Best Neapolitan in Portland OR?

[rdbedwards]

I will be visiting Portland, Oregon in a couple of weeks and wondered if there was anywhere that made a great traditional Neapolitan pizza?  I checked the VPN and there are no certified members (I realise that this is not a guarantee of quality) and places that get good reviews like Ken's Artisan Pizza and Apizza Scholls don't seem to make authentic Neapolitan. 

Failing any recommendations, where else should I go?  Ken's, Scholls, or somewhere else?  I'm not stuck on Neapolitan only, but that's my preference.  Thanks very much!

Note: I've been to Pizzeria La Sorrentina in Vancouver WA several times and can recommend it.

[Jersey Pie Boy]

Lovely's Fifty Fifty, Pizzeria Otto, Heart Pizza  are considered three of the best...Sara Minnick at Lovely's does some amazing combinations.   Scholl's is terrific, really great, definitely not Neapolitan though..more New Haven style. Ken's is a hybrid, and has great reputation...not Neapolitan though.


Let us know, take pix when you go




I'd better amend this..Lovely's isn't officially Neapolitan, but it is supposed to be terrific   Dan Richer at highly ranked Razza in NJ, told us he considers Portland at the moment is a better pizza location than NYC. That's saying something

[rdbedwards]

Thanks for the recs, I checked their websites and it looks like Otto is my best bet for Neapolitan.  I'll report back on my experience after I visit.  If I have time I'll go to Apizza Scholls along with Otto.

[Jersey Pie Boy]

If you go to Scholl's try to get there early, I think it opens around 5 and a line forms...of course, if you'd rather eat later just plan accordingly to wait a while. Have a good trip!

[RobynB]

Lovely's 50/50 is a don't miss in my opinion.  I have been there several times, I never miss it on my Portland visits.  Their pizza is the closest to what I make at home that I have ever had anywhere (home, in my case, being a house with an imported WFO in my dining room  )  The pizza is NOT traditional Neapolitan, and that is why I say it's a don't miss - you can get varying levels of quality Neapolitan all over nowadays.  The women at Lovely's are using naturally-fermented dough, scaled into oversize balls, topped with creative local ingredients that are not traditional, and cooking them perfectly.  How they are doing it in that oven I have no idea, by the way - I despise their oven, yet they are pulling stellar pizzas from it.  The rest of the food there is also excellent.  They only serve dinner, they don't take reservations, they usually have a good wait, and it's still worth it. 

Apizza Scholls is definitely worth a visit for the best NY-hybrid I've had. 

[rdbedwards]

Thank you for the Lovely's recommendation, I have added it to my list of places to visit.

[RPCLady]

I'd better amend this..Lovely's isn't officially Neapolitan, but it is supposed to be terrific   Dan Richer at highly ranked Razza in NJ, told us he considers Portland at the moment is a better pizza location than NYC. That's saying something

Having lived in Portland for 10 yrs, we didn't like much of anything we found there in general. (my husband is born and raised in Chicago, and after I married him, we lived there 10 yrs!)  I think the only pizza place we liked when we lived in Portland was Fultano's in Cannon Beach -- but back then it was independent and I guess since sold out.  Looking it up just now, I find they've franchised them now.   So, that may also interfere with the quality we found there over 15 yrs ago.

Now of course, we have our own restaurant, and make it 'our way' hahahah... but we are in NE Washington, very far away from Portland, OR.

[Jersey Pie Boy]

RPC, when were you there? ..I understand things have changed a whole lot in the past 6 or 7 years

[rdbedwards]

I promised I would report back after my trip to Portland, hence this post.  Unfortunately, I have nothing to report, as visits to Apizza Scholls and Pizzeria Otto did not fit in with my host's plans.  There's always next time!

I did stop in Vancouver WA on my drive down and enjoyed Pizzeria La Sorrentina again.  Great Neapolitan.  I understand there are plans for a brick and mortar restaurant in the works.

[rdbedwards]

On a recent visit to Portland, OR, I visited Lovely's Fifty Fifty and wanted to provide a report.  We ordered two pizzas, the first described as "yukon gold potatoes with padron peppers, curly kale, cascadia creamery sawtooth, pancetta & farm egg" and the second as "goosefoot greens with agretti, roasted fava beans, crushed tomatoes, calabrian chilies & fiore sardo". 

Quite exotic, obviously.  I ate the goosefoot greens one, which was quite good, though the fava beans didn't really work.  I tried the other one too, which I liked.  I watched their wood fired oven and it looked like the bake times were about 4-5 minutes.  The crust is very brown, quite dense, and incredibly chewy.  One pizza was very filling, much more so than an equivalent sized Neapolitan.  The crust flavour was good, though.

[Jersey Pie Boy]

Thanks for the report. ..guess I'm surprised to hear the crust us dense..would you return?

[rdbedwards]

Good question, I think it's a case that I would go if I happened to be in the area, but I wouldn't go out of my way.  I prefer Neapolitan so I'd like to try Pizzeria Otto, which I've heard might be Portland's best bet in that area.  As I've said before, I recommend Pizzeria La Sorrentina across the river in Vancouver, Washington.  Anyone been there?