SLO restaurant named one of best pizzerias in US ... again. What makes it great?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Flour House ranked No. 19 on 50 Top Pizza’s 2025 list of best U.S. pizzerias.
- Italian-style menu, wood-fired oven and ingredient quality drive reputation.
- Restaurant earned praise from critics, customers and celebrity media features.
A San Luis Obispo restaurant is serving up some of the tastiest pizzas in the country, according to 50 Top Pizza.
For the fifth year in a row, Flour House landed a coveted place on the Italy-based guide’s list of the best pizzerias in the United States for 2025.
50 Top Pizza heralded the SLO pizzeria as being “totally different from everything you will find in the area.”
“Year after year we are noticing changes in pizzerias across the United States that have led to increasingly interesting ideas and that are good for the entire industry,” 50 Top Pizza curators Barbara Guerra, Luciano Pignataro and Albert Sapere said in a news release.
Flour House has gradually risen in the 50 Top Pizza rankings over the past five years, climbing from 35th place in 2021 to cracking the top 20 in 2025.
What is SLO pizza restaurant Flour House?
Husband-and-wife team Alberto and Gessica Russo opened Flour House, a pizza bar and pastaria, at 690 Higuera St. in 2016.
The eatery occupies the former location of Vieni Vai Trattoria, where Gessica’s parents, Giuseppe and Debra Silvestre, owned and operated an Italian food restaurant for 18 years.
Inside, Flour House features white brick walls, earth-tone tiles and stylish lighting fixtures.
There’s also a wood-burning pizza oven imported from Pozzuoli, Italy, that reaches 1,000 degrees. It’s the only oven of its kind between Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to Flour House’s website.
Alberto Russo, who was born and raised on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, previously told The Tribune that he and his wife decided to start their own restaurant to bring high-quality pizza to San Luis Obispo, along with seasonal salads, homemade pastas and a few Italian desserts.
So far, that vision has paid off, with customers lining up to sample the restaurant’s upscale Italian fare, he said.
Why is Flour House one of the best pizzerias in the US?
A total of seven California restaurants landed on 50 Top Pizza’s 2025 list of the eateries serving the most delicious pies in the United States.
Pizzeria Sei in Los Angeles was No. 2 on the list while Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco took third place.
Flour House claimed the No. 19 spot thanks to its Neapolitan-style pizzas, homemade pasta and “excellent” mixed drinks, 50 Top Pizza said.
Flour House is a “cozy, well-kept place,” where “costs are average for the city, but quality is top-notch,” the guide said on its website.
50 Top Pizza recommended visitors try the restaurant’s Queen Margherita pizza, which features San Marzano tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Flour House co-owner Gessica Russo said it was “such an honor” to secure a place on 50 Top Pizza’s rankings for five years in a row.
She attributed the pizzeria’s success to the expertise of its staff and its high-quality pizza dough and toppings.
“Even though prices have gone up, we have never cut corners on ingredients or quality of our products,” Russo told The Tribune.
Tribune readers voted Flour House one of San Luis Obispo County’s top 10 pizzerias in 2022.
The restaurant was featured on celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s hit Food Network television show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” in 2024.
The official episode description called Flour House “a lights-out Italian place ... plating a punchy Parmesan pasta in a righteous ragu and killer carbonara pizza.”
When is Flour House open in downtown San Luis Obispo?
You can taste some of the country’s best pizza by visiting Flour House at 690 Higuera St. in San Luis Obispo.
The pizzeria is a cashless establishment and does not take reservations. Every table is first come, first served, according to its website.
The restaurant is open 4 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is closed on Tuesdays.
How did 50 Top Pizza make its list?
Independent Italian guide 50 Top Pizza sent undercover judges across the United States to create its list of the 50 best pizzerias in the nation.
According to its website, the organization “evaluates pizzerias with anonymous inspections during which the bill is paid in full.”
Rankings were based on pizza quality and customer service.
