London’s 10 best new pizza restaurants

460 Hackney Rd, E2 9EG

If you thought there simply wasn’t enough space in Hackney for yet another foodie pop-up, then think again. The new pizza project from the fiery folk of Swedish/British smokehouse Lagom, ELD Pizza can be found tucked away in a hidden Hackney Road courtyard. The location might be cute, but the food is even flirtier. Alongside such lip-smackers as a white base miso mushroom pizza, ELD’s specialty is the pizza sando, a stacked beast of a dish which straddles the thin line between decadent and frankly obscene. We’ll have two, thanks.  

Price of a marg: £9

300 King Street, W6 0RR

What does a touring jazz bass player do when all your gigs are cancelled and every festival turns to dust? Well, if you’re Tim Thornton then you turn your Miles Davis records up extremely loud and start slinging sourdough pandemic pizza as Base Face. What began as a pop-up in his driveway raising money for the NHS now has a proper home in Hammersmith, with an emphasis on local ingredients, independent produce and slow dough.

Price of a marg: £8

Unit 4.1 Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Rd, SE15 3SN

A new venture from the team behind The Camberwell Arms and Peckham’s much-Instagrammed rooftop cocktail boozer Frank’s, Mike’s serves pizza by the slice. You won’t find your bog-standard pepperoni pizza here – expect flavour combos like smoked pork belly, smoked provola, burrata, chard and salted chilli and pineapple, mozzarella, scotch bonnet onions and mortadella. They even do brunch pizza. Think eggs with ’nduja hollandaise on a pizza bianca or overnight baked beans with portobello mushroom and scotch bonnet onions.

Price of a marg: £2.50 a slice

95A Rye Ln, SE15 4ST

If you’re happy dealing with strange flashbacks to outer London’s former landline phone code (1990-1995, never forget), then 081 Pizzeria can offer you officially sanctioned Neapolitan style pizza – yes, there really is a proper board that make sure chefs daren’t take the sacred Neapolitan name in vain – from its cosy base in Peckham Levels. But this isn’t a fusty old joint; alongside the classic Margherita there are swanky house specials like the Maradona, piled high with smoked mozzarella, wild broccoli and Italian sausage. Ring-a-ding-ding.

Price of a marg: £7.50

18-22 Ashwin St, E8 3DL

Notorious not just because of their R Crumb worthy ‘Legalise Marinara’ stoner dude logo – which came at a respectable fifth place in Time Out’s hotly contested recent restaurant mascot ranking – Gordos is fast becoming a London pizza institution. Find them on the dizzy heights of Dalston Roof Park, slinging unconventional collabs with the likes of local florist My Lady Garden. Unquietly confident, Gordos have no qualms in branding their pizzas ‘buff’ and seeing as the latest addition to their menu is a fire roasted asparagus, pig cheek and fior di latte option, we can’t really complain. 

Price of a marg: £7.50

80 Wardour St, W1F 0TF

Neapolitan specialists Rudy’s first popped up in Manchester way back in 2015 and have since been voted Best Pizza in the UK. A lot of people really dig them, but until this year they’ve solely been a northern phenomenon, like Bovril, the Chuckle Brothers and the concept of a ‘ginnel’. Until now. Opening on June 28 in what used to be a branch of Wahaca on Wardour Street, if the queue for opening day doesn’t rival that of nearby Supreme, there’s simply no justice in the world.

Price of a marg: We shall see...

189 Upper Street, N1 1RQ

The pizza faithful should already have July 9 booked off work, what with it being an unofficial holy day AKA the day that the much-lauded Santa Maria opens its brand new Islington restaurant. Taking up a sweet spot on Upper Street, it’ll be their thin and crispy bases’ first foray into North London. N1 is truly blessed. Owners Angelo and Pasquale are also currently incubating plans for Vergine Maria, their first ever vegan pizza parlour, so keep your eyes open for a dairy and meat-free addition to the family very soon. 

Price of a marg: £7.95

63 Bedford Hill, SW12 9HA

Joining their East Dulwich pizzeria, Yard Sale’s newest South London shop – in beautiful Balham – adds yet more weight to the rumour that one day London will be covered in nothing but branches of this swiftly multiplying pizza joint while the Thames runs clear with millions of gallons of orange wine. A harrowing, if not delicious, future. For the time being dining in at Yard Sale’s various outposts is still off the table, but they’ll hand deliver their cheesy slab of bliss to most parts of town. 

Price of a marg: £7.50

Ram Quarter, SW18 1TH

With their signature leopard print crust, the Kat Slaters of the pizza world are surely Crust Bros. As a second site opens at Sambrook’s Brewery Tap in Wandsworth on July 17, we’ll be there in a faux fur coat and gold hoop earrings in tribute to our eternal Albert Square queen. Frankly, we can’t think of a better outfit in which to wolf down their ham-slathered signature dish, the Notorious P.I.G. We’ll then (kind of) assuage our meaty guilt, safe in the knowledge that for every pizza Crust Bros sell, they’ll plant a tree in partnership with Earthly. 

Price of a (vegan) marg: £9.45 

14-15 Langham Place, W1B 2QS

Somewhat fittingly squirrelled away inside Marylebone’s Treehouse Hotel, Pizzeria Mozza is coming to London direct from Los Angeles, so expect it to wear massive sunglasses and talk a lot about the healing powers of crystals. The brainchild of celeb chef Nancy Silverton, we’re looking forward to their clam and red onion pizza as well Italian-inspired brunch [gimme that torta rustica with bacon, potatoes, caramelized onions, thyme and fontina] and Nancy’s Fancy – Silverton’s own line of gelato and sorbetto.  

Price of a marg: £13