{"id":1260,"date":"2026-05-29T08:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260"},"modified":"2026-05-29T08:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:35:07","slug":"3-nc-pizzerias-highlighted-among-best-in-the-country-ones-in-the-top-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260","title":{"rendered":"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20)"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

The North Carolina pizza scene is quietly tremendous, and two pizzerias have been named among the best in the country.<\/p>\n

Read more Orange County residents make last-ditch budget plea. Board recommends changes.<\/a><\/p>\n

For the sixth straight year, Winston-Salem\u2019s Mission Pizza Napoletana has been named among the Top 50 pizza joints in the United States<\/a>. The honor comes from the Italian pizza-rating agency Top 50 Pizza, which reviews and ranks pizzerias around the world.<\/p>\n

This year Mission Pizza was ranked No. 19 in the United States, the second year in a row it was included in the Top 20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Owned by former Wake Forest soccer player and Winston-Salem native Peyton Smith, Mission Pizza<\/b> serves up piping hot pies from its wood-burning oven. The crust is dappled with char, airy and chewy and the toppings blend like a composed dish you eat with your hands.<\/p>\n

Last year, Smith acknowledged the artsy small city is an unconventional place to find world-class pizza.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow 12 years on, certainly Winston-Salem is the least likely place to be on a pizza list,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Read more Raleigh rezoning, Virginia Foxx and Stanley Cup schedule: The Triangle\u2019s top stories<\/a><\/p>\n

Joining Mission Pizza on the list once again<\/a> is Charlotte\u2019s Pizza Baby<\/b> at No. 42. At Pizza Baby. The pizza comes in two styles, thick-crust Roman-style and 14-inch round American style.<\/p>\n

In a new twist for the 2026 list, Top 50 Pizza added an \u201cExcellent Pizza\u201d list, essentially operating as an unranked honorable mention round up.<\/p>\n

Pizzera Toro<\/b> in Durham was included on the Excellent Pizza list, alongside some of the biggest names in American pizza.<\/p>\n

Toro opened in downtown Durham in 2012, bringing wood-burning Neapolitan-style pizza to the Bull City. Today it remains one of Durham\u2019s best all-around restaurants,<\/a> serving up surprising favorites like an iconic kale salad<\/a>, spicy lamb meatball pizzas and cheesy white pies.<\/p>\n

Read more Scooter Braun Claims Taylor Swift Invited Him to Party Before Feud<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winston-Salem\u2019s Mission Pizza and Charlotte\u2019s Pizza Baby ranked on Top 50 Pizza; Durham\u2019s Pizzeria Toro earns an Excellent Pizza mention for wood-fired pies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\n3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20) - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20) - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Winston-Salem\u2019s Mission Pizza and Charlotte\u2019s Pizza Baby ranked on Top 50 Pizza; Durham\u2019s Pizzeria Toro earns an Excellent Pizza mention for wood-fired pies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T08:35:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20)\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T08:35:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260\"},\"wordCount\":340,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/899f53989a85d419d40f1db9b0f38730.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260\",\"name\":\"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20) - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/899f53989a85d419d40f1db9b0f38730.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T08:35:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/899f53989a85d419d40f1db9b0f38730.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/899f53989a85d419d40f1db9b0f38730.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1260#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Durham Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20) - Durham Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20) - Durham Moving Hub","og_description":"Winston-Salem\u2019s Mission Pizza and Charlotte\u2019s Pizza Baby ranked on Top 50 Pizza; Durham\u2019s Pizzeria Toro earns an Excellent Pizza mention for wood-fired pies.","og_url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260","og_site_name":"Durham Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-05-29T08:35:07+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"headline":"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20)","datePublished":"2026-05-29T08:35:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260"},"wordCount":340,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/899f53989a85d419d40f1db9b0f38730.jpg","articleSection":["Read today's Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260","name":"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20) - Durham Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/899f53989a85d419d40f1db9b0f38730.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-29T08:35:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/899f53989a85d419d40f1db9b0f38730.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/899f53989a85d419d40f1db9b0f38730.jpg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1260#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"3 NC pizzerias highlighted among best in the country (one\u2019s in the Top 20)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/","name":"Durham Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/durhammovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}