People ask me this question all the time. And I mean all the time. Friends, customers, people who find out I run a pizzeria and immediately want to know if we are actually good or just say we are good.
So let me be straight with you. I am going to tell you exactly what to look for when you are searching for the best pizza in Copenhagen. And yes, I will mention MaMeMi. But I will also tell you what genuinely makes any pizza great, because I think you deserve an honest answer, not just a sales pitch.
I grew up near Rome eating pizza every week of my life. Now I make it every day at MaMeMi on Mysundegade in Vesterbro. I think that qualifies me to talk about this.
Copenhagen Has Become a Serious Pizza City
When my cousins and I first came to Copenhagen, we were not sure what to expect. We had eaten some pretty average pizza in other European cities outside Italy. Lots of thick dough, cheap cheese, toppings that had nothing to do with Italian cooking.
But Copenhagen surprised us. The city has developed a real pizza culture over the past ten years. People here care about ingredients, technique, and authenticity in a way that you do not always find outside of Italy. Danish food culture has this strong focus on quality and craft, and that attitude has carried over into how people approach pizza.
The result is that Copenhagen now has some of the best pizza in Europe. Not just good pizza for a Scandinavian city. Actually good pizza, full stop. Our own best pizza in Copenhagen roundup covers a few other places worth trying if you want a wider view.
So how do you find it?
What to Look For: The Checklist
1. Look at the Dough First
Everything starts with dough. This is the single most important thing.
Good pizza dough takes time. When you look at a pizza menu or walk into a pizzeria, ask about the fermentation. How long does the dough rest? If the answer is a few hours, that is not enough. Quality dough needs at least 24 hours of fermentation. Many serious pizzerias use 48 hours or more.
Why does this matter? Because time develops flavor. Long fermentation creates complex, slightly tangy notes in the dough that you simply cannot rush. It also makes the pizza much lighter and easier to digest. If you usually feel heavy and bloated after pizza, try one made with properly fermented dough. You will notice the difference immediately.
At MaMeMi, our dough ferments for a minimum of 48 hours. We also use a secret blend of five organic flours from small Italian producers, each one chosen for what it brings to the final texture. This took us years to develop, and it is the foundation of everything we make. Our guide to what defines original Italian pizza covers the wider philosophy of dough and technique.
2. Understand the Style You Are Looking For
Not all great pizza is the same. Copenhagen has two main styles worth knowing about.
Neapolitan pizza is soft, chewy, and has a big puffy edge called the cornicione — see our blog on what a cornicione is for exactly why this edge matters. The center is often quite soft, almost wet. You eat it quickly while it is hot, usually folding the slice. It is baked at extreme temperatures, around 450 to 485 degrees, for just 60 to 90 seconds.
Roman-style pizza is completely different. It is thin, crispy, and crunchy all the way through. Romans call this scrocchiarella, which is basically the sound the pizza makes when you bite it. It holds its shape, you can eat it with your hands without anything falling apart, and it stays crispy even after a few minutes. This is what we make at MaMeMi, and it is our version of authentic Italian pizza.
Neither style is better. They are different expressions of the same love for pizza. Our dedicated Roman vs Neapolitan pizza blog breaks down the differences technique by technique. You should know which one you are looking for before you start searching.
3. Check the Ingredients
A great pizza does not need twenty toppings. In fact, the best pizzas usually have three or four ingredients and each one is exceptional.
Look for San Marzano tomatoes in the sauce. These are grown in the volcanic soil near Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy and they have a natural sweetness and low acidity that other tomatoes cannot match. A good pizzeria knows where their tomatoes come from.
Look for fresh mozzarella, not the rubbery pre-shredded kind you find in supermarkets. Either fresh cow’s milk mozzarella (fior di latte) or buffalo mozzarella. These melt differently and taste completely different from processed cheese. Our blog on what traditional Italian pizza toppings actually are goes deeper into this.
Look for quality olive oil. A proper Italian pizza always has a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil. This might seem like a small detail, but it adds richness and depth that you notice immediately.
Look for fresh herbs, added at the right moment. Basil goes on after baking, not before, so it stays vibrant and green and aromatic. If your basil is brown and wilted, the pizza was rushed or made carelessly.
4. Consider the Wine and Drinks List
This might sound like a strange thing to include in a guide about pizza, but stay with me.
A restaurant that takes its drinks as seriously as its food is usually a restaurant that takes everything seriously. It is a sign of a certain level of attention and care.
In Italy, we drink wine with pizza. Not always, but often. The right glass of wine with a good pizza elevates the whole experience in a way that is hard to explain until you try it. See our guide on which wine goes best with your pizza for the pairing philosophy.
At MaMeMi, my cousin Danilo is a certified sommelier who has personally visited hundreds of Italian vineyards and has carefully selected over 1000 natural wine labels for our Italian wine bar in Copenhagen. He knows every winemaker on our list personally. When Danilo recommends something with your pizza, it changes the meal completely.
You do not have to drink wine. But if a pizzeria has thought carefully about what you drink with your food, that says something about how they think about the whole experience.
5. Pay Attention to the Atmosphere
Pizza is social food. It is meant to be shared, eaten slowly, enjoyed in good company. The atmosphere of a pizzeria matters.
You want to feel welcomed when you walk in, not processed. You want staff who know the food and can talk about it, not just recite the menu. You want to feel like you could stay for another hour if you wanted to.
This is something I think about a lot at MaMeMi. My cousins and I grew up eating long Italian meals where nobody was rushing you to leave. That feeling of genuine hospitality, the real Italian kind where you are treated like a guest rather than a customer, is something we try to bring to every table. It is part of our story.
6. Look for Seasonal Menus
The best pizzerias change their menus with the seasons. Not everything, but the seasonal specials should reflect what is actually good right now.
A tomato in August tastes completely different from a tomato in January. Asparagus in spring, pumpkin in autumn, truffle in winter. When a restaurant uses what is in season, the food tastes better and it shows that the kitchen is paying attention.
At MaMeMi, we have our classic pizzas that are always on the menu because people love them and they are part of who we are. But we also always have seasonal specials that change throughout the year — see the current menu online. Some of our most loved pizzas started as a seasonal experiment.
The Pizza Neighborhoods of Copenhagen
Copenhagen is not a huge city, and great pizza is scattered across several neighborhoods. Here is a rough guide to where to look.
Vesterbro is where we are, and honestly it is where I would start. The neighborhood has a creative, quality-focused food scene that attracts restaurants and customers who care about what they eat. MaMeMi is on Mysundegade at the corner with Istedgade, just a couple of minutes from Enghave Plads metro. If you want the full neighborhood take, we have written a dedicated guide to pizza on Vesterbro. Vesterbro is also where you will find some of the best natural wine bars in the city, which pairs naturally (pun intended) with great pizza.
Nørrebro has a vibrant, diverse food scene with some seriously good pizza options. Worth exploring if you are spending time on that side of the city.
Kødbyen, the Meatpacking District, has Mother, which has been a reliable favorite since 2010. Great sourdough, good atmosphere, perfect if you are heading out for the evening.
Carlsberg Byen has Surt, run by a Sicilian pizza maker named Giuseppe Oliva. His 72-hour sourdough fermentation produces something really special. The dough is light, full of flavor, and you can taste the Sicilian tradition behind every bite. Worth the trip.
Enghave Plads area is essentially Vesterbro but with better metro access — see our pizza near Enghave Plads guide if you are starting from the metro station.
Red Flags: Pizza to Avoid
Just as important as knowing what to look for is knowing what to walk away from.
Thick, doughy crust that tastes like nothing. If the crust is just a vehicle for toppings with no flavor of its own, the dough was not made with care.
Cheese that is rubbery or greasy. This usually means low quality processed cheese, not fresh mozzarella.
Too many toppings. A pizza loaded with fifteen different ingredients is usually hiding something. Great ingredients do not need to compete for attention.
A menu that never changes. If the specials section has been the same since the restaurant opened, nobody in that kitchen is paying attention to the seasons.
Rushed service. If they are pushing you to order quickly, pay quickly, and leave quickly, you are in a place that thinks about volume, not experience.
FAQ: Questions People Ask About Finding Good Pizza in Copenhagen
Is pizza delivery in Copenhagen worth it? Sometimes, yes. Roman-style pizza travels better than Neapolitan because the crispy base does not get soggy as easily. At MaMeMi, we deliver and the pizza holds up well. But honestly, eating in the restaurant is always better. The atmosphere is part of the experience.
Do I need to book in advance? For popular pizzerias, especially on weekend evenings, yes. MaMeMi now also serves weekend lunch from 12:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, which can be a quieter option if you want to avoid the evening rush. Book ahead if you can.
Is Copenhagen pizza expensive? By Italian standards, yes. By Copenhagen restaurant standards, pizza is actually one of the more affordable ways to eat well in the city. At MaMeMi, our pizzas start from around 150 kr, which for a handmade Roman-style pizza with quality organic ingredients is genuinely good value. A proper menu with antipasti, pizza, and wine typically runs from around 350 kr per person.
What makes Roman-style pizza different from what most people expect? Most people outside Italy associate pizza with Neapolitan style, which is what international chains have made famous. Roman pizza is completely different. Thin, crispy, holds its shape, you eat it with your hands without folding. Once people try it, they often say they prefer it because it feels lighter and you can actually taste all the individual flavors without the dough dominating everything.
Are there good vegan and gluten-free options in Copenhagen? Yes. MaMeMi has vegan pizza options in Copenhagen that we take seriously, not just a token option. For gluten-free, we offer a gluten-free pizza option in Copenhagen though we are honest that our kitchen works with wheat flour daily, so we cannot guarantee zero cross contact. Most quality pizzerias in Copenhagen have similar options.
The Honest Conclusion
The best pizza in Copenhagen is the one that was made with care, using quality ingredients, by people who genuinely love what they are doing.
That means properly fermented dough. Fresh ingredients. Attention to the whole experience, not just the food on the plate.
We believe we make some of the best Roman-style pizza in Copenhagen at MaMeMi, and we have been recognized as one of the top pizzerias in Europe which means a lot to us. But we are not the only great option in this city, and I would not want you to think we are.
What I do want is for you to eat well. To find great pizza. To understand what makes it great and to appreciate the craft behind it.
Copenhagen has earned its place on the European pizza map. Come explore it.
And if you end up on Vesterbro, you know where to find us. Book a table or walk in.
Francesco
MaMeMi is located at Mysundegade 28, Vesterbro, Copenhagen. We serve authentic Roman-style pizza made with a secret blend of five organic flours, fermented for 48 hours. Weekend lunch is now open every Saturday and Sunday from 12:00. Over 1000 natural wine labels carefully selected by our sommelier Danilo. Book your table or order delivery. We are just two minutes from Enghave Plads metro.
