Searching for Perfect Pizza Near Me? 14 Stone-Oven Pizzas in Eminönü and Karaköy

If you're searching for "perfect pizza near me" in Eminönü or Karaköy, the answer is HR Italy. Our two restaurants sit at either end of the Galata Bridge: HR Italy Eminönü is at Yeni Camii Caddesi No:37, by the Spice Bazaar, and HR Italy Karaköy is at Kölemen Sokak No:12, at the foot of the Galata Tower. Both are open every day from 09:00 to 21:00, and both bake the same 14 pizzas in a stone oven.

A "near me" search fills the map with red pins, but it won't tell you which of them is any good. In this post we introduce both restaurants, look at what makes a perfect pizza and go through the 14 pizzas on our menu. Every pizza in the photos comes from our own kitchen.

Quick answer: which HR Italy is closest to you?

• Near Eminönü, the Spice Bazaar, the New Mosque or Sirkeci: HR Italy Eminönü, Rüstem Paşa, Yeni Camii Cd. No:37, Fatih. Phone: +90 546 257 44 93.
• Near Karaköy, the Galata Tower or the Karaköy ferry pier: HR Italy Karaköy, Kölemen Sk. No:12, Beyoğlu. Phone: +90 543 948 14 28.
• On the Galata Bridge: keep walking whichever way you are heading. Eminönü is at one end of the bridge, Karaköy at the other, and we are at both.
• Hours and menu: both restaurants are open every day from 09:00 to 21:00 and serve the same menu and the same pizzas.

Eminönü at one end of the Galata Bridge, Karaköy across the water. Photo: Mstyslav Chernov / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Pizza near Eminönü: HR Italy Eminönü

HR Italy Eminönü, Yeni Camii Caddesi No:37.

HR Italy Eminönü is in one of the busiest corners of the historic peninsula, a few minutes' walk from the Spice Bazaar, the New Mosque and the Eminönü ferry piers. Sirkeci, the Galata Bridge and the Eminönü stop on the T1 tram are a short walk away too. It is a good place to stop when you get hungry in the bazaar, or to sit down for a pizza before you catch a ferry. You can see the kitchen behind the window; there is an open terrace and an air-conditioned dining room, with table service.

• Address: Rüstem Paşa, Yeni Camii Cd. No:37, 34116 Fatih/İstanbul
• Phone: +90 546 257 44 93
• Open: every day, 09:00–21:00
• Nearby: Spice Bazaar, New Mosque, Eminönü ferry piers, Galata Bridge, Sirkeci
• Seating: open terrace and air-conditioned dining room
• Delivery: yes; links to the ordering apps are on the restaurant page

To try our pizzas right away, come to our Eminönü restaurant: HR Italy Eminönü page · open in Maps.

Pizza in Karaköy: HR Italy Karaköy

HR Italy Karaköy, Kölemen Sokak No:12.

HR Italy Karaköy is in the heart of Karaköy, at Kölemen Sokak No:12, a few minutes from the Galata Tower, the Karaköy ferry pier and the Karaköy stop on the T1 tram; from Eminönü, just walk across the Galata Bridge. The counter of this corner shop looks out onto the street, there are tables on the cobblestones outside, and upstairs there is a terrace surrounded by plants. A good place to share a pizza after exploring Galata or before you cross the water; Karaköy gets livelier in the evening.

• Address: Kemankeş Karamustafa Paşa, Kölemen Sk. No:12, 34425 Beyoğlu/İstanbul
• Phone: +90 543 948 14 28
• Open: every day, 09:00–21:00
• Nearby: Galata Tower, Karaköy ferry pier, Galata Bridge
• Seating: tables on the street and a terrace upstairs
• Delivery: yes; links to the ordering apps are on the restaurant page

To try our pizzas right away, come to our Karaköy restaurant: HR Italy Karaköy page · open in Maps.

We describe both restaurants and their neighbourhoods in more detail in The best Italian restaurants in Istanbul.

What makes a perfect pizza?

Everyone has their own idea of the perfect pizza, but good pizza makers tend to agree on a few signs:

• A puffy, spotted crust. The rim, which Italians call the cornicione, should be airy and light, with dark spots here and there. Those spots aren't burns; they show that the dough baked quickly at high heat. In Naples, pizza bakes in ovens hotter than 400 °C in under a minute and a half.
• A base that is crisp but not dry. When you lift a slice the tip may droop a little, but the underside should never be doughy.
• A simple tomato sauce. Not sweet and not smothered in dried herbs; it should taste of tomato.
• The right cheese. Mozzarella melts without leaving pools of oil. Fresh cheeses such as burrata and stracciatella usually go on after the pizza comes out of the oven, so they stay cool and creamy in the middle.
• A few toppings that work together. There is a reason the three-ingredient Margherita has been the benchmark for more than a century.

Walking into a pizzeria you don't know? Glance at the other tables before you order. If the crusts are puffy and spotted and the cheese hasn't left oil on the plate, you are in the right place.

Why the perfect pizza is the nearest one

A pizza starts to change the moment it leaves the oven. Within minutes the cheese firms up, the base softens in its own steam and the crust loses its crunch. A pizza that has spent twenty minutes in a box is not the same pizza that goes straight from the oven to your table. So if you are after the perfect pizza, a good oven around the corner usually beats a famous address on the other side of town. In Eminönü and Karaköy, that oven is ours: the pizza leaves the stone oven and reaches your table a few steps later.

We do deliver, but if you want to taste our pizzas at their best, eat them at the table in the first few minutes after they come out of the oven.

Our five most ordered pizzas

Our pizzas are handmade and baked in a stone oven. According to this year's orders at our tills, these are the five favourites:

1. Margherita Pizza

Tomato sauce, mozzarella, pesto sauce and oregano. Instead of the classic basil leaf, our Margherita gets pesto, so the basil reaches every bite. If you are trying a pizzeria for the first time, start here: because it is so simple, it shows most clearly whether the dough and the sauce are any good.

2. Alaturka Pizza

Tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, beef sucuk (a spiced Turkish sausage), beef sausage, beef ham, olives, mushrooms and corn. Alaturka means "Turkish style", and this is the generously loaded mixed pizza you find all over Turkey. All three cured meats are beef. A good one to put in the middle of the table and share.

3. Pepperoni Pizza

Shredded mozzarella, tomato sauce and Italian pepperoni. In the oven the edges of the pepperoni slices curl up into little cups and turn crisp. Simple, salty and mildly spicy; one for fans of American-style pizza.

4. Four Cheese Pizza

Mozzarella, parmesan, emmental and roquefort, finished with oregano. There is no tomato sauce: this is a white pizza, what Italians call a pizza bianca. The mozzarella softens the sharpness of the roquefort, the parmesan adds salt and the emmental its stretch.

5. Rustic Pizza

Basil sauce, mozzarella, courgette, rocket, lor (a fresh Turkish whey cheese, similar to ricotta) and pomegranate molasses. Of our meat-free pizzas, this is the one with the most Turkish touch: the mild tang of the lor and the sweet-sour molasses get on very well with the basil. No meat, plenty of greens.

For cheese lovers: Burrata and Stracciatella

The Burrata Pizza is marked as the chef's recommendation on our menu: a whole burrata sitting on tomato sauce, mozzarella, pesto, rocket and cherry tomatoes. Burrata comes from Puglia in southern Italy; on the outside it is a thin pouch of mozzarella, on the inside cream and silky shreds of cheese. Cut it open and spread the inside over the hot slices.

The Stracciatella Pizza puts that creamy filling, the stracciatella, straight onto the pizza: tomato sauce, mozzarella, stracciatella, pesto and cherry tomatoes.

With meat: Osso Buco, Smoked Meat and Lahmacun

Osso Buco Pizza: osso buco is Milan's slow-cooked shank stew. We roast beef shank in the oven for four hours until it pulls apart, then put it on the pizza with onion, tomato sauce and mozzarella. None of our other pizzas takes as long to prepare.

Smoked Meat Pizza: tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, smoked beef rib, rocket and parmesan. The rocket and parmesan balance the smokiness of the meat.

Lahmacun Pizza: this is what happens when Italian pizza and lahmacun meet at the same table in Istanbul. Lahmacun is a thin Turkish flatbread with a minced-meat topping; here that topping of ground beef, tomato, red pepper, onion and garlic bakes on our pizza dough in the stone oven. A quick way to taste Turkish food on Italian dough.

Meat-free pizzas

Leaving aside the sweet Nutella Calzone, eight of our 13 pizzas are meat-free. Besides the Margherita, Four Cheese, Rustic, Burrata and Stracciatella above, there are:

• Vegetarian Pizza: tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, courgette, aubergine, bell peppers and corn.
• Pomodoro Pizza: tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, cherry tomatoes, basil and pesto.
• Fungi Pizza: mozzarella, mushroom cream, button mushrooms and oregano. Mushroom cream instead of tomato sauce, and plenty of mushrooms.

If you don't eat meat, you will find the whole meat-free side of our menu in Looking for a vegetarian restaurant in Eminönü or Karaköy?

A sweet pizza: Nutella Calzone

A calzone is a pizza folded in half and sealed, born in Naples. Ours is sweet: Nutella, banana and strawberry inside the pizza dough, with icing sugar on top. If you want your dessert from the oven too, finish the meal with this one.

Which pizza should you order?

Come to the restaurant nearest you: Eminönü or Karaköy

To try the perfect pizza right away, come to our restaurants in Eminönü or Karaköy; both are open every day from 09:00 to 21:00. As our posters say: Veni. Vidi. Gusta. I came, I saw, I tasted.

All our pizzas and the rest of the menu, with ingredients, are on our menu page, and details of both restaurants are on our restaurants page. Links to the delivery apps are on each restaurant's page, and for larger groups you can send a request through our group reservations page.