What Italian word names the person who prepares pizza in a pizzeria?

The Italian word for a person who prepares pizza in a pizzeria is pizzaiolo.

A pizzaiolo is the pizza maker responsible for shaping dough, adding toppings, and baking the pie. The feminine form is pizzaiola, while the plural can be pizzaioli. The word is specifically associated with the craft of making pizza rather than with serving customers or preparing other Italian foods.

The role developed alongside Naples’s pizzeria culture. Pizza was sold by street vendors and bakeries before restaurants with tables became common in the early 19th century. As pizzerias became established, pizza makers developed specialized techniques for stretching dough, managing wood-fired ovens, and producing regional styles.

Pizzaiolo is easy to confuse with the names of other food trades. A gelatiere makes gelato, a salumiere handles cured meats, and a barista prepares coffee. The term also appears in accounts of Raffaele Esposito, the Neapolitan pizza maker traditionally linked to the 1889 Queen Margherita story, although historians debate parts of that legend.