Us Brits love a pizza – be it takeaway or dining in and, fortunately for us Bristolians, pizza places aren’t hard to find these days. If the recent news of Pizza Hut’s financial woes and restaurant closures are anything to go by, it seems more and more of us are choosing to branch away from the big chains and feast on some of the tasty offerings from our local independent pizza makers.
And Bristol is a sucker of a city for a pizzeria or Italian restaurant – there’s an abundance of choice, even beyond the family run independent businesses. You only have to look at the hype surrounding Rudy’s arrival to the city, and even the fact that Cribbs Causeway now boasts not one but two Pizza Express restaurants because of its own success, to see a pizza pie is one of our go-tos for lunch, dinner, or even just a snack.
But when it comes to smaller teams, exclusive to Bristol, starting out in the likes of a back garden pizza oven or a small garage unit, and now winning coveted awards for their dough, toppings and pizza cooking skills – the list below proves we’d be just fine if all the big chains decided to close up shop tomorrow…
Laura’s Pizzas
Address: Bishopston – 25B Merton Road, Bishopston, BS7 8TL & Totterdown – 1 William Street, Totterdown, BS3 4TU
Earlier this month, BristolLive reported that award-winning Bristol pizza chef Laura Stone had opened her second venue in the city. The 30-year-old was crowned the winner of the Women in Food Award at this year’s Uber Eats Awards back in September, and has just opened up a new site in Totterdown.
Laura and her small team make all their pizzas fresh in a proper Neopolitan style -Credit:Paul Gillis/Reach Plc
Laura’s pizza business, named Laura’s Pizzas, started life as a pizza delivery and takeaway service with a few covers for seating at a small unit on Merton Road in Bishopston. She serves up hand stretched, freshly made Neapolitan pizzas, after learning the craft working in New York for three years.
The menu includes gluten free base options, and classic flavours such as margherita, pepperoni, marinara, vegano, bianca, and the likes of salsiccia piccante, prosciutto e funghi, melanzana, chilli zucchini, and even sides of arancini, garlic bread, and sauces. Plus a selection of drinks, and even sweet treats like brownies, tiramisu and cheesecake.
Read BristolLive’s review here.
Gigi’s Pizza Shop
Dol and Rapha – the team at Gigi’s Pizza Shop -Credit:Grace Burton/Bristol Live
Address: 47 Old Market Street, Bristol, BS2 0EX
Gigi’s Pizza Shop opened its doors back in November 2024 and can be found on Old Market Street – right next door to its sister restaurant, Grano. The newest venture by owners Rapha and Alberto, the brand new eatery is serving up 12″ and 18″ pizzas, either whole or by the slice – for dine-in or takeaway.
Inside, a huge pizza oven can be seen behind the counter, with the team making full use of it and loading it with pizza after pizza – the likes of which include Cacio e Pepe, classics like Margherita, and even a vodka pizza. The menu also includes a range of desserts and drinks – from Mexican cola to Peach Iced Tea – sides like salads, and even cocktails.
Read BristolLive’s review here.
Back Garden Pizzeria
Back Garden Pizzeria’s new restaurant on St Stephens Street, Bristol -Credit:Paul Gillis/Reach Plc
Address: 35 St Stephen’s Street, Bristol, BS1 1JX
A pizza business which began life in a back garden in Barton Hill, has made the move into a bricks and mortar restaurant in Bristol City Centre this month. Back Garden Pizzeria serves up ‘Neapolitan sourdough pizzas with a Sardinian twist’, according to its website, and prides itself on its ‘unique and authentic Italian flavours’.
Back Garden Pizzeria formerly resided in the Art Club market on Bond Street, which closed in December, leaving the local businesses that called it home with just a few months to vacate the premises.
According to Back Garden Pizzeria’s menu, pizzas are all made in-house, with top-quality Neopolitan flour and a dough that is naturally leavened using a sourdough starter that is more than five years old. The team adds: “Semolina adds a wonderful crunch and crispiness to the crusts, giving our pizzas a unique texture.
Pizzarova
Address: Whiteladies Road, Park Street, Gloucester Road, North Street and now Brixton in London
In 2013 Pizzarova was a travelling pop-up stall serving food in the streets of Somerset, and since launching the first restaurant on Gloucester Road in 2015, has since launched on North Street, Bedminster and Park Street, opposite College Green. In 2023, BristolLive reported that joining the family would be a new location at 113 Whiteladies Road in Clifton.
And just this month, the Bristol-born brand announced it would be expanding to open a new location in Brixton in the capital.
According to the menu, Pizzarova specialises in handmade sourdough pizza, with sourdough bases that are made fresh every day with just four simple ingredients. There are classic pizza flavours to choose from, as well as nibbles, dips, and an array of garlic and other flavoured breads.
Pizzucci
-Credit:Bristol Live
Address: 5, The Promenade, Gloucester Road, Bishopston, BS7 8AL
Pizzucci opened on Bristol’s Gloucester Road back in 2023 in the former home of a tanning salon and came as a new concept from the team behind Bosco Pizzeria, a popular Italian restaurant group with sites in Clifton, Cheltenham and Bath. It serves up 16 and 11-inch pizzas, for both dine-in and take out, as well as pizza by the slice, soft-serve ice cream from Swoon, frozen cocktails and plenty of side dishes.
While the physical restaurant is itself a buzz of cool quirkiness, modelled on a Brooklyn pizza parlour, and a tonne of personality, it also makes for delicious takeaway pizzas too. Read BristolLive’s review here. You can find a Pizzucci playlist on Spotify that can create the same atmosphere of eating at the diner while at home.
When it comes to the food, it’s boasted a vast selection of pizzas to choose from in recent times – classics like the margherita, vegan margherita and pepperoni, and even the likes of ‘Hot Boy’ (mozzarella, tomato sauce, red onion, fresh chillies, hot honey, basil and cheese blend) and the ‘Mr White’ (roasted mushroom, fontina, caramelised onion, mozzarella and cheese blend), among others.
Pizzaland
Pizzucci Pizza Bar on Gloucester Road -Credit:Mary Stone/BristolLive
Address: 34 Coldharbour Road, Redland, Bristol, BS6 7NA
Back in 2023, BristolLive reported that family-run pizzeria Pizzaland in Redland had been recognised at an Italian Food Awards ceremony – the Independent Pizza Restaurant and Independent Pizza Delivery awards, to be exact. The Neapolitan pizzeria opened in October 2020 during what director Giuseppe Ferraro described as being a ‘tough time’ during the Covid-19 pandemic. The restaurant quickly became a “favourite neighbourhood pizzeria” Giuseppe says, with these two awards and Pizzaland’s 4.8 stars out of five on Google highlighting just how far it’s come.
Pizzaland freshly makes Neapolitan style pizzas with organic locally sourced products and Italian ingredients. It’s menu also includes sides such as fries, olives, chicken strips, garlic bread, mac n cheese and meatballs, as well as desserts including tiramisu and cheesecake.
You can find Pizzaland Bristol at 34 Coldharbour Road, Redland, BS6 7NA.
Pizza On The Park
Pizzaland in Redland has won two awards for its food and service
Address: 31 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HP
For decades, the location in which Pizza On The Park currently calls home was a branch of Pizza Express – one of the first in the national chain in fact – until it closed during the pandemic. Nowadays, newer additions to the restaurant (which opened just four years ago) include red leather booth seats, neon ‘pizza’ signs and vibrant artwork from local painters.
As BristolLive’s food expert Mark Taylor described in a recent review: “Most surprising, perhaps, is the huge eight-person Bonzino foosball (table football) table that is free to use for all guests – it certainly keeps the kids occupied as they wait for their meals, and I’m sure the chefs have fun with it between shifts. The same chefs are named on the back of the menu as when I last visited a year ago, along with their birthplace and potted biography.
“Sicilian head chef Carlo is still joined in the kitchen by Federico (Sardinia), Antonio (Naples) and Fabrizo (Emilia Romagna), all of which adds to the authentic Italian feel of the menu. The menu changes frequently as new dishes make an appearance and the latest arrivals include the Primavera pizza (£19) with mozzarella, Gorgonzola piccante, English asparagus, Roman-style artichokes, lemon zest and pea shoots.
“As well as pizzas, there are also a couple of tempting pasta options – prawn puttanesca (£17.50 – king prawn linguine in tomato sauce with chilli, garlic, capers, olives and parsley) and the Mafaldine pasta with black truffle, chestnut mushrooms, mascarpone sauce and aged Parmesan (£17).”
Read BristolLive’s review here.
Pizza Workshop
Pizza Workshop also offers pizza courses, where you can learn to make artisan pizzas from home
Address: Bedminster – 232 North Street, Southville, Bedminster, BS3 1JD & 159a Whiteladies Road, Clifton, BS8 2RF
Beating all other pizza restaurants in the South of England and Wales shortlist, Bristol’s Pizza Workshop was unveiled as the regional winner of the ‘best pizza’ category in the Deliveroo Restaurant Awards 2024. Headed up by Catharine Ross, the pizzeria has two restaurants in the city – one on Whiteladies Road in Clifton, and another in North Street, Bedminster.
The team at Pizza Workshop, whose first restaurant opened in North Street in 2015, also offer pizza courses for the public headed by their ‘Master Pizza Maker’. Though described as ‘simple’, the Pizza Workshop menu has a great selection of dishes to choose from, including starters and sides, vegan offerings, specials, a kids menu, baked sandwiches and flatbreads, desserts, and even a ‘Not Pizza’ menu – the latter of which contains things like charcuterie, a huge 125g ball of buffalo mozzarella, and a roasted aubergine, tomato and goat’s cheese salad.
Dining and Cooking