No tourist traps · no paid placements

Local restaurants in Zaandam, Netherlands

// where locals actually eat — updated September 2026

2 vetted neighbourhood spots in Zaandam, Netherlands — Pizza and Indonesian, found through local word of mouth rather than a marketing budget. Every one of them is below.

1. 1

   Pizza

   Bacio Pizza

   Bacio Pizza is a wood-fired pizzeria on the Westzijde, run by an Italian couple who kept it to one small room in Zaandam. There is no second branch and no delivery: you order, you wait for the oven, and you either sit down or carry it home. The method is traditional and the toppings are allowed to wander a little, with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free bases handled as real options rather than concessions. A short list of aperitifs and organic wines is all the drinks menu needs to be. The room is small enough that a party of twelve fills it, and the Zaanstreek's own food writers name it the area's best pizza — no small claim in a region full of casual Italian addresses.

   Dietary: Vegetarian options are on the menu.

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2. 2

   Indonesian

   Toko Kalimantan

   Toko Kalimantan is a family-run Indonesian kitchen on the Rozengracht, a short walk out of Zaandam's centre. The shape is familiar to anyone raised on Dutch-Indonesian food: a counter, a menu written in the language of home cooking, and portions built to feed people rather than to impress them. Rice tables, soups and slow-cooked meat dishes arrive as complete meals rather than snacks, and the vegetarian side of the menu is a genuine section, not a single afterthought. Almost everything is set up to be carried home, which is how most of the neighbourhood eats it. This is the sort of address that never advertises and has never needed to — the food has been doing that work for years.

   Dietary: Vegetarian options are on the menu.

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