This Lisbon pizzeria is the only Portuguese representative in the world’s top 50

In a world where pizza is almost a religion and Naples is the nerve center of this pilgrimage, there is a Portuguese restaurant that continues to make a difference. The Lisbon restaurant Forno D’Oro, located at Rua Artilharia 1, is the only one in the country to appear in the 50 Top Pizza World 2026 ranking . This year, it ranks 49th.

This rise is no accident. Forno D’Oro ranked 73rd in 2024, 61st in 2025 —and that same year, it broke into the European Top 10. This steady rise reflects a clear commitment to the authenticity of Neapolitan pizza: a 36-hour slow-fermented dough, carefully selected ingredients, and a wood-fired oven lined with gold leaf, imported from Naples and assembled piece by piece in Lisbon. With each baking cycle, at around 450 ºC, the pizza is ready in less than a minute.

Tanka Sapkota arrived in Portugal three decades ago, coming from Nepal via Germany and Italy, where he specialized in Italian cuisine. He opened Forno D’Oro in 2014 and today manages four restaurants in Lisbon—in addition to the pizzeria, Come Prima (ranked among the 70 best Italian restaurants in the world, including Italy), Il Mercato, and Casa Nepalesa. In 2018, he was honored in Alba as a Knight of the White Truffles, making him the only person in Portugal to receive this honor from the enogastronomic guild, which has existed since 1967.