Marseillais pizza is the thin Sicilian-rooted version, the canonical order half cheese and half anchovy, baked in a wood oven and cut into thin slices, often eaten standing at a counter or out of a paper.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Marseille's Sicilian and Calabrian immigrants from the early 20th century brought the wood-fired pizza tradition that became Marseillais pizza, distinct from the Neapolitan version with a thinner crust and a sharper salt-and-anchovy edge. Chez Etienne in Le Panier (1943) and Chez Sauveur in Noailles (1943) are the canonical rooms, both still cooking without menus on cash-only terms. The half-anchovy half-cheese is the local Marseillais order, asked for as the moitie-moitie.
Common allergens: Gluten, Fish, Dairy
Tip from the editors. The 24-hour cold fermentation is the difference between bread and pizza; do not skip it. Lay the anchovies on the cooked pizza after baking, not before, or they fry into salt.
Chez Etienne in Marseille's 2e Panier has cooked wood-fired Marseillais pizza since 1943, no menu and cash only, anchovy pizza around €15, supions.
Try: Anchovy pizza, fried supions and grilled meats
Tip: Cash only, no reservations; closed Wednesday and Sunday Cash is faster than card.
Chez Sauveur in Marseille's 1er Noailles has cooked Sicilian-rooted Marseillais pizza since 1943, the Pizza Speciale around €15, the cheapest wood-fired.
Try: Sicilian wood-fired pizza
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; takeaway saves the queue at peak Cash is faster than card.
Pizza Charly in Marseille's 1er Noailles slings pizza al taglio since 1962, €1 the slice, €2 the half pie, €4 to 6 whole, the cheapest serious pizza.
Try: Marseillais pizza by the slice
Tip: Three locations (Noailles, Panier, Opera); takeaway is fastest.
Le Vieux Panier in Marseille's 2e on the Place de Lenche is a wood-fired pizzeria with a small terrace looking down toward the Vieux Port and the MUCEM.
Signature: Wood-fired pizza, Italian pasta, Mediterranean plates
Order: Any of the wood-fired pizzas; the terrace at sunset is the second order.
Tip: Place de Lenche stairs descend straight to the old port; book the terrace for the view.
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