Thin & Crispy Pizza
Nine specialty square-cut pies, build-your-own, and two real gluten-free crusts.
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Subs, Salads & Wings
Seven subs on 9″ rolls, five fresh salads, and boneless wings in 11 sauces.
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Feeding a Crowd?
Spirit nights, team dinners, office lunches — square-cut stretches further.
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Quick Bites
One menu, one standard — all three Polk County shops.
Home / The Best Pizza in Lakeland, FL
Updated July 2026 • By the crew at J. Burns' Pizza Shop
Lakeland is quietly a great pizza town. Within a fifteen-minute drive you can get thin square-cut pies that haven’t changed since 1965, New York slices from a pizzaiolo with Manhattan credentials, creative wood-fired rounds downtown, and old-school family Italian joints that have fed generations.
This guide covers the eight local shops we’d actually point a neighbor to, depending on the craving. Ratings and details were pulled in July 2026 from Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor and will drift over time — the pizza is the constant.
2306 E Edgewood Dr & 5615 S Florida Ave #101
That's us — so no rating brag, just the facts. J. Burns' has made the same thin, crispy, square-cut pizza since 1965, from a dough produced specially for us. Two Lakeland shops, fresh subs, and the most serious gluten-free program on this list: rice flour and cauliflower crusts made for celiac guests, every day.
Visit J. Burns' →114 S Kentucky Ave (downtown), plus north Lakeland & Palace Southside
The most-searched pizza name in Lakeland, and the busiest dining room. The downtown Kentucky Ave original holds a 4.6 Google rating across roughly 3,600 reviews (July 2026) with a menu that runs from gourmet pies to calzones and pasta.
Lakeland
The buzziest name in Lakeland pizza right now. Led by a pizzaiolo who previously worked at Mama's TOO in Manhattan, it gets called a top-3-in-Florida contender in regional pizza groups. Expect proper NY-style slices and lines at peak hours.
640 E Main St, Unit 3
Small shop, big ideas — think truffle mushroom and cacio e pepe pies. A 4.8 Google rating (from a smaller review base, July 2026) makes it the pick when you want something you can't get anywhere else in town.
811 E Palmetto St
A 4.7 Google rating across about 280 reviews (July 2026) and the kind of regulars who review the staff by name. Reliable, friendly, and consistently in Lakeland's local-pack top three.
Lakeland Square Mall
Tripadvisor's current #1 pizza in Lakeland (July 2026). A family operation with roots in New Jersey pizza-making, and proof that great slices can live in a food court.
Lakeland
The name is the tell — 716 is Buffalo's area code, and this Yelp top-10 regular brings western New York pizza (and wing culture) to Polk County.
2346 Griffin Rd
North Lakeland's neighborhood option, with specialty pies like Buffalo chicken and Philly cheesesteak alongside a full pasta menu. The kind of place that feeds a family without fuss.
| Style | What you get | Where to go |
|---|---|---|
| Square-cut / tavern-style | Thin, crispy, cut in squares; crispy corners, cheesy centers; feeds groups well | J. Burns' Pizza Shop |
| New York slice | Big foldable triangles, chewy crust | By The Chef, Solorzano's |
| Downtown sit-down Italian | Pies plus pasta, calzones, and a full dining room | Palace Pizza |
| Creative / artisan | Chef-driven toppings, small-batch | Folds Pizza |
| Buffalo-style | Cup-and-char pepperoni territory, wing-shop energy | That 716 Pizza Joint |
| Gluten-free / celiac-friendly | Dedicated GF crusts, not an afterthought | J. Burns' (rice flour & cauliflower) |
It depends on the style you’re after. For square-cut, thin-and-crispy pizza, J. Burns’ Pizza Shop has been the local standard since 1965. For New York slices, locals currently point to By The Chef Pizza; for a downtown sit-down, Palace Pizza is the institution; for creative artisan pies, Folds Pizza on East Main is the one to try.
J. Burns’ Pizza Shop offers two dedicated gluten-free crusts every day — rice flour and cauliflower, both 10½ inches, made for guests with celiac disease or gluten intolerance — at both Lakeland shops.
Palace Pizza anchors downtown on South Kentucky Ave, and Folds Pizza is just east on Main Street. Pizza Odyssey on East Palmetto is a short hop from the core.
Yes — J. Burns’ Pizza has a south Lakeland shop in Maryoma Plaza at 5615 S Florida Ave #101 (33813), and the Palace family runs Palace Southside on the south side.
A thin, crispy pizza sliced into squares instead of wedges — also called tavern-style or party-cut. It’s J. Burns’ signature: crispy corner squares, cheesy center squares, and easy sharing for groups.
Two Lakeland shops — Edgewood Drive and South Florida Ave — plus Winter Haven. Thin, crispy, cut in squares, with gluten-free crusts every day.
