As part of our list of the best pizza in Kobe, we offer this review of Pizzeria Allocco, in Kunikadori in Chuo Ward, Kobe; a neighborhood pizza spot with tasty Neapolitan-style pizza (and local honey).
Pizzeria Allocco in Kobe also goes by it’s Japanese name, ピッツェリア アロッコ. This pizza shop is located in Sunroad Kunika, which they call a “business park,” but is what I would call a quiet shotengai (Japanese “shopping street” ). The Allocco pizza shop is about a five minute walk from Kasuganomichi Station.
Allocco Pizza, is causal; almost feels like someone’s home. A comfortable spot. Moderately-priced. The shop could seat maybe 12 people (tops), if everyone was crammed together. You could bring a family, or someone special for a casual date.
Let’s look at the pizza:
Allocco Pizzeria does several different varieties of Neapolitan-style pizza. Some are classic traditional pizzas, and some allow for the originality of the pizza master to shine through.
For example:
The Marinara pizza at Allocco is the most bare bones I’ve ever seen. Very stripped down. For an extra 250 JPY (per the pictures on the menu), you can add a full compliment of anchovies.
The menu also features a Prosciutto Avocado Pizza; which is definitely not traditional, but sounds good. I was tempted to try it.
And Allocco does a Pepperoni Pizza, but it’s not typical pep and cheese. (For the classic versions, check out Jesus Pizza and 2 Bros Pizza for low-cost pizza slices in Kobe).
The Pepperoni Pizza at Allocco has onions and peppers; is almost like an American “Combination” Pizza.
(As you can see in the pictures in this review, he has a hand-made menu, that is artsy in an unpretentious way. Very cool, very personal, very local.)
His Pepperoni was very tempting (sounded great), but I had my eye on the Seafood Garlic Pizza:
“Seafood Garlic Pizza: Tomato sauce and gouda cheese, squid, shrimp, anari, muscles, scallops”
— From the pizza menu at Pizzeria Allocco
It is part of my personal history that even as I am the Pizza Czar of Japan (like my father before me), I spent much of the first part of life in the US of A. And while Americans love their pizza (I’ve eaten hundreds of pizzas), I don’t think I’d ever had a proper seafood pizza in the US (with the exception of the occasional option of a slice of clam and garlic).
Japan, however, commonly does seafood pizzas. I’m thinking of Seared Tuna pizza at Savoy in Azabujuban, Tokyo. Here in Kobe, there is a Octopus pizza Normanna at Azzirri Pizza. There is a classic Cicinielli pizza at Critters Pizza in Osaka (Cicinielli is a small whitebait fish, what the Japanese call shirasu). Similar to Allocco, the Nishi-ku location of That’s Pizza in Osaka also does a mixed-seafood pizza.
I wanted to give this one a try. I am working up to writing an article about “fishy” pizzas in Japan, and the Seafood Pizza at Allocco will go on that list.
As it arrived, it was simple, but tasty. Sweet sauce. Lots of cheese. Loaded with seafood, but maybe a little dominated by the Gouda.
To add a little heat to your pizza, Allocco offers Marie Sharps Jalapeno Sauce and Tabasco. If he wanted to step it up a little, he could bring us some proper red pepper flakes.
Does it pass the official Pizza Czar slice test? Can you pick it up? Give or take… yeah, maybe. Sort of.
You’ll notice that one of the ways in which he departs from “official Naples style” is in his more generous use of toppings. With more meat, (vegetables,) and cheese, a slice can be heavy. With that traditional thin crust, it’s not easy to support that extra weight.
As I arrived inside Pizza Allocco that night, it was impossible not to notice the three big, gorgeous longboards hanging overhead. A killer split-tail Dick Brewer, a Harbour (that might be close to 10′), and a big, red, Surftech epoxy monster. All lined up, like a squadron of bombers, pointed back into the kitchen. The shop is just wide enough to hold them all, side by side, lashed to the ceiling.
While surf towns often have a good pizza spot or two, it is not obvious to connect surfboards with pizza.
As it happens, I had had pizza for lunch as well, at a pizza shop in Kobe called Track Pizza. At Track Pizza, the pizza master had a wide, floaty, fish surfboard up on his wall. Two pizza shops, both with surfboards, in the same day. Was it a coincidence? Yeah, I guess it was. I did ask the pizza master at Allocco if he knew the guy at Track, and yes – they are friends. Of course. That makes sense (somehow).
It is also true that Kobe’s Pizzeria Allocco does a classic Quatro Fromage Pizza; four kinds of cheese, with some honey to offset the salty, savory dairy flavor. And this sets us up to mention:
Allocco Pizza sells local Kobe honey in the store, as well.
I was curious about the honey, and it seems like it could be a good souvenir to bring back from this trip to Kobe. The owner showed me three varieties, drawn from the activities of the bees from different times in the year in Kobe.
I choose the “Tanabata Flower Honey,” from the spring of 2025. Sweet, but a special, “floral” honey. It’s in my kitchen now. Good stuff.
I like this place. Simple, comfortable. Of course I like the surfboards too (pray for surf).
Pizza Restaurants in Kobe
— Azzurri Pizzeria in Chuo-ku, Kobe
— Neapolitan-style pizza at Elefante Trattoria and Pizzeria in Chuo-ku, Kobe
— Jesus Pizza NYC-style slices in Chuo-ku, Kobe
— Chicago pizza at BrewPub Starboard Pizza in Chuo-ku, Kobe
— 220 JPY cheese pizza slice at 2 Bro’s Pizza in Chuo-ku, Kobe