Punch Neapolitan Pizza – Highland Park

¹⁰⁄₁₀ every single time. I’m obsessed. I get the Vesuvio or stick to basics with the Margherita and I’ve never once regretted either. Artichoke dip is also heaven. Love love love love love love love love. Literally can’t say it enough.

Okay, I expected this place to be way over hyped and I was ready for disappointment, but boy was I wrong. Our group ordered two different pizzas: margherita and one was our own creation with two different cheeses, olives, and mushrooms. Ingredients were top notch: very fresh toppings, cheese was nicely melted, and the tomatoes were actually sweet! Love the crust too. It’s a bit thicker than what I’m use to, but delicious none the less and they aren’t afraid to crisp up the bottom either. Recommended for sure!

Love Punch pizza– especially in NE Minneapolis. Very disappointed to find the one in Highland a loud, sit-​down restaurant with jacked up prices and slow, snotty service.

I stopped here last night with a friend after going to a museum. The food was poor. I was really disappointed in the pizza. Our appetizer and desert was delicious and the service was good. However, the pizza was soggy. Just really not my style. Today, I woke up at 4am throwing up… My friend also said she’s been really sick too. Hopefully this isn’t from the pizza!

The best oven pizza in the area. Absolutely delicious and great service. Most of the time the place is packed !!
I ordered take out today and they got my orders wrong, but made new ones very quickly and were very nice. The manager also offered to keep the pizzas they already made, I said no thanks since I had no use in more. He also gave me free pizza for the next time! Very good service, highly recommended. Great food:)

Great pizza, great service. If you are looking for classic Neapolitan Pizza look no further.

I love Punch Pizza. (I am of the school of thought that only wood-​fired, paper-​thin pizza counts as Real Pizza.) I love Highland Park. CAN’T GO WRONG.
This is a great place to stop for lunch when I have weekend work to do at St. Kate’s (where I work, and which is just around the corner). Perfect sauce, prompt service, a beautiful patio for the summer months.

Omg the best pizza I have ever had! !!
Everything is fresh and clean .
I will definitely recommend to all of my friends!!!

My wife and I were early customers at the first Punch in Highland, and we went a number of years without returning. The sodden, limp, burnt style now offered is not what we remember. There was some char, but the pizza was reasonably crisp. We simply don’t like Punch’s current approach to pizza and are done with punch.
For us, it’s Pizza Nea on E. Hennepin – a bit of char, but crisp to the bite. We have another friend, a real pizza fiend, who used to be a Punch fan, but now much prefers Pizza Nea.
P. S. I received a note from the manager, who informed me that a «dry» pizza is also available. So I give credit to Punch for that and look forward to trying it in the near future. Until that, I give 3 stars for good customer service.

Always love the punch extra margherita with Buffalo mozzarella — at any location. This one is special because of the actual server/​table service — guessing because of
The tight quarters. other than that unique bit, it delivers flavor quickly like any other punch. Docking a star because of the crappy parking situation in that area (I blame core power yoga!).

I like pizza. I am, however, not a pizza snob. I like all kinds of different pizzas, but I cannot get behind whatever this is.
I’ve tried their style of pizza about three times because everyone I know raves about it, including my sister-​in-​law. I just don’t like a blackened and burnt crust, that somehow remains soggy on top. It may be «authentic» or «some-​kinda-​somewhere» style of pizza that’s popular with hipsters or something, but It’s just not how I want my pizza cooked.
The toppings were all fresh and tasted good, but it’s hard to eat them when the crust is so awful.
I know tons of people love the place, but it’s not even on my top ten list of pizza places in the area.

I want one of these at every corner! From the creator of caribou coffee comes pizza made the tight way. The crust is fire baked and the toppings high end. One size, but plenty to share. Try the anti pasta appraiser, you won’t be disappointed .
Oh… And our server was top notch!!!

I came here to grab some take-​out because I was craving a solid, proper pizza. The Margherita satisfied that craving, and I can see why people rate this place so highly. It was fired perfectly, and the basil was clearly fresh. My only complaint is it was a bit greasy, but hey, that’s why we have napkins to Pat it down.
I’m not as wild about the space. Just walking through it I could tell it was cramped, noisy, and left an impression of being overcrowded. Not how I like my pizza joints to be. I definitely won’t do a dine-​in experience at this location.
I look forward to trying the rest of the menu! Because, yes, I’ve never been here before, and it seems like the place I’ll get closest to my beloved proper Italian pizza outside of Europe.

I’m a regular at Punch in Eden Prairie and yes, Punch has the best pizza in the world. Well, in the U.S. and Europe where I’ve tried many good ones. Went to the Highland Park restaurant last night which has table service and a slightly expanded menu. Same great pizza from the 800 degree brick oven.
Punch pizzas look large but they are thin and the lovely slightly charred crust is airy, so they are not as filling as you might think. This is not thick hold a slice in your hand style pizza. This is authentic Neapolitan style gooey fresh toppings eat with a knife and fork until you get each slice under control and can pick it up with your fingers. My wife skips the crust to save calories. I just resolve to run a few extra miles the next day. It’s too tasty to pass up. Fun to share several different pizzas with friends as they are all winners. And Punch pizza reheats well (preferably in the oven) if you do manage to take some home.
Highland Park also has a bread pudding hot from that brick oven that is unique to this location and worth a try. Flavors apparently change — I had a yummy triple berry with a nice crunchy crust-​over topped with a scoop of ice cream.
Compared to other order first then find a seat locations, I found the table service friendly and prompt with beverages but the pizzas do take longer to show up (at least Friday at 7pm). The strip mall parking lot is small but it looked like there was street parking nearby. This location does have a call ahead wait list.

One of my regular stops when in St Paul.
Fairly small place tucked in the end of a small strip mall which makes parking a premium — but don’t let that deter you.
This is authentic Sicilian style pizza and pasta made by four wonderful chefs squeezed into a 10×10 open kitchen.
WITH A FOURTH OF THE SPACE TAKEN UP BY THE WOOD OVEN !
So the restaurant itself can feel a bit crowded when all 100 spots are taken — though I recommend sitting outside if you happen to be in St Paul THE WEEK that the weather permits it.
(OK sorry I know St Paul has at least two weeks of temperatures above 32 degrees)
Anyhow the specialty here is the water buffalo mozzarella cheese which taste like the nectar of the most beautiful water buffalo in the world.
And NO I have not met that cherished mammal yet.
Any of the lies are great given the dough is fresh, the sauce divine and the cheese –well I already told you about the cheese.
Start off with the artichoke dip to get a taste of not only the most wonderful baked dip with chunks of artichoke but the pizza dough they provide you to stuff it into you pizza pie hole.
Can’t say enough GOOD about the wait staff and PLEASE show them how much you care by opening up that wallet.
Punch will reward both your taste buds and your soul.

Love love love this place!!! i get the burgata pizza with the Gorgonzola salad just loveeeeee it!! its gotto be eaten fresh or gets super soggy! Quick and lovely place for a quick bite!

Best pizza in the world, including pizza from Italy. No joke — it’s the best most authentic and fresh pizza you can ever hope to have. Plus they make it all in front of you AND the quality check EVERY SINGLE PIZZA. Simply the best best best BEST pizza.

My sister moved to St Paul, so now I have to freeze my man-​tits off for Thanksgiving. The plus side is that there’s an abundance of good restaurants I want to try. (and I’ll admit the Mall of America is kind of fun).
Wednesday night comes along, and the ladies are already cooking. Pizza night! They have a Punch Pizza near their house but I insisted on the original location because food-​porn star Andrew Zimmern said so. (One of his all-​time favorites).
We agreed on four pizzas and head out the door for take-​out. Call-​in orders are not allowed and I am worried about the crowds. Fortunately, we went after the rush, around 7:30, and the pizzas only take minutes to cook. I think we were out of there in 10 minutes. Great.
The crust is soft and chewy, but the pizza droops and toppings fall off. So I end up eating it with two hands after I put the toppings back on. Fair enough, how about the flavor? The Bruni with salami, sausage, onion and oregeno had a nice kick. Great flavor. The other pizzas were fine, but as my sister remarked, the ham and mushroom was underwhelming.
The staff was friendly. I would go back.

So, I was told Punch is the best pizza in the MSP region. First, don’t come alone. If you are alone, they graciously made a child’s pizza with whatever topping you prefer but I had crust envy watch what the regular size pizza looks like.
If Punch could fix one this, it’d be either serve slices or serve an individual version of the regular pizza.
The service was marginal and the ambiance is noisy with tables close together. This location is the original one and may be a bit busy due to this.
I’d love to try again, but need to bring others to get the full experience.

Met up with family to check out Punch for the first time. We ordered artichoke dip, caprrse salad and two pizzas. The artichoke dip was great but the rest was so-​so. The caprese didn’t have enough mozzarella, the white pizza was too greasy and tje Neapolitan wasn’t anything special. The crust on both pizzas could have used a bit longer in the fire.
The interior of the restaurant was nice but a bit small which made it a little too noisy. Service was good and quick and the server came to check on our drinks often.