Pabianice, a small city near Łódź in central Poland, has been crowned the world’s top destination for Neapolitan-style pizza. The local pizzeria, Zielona Górka, has been named the best in a global survey of over a thousand pizzeria owners.
“I never ever expected to receive such an award. It’s great publicity for the restaurant, which I run with my wife, but also a great boost for Pabianice and the area,” said Jędrzej Lewandowski, the founder of Zielona Górka.
Like other top-tier pizzerias inspired by traditional techniques from Naples, Lewandowski’s establishment is part of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), a prestigious organization dedicated to promoting authentic Neapolitan pizza worldwide.
In a poll conducted among AVPN’s members—comprising approximately 1,100 pizza makers from 50 countries—Zielona Górka earned the coveted title of Best AVPN Pizzeria for 2024. It is only the second time in history that this award has been given to a pizzeria outside Naples.
The recognition is the latest in a string of honors for Zielona Górka, which will soon celebrate its 10th anniversary. Last year, it was ranked the 20th best pizzeria in Europe by a panel of Italian experts, bringing a surge of international attention.
This success has significantly boosted business, according to Lewandowski, a former architect who left his profession to pursue his passion for pizza-making.
“Success in the world rankings has made us a household name—we get clients from all over Poland and from abroad,” he told the Polish Press Agency (PAP). “Recently, we had an American customer from New York who was living in Kraków but traveled twice by train to Pabianice just to eat our pizza. That’s why I feel such a great responsibility for what we do.”
