St James's, Pizza Restaurant Guide

“Up-market (loud) Italian” in a prime Mayfair location with swish styling and and a large menu incorporating relatively affordable pizzas as well as more substantial classic dishes. The experience is generally well-rated but, valuewise, prices can seem to verge on the “stratospheric” for what is delivered.

“Some really delicious Italian food using very good ingredients and a stylish, if low key, venue” – that’s the deal at this Neapolitan duo in Borough and the St James’s Market development. Pizza – using seawater in the dough – is a staple of the menu which also extends to pasta and other fare.

This Italian indie in Soho is entering its tenth year, and hides a large basement bar (boasting a wide range of vermouths) behind a small exterior. Feedback was a bit up-and-down this year – some former fans found blips in service and a poor ambience, while others continue to laud its “very good” Italian food and say a visit is “always fun”.

“Quality pizzas served by nice people in a bustling, energetic atmosphere. What’s not to like?” It’s a formula that’s winning massive, post-pandemic expansion for the Elliot brothers’ chain, which is adding eight London sites this year. Perhaps inevitably with such fast growth, it no longer enjoys the stellar ratings of yesteryear, but to an impressive degree also evades criticism: “always decent…”, “I can’t speak for the authenticity, but they’re tasty as hell”. Top Tip: “their pizza home delivery kit is great fun”.

“Quality pizzas served by nice people in a bustling, energetic atmosphere. What’s not to like?” It’s a formula that’s winning massive, post-pandemic expansion for the Elliot brothers’ chain, which is adding eight London sites this year. Perhaps inevitably with such fast growth, it no longer enjoys the stellar ratings of yesteryear, but to an impressive degree also evades criticism: “always decent…”, “I can’t speak for the authenticity, but they’re tasty as hell”. Top Tip: “their pizza home delivery kit is great fun”.

This smash hit from Manchester’s hip Ancoats enclave finally arrived in the Big Smoke (via Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham) in mid-2021, taking over the heart-of-Soho premises that till recently housed a branch of Wahaca. There’s nowt fancy about the pizza selection (marinara, margherita…) – the craft is in the Naples-imported ingredients (tomatoes grown on the slopes of Vesuvius, yada, yada). No survey feedback as yet, but the social buzz about the place suggests it’s well worth trying.

This Mount Street fixture proves that you can still find “solid Italian home-style food” in the heart of Mayfair – all the favourites including pizza, pasta and tiramisu. In proper Italian style, there’s a “great atmosphere”, too.

2019 Review: “Pizza isn’t my favourite, but the truffled one here tastes better than it smells… and it smells great!” – this fun pizza stop (nowadays incorporated into the ‘Mews of Mayfair’ empire, to which it’s a neighbour) is worth knowing about for a light, relatively affordable bite, off Bond Street.

“Amazing, authentic pizzas” – “straight out of Naples” – are the USP at these Soho and Baker Street outposts of a Neapolitan business that traces its origins back to 1870 and which featured in Elizabeth Gilbert’s global hit ‘Eat Pray Love’. The newer Soho venue, on the former site of Patisserie Valerie, is a “wonderful dining space”. Top Tip: “the two Naples original pizzas (Marinara and Margherita) are the best”.

2019 Review: “An old treasure given the Nick Jones treatment… welcome back!” – this resurrected Soho landmark gets the thumbs-up from most who have visited after its swish revamp care of the Soho House group, certainly for its “handsome looks” (including the gorgeous bar). Its “initially underwhelming-looking” brasserie menu can “deliver real joy”, even if overall ratings for the cooking are rather more middling.

“A table at the bar is always fun” at the original Cecconi’s – a sophisticated Italian brasserie, tucked away off Bond Street, which in particular is brunch central – “a comfortable place to have your coffee, eggs and Sunday Times… and to people-watch”. As ever here, though, it can all seem too pricey: a case of “style over substance”, or somewhere that’s “fine… but just fine”. And then there’s the question of judging the less commented-on brand extensions embarked on by owners Soho House. None of them inspire a huge volume of feedback but it’s all good, be it for the outlet at the City’s Ned Hotel, the “always enjoyable” neighbourhood spot in Shoreditch, or the Soho pizzeria (“always a great buzz”).

“Utterly delicious Neapolitan-style pizza” – the highest rated in town – is to be found here, where you’d least expect it – bang in the middle of the West End, just off Trafalgar Square. Neapolitan master pizza-slinger Ciro Salvo’s UK offshoot occupies a huge, “buzzy and lively” space in a hotel with its own entrance. 50 Kalò signifies ‘good dough’ in Napolitano, and Salvo’s secret is ultra-high hydration and long fermentation for a super-light crust.