This Market in Rome Has the World’s Best Pizza

It’s not even 11 a.m., yet here I am, in the back of the line that snakes around a corner, getting pushed into a produce stand and nearly knocking over a tower of lettuce, all in the name of scoring a good lunch. “Mi scusi,” I hear. Not knowing how to reply in Italian, I simply smile. Luckily, the queue moves faster than expected, past more veggies and a store that specializes in socks. Finally, I reach my destination: CasaManco, a tiny pizza stall, perhaps five feet long, inside the Mercato di Testaccio in the outskirts of Rome. Campo de’ Fiori may be one of Rome’s oldest markets, but Testaccio represents the new guard in innovative, neighborhood markets, embracing old and new food traditions and serving as an incubator for spots like CasaManco, owned by Paola Manco and Andrea Salabè, a married couple who left their jobs as architects to become pizza makers in their mid-50s and now sell more than 60 pies a day.

I snag the last stool (of which there are only a handful) and watch as the woman next to me orders her fourth, or perhaps fifth slice. “This is the best pizza I’ve ever had,” she exclaims mid-bite, the cheese still steaming off her breath. She isn’t wrong. After ordering a slice of Margherita, I move on to the pear and Gorgonzola. Then the zucchini and stracchino. In between each, I hear a new person proclaim in a mix of languages that this slice, no, that slice, wait, hang on another slice, to be the best. Four slices in, I add to the chorus: This was, without question, the best pizza I’ve ever had. Then I have a fifth slice, just to be sure. 

There’s magic in the food markets of the world. Where else can you have great food with no barrier to entry? No “it list” crowd, and no reservations required? Markets welcome all comers. They represent their communities, giving visitors a small taste of everything a place has to offer and giving locals an all-important third space to gather. And increasingly, they are a place where chefs can take risks, exploring their own tastes, styles, and techniques and trying out new concepts. 

In the very back corner of Marché des Enfants Rouges in Paris, a market dating back to the 17th century, you can belly up to the counter at Les Enfants du Marché, owned by Michael Grosman with Shunta Suzuki as the chef de cuisine. The stall’s pedigree could intimidate you, but upon arrival, it’s clear there is no pretense here — just delicious rotating dishes that focus on the sea, like mussels in a Gorgonzola cream sauce, a hearty cabbage and skate salad, and grilled octopus soaked in chimichurri. (And don’t bother ordering a glass from their extensive list of natural wines; they’ll pick and pair one for you.) 

At all of our best markets for food and drink, you’ll find dreamers like Manco and Salabè and chefs like Suzuki creating masterpieces in 10-by-10-foot kitchens. And nobody gets top billing. You’ll spot business suits next to fanny packs, raucous families next to social media influencers. It’s first-come, first-served, democratized dining at its finest. Just make sure to make room for the next visitor — and perhaps order that sixth slice to go.

Global Tastemakers is a celebration of the best culinary destinations in the U.S. and abroad. We asked more than 180 food and travel journalists to vote on their favorites, including restaurants and bars, cities, hotels, airports, airlines, and cruises. We then entrusted those results to an expert panel of judges to determine each category’s winners. In many categories, we’ve included a Plus One, hand-selected by our expert panel, to shout out more culinary destinations we don’t want our readers to miss. See all the winners at foodandwine.com/globaltastemakers.