The culinary experience in Egypt is truly incredible, but aside from traditional cuisine, the country boasts a wide selection of international restaurants. If you fancy Italian, American, Japanese, Chinese, Korean (and the list goes on), you’ll find it in Cairo. One dish that all foodies around the world have agreed on is pizza! So, if you crave some pizza in Cairo, you landed on the right page.

Chicago-style pizza, New-York style pizza, and even some odd, yet delicious, Egyptian-style pizza (as an American friend of mine referred to it) are all available. But what about Italian pizza? Well, there are countless Italian pizzas in the city, or to be more precise, ones that claim they are. So, are Italian pizzas in Cairo not good? Not necessarily; it could be good, but still not authentic. So, being the foodie that I am, I decided to go out on a quest for the most authentic Margherita pizza in Cairo.

Why Margherita? Well, I’ve always believed that there’s no better than the basic, traditional Margherita to test the authenticity of a pizza. That being said, I embarked on an adventure I’d like to call “pizza hopping” with my friends a couple of weeks ago to find “the most Italian pizza”. Luckily, I’ve had plenty of pizza in Italy at non-touristy restaurants, so I had a reference to compare with.

Where to Eat Italian Pizza in Cairo?

After intensive research, I made a list of Italian restaurants that were either popular for their authenticity, new but seemed promising, or merely hidden gems. The day I went pizza hopping, I went to 7 restaurants in Cairo, but only at a 5. I had to skip La Trattoria, a popular Italian fine dining place in Zamalek as they didn’t have Margherita on the menu; guess that’s too basic for them. Since Margherita was the fixed variable I used to compare between the pizzas, I couldn’t include it.

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Another restaurant that I had to skip was the famed Cairoma; but that wasn’t because I didn’t go; it was because I wasn’t served! Cairoma is one of the most popular restaurants in Downtown Cairo, so it made sense for me to pay a visit. Unfortunately, the place was packed and we had to wait for the pizza. However, even after waiting for a whole hour, the pizza wasn’t even cooked and it was still 4-pizzas behind!

My main issue was the manager/waitress’s unprofessional attitude. She was rude and overall customer service was very poor. I’ve eaten at Cairoma before, and even though a lot of people find it good, I honestly find it mediocre. So, even if this was the best pizza in the whole wide world, I wouldn’t wait for it when I’m met with such an attitude. When I told her for the third time that we had to leave (and that it was final), she coldly said “ok” and turned her back and left!!!

*P.S: After telling other friends about this incident, they also told me they’ve had rude encounters with this lady as well. So, Cairoma peeps, if you’re reading this, you’d better do something about your customer service.

Now, let’s move to the pizza I’ve actually eaten. Here’s a list of the Italian restaurants in Cairo that I’ve tried and my honest, full review about each.

Maison Thomas

AKA Thomas Pizza, or simply Thomas, is not just one of the most loved pizzerias in Cairo, but one of the oldest as well. The restaurant best known for its Roman-style pizza has 4 branches in Zamalek (the one I visited), Heliopolis, New Cairo, and Rehab.

Overall, the pizza was delicious; the texture was soft, yet crunchy, and the cheese had a balanced taste. My only comment was that the tomato sauce was kind of tasteless; it needed seasoning. For someone who generally doesn’t like lots of salt in her food, I thought it lacked salt. In fact, I think salt was randomly added to the top instead of mixing it in the sauce, as some parts were too salty and others lacked seasoning.

Other than that, the overall experience was good. The restaurant had retro feels, the pizza was served in less than 10 minutes from ordering, and it was reasonably priced.

My rating: 8/10

Sapori di Carlo

*SPOILER ALERT* This place has always been my 10/10, but I had to revisit and try their pizza once again to guarantee it has maintained its standards. And Sapori di Carlo did not fail me!

This cozy restaurant in the heart of Zamalek is by far the number 1 place where I’ve had the most authentic Italian food in Cairo. And the mastermind behind it all, Chef Carlo, also happens to be a Michelin star chef. No wonder why it’s one of my top favorite restaurants in Cairo!

Sapori di Carlo’s Margherita is a fusion of the heavenly Italian flavors of tomato sauce, basil, and buffalo mozzarella melting over a wood-fired pizza (and your taste buds). One of the cool things about it is not just that it’s Neapolitan, but it’s that they make their own cheese at the restaurant! Be it mozzarella, burrata, ricotta, you name it!

This time, the cheese leeched out a bit of water, making the pizza a bit more moist than usual. However, it wasn’t soggy and the texture was just fine. Plus, the sweetened tomato sauce made up for it all.

My rating: 10/10

What the Crust?

I’ve been wanting to try out this newly-opened restaurant in Maadi for around three months, and I finally got the chance to! This restaurant was also packed but we had to order a takeout anyway to be able to reach our finish line. Luckily, the friendly chef was generous enough to start crafting our pizza right away so we wouldn’t have to wait; we got it in less than 10 minutes from ordering.

What the Crust’s pizza had a very similar taste to Sapori di Carlo’s, except for it was more savory. It’s safe to say that the pizza’s quality was top-notch. Wondering what’s the secret? It’s that What the Crust crafts their pizza with imported Italian ingredients; from the cheeses to the flour!

Their amazing pizza aside, they really had me at the zero-waste policies. From feeding guests’ leftovers to stray animals to reusing extra parmesan and vegetable ends to cook staff meals, they’ve adopted a sustainable system.

My rating: 10/10

900 Degrees

If there’s anything that makes me so fond of 900 Degrees, in Downtown Mall, New Cairo, is their jaw-dropping speed of service. I swear to you it took them less than 5 whole minutes to hand me my pizza from the second I placed my order. Yes, I know, wood-fired pizzas shouldn’t take more than 90 seconds to cook, but it was still very impressive. While I was placing my order, the chef had already started crafting my pizza and placed it in the oven right away. And before even getting the chance to pay, the employee was handing me my takeout box!

Now moving on to what was inside the box itself, the mozzarella was a bit lumpy, but overall, it was a good pizza. It’s not the best, but not mediocre either. It could hands down get a solid rating of 7.

My rating: 7/10

Da Nonna

This Instagrammable Italian restaurant in Waterway 2 in New Cairo had to make it to the list. From its look and name, I felt like I was about to indulge in my long-lost Italian grandma’s recipe. Unfortunately, my experience was a little bit disappointing.

Taking out a slice was impossible without all the topping falling off, melting the dough and pulling it off as well, leaving you with nothing but the crust in your hand. The texture was just off and the pizza was soaked in oil. Also, I wasn’t the biggest fan of cheese; tasted a lot like Rumi cheese to me.

However, the crust was incredible! The dough was fresh and you could even savor the wood-fired oven’s aroma. If something had made up for that experience, that was definitely it. Oh, and the presentation was also great; the pizza box was so cute.

P.S: I’ve always thought that leaving the crust should be illegal.

My rating: 5/10

Further Experiences With Pizza in Cairo

Cairo is filled with Italian restaurants, and one day is definitely enough to experience them all. But also, a couple of weeks aren’t enough either. That’s why I visited a couple of more places and will be constantly adding more Italian restaurants as I go. After all, you guys will be waiting forever for this compilation of reviews if I had to visit every single Italian restaurant in Cairo first to publish this. So, without further ado, let’s get back to pizza.

Andiamo Pizza Garden & Bar

For a little bit over 5 years, Andiamo has been one of the most popular hangout spots in the city, especially the New Cairo branch which recently closed its doors. This happened shortly after the opening of the new branch in Zamalek, where I went for my pizza review.

This time, I opted for the Caprese instead of the Margherita, only because the only difference on the menu was that mozzarella was buffalo, a personal fav. However, I was utterly disappointed. For starters, basil (a super essential ingredient) was replaced with ruccola, and we weren’t even informed beforehand. You can’t just replace BASIL with RUCCOLA, you guys!! Also, the pizza was way too thin and way too crunchy, and that paired up with excessive olive oil, it was nothing less than an oil fiesta dripping off the plate, onto the table, and eventually on my leg.

To be completely honest, it was a mess. But for what it’s worth, the presentation was cool, and we loved the aesthetics at the new restaurant. No enough to make us pay the place another visit though.

My rating: 2/10

Casareccio

The first impression was that the atmosphere of the restaurant was so delightful, and even though it was super cold that night, I couldn’t resist sitting in the outdoor area. Don’t blame me for being a sucker for fairy lights and rustic decor. Plus, they had heaters, so we weren’t freezing to death.

Moving onto the real deal here, the pizza, I went for the Buffalina pizza, again, because of the buffalo mozzarella. Overall, it was a good pizza; the dough was fresh and the salsa’s flavors were well-balanced. I just felt it was missing some extra basil. Also, I believe it needed to stay in the oven for an extra few seconds for a crustier top. As for the buffalo mozzarella, it was fine, but it wasn’t the best I’ve had, unfortunately.

It’s noteworthy that the New Cairo restaurant has a great menu, boasting a wide selection of Italian dishes. Additionally, they make really nice lasagna.

My rating: 7/10

Now, it’s your turn. Drop a comment and let me know where you’ve had the best pizza in Cairo so I would go and try for myself!

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