A beer rests on a railing at SOL Taphouse overlooking Busan's Gwangalli Beach, Aug. 9, 2025. Courtesy of Kevin Grabb
There are fewer pleasures in life than going to Busan. The city offers up the delights of sunshine, beaches, urbanity and local cuisine such as "dwaeji-gukbap" (pork rice soup) or the myriad of "eomuk" (fish cake) producers. I’m going to hazard a guess that most people wouldn’t associate Korea’s coastal “second city” with great pizza.
But they should.
Enter SOL (which stands for "Slice of Life," not the other thing) Taphouse. Located on the fourth floor of a building across from Gwangalli Beach, it offers stunning views of the beach, Gwangan Bridge and the revelries that occur at street level below. The atmosphere inside is a cross between cozy, Victorian factory and neo-industrial chic, and somehow it works. This is a great date spot for these reasons alone, but let's get into the main attraction shall we?
I’ve had a lot of great pizza in Korea and I even sang the praises of “Best Pizza on the Peninsula” at Spill Out in Seoul's Yeonnam-dong a few years back. SOL Taphouse is just as good. I couldn’t believe it when I’d uttered these words out loud to myself, sitting on that stool in Busan. This is quintessential New York pizza. Thin crust, big slices with a foldable edge and chewy enough to satisfy upon finishing every slice. In true New York fashion, you can also get individual slices to order here. This simply isn’t common in Korea and I was blown away. I was getting to choose my own slices and mix and match here in Busan.
