The Pizza Styles You'll Find in Jacksonville (and How to Pick One)

Jacksonville's pizza scene is more varied than its reputation suggests. Walk across a few neighborhoods and you will run into half a dozen distinct styles, each with its own crust, sauce, and reason for being. Here is how to tell them apart.

New York Style

The classic. Large, thin, hand-tossed pies with a crust that is crisp on the bottom but foldable in the middle. Sold by the giant slice as often as the pie. Sauce is bright and simple, cheese is low-moisture mozzarella. If you want a quick slice on the go or a reliable family pie, this is the default in Jacksonville and you will find it in nearly every neighborhood.

Neapolitan / Wood-Fired

The opposite of a New York slice in almost every way. Neapolitan pizza is baked fast and very hot in a wood-fired oven, which gives it a soft, slightly soupy center and a puffy, charred, blistered crust. Toppings are minimal and high quality: San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil. Eat it with a knife and fork, fresh out of the oven. Several Jacksonville spots run ovens built in Italy.

Sicilian and Square

Thick, focaccia-style pizza baked in a pan. Sicilian is the traditional version, airy inside with a crisp bottom. The newer "square" or Detroit-style pies push this further, with cheese pushed all the way to the edges so it caramelizes into a crunchy border. Loaded corner to corner. If you like more bread and more cheese per bite, this is your lane.

Deep Dish and Chicago

Less common locally, but it is here. Deep dish is a tall, pan-baked pie with the cheese under the sauce and a buttery crust. It eats like a meal and takes longer to bake, so call ahead.

St. Louis Style

A regional rarity worth seeking out. Ultra-thin, crackery crust with no rise at all, a sweeter sauce, and Provel cheese instead of mozzarella, cut into squares. A couple of Jacksonville spots make it.

Build-Your-Own and Fast-Fired

The newest category: personal pizzas you customize at a counter, then fire in a blazing oven for a couple of minutes. Fast, affordable, and good for picky groups where everyone wants something different.

How to Pick

Start with how you want to eat it. Grabbing a slice on the run means New York. A sit-down dinner where the pizza is the event means Neapolitan or square. Feeding a crowd with different tastes means build-your-own. Browse the directory by style and neighborhood to find the closest spot doing the one you want.