On a quiet stretch of Baronne Street in the heart of Uptown New Orleans, there’s a locally-owned pizzeria quietly serving some of the most talked-about pies in the entire city — and it all started with a guy, his dad, and a lifelong obsession with dough. 🍕❤️
Zee’s Pizzeria brings bold, char-kissed, Northeast-style pizza to a city more famous for gumbo and po-boys — and it has done so with such conviction and craft that New Orleans locals have embraced it as one of their own. 🌶️
How Zee’s Pizzeria Won New Orleans’ Hearts
Owner Zander White — the “Zee” behind the name — grew up in New England, where his father was, by his own description, “borderline obsessed” with pizza.
When the family moved to New Orleans, Zander brought that Northeastern pizza passion along, and it quietly simmered for years through a career in the film industry. 🎬
Then the pandemic hit, and everything changed.
With film work paused, White threw himself headfirst into perfecting his craft — selling pies out of his back door to friends and neighbors, making just enough to cover costs and fuel his growing conviction that he had something special.
A pop-up at Zony Mash Beer Project — a beloved local brewery and community hub — served as his incubator and launching pad. 🍺
The pop-up proved the demand was real, and in the summer of 2022, White leaped — opening Zee’s Pizzeria full-time on Baronne Street in Uptown, the very neighborhood he knew best after attending Loyola University.
What made the pizza itself an immediate hit was White’s fierce, uncompromising approach to every component.
“Building on dough made by other people, I just felt we could never call it ours,” he told New Orleans Magazine — so he built his own low-hydration dough from scratch, cooked at high temperatures in Montague brick-lined gas ovens that deliver a hybrid style he describes as somewhere between New Haven and Boston. 🔥
The result is a pizza that is crisp, foldable, charred just right, and deeply flavorful — the hallmarks of the best Northeast-style pizza in New Orleans that loyal regulars can’t seem to get enough of.
That combination of obsessive craft, genuine hospitality, and neighborhood warmth is exactly what has turned Zee’s Pizzeria from a back-door pandemic project into one of the most celebrated independent pizzerias in New Orleans. ❤️
Food Highlights
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Dylan 🧅🍖: A classic, no-nonsense pie topped with red sauce, shredded mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, white onion, and house Italian sausage.
- Red Top Margherita 🍅🧀: The most popular pie on the menu — built with garlic butter, shredded and fresh mozzarella, and house red sauce layered on top for that signature Northeast presentation, then finished with fresh basil. 🌿
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Bye Felicia 🍯🌶️: A fan-favorite specialty pie topped with cup-and-char pepperoni, creamy ricotta, and a drizzle of hot honey.
- Bambino 🍖🧅: A hearty, meat-forward pie loaded with white onions, cup-and-char pepperoni, and house Italian sausage.
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The Farmer 🌾🧀: A rotating specialty pie that showcases seasonal, quality-forward toppings in true Northeast spirit.
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Pow Pow 💥🌶️: Another beloved rotating specialty — this is the pie for adventurous diners who trust the kitchen to deliver something genuinely unexpected and completely delicious.
- Buffalo Chicken 🍗🔥: A rotating specialty pie featuring tender buffalo chicken over Zee’s signature charred, foldable crust.
Atmosphere 🏡
Zee’s Pizzeria is as unpretentious and welcoming as the man who built it — a small, cozy Uptown spot with simple furnishings and white and red checkerboard design cues that immediately transport you to a classic East Coast pizza joint. 🍕
The slice counter is the heart of the experience — a casual, come-as-you-are perch where you can watch the kitchen work, grab a beer or glass of wine, and enjoy a slice the way it was meant to be eaten: simply, happily, and without ceremony.
As Axios New Orleans noted, the restaurant’s extended hours for both lunch and dinner have made it a neighborhood fixture for Uptown residents who want a reliable, deeply satisfying meal any time of day. 🕐
The whole vibe is best described as small-town East Coast casual landed in the middle of New Orleans — and that contrast, somehow, feels completely at home on Baronne Street. ❤️
Bottom Line
Zee’s Pizzeria is the Northeast-style pizza New Orleans didn’t know it desperately needed. From the obsessively crafted dough to the cup-and-char pepperoni and the legendary Red Top Margherita, every detail reflects a lifetime of passion and precision.
Locally owned, deeply personal, and completely delicious — this is Uptown New Orleans pizza at its absolute finest. 🔥🍕
Address:
3914 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70115
📞 (504) 766-6056
🕗 Mon 4PM–8PM | Wed–Thu 11:30AM–8PM | Fri–Sun 11:30AM–9PM (Closed Tuesday)