Syracuse Pizza: A Researched Guide to the City's Pizzerias

A researched guide to Syracuse pizza: the long-running family pizzerias, the strip cut, wood-fired newcomers and the Utica tomato-pie tradition next door, with details checked October 2026.

By Jay Arr Published Updated

This guide is built from published sources: the pizzerias’ own websites, local coverage (chiefly syracuse.com’s CNY Pizza Tour, which visited dozens of area pizzerias in 2024), and tourism listings. It doesn’t rank anyone or describe how the pizza tastes. Every detail below was checked on October 14, 2026; owners, hours and locations change, so check with a pizzeria before you go.

Is there a Syracuse style?

Not in the sense that New Haven, Detroit or St. Louis has one. None of the local coverage reviewed for this guide describes a single Syracuse pizza, and the city’s best-known shops make different things: round pies cut in strips or wedges, square Sicilian and grandma pies, and wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza.

The closest thing to a local signature is a cut. Syracuse.com’s Charlie Miller, writing about the original Twin Trees in December 2024, describes “the West Side strip cut”: one cut lengthwise and seven across, instead of wedges, and calls Twin Trees “unique to our salty city.” (Strip cuts turn up elsewhere, too; the Quad Cities style is defined partly by one.)

The pizzerias

Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Apizza Regionale

At 260 W. Genesee St. downtown, opened in 2016, according to syracuse.com (April 2024). That report describes a wood-fired oven imported from Naples and thin, blistered, Neapolitan-style pies. The restaurant’s own site describes “the perfect relationship between true Neopolitan [sic] and New York style pizza,” made in a wood-fired oven built in Naples.

Di Lauro’s Bakery & Pizza

On East Division Street in Syracuse’s Little Italy (the shop’s own site gives 502 E. Division St.). Visit Syracuse says it has been “a locally-loved spot to pick up Italian bread and rolls since 1908” and lists traditional and breakfast pizza. The shop’s website says it has served Syracuse for more than a century and credits its founder, John Di Lauro.

Mario & Salvo’s

On East Genesee Street in DeWitt. NCC News reported in December 2024 that owner Gus DiMarco has been making pizza there since 1992 and that plain cheese is the top seller.

Original Italian Pizza (OIP)

A local group with seven locations on its menu page, including 3509 James St. in Syracuse, one near the Syracuse University campus, and shops in Mattydale, Liverpool and Manlius. Its menu lists “Cup n’ Char Pepperoni” on a specialty pie; for what cupping pepperoni is, see pepperoni science.

Paladino’s Pizza

At 221 Northern Lights Plaza in Mattydale. Its site says it has served the Syracuse community from Northern Lights plaza “since 1980.”

Pavone’s Pizza & Eatery

Pavone’s site says the family “first came to the America from Linguaglossa, Sicily in the late 1950’s,” started in New York City in 1967 and brought its recipes to Central New York in 1971. It lists four locations: 500 Butternut St. and 349 S. Warren St. in Syracuse, 5781 Bridge St. in East Syracuse, and 122 E. Seneca St. in Manlius. The shops don’t all share an owner: syracuse.com reported in June 2026 that Randall Hon owns the Warren Street and Butternut Street locations.

Toss & Fire

New York State’s tourism site describes it as a Neapolitan-inspired wood-fired pizza concept founded in 2015, with two restaurants and food trucks in Central New York. It lists a restaurant at 315 N. Main St. in North Syracuse.

Twin Trees

According to the Twin Trees III website, the original Twin Trees opened in 1957 on Avery Avenue, where the Rescignano family’s grocery store had been, with Don Rescignano and his brother Joe as founding partners. The family later opened Twin Trees Too on Milton Avenue (1972) and Twin Trees III (1978), and the site says the locations are now “all individually owned and operated.” Its pages list Twin Trees III at 310 N. Main St. in North Syracuse and Twin Trees Cicero at 6259 State Route 31. Syracuse.com gives the original’s address as 1100 Avery Ave., describes its crust as basic and its cut as the West Side strip cut, and says Don’s grandson, Don Ross, owns it now.

Newer and smaller shops

  • Napoli Pizzeria, 5194 W. Taft Rd., North Syracuse, opened in November 2024 by Mike Perrucci, according to syracuse.com.
  • Nick’s Pizza, 6380 Thompson Road, East Syracuse. Its site describes hand-tossed pizza in 14-, 16- and 21-inch and sheet sizes.

The Utica connection

East along the Thruway, Utica has a pizza tradition of its own. O’Scugnizzo Pizzeria says it was founded in 1914 by Eugenio Brullino, as the pizzeria spells his name, an immigrant from Naples, and that his wife, Maria, made little tomato pies that he sold at church feasts. Utica’s tomato pie, as Spectrum News described it in 2015, is a saucy, crisp pie topped with Romano cheese and best served at room temperature, and it’s hard to find outside the area.

For other regional styles in the Northeast, see Buffalo-style pizza, bar pizza, New Haven apizza and Old Forge-style pizza, and the Pizza Style Atlas for the map.

At home

There’s no single Syracuse dough to copy. If you want to try the West Side strip cut on your own pizza, make one cut down the middle and seven across.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a Syracuse pizza style?
Not a codified one. Local coverage describes long-running family pizzerias making different kinds of pizza rather than one city style. The nearest thing to a signature is the 'West Side strip cut' at the original Twin Trees: one cut lengthwise and seven across.
When did Twin Trees open?
In 1957, on Avery Avenue, where the Rescignano family's grocery store had been, according to the Twin Trees III website. Brothers Don and Joe Rescignano were the founding partners, and the Twin Trees locations are now individually owned.
What is Utica tomato pie?
A pie from Utica, east of Syracuse, topped with tomato sauce and Romano cheese and usually eaten at room temperature, as Spectrum News described it in 2015. O'Scugnizzo Pizzeria in Utica dates its founding to 1914 and its first tomato pies to church feasts.

Sources

All checked October 14, 2026.

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