Our waiter was funny and kind. The pizza was delicious. I usually don't eat crust but their dough has a great amount of salt and crispiness with burnt bits from the oven. We went during lunch hours on a Monday and it wasn't packed but there were a good amount of people. No problem getting seated with our group of 6.

Amazing pizza - beautiful wine selections. I am not a fan of the area but will make the hour drive to eat here again. The service was amazing and I didn't mind the added 20% - I get it! The vibe inside is cool and open kitchen vibes. Love it.

The ambiance is inviting, the staff is exceptional, and the food is an unforgettable experience. If you're a foodie, a pizza lover, or looking to try something new, this is your spot.

FANTASTIC pizza! Light and airy crust, with a magical seasoning on the bottom. The yukon gold anchovy pizza was a truly novel experience, worth the trip all by itself. The Hawaiian pizza was very nice, but the spam didn't add much. The zeppole (donuts) were excellent, but the sauces didn't feel connected, not needed.

I have only started going to Pizzeria Toro in the last 6 months or so. It has instantly become our favorite pizza in the triangle. That means we come to Pizzeria Toro from North Raleigh. We usually come for lunch but on March 26th we came for dinner. It was a friday night and it was bustling. We were immediately seated tho we needed to take a seat at the bar. We were perfectly happy there tho we had no bar drinks. When we come for lunch we usually sit at a table. The noise level is "lively" whenever you come but happy. The staff is very professional and knowledgable, a joy to deal with. If you are not familiar with downtown Durham, and we are still learning, parking is a "bit of a do". When we come at lunch then metered parking is generally available across the street up and down the block. But for the Friday dinner we had to park "around the corner" in front of the Parlour ice cream shop. So parking takes a bit of effort but so far so good. And again, seating has so far been great. Our favorites have been the Pepperoni, the Truffle and the mushroom pizza's. But honestly you can't go wrong with any of them. The night we came the special was an Asparagus salad. We got two pepperoni pizzas, a Mexican coke, and the salad for $59 + tax and tip. Its important to mention the pepperoni is a white sauce not a tomato sauce if that matters to you. The crust is consistently outstanding and really stands out. Mind you I normally strictly a pepperoni and tomato sauce pizza type. But again, the mushroom pizza was outstanding as was the truffle and that is saying something for me to go for a non-pepperoni pizza.

I came with my wife on a Wednesday for lunch, and it wasn't too busy, so we were thankfully seated promptly. I tried their spicy lamb meatballs pizza, which came with a lot of kale on top and rustico cheese over their red sauce. The pizza was just ok - the meatballs were a bit sparse and I couldn't really taste the lamb in it. It had a bit of spiciness, but not as much as I was expecting. The kale was generously piled on to the pizza though, which I actually appreciated. The dough was thin crust, but the outer border of dough was a bit thicker, which I liked - the texture of the dough was good. My wife tried the soft egg pizza, which came with trumpet mushrooms, chiles, arugula, and parmesan. Her pizza was better than mine, in my opinion. The soft egg was done nicely with just the right consistency, and the depth of flavor from the mushrooms and parmasan were spot on. The size of my pizza was enough to fill me up, and I had a slice to spare, but my wife only ate about half of her pizza and took the rest to go. The space was clean and on the smaller side, but could fit a decent number of people. As lunch went on, the restaurant started to fill up a bit, but it didn't feel over crowded. I liked being able to easily see the wood fired oven where the pizzas were made. Parking in this area might be a bit trickier, depending on the time of day, but I was able to find street parking pretty easily when we went.

Pizzeria Toro served some of the best pizza we've had in the Triangle. This restaurant has been in business since October 2012 for a reason. That's all you need to know. If you want details, read on. This place is popular and doesn't take reservations. We showed up right around 6pm on a Saturday and it was packed. We were given an estimated wait time of 25 minutes. Our actual wait time was about 30 minutes. I generally don't like waiting at restaurants, but this wait wasn't that bad because we were able to sit at the bar, and the wait was worth it. The restaurant's main entrance faces E Chapel Hill St. There's also a side entrance and separate bar room around the corner on Morris St. That's where we sat and waited. We had the option to eat at the bar, but we decided to wait for a table in the dining room for the experience and ambiance. It appeared online orders were picked up from a counter in the bar room. So, if you're picking up takeout, enter via Morris St. Like many businesses in this part of downtown Durham, Pizzeria Toro doesn't have dedicated parking. There's plenty of street, surface lot, and deck parking nearby. We parked for free in "Lot 32" at 111 W Chapel Hill St. The City enforces metered parking Monday-Friday, 8am-7pm. At the time of writing this review, parking rates are $2.50/hour for street and $2.25/hour for lot/deck. The restaurant isn't very big. Seating is communal. There's no outdoor seating. A showcase oven and pizza prep counter are the focal point of the the dining room (open kitchen). The atmosphere was bustling. The food menu was straightforward with 10 appetizer, soup, and salad options (priced at $11-16 each), 10 red pizzas ($15-21), six white pizzas ($18-21), and four cured ham options ($11-18 per ounce). Some local items were featured such as Chatham County Crispy Pig's Ears ($14) and Orange County Baby Lettuces ($11). The drink menu was extensive and had a decent variety of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The wine list had a solid assortment of wines from across Italy. Here's what three of us shared: Antipasti * Burrata ($15) - cherry tomato config, everything flatbread * Ricotta Dumplings ($16) - cipollini, NC sweet corn, Italian truffle * Person Co. Roasted Okra ($12) - tomato mayo Pizza * Sweet Fennel Sausage, roasted peppers, provolone ($19) - red pizza * Spicy Calabrian Salumi, charred onions, fior di latte ($19) - red pizza * Cultivated and Foraged Mushrooms, garlic, fior di latte ($19) - white pizza Cocktails * Aperol Margarita ($13 each) x2 - Lunazul, Cointreau, aperol, lime, sea salt, rocks * Carousel ($12) - Campari, Barbera d'Alba, honey, lemon soda, rocks * Anguria Fresca ($13) - mezcal, watermelon, jalapeno, rocks Wine * Sterparo, Aglianico, Basilicata (2022) ($11 glass) - orange and pink wine from Southern Italy (rosato / rose) Everything was delicious. My favorites were the Burrata and the Mushroom pizza. Everyone in our group liked the Mushroom pizza the best. If it's on the menu, burrata is one of my favorite things to order when dining out. Most restaurant burrata I've had has typically been good. In comparison, Pizzeria Toro's Burrata was above average. Not only was it really fresh, but it had an added layer of richness and complexity. The accompanying "everything flatbread," a la everything bagels, was excellent. It was full of flavor and incredibly tasty on its own. And that's something I noticed they do really well here: bread (dough / crust). The crust on all three of our pizzas was absolutely fantastic. This was the kind of crust that had ideal flavor and consistency (the right amount of springiness) where every single bite was scrumptious and you wanted to finish everything. I'm a fan of mushroom pizzas in general and Pizzeria Toro's Mushroom pizza was probably the best I've had in recent memory. It was packed with umami. I also love garlic and fior di latte, so no surprise this turned out to be my favorite pizza. Second-best to me was the Sweet Fennel Sausage pizza. Again, outstanding crust and just terrific all-around flavor. High-quality ingredients, well-balanced. I recommend it if you like sausage pizza. The Spicy Calabrian Salumi pizza was salty and savory. While yummy, I probably wouldn't order it again simply because there were so many other better-looking options on the menu. The other apps, the Ricotta Dumplings and the Roasted Okra, were very good. The Ricotta Dumplings were recommended to us by our server and it was a great recommendation, fairly unique and very satisfying. The Okra was local and a tasty side. The cocktails were well-made, strong, and refreshing. Also eye-appealing. We interacted with lots of staff, from the hostess to the bartenders to the food runners, and everyone / service was great. Francesca was our server and she was wonderful. I could tell this is a well-run operation. "Toro" is Italian for bull. I think the business name is a nod to the City of Durham, nicknamed the "Bull City."

The pizza is so so good! Warning I can see how maybe it would be salty for someone who doesn't like salt at all. But I loooooove their pizza. I've had 3 fennel sausage pizzas in less than a week. Also, today I had their Aperol margarita. WOW! Best margarita I've had in Durham... which I definitely wasn't expecting. More than the food, I think it's important to mention how kid friendly they are. My son is 2 and they brought out a seat for him and gave him his own sippy cup- not just a cup with a straw. Overall.... So so so good.