Vote for best pizza in TCPalm's March Madness style basketball bracket rankings 2024
Get ready for TCPalm's March Madness-style bracket, Treasure Coast pizza edition.
These 16 restaurants serve some of the best pizza in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties — excluding national chains, such as Pizza Hut, Papa John's and Little Caeser's, and semi-local chains, such as Goodfellas, Big Apple and Downtown Benny's. Scroll down for a description of each restaurant.
They'll face off weekly in basketball-style brackets:
Week 1: Vote March 18-24 to determine the Elite Eight.
Week 2: Vote March 25-31 to determine the Final Four.
Week 3: Vote April 1-7 to determine the Regional Championship.
Week 4: Vote April 8-14 to determine Best Pizza.
TCPalm will announce the winner on Monday, April 15.
May the best pizza win!
Here are the latest brackets:
Week 1: Vote March 18-24 to determine the Elite Eight.
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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY
Pizza Mia
Husband-and-wife team Peter and Lydia Schaeperkoetter opened Pizza Mia in 2016 between Rosie’s Pub and the former Patio Restaurant in Vero Beach. Menu highlights include Grandma’s thin-crust pizza with tomato sauce and fresh basil, as well as the eggplant-parmesan pizza with fresh-baked eggplant piled on pizza with mozzarella and tomato sauce and sprinkled with fresh basil.
Address: 1115 21st St., Vero Beach
Phone: 772-492-6151
Online: Website
Nino’s
Nino’s has three locations on the Treasure Coast: two in Vero Beach and one in Lakewood Park north of Fort Pierce. The most popular pizza on the menu is Jack’s pizza with pesto sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, cashews and sun-dried tomatoes. Another menu highlight is Croce’s favorite with pesto sauce, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, sauteed spinach and grilled eggplant. It also has gluten-free crust options.
Nino’s Cafe: 1006 Easter Lily Lane, Vero Beach; 772-231 9311
Nino’s Corner: 4236 20th St., Vero Beach; 772-562-0276
Nino’s Lakewood Park: 5018 Turnpike Feeder Road, Fort Pierce; 772-466-7644
Online: Website
Station 49
Jay and Joan McLaughlin, the owners and operators of Citron Bistro, opened Station 49 in 2017 in a former gas station in Vero Beach that previously was the home of Garage Wood Fired Pizza Restaurant. They opened a second location in Palm Bay. Their longtime executive chef from New York fine dining uses a custom-made wood burning oven to create Neapolitan-style pizzas. Menu options include white truffle Bianchi with ricotta cheese, mushrooms and white truffle oil, as well as the arugula salad pie with tomatoes, arugula, red onions, black olives, Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.
Address: 1802 Old Dixie Highway, Vero Beach
Phone: 772-492-8342
Online: Website
Cap's Pizza
This hole-in-the-wall at the end of a strip plaza in south Vero Beach is a family business named after boxer John Capobianco when it originally opened in 1987. It serves New York-style pizza and is known for its "Famous Spinach Pizza," which includes spinach and white Parmesan sauce.
Address: 725 27th Ave. S.W., Vero Beach
Phone: 772-539-4082
Online:Website
ST. LUCIE COUNTY
Piehole
Ryan Evans and Mark “Otis” Humphrey bought the old, abandoned gas station on State Road A1A on South Hutchinson Island between Fort Pierce and Stuart in 2018. It has been vacant for about 30 years before they turned it into Piehole wood-fire oven pizza. Their Neo-Neapolitan hybrid dough gets a higher rise in the Marra Forni wood-fired pizza oven to achieve a crust that’s a mix between fluffy Neapolitan and crispy New York styles.
Address: 2510 S. Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce
Phone: 772-252-0241
Online: Website
Bella Roma
Bella Roma Bakery, which also has a market section with an Italian deli and store, has been making pizza in Port St. Lucie since the 1970s. Its menu includes Grandma pizza with a rectangular thin crust, plum tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, garlic and olive oil, as well as margherita pizza with a hand-tossed crust, plum tomato sauce, mozzarella, garlic, basil and olive oil.
Address: 475 Riomar Drive, Port St. Lucie
Phone: 772-343-7405
Online: Website
Sailfish Brewing Company
The pizza kitchen at Sailfish Brewing Company in downtown Fort Pierce previously was The Crafted Pie run Big Apple Pizza’s Van Duzer family. Now, the brewery tosses its own fresh dough daily. Its house pizzas include the most popular: hot honey pepperoni with red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, arugula and hot sauce drizzle.
Address: 130 N. Second St., Fort Pierce
Phone: 772-577-4382
Online: Website
Loutina's Pizza
The pizzeria in the Indrio Crossings Shopping Center in Lakewood Park has been family owned and operated since 1991. Its dough and sauces are made fresh daily.
La Mattina’s Trattoria & Pizza Bar
Michael La Mattina, 42, owns the restaurant and runs it with his parents, Nicholas and Carmela; his wife, April, and their three children; his brother-in-law, niece and nephew. His father, Nicholas, 72, and mother, Carmela, 70, cook their authentic Italian recipes in the kitchen. He's from Sicily, and she's from a little town outside Naples.
MARTIN COUNTY
Pusateri’s Thin Chicago Pizza
Pusateri’s Thin Chicago Pizza in Stuart is owned by Miami native Tom Bean, a longtime resident of Sewall’s Point and Sailfish Point and a private jet pilot and yachtsman. He bought the 18-year-old restaurant in 2021 after it nearly closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Get a taste of authentic Chicago-style thin-crust pizza with the same menu from when Pusateri’s originally opened. The restaurant’s signature square-cut, pub-style pizza is unique to Chicago and its suburbs.
Address: 221 S.E. Ocean Blvd., Stuart
Phone: 772-288-9810
Online: Website
Carmela’s Brick Oven Pizza and Wine Bar
Bob and Joanne Fatigate moved to Stuart from Montauk, New York, in 2001 and spent the next year building Carmela’s Brick Oven Pizza. Their son, Adam, took over the business after his father died in 2009. The menu includes a variety of Grandma’s pizzas, as well as “Carmela’s Works” with sausage, pepperoni, meatballs, mushrooms, onions and green peppers.
Address: 2311 S.E. Ocean Blvd., Stuart
Phone: 772-286-0877
Online: Website
Anna’s Pizza
Anna’s, which has been serving pizza for over 20 years, used to have locations in Stuart and Port St. Lucie but now is down to one location in Palm City. Its farm-fresh vegetable toppings include bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, onions, eggplant, ripened tomatoes, banana peppers, broccoli, basil, jalapenos and spinach. “Anna’s Special” includes “the works” with extra cheese, butcher-cut sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, homemade meatballs, green peppers and onions.
Address: 2281 S.W. Martin Highway, Palm City
Phone: 772-221-0061
Online: Website
Vesuvio’s Pizzeria
Vesuvio’s Pizzeria has been serving authentic Neapolitan pizza in Stuart for over 10 years. Special gourmet pizzas, which are prepared with fresh mozzarella, include: sausage and broccoli rabe; al fumo with smoked mozzarella, smoked bacon and provolone; capricciosa with mozzarella, ham, artichokes, mushrooms, olives, garlic and shaved parmigiano; and Vesuvio’s special with mozzarella, artichokes, bruschetta, shaved parmigiano and fresh basil.
Address: 4225 S.E. Federal Highway, Stuart
Phone: 772-288-3373
Online: Facebook
Ian and Kye’s Pizza
Kye Maiolo started making tavern Chicago-style pizza at 16 at Pusateri's. He owned a shop in downtown Delray Beach for five years, but his dream was to have a pizzeria in his hometown of Jensen Beach. He moved back in 2020 and named his restaurant in memory of his late brother, Ian.
Fantini’s New Haven Style Pizza
Owner James Fantin wanted to bring his love of apizza from New Haven, Connecticut, to the Treasure Coast, so he opened the restaurant in 2020 in the North Stuart Plaza. Apizza (pronounced "ah-beetz") is a style of thin-crust, coal-fired Neapolitan pizza found almost exclusively in New Haven.
Pane e Vino
Eric Cavallaro, who opened Pepe e Sale in 2020 in downtown Stuart, went back to his roots in the pizzeria restaurant business by opening Pane e Vino in Stuart, next to Stracuzzi Plaza, with his cousin, Alfio Trovato, who also is managing partner. It features Sicilian and Neapolitan pizza by chef Rosario Stiano, using a traditional Neapolitan wood oven.
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter @TCPalmLaurie and Facebook @TCPalmLaurie. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: March Madness style bracket: Vote for best pizza on Treasure Coast
