Santa Maria

The pizzas are decent but not quite as spectacular as some of these reviews would have you believe - I certainly wouldn't give them 5 stars. We weren't impressed the first time we went, but decided that perhaps it was an off day, given the rave reviews, and decided to give it another try. It wasn't any better than it had been the first time. The service, like the food, was OK - not special, not awful - on both occasions that we went, but the place is so cramped that people are squeezing past all the time and it's not a pleasant eating experience. Probably won't bother again, and we only live 5 minutes away.

This is my list of who do the best pizza's: No.1 Strada, No.2 Prezzo, No.3 Zizzi & Pizza Express... but on a quick meal at Santa Maria in Ealing, all these competitors were blown out of the water. I know my pizzas and have eaten them all of Italy from Rome to Ravenna. This is the real Italian pizza in London. So much so that I find it hard to eat pizza anywhere else now and I live 40 minutes away from Ealing.

Amazing amazing amazing, reading these reviews some people just love moaning about something. The BEST pizza in London

Keep it up pasquale and angelo

Just the best pizza in London. Who says the opposite, doesn't know what pizza is about.

A real neapolitan pizza lover.

No way this is the best pizza in London!!!!!! and to make it worst the service is awful!!!!

truly the best Neapolitan pizza in town, try the simple Margherita, delicious (we had 2 each!)! As a Neapolitan and pizza lover, i was invited to check all the basic ingredients: tomatoes and fiordilatte cheese are the ones you can only find in Naples and of a very very good quality.
Pasquale and team are very friendly and accomodating. the service was super quick and efficient (comments below on service are non-sense, this is a small family run pizzeria, if you want super service with cotton napkins laid on your laps go to Chez Bruce).
the place is small but very cozy and very clean.

Don't really understand how people can moan about the service, the place is small and seating is limited, so I for one am thankful that people who try and order one pizza between three or linger after finishing are asked to leave, frees up space for people who want to enjoy the most delicious pizza available.

Sadly for me and my ability to get a table quickly, there seems to be enough people who love it and are quite happy with the service and the staff, who to my mind, have been nothing but friendly and accommodating, in all the visits I've made in the last year or so.

Oh and the pizzas, excellent one and all.

Shocking, shocking service and pizza quality that has deteriorated badly since the first rave TO review. I took friends here and was embarrassed that I had recommended it. Never, ever again.

Appalling service but good food! First of all, we were told to order a minimum of 5 pizzas if we wanted to sit at the big table and while waiting for the rest of our group we were approached by the boss who said that we will not be able to order if they don't turn up in 5 min. When the food arrived the waitress didn't even provide us with enough cutlery, napkins and plates. Also, as soon as we finished we were prompted to ask for the bill and if that was not enough we were accused of stealing the tip from the tin which the waitress herself had brought empty to the table. To be honest I have never received such terrible service at a restaurant and it doesn't matter how good the food might have been I will never eat there again.

Absolutely delicious pizza. Having lived for many years in Italy I can safely say that this is the best pizza I've ever eaten. Thanks Santa Maria!

Don't need to be italian or neapolitan to consider this one, the best pizza outside Naples. I've been there since their opening, and loved it from the beginning, and consider myself lucky to live down the road from this little authentic italian gem. Dinner at SM, means going to Naples without flying there! Then if you feel offended by their rude service (which i don't rate it rude at all!), there is plenty of us, that are very happy to have shorter queues to make. Never seen this place empty, and i really doubt i will!!

The best pizza in London, can compete among the best pizza in Naples too, with no problems. And in Naples when you sit down, you have your pizza and you go, it's the way it is, it's not being rude. It doesn't shock me at all, especially when you have to serve this product to so many people in such a little place. In Naples is exactly the same: You wait, you eat, you pay, you go. I wish i'd have a Santa Maria around the corner where i live, instead of travelin 45 minutes every time; Worth every minute and every penny. Grazie ragazzi, continuate cosi e Forza Napoli

I am italian, and half of my family is of Neapolitan roots; besides I lived 15 years in Sicily, which is the 2nd best place to eat pizza in Italy; in other words, I know what pizza is, and what it should be.

The one they make at SM is the best I have ever eaten abroad, along with the late "Spaccanapoli" in Dean St.

Service? Basic, polite, straightforward, and very quick; do not expect smoochie-mocchies and pleaaaaseee-siiiiirrrr, wooouuuld youuuuu miiiind.... etc etc; this is a corner of Italy, get used to it; both for food taste, and manners. You don't like it? Walk to a wonderful Pub or McDonald's then.


Grazie ragazzi, eccellente !!

Authentic cool little place!!! However, I have never experienced such an attitude!!! It's London and good food is simply not enough. Being a regular customer for a year, I was asked to leave when all I wanted was a heavenly tiramisu!!!I can you believe it???

For me the best pizza so far. I feel lucky I live 15 mins away. I have tried the menu - and can say best ones are: Sant' Anna, Santa Bufalina, Santa Carmela... I would say - if you are a big fan of pizza you should definitely come and try.

When i read these reviews, my conclusion is one. They are obviously written by people with hidden agendas. I could understand disappointment about service, is always a very personal experience, but when it comes to food there is no pizza that beat this, and it is quite a general opinion.the only positive side on the bad reviews is that people may be put off and don't go there, so for us will be easier to get a table and not waiting 45 minutes at least. But you will be missing one of the experienxces of your life. It feels like being back home.

Best pizza in London, exactly the same as Naples. The staff have never been anything but great to us, it's about as informal as it gets, but that doesn't mean it's rude or unwelcoming. I'm surprised by the bad reviews of the service.

I totally agree with Franco and Angry Dad, Saturday 23/04 our lunch at Santa Maria was the most uncomfortable meal in a long time. Very rude and aggressive waitress, unwelcoming, unfriendly, the music they played made you uneasy. The best part of the whole experience was the end of it. Please do not make any special trip to this restaurant, I already feel annoyed just typing these words.

Not only the best pizza in London quite possibly the world.

Rationale - as others have posted it is as good a pizza as you would get in Naples but what these chefs bring is invention and new combinations which rock my world week after week.

The waiting staff are efficient and friendly, and also kinda cool in that Italian way which just adds to the places charm.

I was in two minds about writing this review because on the one hand if you are put off by the bad reviews you won't try it out and I'll get seated more quickly, but on the other hand if you do not try this pizza you will have missed out on one of lives best experience - a great pizza is hard to beat. And in the end I am a nice person it seems, so enjoy !!!

I have been here twice (the second time having given the place the benefit of the doubt), and both times it was an extremely disappointing experience; underwhelming pizza and downright rude service. I totally agree with the comments below about the bad attitude of the waiters - they seem to think you are doing them a favour by coming to eat there. Btw, if you don't believe me, try ordering a coke, and brace yourself for the scorn you are met with when being told they don't sell it. It is a real shame, as I live 2 minutes around the corner and I was excited by the good reviews, but as with friends in Ealing who have had the same experience, I won't make the mistake of going back!

My wife, three month old son (asleep in his buggy) and I entered this empty restaurant for lunch today. We were immediately asked if we could leave the buggy outside. When my wife suggested putting it in a corner out of the way, the waiter was unhappy with this. I had already made my mind up to leave when the waiter stepped up to the buggy, peered in and asked 'how old is it?' as if this might make a difference to whether they could accomodate us. I informed him that 'it' was a 'he' and we left. Unfriendly, unwelcoming and downright rude. We were recommended this place. I would not do the same.

Plenty of Italin attitude and one of the rudest waiters I've ever encountered - a request for ice in our drinks was met with a plain 'no' and while the pizza was alright (if a bit soggy) we felt rushed and insulted by the surly staff. Takeaway might be a better option.

As Italian person which has also tried Pizza in Naples and Salerno I can guarantee that this is a proper, truly authentic Neapolitan Pizza!

Never eat a pizza like this outside in Italy!

And also for Italian Standard that is a really good pizza In my opinion.

Great jobs! Keep it up guys!!!!

I've been to this restaurant twice now. The first time I waited for over an hour and because the waiter had written down my mobile incorrectly but eventually we got a seat at the banquette and the pizzas were nice. I went last week and waited for hour and half for a table. Once in there it felt like a fast-food restaurant. Our pizzas were presented to us in super quick time which was great as we were hungry but they tasted slightly under-cooked. Half an hour in we had eaten our pizzas, the waiter asked if we would like a pudding and I asked for 10 minutes, he said that there were people waiting for the table (it was about 9.45pm) and when I said we'd actually waited an hour and half, he said so had everybody else. In short, whilst the pizzas are nice, the service is over-fastidious i.e they want you in and out, and this particular waiter was arrogant and rude.

excellent pizza! my favourite kind!

I cycle over from Lee SE London to Ealing Green in very bad weather and it was worth the journey. The pizza at this very Pizzeria was second to none. It is small and just feel like keeping it as my little secret and hideout that I don't wish to share with anyone else!!! The food was simply awesome!!! Many, many thanks to the owner Pasquale and his friendly staff. Will be patronising this pizzeria again despite the journey!!!

I have been to Santa Maria and, as Italian and huge fan of pizza I must say it is AMAZING. It is genuinely one of the best pizzas I have ever had. fantastic fresh ingredients, like-home feeling and very friendly staff. 100% Italian! I would travel 2 hours for such a treat!

I went to Santa Maria for lunch today with my son simply because two of my neighbours (both English) asked for my opinion. I generally avoid Italian restaurants abroad as I cook much better Italian food at home myself and I'm normally disappointed by the overpriced and boring Italian restaurants I have tried in the UK. One of of my neighbours thought it was the best pizza place in Ealing, the other one had a very bad experience with service and didn't much like the food.
I loved the pizza which was excellent just like I would expect it to be in a good pizzeria at home in Italy. The ice cream was superb (I don't know the Walpole, but I will try it to compare) and on top of it the coffee was a real Italian espresso, most definitely one of the best I have had out of Italy. If the Santa Maria was open in the morning I would be there for breakfast just for the caffe. I can definitely recommend the Santa Maria to other Italians in London that like me, sometime feel homesick and want to have a nice pizza. The place is small, but I find that is also its charm. We arrived early so there was no queue, (it filled up quickly). The service for me was good and attentive. They took the order fast, drinks and pizzas arrived real quick, and I found them friendly enough without being over the top. I really hope they'll stay in Ealing and their success doesn't take them to central London. Bravissimi ragazzi e grazie per l'ottimo pranzo, tornero' di sicuro e ci portero' anche la mia vicina insoddisfatta per farle cambiare idea!!

From two Italians we can say that the pizza served in Santa Maria is of excellent quality, we have rarely tasted such a nice dough and it certainly is one of our favorites in London!
It is true that the place is small and it can get very crowded, however the staff has always been very nice and friendly. We have been there several times and we will certainly go back! Continuate cosi' ragazzi!

Best pizza in london; the pizzachef knows very well that a good pizza needs the right temperature to be baked : an oven too hot wil result in a properly cooked pizza outside and a raw pizza inside as a result you get a round chewing gum with tomato and mozzarella wherehas in Santa Maria you can get a properly baked pizza, fluffi and crispy art the same time, ad some of the freshest topping and you get a perfect pizza.Someone wwho complained about the service should consider that first of all there is NOT service charge , secondly if someone needs a perfect service should be prepared to spend more, at those prices the service is more than decent, the english people should consider that when it come to food , the first concern should be the quality of the food itself; decor, atmosphere, perfect service are important but not essential, especially when the price reflect a rustic and very casual environment.
Ragazzi continuate cosi il vostro lavoro per me, napoletano ed ex pizzachef meritate a buon diritto il mio settimanale pellegrinaggio da Wimbledon a Ealing, Bravi!

Mario

Mario

What a great place.

Went here for the first time yesterday after reading all the reviews and hearing they had London's Best Pizza.

It's a bit of a walk from the station, and is so small you could blink and miss it as you walk past. There are only a few tables, but we had no wait as we went late afternoon on a Saturday.

Considering there was only one person working, who served as the host, waiter and chef, everything was remarkably quick - but not rushed. The order was taken promptly, the drink and food arrived in minutes (about 2!).

The pizza was great. Light and crisp but doughy, the right combo of tomato and cheese and some awesome flavor.

The meal (two pizzas, two drinks and salad) came to about £17 - and I would have gladly paid double that.

My only criticism is that it was too far out of London (though I guess that depends where you live). But, you know, that sort of adds to it's charm. I cant think of any other place I would travel for an hour each way to for a meal that costs under £20 and where you are done in under 30 minutes.

I've been here quite a few times and it's great. I've had nothing to complain about and have always enjoyed the food.

Harry seems to have something against them for some reason but don't let that put you off.

Best pizza ? I don't know but I certainly do enjoy them.

I know perfectly that running a restaurant business is a different game from my family food tradition, but it all started from there. Every italian has a very strong relation with food, it's part of our culture and let me be proud of bringing a slice of my culture into this city that i love to bits!

Why a small company like us can't have this success? It cannot be deserved? Possibly a small company can keep an eye better on their product than a big company? Funnily enough we are not trying to build any empire, but we'd like to remain a small business. We are small, we do only one thing and we try to do the best that we can. I can garantuee that Time Out had no influence whatsoever to give us that attention, we didn't know when they came in and we didn't know that we were going to be voted London's best pizza until we saw the actual issue. Of course the title is debatable, but honestly i've tried all the pizzas in London and I think that Santa Maria didn't steal anything.
Bad experiences can happen when you sell the amount of pizzas we do, and surely it doesn't make me feel well reading certain things and definitely we are always keen to bring improvements!

Pasquale

THIS PLACE IS AMAZING!! Yes you have to wait for a table but our waiter came and collected us from the pub next door as soon as it was ready. The dough is personally the best I've tasted, and I've travelled in Italy and eaten A LOT of pizza, it's soft and doughy and you can tell it's been baked in a wood oven. 4 pizzas, 2 sides and a bottle of house red for under £40, bellissimo!! GO GO GO!

You do paint a lovely picture of authentic Italian living however I think you should keep your mother out of it. This is a professional business not home cooking. What you do here in the UK in your restaurant is a completely different ball game!
It still feels stretched that such a young company can receive such an accolade; I would be interested to know the voting method. I am sure other small pizzeria owners who have worked for years trying to build their empire would also love to know how to get into time out so quickly.

Fortunately in south of italy, kids are lucky enough to witness mums and grannys make their food for them. Saw my mum making handmade pasta, bread, pizza and the best cakes ever, many afternoons and weekends. My grandmum used to wake me up at 6 in the sunday morning to be helped to make gnocchi, she used to count them and making them in closed rooms, noone was allowed to open the door while she was at work. I can make what they tought me, even without being a chef (chef is a huge word!), just because ive seen it so many times and im proud of it. My mum never used a microwave, all the food ive been eating was fresh from the market. We used to go out in restaurant only in special occasions. There is no need of Dean Martin, food back home is a religion and a main part of our culture.. unfortunately is not easy to explain, unless you lived it.

An acronym in english is acronimo in italian, im sure every italian would know that.

Harry you are more than welcome to try again our pizza again, im sure it will be a different experience!

Pasquale

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie ……

Surely when your mum was making the dough you would have been at school. That way it would have risen and been ready by the time you came home. Could have been in the summer holidays I suppose or on Sundays. Still you have described a very charming picture back in old Napoli. All we need now is Dean Martin singing Thats Amore and we are sorted.
Do not put yourself down, how many foreigners would know what an acronym is. No need for a SALT (Speech And Language Therapist).
Will try another pizza, just hope it is not SALT (Same As Last Time).

Surely when your mum was making the dough you would have been at school. That way it would have risen and been ready by the time you came home. Could have been in the summer holidays I suppose or on Sundays. Still you’ve described a very charming picture back in old Napoli. All we need now is Dean Martin singing Thats Amore and we are sorted.
Don’t put yourself down, how many foreigners would know what an acronym is. No need for a SALT (Speech And Language Therapist).
Will try another pizza, just hope it is not SALT (Same As Last Time).

Possibly because i saw my mum baking since i was a little boy, but i thought was a general knowledge fact that salt affects the rising. More salt means that slows the risng of the dough. and because temperature affects the rising too, in this hot period of the year, the salt used in the dough, is nearly inexistent.

Im not a chef, and im still a foreigner, so is normal if i miss some acronyms.

Now a customer SHOULD know that salt affects the rising of dough, yet its ok for a chef to be clueless about monosodium glutamate.

Yes salt is used in limited quantity in the dough, because, as you should know, it affects the rising. the only thing that gets salt is the tomato sauce. MSG? i don't even know what you are talking about. It's funny that there is lot of people that ask for salt to put on pizzas isnt' it? You can't please everyone, unfortunately, we just do our best to please as many as possible. Nothing went to our heads, no good reviews no London's best pizza title, we are just dealing with an incredible amount of customers and is not always easy.
Still don't understand why I don't get this complaints on the spot, but only here! I'd be really happy to try this pizza incredibly salty. I normally have 5-6 pizza per day and i never find it salty, and i hate salt.

Pasquale
Santa Maria Pizzeria

So I'm not the only one that finds these pizzas salty. Perhaps Time Out should have another poll, Maybe Santa Maria would also receive the accolade of The Most Salty Pizza in London.

Having only been once I won't be going again. The service was poor; Being left to wait and barley acknowledged by the staff. Yes it was a busy Friday evening but a nod of the head and a "I’ll be with you as soon as possible" would have been nice. Had there not been so much hype around the pizzas I would have left.

The pizzas are salty and if they are not putting salt into the dough then there is something very wrong. I would not like to point fingers but perhaps MSG, i know Chinese cuisine use it as an alternative to salt and it does make people very thirsty.

I'm not surprised by the other negative reviews but am surprised by the response by the owner. Which I found to be very dismissive to the original complaint.

How a restaurant that has only been around for a few months can warrant best Pizza in London seems very odd to me and I do worry that all the good reviews have gone to the owners heads.

In response to you wondering why I did not complain when I received the pizzas, you would recall that this was a takeaway order. The pizzas were handed to me in boxes. I’m not likely to check the pizzas before leaving. You are right in suggesting it might have been the tomato sauce that was so over salted. Both my wife and I tasted the dough and sauce separately and you are right the sauce was the culprit, perhaps with some help from the parmesan. As I said in my review it is easy to be forgiving over the salt issue, it happens and not in itself a tragedy. I am taken aback that some 250 customers mainly Italians, had the same sauce and did not find it salty. This is unlikely. I am referring to two different pizzas and two individuals; unless you are suggesting that my wife and I have a tolerance level of salt that differs greatly from a sample of 250 diners. That would be strange. Maybe their senses were dulled having been dumped out of the World Cup. My complaint centres on both pizzas being so burnt to it rendered them inedible. Pizzas like any food can get overcooked but to suggest pizzas are never burnt is patently incorrect. Ovens in need of a good scrape do cause pizzas to be burnt. Left too long also causes burning. The cause is irrelevant; my pizzas were burnt black on the edges and undersides. These are very thin pizzas, burning will make them inedible no matter what you put on top. Having telephoned you I would have been content to leave it at that, but it was my perception of your willingness to allow these burnt pizzas to go that prompted me to post criticisms. Pizzas are not expensive to make. You could have remade my pizzas instead of simply letting them go. It is allowing these pizzas to pass to a customer I find offensive. I’ve not ate anything like 4000 slices of pizzas one reviewer claims but I do have Italian family members in Italy and have been going there for some forty years. I have travelled throughout the country even to Naples ate at many varied establishments. I am accustomed to Italians propensity to complain so I don’t think pointing out the place was full of agreeable Italians will cause me to question my judgement. This is not a case of not appreciating a different country’s cuisine; it is a case of salty and burnt pizzas. Despite the above it is unlikely my experience is typical of your establishment’s product, you would soon have no customers despite over zealous reviews. Without excessive salt and burning, the pizzas would have been appreciated. If you use good ingredients, clearly you do, you can expect a good result. You state that your first priority is to deliver a product that matches the high standards of the best pizza in London. I will try your pizzas again without you knowing it is me making the order and think it very unlikely this bad experience will be repeated. If it is you will see that not only Italians are capable of voicing their complaints.

Harry

@ Harry
After your call, i wento asking all the customers if they found their pizza salty. And nobody had the problem you found. Considering that tonight the place was full of italians, which are always very judgmental and not scared of complaining, and after i tried it as well, which was fine, i felt reassured. Considering that we dont add salt on the pizza, but only in the tomato sauce, so it must have been the same sauce for everyone. yes sometimes, pizza gets overcooked, never burnt. So if this was the case, you should have send it back and we would have made another one, without any problems. Personally i don't remember seeing any pizza going back, the plates were pretty much all empty.
Of course we apologize if you had a bad experience, on a busy saturday night it can happen to make some mistake, but i don't really understand why you made a complaint over the phone and not when you have received your pizza. It's strange to read something like that when in the same day, more than 250 people were more than happy, to eat our pizza.
We apologize again, and you are more than welcome to come and be our guest, if it's not too offensive for you.

Pasquale
Santa Maria Pizzeria

I don’t know if these super food sleuths of Time Out have had their sense of taste removed in some way, but the two pizzas from Santa Maria I ordered were so burnt and salty that both my wife and myself could not eat either. Best pizza in London? I would have been better off choosing the cheapest pizza from the deep freeze of a discount supermarket.
Phoned and gave my comments. They listened politely and thanked me for my helpful comments but did not apologize much less offer recompense such as another pizza, Not that I would have accepted but would have been nice had they done so as it might have suggested that they thought I had just been unlucky and my experience did not truly represented their product.
I cannot reconcile the glowing reports this restaurant has received with my experience but I found these pizzas to be just awful Even if you pass over the extremely high level of salt, how do you explain the 'chef' not seeing the dough was burnt black? One reviewer I notice says the owners really care about the place and the food. Absolute rubbish. If that is true why did they allow this disgusting burnt offering to bypass the bin and be passed on to a customer?
We are talking pizzas here in a little shop in a little town in a little borough so best not to get too carried away but my pizzas warrant a health warning not the ridiculous overhyped comments I see.

I dont know if these super food sleuths of Time Out have had their sense of taste removed in some way, but the two pizzas from Santa Maria I ordered were so burnt and salty that both my wife and myself could not eat either. Best pizza in London? I would have been better off choosing the cheapest pizza from the deep freeze of a discount supermarket.
Phoned and gave my comments. They listened politely and thanked me for my helpful comments but did not apologise much less offer recompense such as another pizza, Not that I would have accepted but would have been nice had they done so as it might have suggested that they thought I had just been unlucky and my experience did not truly represented their product.
I cannot reconcile the glowing reports this restaurant has received with my experience but I found these pizzas to be just awful Even if you pass over the extremley high level of salt, how do you explain the 'chef' not seeing the dough was burnt black? One reviewer I notice says the owners really care about the place and the food. Absolute rubbish. If that is true why did they allow this disgusting burnt offering to bypass the bin and be passed on to a customer.
We are talking pizzas here in a little shop in a
little town in a little borough so best not to get too carried away but my pizzas warrant a health warning not the ridiculous overhyped comments I see.

GOOD FOOD, APPALLING SERVICE
I went there with a friend a few nights ago. The waiter didn't acknowledge me when I was waiting in the doorway to ask if there was a table free, he then disappeared, came back, looked at me, carried on, it was only when I stepped into the restaurant (it is v small) he asked me what I wanted! We actually got a table straight away, the waitress took more than 10 mins to ask us what we wanted to drink/eat, we ordered 2 pizzas 2 salads, 1 salad didn't arrive, I didn't bother mentioning it, as it was too late at that point, at least they didn't charge us for it. Then they couldn't wait to get rid of us, despite us not having finished our wine....a pizza is a pizza, never mind how nice, so they need to be more consistent and careful with their customers to keep the business thriving beyond 12-18 months once the hype has died down.

ECCELLENTE.!!what a PIZZA...the best ever..even in some places in Italy you will not find it like this one..To describe the pizza is quite hard because there are not enough words to be said and write about it...Apart from it the atmosphere is real Italian friendly and charming staff..The best one between them is the Lovely True typical Italian blossom Carmela,always big smile and great customer service and nice manners..Ciao Ciao and arrivederci soon