PIZZA, PIZZA: WILMINGTON'S BEST SLICES
- CFL
- Jan 3
- 8 min read
We’re turning up the heat and showcasing the Best Pizza's in Wilmington, NC and surrounding areas. We're paying tribute all month long to one of America’s best loved foods. Keep it simple with a Margherita, or seek out one of the extraordinary combinations from Benny's Big Time, Cousins Coal Fired Pizzeria, Brooklyn Pizza Co, Jay's Incredible Pizza, Slice of Life, and Salita.
Q&A with Owner, Ben Knight
Benny's Big Time Pizzeria is what the name suggests - big, fun, tasty, and Italian. Owner, Ben Knight, grew up eating Italian in a local family-owned restaurant weekly, and even when the family wasn't eating out, "it always seemed like there was spaghetti on the table!" Benny's captures the nostalgic Italian American family night and gives it a little update. "It's the perfect place to bring the family and share a meal. And perhaps some drinks without your family. Italian food makes people happy. Benny's Big Time takes happiness to the next level," says Knight.
What is Benny's showcase Pizza?
We serve classic Neapolitan pizza made in wood-fired 900-degree Mario Acunto ovens. It's characterized by a thin, elastic, lightly crisp, charred crust and fresh ingredients. Our most popular pizza is the Kevin McCalister, a ricotta-based pizza with fresh mozzarella and taleggio cheese and finished with our flagship hot honey.
What are the 3 critical elements of a great pizza?
The first and most important element of great pizza is excellent ingredients. We tasted almost every tomato available and created our sauce with a unique blend of pear and plum tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and garlic. Our mozzarella is made fresh in Charlotte from an artisan cheese maker - Siano. Our dough is made by hand daily, proofed for 48 hours before it is stretched per order also by hand. We use only 00 Italian imported flour, which has an entirely different protein content from American wheat. This is key. The second important aspect of making a great pizza is having a great pizza master control the heat in a wood oven. When cooking at high temperatures, pizzas can burn quickly or not cook properly if the oven is too cool. Having an experienced cook is vital to making a great pizza. The last is having fun. Pizza makes people happy, and guests can taste the difference if your team isn't having fun.
What's new & happening at Benny's?
Benny's has recently expanded our pizza-making portfolio to include two classic styles - N.Y. thin and the delicious pan pizza called the Grandma. Both are outstanding examples of great pizzas. We also make all our pasta in-house. Benny's appreciates our guests and offers a variety of weeknight specials to make eating out during the week what it should be - easy!
Song-to-sing-along-to while munching the Kevin McCalister?
Q&A with Owners Terri & Jim Diecchio
“We do what we do because we love pizza — but also because, after decades in the industry, we were ready to do things our way, in our own brick-and-mortar,” says Terri Diecchio. “Opening Salita has been a series of ‘oh sh*ts’ and more delays than we can count, but every bit of it has been worth it. We’ve learned that a little magic happens when you can find joy in the challenges — when the ordinary becomes art. And that art becomes memories.”
What is Salita's flagship Pizza?
The Burrata. Like all of our pizzas, the magic starts with our organic sourdough crust, that consists of 5 different local, freshly milled grains and fermented for 5 days. Our burrata pizza starts with our vodka sauce base made from onion, fennel, chili, tomato passata and cream, finished wild Sicilian oregano. That gets topped wjth shaved garlic and a generous amount of shaved onions and Calabrian chili flakes. After it gets baked in our wood burning oven it then gets finished with organic olive oil, ricotta Salata, more wild oregano and flakey sea salt. We then add our burrata cheese that we break up and mix with olive oil and sea salt to allow it to incorporate to the pizza easier than putting a whole ball of burrata. The burrata on the pizza then gets seasoned with more olive oil, flakey salt and fennel pollen and the whole thing gets topped with fresh local basil.
Song-to-sing-along-to while munching the Burrata Pizza?
What's new & happening at Salita's?
We do sourdough bagels every Saturday and Sunday starting at 9am till sellout, which is usually around 10:30. In the off season you can find us on the road once a month and places we love like Casablanca Coffee Roasters and the Oyster Barn at N. Sea Oyster Co.
Q&A with Owner Jay Askew
Jay’s Incredible Pizza was born at a turning point in Jay Askew’s life. “After my mother passed away, I prayed for an answer of what to do next,” he says. “I had taken care of her for the previous four years.” That search for direction led him back to his roots—making pizza. Jay returned to Antonio’s with hopes of eventually buying the Oleander Drive location, but when that plan fell through, a new door opened. He and his longtime colleague Tom Hayes—a full-time real estate investor—realized there was a delicious gap in Wilmington’s pizza scene. After seven years working together, they joined forces, purchased Midtown Incredible Pizza, and transformed it into Jay’s Incredible Pizza. “Now, as the sole proprietor, we’ve been here a little over four years,” Jay adds proudly. The menu blends signature Incredible favorites with inventive new creations every two weeks. “And we are the only pizza place in town to make Chicago-style pizza.”
What is Jay's showcase Pizza?
The Incredible Pizza is our flagship pizza at Jay’s Incredible Pizza. The Incredible Pizza has our signature homemade dough and sauce with a bottom layer of mozzarella cheese followed by pepperoni, ham, salami, mushrooms, red and yellow onions, roasted red peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, garlic, sausage and topped with another layer of mozzarella cheese. But my personal favorite will always be the Meatball Parmesan. We make it with fresh, house-made sauce and dough, then layer on mozzarella, Parmesan, and ricotta (I really love cheese). Next come my homemade meatballs—no, you can’t have the recipe—and it all bakes to perfection in our stone pizza ovens. Once it’s out, we finish it with fresh basil. That’s amore.
What's new & happening at Jay's Incredible Pizza?
We have freshly prepared ingredients prepared daily and feature a new and different Pizza of the Week every two weeks. Right now we're gearing up for a season full of holiday lasagnas and catering orders from now through New Year’s.
Song to sing along to while munching the Incredible Pizza?
Q&A with Owners Joe and Debby DeLiberto
It was Joe’s deep love of pizza that sparked the idea to bring true New Haven–style pies to Wilmington. As the city’s first coal-fired pizzeria, we specialize in that iconic thin, crisp, beautifully charred crust. But what truly sets us apart isn’t just the style—it’s the stories baked into every pie. Each pizza is named after an extraordinary woman who shaped Joe’s life. These mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and sisters are the heart of our family, and now they’re part of every pizza we serve. Every pie is a tribute to heritage, to the people who raised us, and to the flavors that bring us together.
What is Cousins showcase Pizza?
Right now, our most popular pie is the Big Momma—named after Joe’s wife, Debby. It’s built with creamy vodka sauce, crumbled spicy sausage, mozzarella, and banana peppers, all finished with a drizzle of hot honey.
What's new & happening at Cousins?
We have 8 uniquely different pies and offer a pie of the month. We love mixing a variety of ingredients and thinking outside the box. This months pizza is the Sonnino-white sauce, pureed sweet potato, charred onion, feta and a maple syrup drizzle.
Song-to-sing-along-to while munching the Big Momma?
Q&A with Owner Brad Sywolski
Our recipes and products originate in Brooklyn, New York, so high-quality ingredients are the foundation of our menu,” says Owner Brad Sywolski. “Then, the skilled hands of Brooklyn Pizza Co. employees transform those classic ingredients into the delicious menu items our customers have known and enjoyed for nearly three decades.
Sywolski had been a customer of Brooklyn Pizza ever since moving to Wilmington from New York in 2001. “For years, my family enjoyed Brooklyn Pizza at least weekly, usually on Sunday afternoons or Friday nights. Eventually, I became a part of the Brooklyn Pizza Co. family culture before I started at the restaurant several years later. Simply put-it is and always will be my favorite slice,” says Sywolski.
What is Brooklyn's showcase Pizza?
Our standard Brooklyn-style pie is our flagship pizza. However, I would say that a showcase and favourite of many of our customers is what we call our "Grandma Pie." This is a Sicilian-style pizza, which means it has a thick crust, unlike our regular pie, and it's rectangular. The texture is focaccia-like, full of delicious air pockets, resulting in more crunch than a standard pie," says Sywolski. "While we offer a regular Sicilian Pie, the "Grandma Sicilian" is made with our fresh mozzarella, which is made in-house, plum tomatoes, and basil. With fresh ingredients like these, you'll question whether they came from your Grandma's garden."
What's new & happening at Brooklyn Pizzeria?
We just had the second anniversary of establishing our second location at 5327 Oleander Drive (next to Tidal Creek Market). Gaining traction at our Oleander location has been rewarding, and we love watching it grow. We've got some awesome art on the walls, too! Come sit at the bar and enjoy a slice or three!
Song-to-sing-along-to while munching?
If you're hanging out with us in the shop, we're usually bumping Brooklyn's finest - Jay Z, Nas, Busta Rhymes and the Notorious B.I.G. most often. But we think for the "Grandma Sicilian", we need something a bit different. This Pizza calls for a little Andre Bocelli. Any of his classics. Straight from Nona's kitchen radio to our ears.
Q&A with Owner Ray Worrell
Owner Ray Worell, originally from New Jersey, moved to Wilmington, NC, in 1989 to attend school at UNCW. After working in the restaurant business for several years, he worked at Slice of Life for the owner, Ian Mosely, before buying the company 3 years later in 2001. "We now have 4 locations of Slice of Life: Downtown, Wrightsville Beach, Pine Valley, and Porters Neck. When I tell my friends in New Jersey that I have 4 pizza places in Wilmington, they think I'm crazy. But each location has a dedicated clientele."
What is Slice of Life's showcase Pizza?
That would be our BBQ Chicken Pizza: At Slice of Life, the BBQ Chicken Pizza isn’t just another menu staple—it’s a full-on flavor event, and a fan favorite. A standout of sweet and smoky flavors, balances tender chicken and smoky bacon over rich mozzarella, freshened up with red and green onions that add a bright component.
A combination of sweet chili and BBQ sauces add a bold, tangy, sweet and smoky flavor across the pizza, while parmesan and our proprietary BAM spice blend finishes this favorite with irresistible depth and flavor.It’s one of those pizzas you keep thinking about long after the last slice is gone—messy in the best way, balanced in every bite, and unmistakably Slice of Life.
What's new & happening at Slice of Life?
All locations are now open seven days a week. Live music in Porter's Neck on Sundays. New drink specials at all Slice of Life's. In December, buy a Slice of Life Gift Card & you get an extra 10%.
Song-to-sing-along-to while munching the BBQ Chicken Pizza?
