small pizza in its own right.
At PUROS the cooking leans on Sicilian raw materials — ancient grains, sourdough and market fish — so the arc of the meal is closer to a restaurant than a pizzeria, with antipasti doing the job the fritti do at Il Matto. Either way, ordering a shared starter before the pizza is the local rhythm, and it is how you avoid over-ordering maxi pies.
How a pizza night works in Syracuse: table service, ordering, paying
All three are sit-down places where you order from a menu at the table and pay at the end. Pizza is eaten with a knife and fork by most Italians, though nobody will look twice if you fold a slice.
If you want a table at Piano B, given its guide standing, message or call ahead rather than turning up at peak time. Aperitivo before dinner is a separate ritual in Syracuse, usually taken near Lungomare Alfeo or on Ortigia, so keep it light if pizza is the main event.
Where the pizzerias sit: Ortigia and the streets around it
Ortigia is the island at the centre of Syracuse, linked to the mainland by bridges, and it is where most visitors spend their evenings. PUROS sits in the historic heart just steps from the island; Il Matto is on Via Francesco Crispi on the mainland side, a short walk from the bridges; Piano B is within the city too, so all three fit a single evening's plan without a taxi.
If you want to eat on the island itself, the Ortigia restaurants picks cover the seafood, bistrot and Sicilian cooking side of the neighbourhood, including places such as Le Vin de L'Assassin Bistrot and Oz-eta Ortigia. Use those when pizza is not the plan, and keep the market in mind for a daytime food stop.
Which pizzeria should you book?
Book Piano B if you want the pizzeria with the strongest guide recognition in the city, and treat it as the special-occasion choice. Go to Il Matto for a relaxed, flexible meal with fried starters, shareable maxi pies and the Siracusana, and choose PUROS when pizza needs to sit alongside a fuller Sicilian menu near Ortigia.
Whichever you pick, order a shared starter, choose normale unless you are a group, and try the Siracusana at least once to taste the local topping. If you want the wider picture of where to eat in the city, the best restaurants in Syracuse guide covers the rest.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which pizzeria in Syracuse has Gambero Rosso recognition?
Piano B, run by Friedi Schmuck, held three spicchi in the Gambero Rosso guide to Italy's best pizzerias with 92 points out of 100 in the 2024 edition, as reported in September 2023 — a few points behind the national leaders on 96.
What is the Siracusana pizza?
At Pizzeria Il Matto the Siracusana is a pizza topped with San Marzano tomato, capers, anchovies, olives, toasted breadcrumb and olive oil. It is a savoury, cheese-free combination that shows the local Sicilian topping style.
Should I order a normal or maxi pizza in Syracuse?
At Il Matto, most traditional pizzas come as normale or maxi, and the maxi is much larger and meant for sharing. One normale per person works for most adults, while one maxi suits two to three people if you are also ordering fried starters.
Is pizza in Syracuse Neapolitan-style?
Largely yes: the pizzerias build on San Marzano tomato, fiordilatte mozzarella and olive oil, the Neapolitan template. The Sicilian element comes from local toppings such as capers, anchovies, olives, fried aubergine and toasted breadcrumb.
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