ONE FAMILY.
TWO CHAMPIONS.
ONE LEGGENDA.
TWO CHAMPIONS.
ONE LEGGENDA.
Before La Leggenda was a restaurant, it was a nickname.
Before it was a nickname, there was Giovanni.
And behind Giovanni, beside him for more than 30 years, there was Loredana.
This is their story.
“Keep moving forward and never stop.”
GIOVANNI GAGLIARDI
WHY THEY CALLED HIM “LA LEGGENDA”
Giovanni Gagliardi comes from San Felice a Cancello in Campania, Italy, and from a family in which pizza was more than a profession.
It was something passed from one generation to another.
He began working with pizza when he was young, developing a personal way of handling and kneading the dough that eventually earned him a nickname among those around him:
La Leggenda. The Legend.
The name stayed.
So did the obsession.
Years of work led Giovanni into competitions, kitchens and pizzerias around the world, culminating in his victory in the Pizza Napoletana STG category at the 2012 World Pizza Championship.
But another city was waiting for him.
Miami.
FROM CAMPANIA TO MIAMI BEACH
The warmth. The noise. The people. The constant movement.
Miami felt strangely familiar.
And in 2017, La Leggenda found its home at 224 Española Way in Miami Beach.
The restaurant was never designed to imitate Naples.
It did not need to.
Naples was already in the dough, in the recipes, in the oven, in the voices behind the counter and in the way guests were welcomed to the table.
Miami supplied everything else.
The result became something entirely its own.
LOREDANA PASSARIELLO
THE OTHER HALF OF THE LEGEND
For decades, Loredana Passariello worked side by side with Giovanni, helping build the family, the business and the restaurant while Giovanni accumulated international recognition.
Then Giovanni stepped away from competition.
Loredana stepped forward.
In March 2026, she entered the Neapolitan Division of the International Pizza Challenge at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.
Her pizza was a Marinara.
No cheese.
No extravagant toppings.
San Marzano tomatoes, fresh garlic, oregano, extra virgin olive oil and the dough she knew so well.
She won.
Loredana finished first in the Neapolitan Division and became the only woman to qualify for the 2026 Pizza Maker of the Year competition.
After more than 30 years together, La Leggenda now had two champions.
And perhaps the most beautiful part of the story is that Loredana’s winning Marinara was not invented for Las Vegas.
It was already being served in Miami Beach.
A little bit of Hystory
We are what we came from.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
We are proud of every award.
We are even prouder that people still walk through the door hungry.
SELECTED MILESTONES
2012
Giovanni Gagliardi
World Championship, Pizza Napoletana STG Category.
2018
La Leggenda Pizzeria
Miami New Times, Best of Miami: Best Pizza.
2022
50 Top Pizza USA: No. 8
50 Top Pizza World: No. 36
Performance of the Year Award.
2024
50 Top Pizza USA: No. 9.
2025
50 Top Pizza USA: No. 10.
2026
50 Top Pizza USA: No. 11.
2026
Loredana Passariello
International Pizza Challenge: 1st Place, Neapolitan Division.
FAMOUS GUESTS
GREAT PIZZA TRAVELS BY WORD OF MOUTH.
And sometimes that word travels very far.
Over the years, athletes, international soccer players, actors, singers, entertainers, chefs and personalities from around the world have found their way to La Leggenda.
There is no velvet rope here.
No special pizza for famous people.
Only the same oven, the same ingredients and the same hospitality we offer everyone who walks through our door.
Because at La Leggenda, there is only one real celebrity.
The pizza.
