The Upper Crust
2 Austin pizzerias bake up spots among best pizza restaurants in U.S.
As any photo-sharing fanatic knows, Instagram is a great tool to capture a real — if heavily filtered — slice of life. One Italy-focused travel company turned to the social-networking service to gather a list of the best pizza joints in the country, including two in Austin.
Italy4Real, a tour operator specializing in small group tours throughout Italy and Europe, recently released its curated list of the top 100 best pizza restaurants in the U.S. But instead of focusing exclusively on the most authentic pies or a certain style of pizza, Italy4Real compiled a list of 1,000 pizzerias throughout the country, then sliced it down using Instagram’s geotag feature to determine how many photos were tagged at each eatery, thereby determining pizza lovers’ faves.
Though the big cheese on the list hails from New York City, as one might expect, a couple Austin pizzerias baked up support from Instagrammers, too.
Pinthouse Pizza, which boasts three locations in the Central Texas region and is known as much for its beer as for its pub-style pies, ranked 34th on Italy4Real’s list, with some 13,755 Instagram photos tagging the pizzeria.
Also gracing the list of upper-crust pizzerias in Austin was Pieous, the edge-of-town eatery prized by locals for its Neapolitan pizzas, pastrami sandwiches, and mouthwatering dessert pies. Pieous ranked 95th on Italy4Real’s list, with 6,115 Instagram photos tagged.
Two San Antonio pizzerias were also recognized on the list. Big Lou’s Pizza, the homey joint that’s small on frills but huge on pizza (it’s 42-inch pie is a local favorite) landed at 13th — the highest ranking for a Texas pizzeria — with 23,354 Instagram photos tagged. And Dough Pizzeria Napoletana, known for its classic Italian pies cooked in a wood-burning oven, delivered a ranking of 85th on the list, with 6,585 Instagram photos tagged.
Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas’ Il Cane Rosso and Eno’s Pizza Tavern ranked 44th and 45th, respectively. Plano’s Urban Crust ranked 73rd, and Houston-based Frank’s Pizza ranked 81st.