pizzeria

American  

[peet-suh-ree-uh] / ˌpit səˈri ə /

noun

1. a restaurant, bakery, or the like, where pizzas are made and sold.

---

pizzeria British  

/ ˌpiːtsəˈriːə /

noun

1. a place where pizzas are made, sold, or eaten

---

Etymology

Origin of pizzeria

1940–45; < Italian, equivalent to pizz ( a ) pizza + -eria -ery

Explanation

Craving a baked crust topped with sauce, vegetables, and melty mozzarella? You might want to visit a pizzeria, a shop where pizzas are made! A restaurant that makes and sells pizzas is a pizzeria. While the name may sound Italian, it's an American invention dating from the 1940s, influenced by the word cafeteria. Though they weren't referred to this way until the mid-20th century, the earliest pizzerias opened in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York in 1905. Since then, Americans have embraced pizzerias, consuming about three billion pizzas per year by some estimates.

Example Sentences

She had legally migrated here with her family from Ukraine and was working in a pizzeria.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

Leg-spinner Crishan Kalugamage works in a pizzeria in Tuscany and topped up his three wickets against Nepal with the dismissals of England's Tom Banton and Sam Curran.

From Barron's • Feb. 17, 2026

The suspect had travelled to New York City for a job opportunity from Mankato, Minnesota, and had been working at a local pizzeria, according to the law enforcement source.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026

Lee played Mookie, a pizza delivery worker who watches his community reach a boiling point with the Italian owners of a pizzeria.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 20, 2025

I watched the guy line up a dozen plastic bottles on a card table outside Mr. Georgiou's wrecked pizzeria.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Related Words

• bar
• cafeteria
• coffee shop
• diner
• dining room
• inn
• outlet
• saloon