Instagram / ilfornosa
Southtown's Il Forno, which opened six years ago, is known for its fresh, local ingredients.
Known for its cozy digs, local ingredients and the bubbly pies from its handcrafted oven, Il Forno snagged the No. 32 slot in the online guide, curated by Italian scholars and epicures Barbara Guerra, Albert Sapere and Luciano Pignataro.
“The wood-fired oven is used for baking the pizzas, and great care is taken in the choice of the raw ingredients, which are all local, even the mozzarella and the ricotta. The homemade cold cuts are full of genuine flavor, it is really worth your while,” the guide says of Il Forno. “The pizza alla carbonara is a novelty for the States and it is well worth trying, as is the Parma.”
According to the 50 Top Pizza website, Guerra and Sapere are co-creators of the international signature cooking congress Le strade della Mozzarella, the first symposium to feature a pizza chef’s presentation on a stage. In short — these familiari really, really love all things pizza.
Helmed by chef Jason Garcia, Il Forno — or “oven” in Italian — serves up decadent pies with scratch-made mozzarella, fresh veggies and house-cured meats. There’s also a robust “Not Pizza” section of the South-of-downtown eatery’s menu, boasting salads, hummus, meatballs, antipasto and a sinful chocolate mousse.
This isn’t the only shoutout the Il Forno has received recently. The six-year-old restaurant was featured last year in Food & Wine Magazine's roundup of the best pizza restaurants in each state, landing one of just five slots reserved for Texas. The pizzeria earned a mention for its seasonal take on Naples-style pizza and use of herbs and veggies grown in its backyard garden.
Il Forno, 122 Nogalitos St., joins two other Texas pizzerias on the 50 Top Pizza list: Austin’s Bufalina Due and Partenope Ristorante in Dallas.
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