Welcome back, Polk County.
Mike here.
I was on a pizza kick this week. With this article, and a pizza review for Mike's Polk Food Quest as well.
We led off The Best Food In Polk county articles talking about just Winter Haven; but after a couple months I felt it was time to crown the best in Polk!
Katie and I have our two go-to places, but we've been doing our best to venture out a bit and try others to see if they can compete.
So expect to see a bit more pizza in Mike's Polk Food Quest in the coming months.
But alright, without further ado:
The Best Pizza Places in Polk County, Florida.
And, as always, this isn’t just a list I’ve put together based on my own preferences…
This list was built from HUNDREDS of votes, from locals just like you.
Let’s go 
Special Author’s Note:
I consider myself picky when it comes to pizza; being from Long Island, NY (and Katie from New Jersey); but I LOVE the first and fourth place spots on this list.
First Place: Palace Pizza
The Best Pizza Place In Polk County, Florida
Palace Pizza — 114 S Kentucky Ave, Lakeland
Taking the top spot is Palace Pizza.
What stood out here wasn’t just how often it came up — it showed up everywhere.
Across Lakeland threads, Polk County discussions, and general recommendations, “Palace” was one of the most consistently mentioned names.
With voters sharing:
- “Palace all day.”
- “Best pizza in Lakeland.”
- “Palace Pizza hands down.”
That kind of consistency across different parts of the county is what pushed it to number one.
If you’re looking for a reliable, go-to pizza spot in Polk County, Palace is one of the safest bets.
Second Place: 716 Pizza Joint
The Second Best Pizza Place In Polk County, Florida
716 Pizza Joint — 1950 S Combee Rd, Lakeland
Coming in second is That 716 Pizza Joint.
If Palace is the most consistent pick, 716 is the one people get excited about.
AND it just came in as the number two pick for the best wings in Lakeland.
This spot had some of the strongest reactions of any place on the list.
With voters sharing:
- “716 all day.”
- “Best pizza outside of Buffalo.”
- “Nothing compares to 716.”
Even in threads where people were trying to recommend other places, 716 still came up as the standard.
That says everything.
It might not show up as evenly across every part of the county, but when it does come up, people are confident about it.
Third Place: J. Burns Pizza
The Third Best Pizza Place In Polk County, Florida
J. Burns Pizza — 2 Lakeland Locations & 1 Winter Haven
Coming in third is J. Burns Pizza.
This is where consistency really matters.
J. Burns didn’t rely on one big thread or one area. It showed up across Winter Haven, Polk County, and mixed-area conversations over and over again.
It also came in at number three on our list of the best pizza in Winter Haven; so it's nice to see it come in and earn a spot here as well.
With voters sharing:
- “J Burns is the best.”
- “J Burns every time.”
- “If you like thin crust, J Burns is really good.”
It may not have the hype of 716 or the reach of Palace, but it quietly built one of the strongest cases on the list.
And that’s exactly what earns it a top three spot.
Fourth Place: Upper Crust Pizza
The Fourth Best Pizza Place In Polk County, Florida
Upper Crust Pizza — 362 3rd St NW, Winter Haven, FL 33881
Landing in fourth is Upper Crust Pizza.
If you look specifically at Winter Haven conversations, this is one of the names that comes up the most.
Which is why it actually beat J. Burns on our list of the best pizza in Winter Haven, coming in at the number TWO spot over there.
BUT, it's important to remember that Upper Crust is only in Winter Haven, and J. Burns has 2 locations in Lakeland AND a Winter Haven spot.
That said, voters shared:
- “Upper Crust hands down.”
- “Best pizza I’ve found so far.”
- “Upper Crust is the best pizza.”
This is a great example of a spot with a strong local following that still holds its own across the county.
It may not have the same reach as the top three, but its consistency in one of Polk’s biggest areas puts it firmly in the top five.
Fifth Place: Il Forno
The Fifth Best Pizza Place In Polk County, Florida
Lakeland (North & South locations)
Rounding out the top five is Il Forno.
This is one of those spots that quietly showed up across the county, especially in Lakeland conversations.
It might not have the same loud fan base as some of the other spots on this list specifically for pizza — but this is a place that continuously gets sent in as the fan favorite place to eat in all of Polk for Italian food.
With voters sharing:
- “Il Forno is really good.”
- “Il Forno for sure.”
- "Il Forno is the best."
If you’re in the Lakeland area and looking for a solid, reliable pizza spot AND incredible Italian food in general: Il Forno is the spot.
Other Great Pizza Places In Polk County, Florida
If you’re anything like me, you want to try all the best pizza in Polk County, Florida so you can be the judge for yourself.
So here are the rest of the top ten pizza places in Polk County, Florida (in order 6-10):
- #6 — Sal's Pizza (Winter Haven)
- #7 — Pizza Odyssey (Lakeland)
- #8 — Pizza Brothers (Auburndale)
- #9 — Bistro Pizza (Winter Haven)
- #10 — Calogero’s Pizzeria (Lake Alfred)
Which gives us the full top 10 pizza spots in Polk.
And brings us to the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
My personal opinion (that no one asked for 
).
Here are my top pizza spots:
- Palace Pizza
- Upper Crust
- Saving This Spot
As always, I'm reserving that third spot until I have tried every spot on the list, and there are still quite a few I need to get to.
I'm not a big thin crust guy (being from New York); BUT ... I almost wanted to put J. Burns. It has grown on me a bit since I wrote the Winter Haven article and saw how many of you voted for it.
From the looks of it, I'll need to get to 716 Pizza Joint to try both the pizza AND the wings for one of my upcoming Mike's Polk Food Quest articles.
THANKS!
Thanks for reading this edition of The Polk Squeeze today.
Share this with a friend who's been looking for the best pizza in Polk County.
- Mike Romaine
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