Glasgow versus Edinburgh. Which city has the best pizza restaurants? We decide.

Yes, Edinburgh has the most Michelin-starred restaurants, but Glasgow is arguably better at mid-priced eateries and bars. 

However, when it comes to a much loved foodstuff - pizza - who has the best restaurants?

We’ve crunched the numbers, so you don’t have to. 

THE CASE FOR: EDINBURGH

Everyone knows that Edinburgh’s finest pizza joint is Razzo (59 Great Junction Street, www.razzopizza.co.uk). It’s small, but perfectly formed, like Prince, Kylie or Stuart Little. If we were going to order anything, it’d be their provola e pepe, with San Marzano tomatoes, provola smoked cheese, black pepper and EVOO.

The Capital also boasts the wonderful East Pizzas (Instagram @eastpizzas) in Bonnie & Wild at St James Quarter. Their sourdough pizza toppings make the most of local produce and might include Hebridean Blue cheese, Great Glen Charcuterie’s wares or Arran Cheddar.

Talking of excellent toppings, we love street food van Wanderers Kneaded (Instagram @wandererskneaded),. You’ll usually find it dishing out pizza from its regular spot near the Meadows. Although we never recovered from when they took their surf and turf, which included prawns wrapped in bacon, off the menu, there are still many other tasty options to choose from.

This city is also the home of Civerinos (www.civerinos.com), which now has four branches, including the OG on Hunter Square and a box fresh venue on Raeburn Place in Stockbridge. Their newest baby offers a menu that includes Detroit-style pizza - deep dish and rectangular - or the skinny-based New Haven style, served by the tray. 

If you’re a fan of that Detroit style, then you could also try Homies, who are resident at Edinburgh Street Food (Leith Street, www.edinburgh-street-food.com). Their fluffy creations are crispy round the outside, pillowy in the middle and piled high with toppings like Philly cheesesteak, hot honey or buttermilk fried chicken.

We can’t sign off from discussing Edinburgh’s pizza restaurants without paying homage to the excellent Pizza Geeks (www.pizzageeks.co.uk) at Haymarket, Easter Road and Leith; Matto (www.mattopizza.co.uk) at Meadowbank and Morningside; Dalry Road’s Pizzeria 1926 (www.pizzeria1926.co.uk) and good old Origano (www.origano-leith.co.uk) on Leith Walk. 

THE CASE FOR: GLASGOW

You can’t chuck a dough ball without it hitting a pizza joint in Glasgow.

Recent additions to the Italian-food-loving city include Sear’s Pizza (Instagram @searspizza), which has just opened on Chancellor Street in the west end and is owned by Daryl Leach, founder of Baked Pizza Al Taglio (now closed), Paul Beveridge of Ramen Dayo! And Tom Lauckner, co-founder of Piece Glasgow. They’re serving New York style thin-crust slices, with nine options at £5 each or under.

In September, Glasgow’s Finnieston took delivery of its first branch of east coast favourite, Civerinos (9-13 Radnor’s Street, 0141 737 0387, www.civerinos.com). 

The city already has the well-established pizzerias, Paesano (www.paesanopizza.co.uk), on Miller Street and Great Western Road. I don’t think we’ve ever seen the west end branch without a massive queue out of the door. There was once talk of them opening an Edinburgh outlet, but that sadly hasn’t materialised. We can but dream.

We also love the friendly neighbourhood venue, Basta (561 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow (Instagram @basta_pizza_bar). They might be the only pizza bar that also serves this dish for brunch, with toppings including smoked salmon, rocket, dill pickle, crispy capers and eggs. We will never eat muesli again.

For those who want something a bit alternative, there’s the city centre’s eight-year-old Pizza Punks (90 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, www.pizzapunks.co.uk), which now has branches in Northern Ireland and England. Their offerings include Hot Cheeto! With white sauce, garlic oil, mac and cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan and hot Cheeto bacon bits. We’d try it, for research purposes only. 

Along a similar non-purist vein, Glasgow has three-year-old Nonna Said (26 Candleriggs, www.nonnasaid.com), where doolally options include pizzas topped with jerk chicken, currywurst or kebab. 

Although it’s not their only focus, we’re big fans of the Roman sourdough pizza at restaurant and deli Eusebi (152 Park Road, www.eusbideli.com), especially the hearty Big Carne, with tomato, Italian sausage, guanciale, calabrese salami and mozzarella. 

Other notable mentions should go to Rockvilla (6 Possil Road, www.rockvilla.pizza) the ever expanding Sano (1146 Argyle Street and 5 Bell Street, www.sano.pizza), which now has five branches UK wide, and the pocket-sized but venerable Errol’s Hot Pizza (379 Victoria Road, Instagram @errolshotpizzashop). 

The winner is: After much deliberating, digesting and nibbling of crusts, we think Glasgow has it, by a Roman nose. There’s just more choice, and a few new restaurants to try. That’s our decision, and it’s final. We enjoyed that, since here’s nothing like stirring up the ancient rivalry between east and west.