The best pizza in Cary

The best pizza in Cary traces back to a Brooklyn shop that opened in 1965, and the second best is open until two in the morning. In between there are imported Italian brick ovens running at 900 degrees, three crust programs under one roof, and a deep-dish Sicilian almost nobody else in the county bothers with.

One entry needs reading carefully. Faulisi was the only Cary pizzeria on the News and Observer's list of the sixteen best in the Triangle, but it relaunched in March 2025 as a daytime cafe and now closes at 3 p.m. The pizza is still there. The dinner is not.

Hours below were taken from each business's own published information and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

Di Fara Pizza Tavern

A licensed extension of Dom DeMarco's Di Fara in Brooklyn, which opened in 1965 and has been called the best pizza in New York by New York Magazine among others. The Cary tavern has won best pizzeria in the Maggy Awards two years running and stays open to midnight on weekends.

Hours: Mon-Wed 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thu-Sat 10 a.m. to midnight. Sun 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Address: 111 E. Chatham St., Unit D, Cary, NC 27511

Why they made the list

• Won best pizzeria in both the 2025 and the 2026 Maggy Awards, the only Cary pizzeria to do it twice.
• A licensed extension of Brooklyn's Di Fara, founded 1965, which is the strongest pizza lineage in the Triangle.
• Open until midnight Thursday through Saturday, the latest on this list.
• Their own site publishes no day-by-day hours, so these come from a listing. Worth a call before a late run.

See the full directory listing

Ruckus Pizza, Pasta & Spirits

The Tryon Village Ruckus, part of a group Robert and Ashley Royster grew out of a Mission Valley bar around 1998. A Maggy best pizzeria finalist in both 2025 and 2026, and it runs to two in the morning on a Friday.

Hours: Mon-Wed 11 a.m. to midnight. Thu 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sun 11 a.m. to midnight.

Address: 8111 Tryon Woods Dr., Suite 208, Cary, NC 27518

Why they made the list

• A finalist for best pizzeria in both the 2025 and the 2026 Maggy Awards.
• Open until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, which no other pizzeria in Cary approaches.
• Locally owned by Robert and Ashley Royster, who started the group in Raleigh in the late nineties.
• A full bar and a pasta menu behind the pizza, so a group that cannot agree still eats.

See the full directory listing

Salvio's Pizzeria - Cary

An independent family pizzeria on SW Cary Parkway making dough fresh daily and running three separate crust programs: New York, gourmet and deep-dish Sicilian. A 2025 Maggy best pizzeria finalist.

Hours: Mon 4 to 8 p.m. Tue-Wed 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thu-Sat 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sun noon to 8 p.m.

Address: 2428 SW Cary Pkwy., Cary, NC 27513

Why they made the list

• A 2025 Maggy Awards finalist for best pizzeria.
• Three crust programs under one roof, including a deep-dish Sicilian almost nobody else in Cary makes.
• Dough made fresh every day rather than delivered.
• Independent and family-owned, reportedly since 2005, though the founding year rests on a single listing.

See the full directory listing

Faulisi Caffe & Enoteca

The only Cary pizzeria the News and Observer put on its list of the sixteen best in the Triangle, praised for wood-fired Neapolitan pies with chewy, airy crusts. Read the hours carefully: since a March 2025 relaunch it is a daytime cafe, not an evening pizzeria.

Hours: Wed-Fri 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sat 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Sunday through Tuesday. Daytime only.

Address: 215 E. Chatham St., Suite 101, Cary, NC 27511

Why they made the list

• The only Cary entry on the News and Observer's list of the sixteen best pizza places in the Triangle.
• Wood-fired Neapolitan pies, and the Pizzeria Faulisi classics including the margherita are still on the menu.
• Sixth on TripAdvisor's Cary pizza ranking.
• Important: it relaunched in March 2025 as a daytime cafe and closes at 3 p.m. Do not plan a pizza dinner here.

See the full directory listing

V Pizza

Neapolitan pizza out of imported Italian brick ovens running at 900 degrees, on Kildaire Farm Road, with an attached cocktail and Italian wine bar called SideDoor. Open seven days and later than most at the weekend.

Hours: Sun-Wed 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thu-Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Address: 1389 Kildaire Farm Rd., Cary, NC 27511

Why they made the list

• Imported Italian brick ovens running at 900 degrees, which is what produces a true Neapolitan crust.
• Fourth on TripAdvisor's Cary pizza ranking.
• SideDoor, the attached cocktail and Italian wine bar, makes it an evening rather than a meal.
• Open seven days for lunch and dinner.

See the full directory listing

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza - Cary Bradford

Brixx started in Charlotte's Dilworth neighborhood in 1998, and the brick ovens here bake the focaccia as well as the pizza, fresh each day. Open to eleven six nights a week, which is late for this end of Cary.

Hours: Mon-Sat 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sun 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Address: 14112 Bradford Green Sq., Cary, NC 27513

Why they made the list

• Founded in 1998 in Charlotte's historic Dilworth neighborhood, so it is a North Carolina chain rather than a national one.
• Fifth on TripAdvisor's Cary pizza ranking.
• The brick ovens bake the focaccia served with the pastas and starters, made fresh daily.
• There is a second Cary Brixx at 1111 Parkside Main Street. This is the Bradford one.

See the full directory listing

Mellow Mushroom Cary

The NW Cary Parkway store of the chain two Georgia Tech students founded on Spring Street in Atlanta in 1974. It carries the highest pizza review count in Cary on TripAdvisor, and gluten-free and vegan versions of most pizzas are standard.

Hours: Mon-Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sun 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 4300 NW Cary Pkwy., Cary, NC 27513

Why they made the list

• Third on TripAdvisor's Cary pizza ranking, and with 155 reviews it has the largest pizza review base in town.
• Gluten-free and vegan versions of most pizzas as standing menu options.
• The chain was founded in 1974 in Atlanta by two Georgia Tech students.
• Open seven days, which several higher-rated Cary pizzerias are not.

See the full directory listing

Rigo's Pizzeria

A NW Maynard Road pizzeria that has grown from this one shop to a second on Falls of Neuse in Raleigh. Second on TripAdvisor's Cary pizza ranking at 4.8, and a 4.9 on Slice, which for a neighborhood shop is about as good as the numbers get.

Hours: Mon 4 to 9 p.m. Tue-Sat 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sun noon to 8 p.m.

Address: 1260 NW Maynard Rd., Cary, NC 27513

Why they made the list

• Second on TripAdvisor's Cary pizza ranking at 4.8, and 4.9 on Slice.
• Expanded from this Cary shop to a second location in Raleigh, which is the honest measure of a neighborhood pizzeria.
• Open six and a half days including Monday evenings.
• The shop publishes no founding year or owner details, so we cannot tell you its story yet.

See the full directory listing

Primo Pizza NY Style

A Cary Towne Boulevard pizzeria founded in 2011, serving classic New York pies alongside pastas and subs. It holds a 4.9 on Slice, the highest-rated Cary pizzeria on that platform.

Hours: Mon-Thu 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sun noon to 9 p.m.

Address: 682 Cary Towne Blvd., Cary, NC 27511

Why they made the list

• A 4.9 rating on Slice, the highest of any Cary pizzeria on that platform.
• Seventh on TripAdvisor's Cary pizza ranking.
• Founded in 2011 and still a single-location neighborhood shop.
• Open seven days with a 10 p.m. weekend close.

See the full directory listing

Colletta Italian Food & Wine

Not a pizzeria but a full Italian restaurant whose wood-fired Neapolitan pizza is good enough to belong here anyway. The first restaurant to open at Fenton, and a 2026 Maggy finalist for best Italian restaurant.

Hours: Mon-Thu 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sun 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 1 Fenton Main St., Suite 170, Cary, NC 27511

Why they made the list

• A 2026 Maggy Awards finalist for best Italian restaurant, and winner of best outdoor dining in 2025 and 2026.
• Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza alongside scratch-made pastas, so the pizza sits in a full Italian kitchen.
• The pizza is available on the patio, which won its own award two years running.
• It is a restaurant rather than a pizzeria, so expect restaurant pricing.

See the full directory listing

Frequently asked questions

What is the best pizza in Cary, NC?

Di Fara Pizza Tavern on East Chatham Street won best pizzeria in both the 2025 and the 2026 Maggy Awards. It is a licensed extension of Dom DeMarco's Di Fara in Brooklyn, which opened in 1965 and has been called the best pizza in New York by outlets including New York Magazine.

Which pizza place in Cary is open latest?

Ruckus Pizza at Tryon Village runs until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 a.m. on Thursday, which is far later than anything else in Cary. Di Fara is open until midnight Thursday through Saturday.

Where can I get Neapolitan pizza in Cary?

V Pizza on Kildaire Farm Road bakes in imported Italian brick ovens running at 900 degrees. Colletta at Fenton makes Neapolitan-style pizza inside a full Italian kitchen. Faulisi on East Chatham does wood-fired Neapolitan pies but is now a daytime cafe closing at 3 p.m.

Is Pizzeria Faulisi still open in Cary?

Not as an evening pizzeria. Since a relaunch in March 2025 it trades as Faulisi Caffe and Enoteca, a daytime cafe open Wednesday through Saturday and closing at 3 p.m. The Pizzeria Faulisi classics including the margherita are still on the menu, and pizza appears on the Saturday brunch menu, but you cannot go there for dinner.

Where can I get gluten-free pizza in Cary?

Mellow Mushroom on NW Cary Parkway offers gluten-free and vegan versions of most of its pizzas as standing menu options. Salvio's runs three separate crust programs, which gives you more choice than most on style if not on gluten.