Satisfy your taste for authentic, Neopolitan-style pizza straight from the wood-fired oven at this Golden Belt pizzeria. Best of all, you can order pies straight to your table at Hi-Wire Brewing next door, or enjoy a picnic on the grassy lawn outside.
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Hours:
Monday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Tuesday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Wednesday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Thursday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Friday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Saturday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Sunday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Cugino Forno in Durham is an absolute gem! We ordered the Bianca pizza, and it was hands down the best pizza I’ve had in the Triangle area. The flavors were perfectly balanced, with fresh ingredients and an amazing crust that had just the right amount of crispiness. The open wood fired oven added a wonderful authentic touch and that signature smoky flavor you just can’t replicate.
What truly stood out was the quick turnaround. Despite it being a busy Saturday night, our pizza was ready in just a few minutes - impressive speed for such high-quality food. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, and you can even watch your pizza being made fresh in the open kitchen. Highly recommend Cugino Forno to any pizza lover - it’s a must-visit spot in Durham!
Melissa Poole
Oct 13, 2024
4
Excellent pizza! Crust was perfect, cheese had just the right pull, and the other ingredients were fresh and flavorful. The only reason it’s not five stars all around is the difficulty with parking(full disclosure, went on a Saturday), the prices were on the higher side, and they do not allow any substitutions or customizations. Luckily we weren’t in a hurry and are not picky eaters so we could find a pizza from their menu that we liked. Would definitely return, but perhaps not on a Saturday. We had the traditional pepperoni and a meat lovers pizza. Both really were incredible! Finished off with the Tiramisu cake.
Heather House
Sep 29, 2024
4
The hubs wanted to get out of the house for dinner. I started looking at my bookmarks and then just did a search for Italian. Cugino popped up, which wasn't on my list yet, and you can't go wring with woodrired pizza. We split everything. The Verona salad was my favorite. The combo of blue chees, candied pecans, blueberries and apricot vinegarette was amazing. The hubs doesn't care for blue cheese and agreed because he knows I like the combo... and he had two servings! We got the Napolentana pizza. Pizza's are good size and delicious. I love they have a little station where you can get marinara, garlic, salt, oregano, thyme paremsan cheeseand crushed red pepper. We got dessert to go - chocolate cake, Italian tart and Canoli. The tart was so good and tart! The Canoli light and the cake light... the chocolate moose filling and icing was very good. Habs said we would go back to try the Bianca!
Lillian Hagermeister
Sep 9, 2024
3
Gotta be honest I didn't love it. Somehow the bottom of the crust was a little burnt and the top had no char to speak of. The toppings looked a little sad and the whole thing lacked flavor.
I got a huge cup of sauce and dumped a bunch of red pepper and garlic powder in it and then it was fine.
For the price point I'll stick to v pizza or toros.
Thomes?
Aug 24, 2024
5
Lovely pizza that makes you actually want to eat the crust. If you're usrd to Domino's then be prepared to spend $20 per pizza, but it's absolutely worth it!
Monroe Chatman
Aug 9, 2024
4
If you wanna watch soccer and eat pizza, this is the place! Hands-down, this is one of the best pizzas that I’ve had in North Carolina. I cannot believe that the people who run the spot is from Turkey! That didn’t have no effect on how good this pizza is! They have the old-school Italian clay ovens that come from Italy, which set the tone for the whole place as far as the ambience. The place looks like a place to have summer camp. I dig the bikes. but that’s not what we here for folks, we had the funghi pizza this pizza had truffle oil, base cheese, sautéed onions with mushrooms. Those sautéed onions was crazy. I took one bite close my eyes slow Mo. Slow chew delicious. Overall the pizza had great flavor. The crust was thin crunchy but not cracker crunchy which is a good thing, put me in a mind of a New York pizza. The slices were huge. I think for the price you get a nice size pie ( bang fire you buck) one thing to keep in mind they don’t let you all to the pizza what they have is what is what you get. I’m sure they’ll let you take away from the pizza, but they don’t let you add anything to it. I went during a workday. They only had two guys working. The customer service was OK. This is definitely a place that you can make your favorite spot for pizza. Super family- friendly they do serve alcohol, but I think that on the weekends you might see more people drinking than you would during the weekday at lunchtime, which is the time that I went, but they also have outdoor area so you can watch kids run around eat and they can come back when they feel like they’re hungry. me and my wife are looking forward to going back pretty soon. I have my eyes on a three layer red velvet cake. That was the size of a cupcake. That thing looked delicious. Enjoy your time here you will return. Don’t trust me. Trust the flavor.. the only downside that I have is they didn’t have any other meats besides pork no turkey pepperonis or beef toppings. I really like the area that this spot was in because you can get pizza have dessert there or you can go across the way and have ice cream at two roosters. Can go wrong. They complement each other.
David Chang
Jan 26, 2024
5
Lots of interesting pizzas at a great price point. Order the pizzas and run over to hiwire for beers, they will bring the pizza over! Pretty awesome. The spicy salami was pretty salty and the peppers were nice and spicy. Pizza dough is thin, flavorful, nice texture. Overall would recommend.
Wenyi Zhou
Jan 6, 2024
4
They only sell 16-ich pies. I ordered the Napoletana. I really like the texture of the crusts. The toppings were definitely made of fresh ingredients and were not overtly salted like any other pizza place. But I wasn’t blown away by it. Maybe I’ll order a different flavor next time.
Sophia Simoni
Dec 31, 2023
5
Incredible pizza, very kind staff and extremely kind and welcoming owner :) I definitely recommend this pizza spot!
Elizabeth M
Dec 27, 2023
5
Make your own authentic, Neapolitan-style pizza in Durham! 🍕Cugino Forno, founded by 3 cousins who are actually from Turkey, offers pizza-making classes that are super fun and informative!
Almost all ingredients are imported from Italy. 🇮🇹 Only the fresh basil, mushrooms, and onions are local. The pizza ovens are also from Italy and contain stone from Mt. Vesuvius! 🌋
👩🏻🍳 Pizza-making classes are available for private groups only. There is no age limit, so it’s also great for families and kids!
If you’re not the DIY type, simply order from their menu and dine-in or pick up one of their frozen pizzas to take home! They also offer salads and decadent desserts. 😘
