Restaurants

Napoli on the Road (Soho).

Pizza · Soho · $$ · Solid · should-visit · verified

9A Devonshire Road

Neapolitan pizza save

Jeff's note

Napoli on the Road (Soho)

The dough runs on a bespoke blend of Type 0, Type 1 and Prima Macina, the flour milled off the first breaking of the grain, which the kitchen says gives "a more complex and expressive dough" (venue).

Why go

Michele Pascarella opened here in late February 2026, his first site inside central London after Chiswick in 2019 and Richmond in 2023 (Broadsheet). The build is two floors with two jobs: a la carte pizza on the ground floor, and a four-pizza tasting menu in the basement at GBP 65 with a GBP 40 wine pairing, which runs at this address and nowhere else in the group (Time Out). Barcelona studio Isern Serra did the room for about 90 covers, with a communal table for 20 downstairs (Broadsheet). Pascarella's argument for charging tasting-menu money for pizza is stated plainly: "Pizza is often treated as casual food, but we want to treat pizza with the same respect as any high-level cuisine" (Broadsheet). The silverware on the wall of the entrance vestibule was won by the group and by the man, not by this five-month-old room.

Order this / avoid

  • Order: the Ricordi d'Infanzia at GBP 19.50, slow-cooked beef ragu under a Parmigiano fondue, which took Best Pizza in the World at 50 Top Pizza in 2025 (venue). The Provola e Pepe at GBP 16 is the smart classic: smoked mozzarella against four ground peppers, and The Infatuation found the smoke gave "a rounded, savoury depth that pairs nicely with the blistered crust" (ref). Start with the crocche at GBP 10, stuffed with smoked mozzarella and Belper Knolle.
  • Avoid: the Triple Crunch, steamed then fried then baked, which the same review reduced to "thick bread with a smear of sauce," and the tiramisu, "soggy and lacking the usual creamy lift" (ref). Ask for a table on the ground floor.

What locals & experts say

  • The Infatuation (23 March 2026), Rianne Shlebak: 7.5 out of 10. "Thankfully, the pizzas are very good. The dough is the standout, with a great crust and airy chew." Her verdict on the basement was blunter: it "leans into a futuristic aesthetic that doesn't quite land." She wrote off the Triple Crunch as "thick bread with a smear of sauce" and the tiramisu as "soggy and lacking the usual creamy lift." ref
  • The Nudge (5 March 2026), Jason Allen, on the dough at this site: "soft as a cloud in the centre, blistered around the edges, with those black-char freckles that signal a properly hot oven." He also clocked the entrance: "a vestibule, an airlock basically, and the only thing inside it is a wall of plaques." ref
  • Time Out London, Leonie Cooper (Food & Drink Editor), 13 August 2025: "London pizza parlour Napoli on the Road does pizza very, very well," announcing this branch. ref
  • 50 Top Pizza, brand-level awards: Europe's No.1 Pizzeria in 2024, 2025 and 2026, fifth best in the world in 2025, and Best Pizza Maker in the World to Pascarella in 2023. The guide sends anonymous inspectors and files the group at the Chiswick address, so none of these were won by this premises. ref

Good to know

  • Timing: open daily (The Nudge). Nobody publishes an hours table that could be read, so check the Maps listing before a late arrival.
  • Booking: reservations run through SevenRooms and parties over 10 go to soho@napoliontheroad.com. The venue's own rules: "Kids under 10 are welcome until 6 pm every day. Dogs, balloons and outside cakes are not permitted" (booking page).
  • Dietary: the Soho menu carries a Pizze vegane section, four pizzas built on vegan stracciatella, and marks vegetarian and vegan dishes throughout (menu). No gluten-free base or dish appears anywhere on it, and nothing addresses cross-contamination, so celiac diners should ask before booking.
  • Hygiene: FSA rating 5, inspected 21 March 2026 by Westminster, FHRSID 1913707 (record).
  • Sites: three of them. This row is Soho, 140 Wardour Street W1F 8ZT, and the only one with the tasting menu. Chiswick is 9A Devonshire Road W4 2EU, the 2019 original, curated separately as napoli-on-the-road-chiswick. Richmond is 12 Red Lion Street TW9 1RW and is not in this database.

Jeff's take (his words)

  • Note: none. Jeff's saved-places export carries no note for this row. The master CSV's "Neapolitan pizza save" line was written by an earlier enrichment pass, not by him, so it is not quoted here as his words.

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

should-visit — RE-TESTED 2026-08-01 with all six award rows gone, and the rung survives on the two things that were never borrowed. First, the dough: a bespoke blend of Type 0, Type 1 and Prima Macina, the flour off the first breaking of the grain, and two writers who ate here independently reached for the same evidence of a properly hot oven, The Infatuation calling the dough 'the standout, with a great crust and airy chew' and The Nudge finding 'those black-char freckles'. Second, the format: this is the only one of the three London sites running the four-pizza tasting menu at GBP 65, which is a different proposition from a pizzeria and the only reason to choose this address over Chiswick. It stops short of the top rung because the room is five months old, the one full review of it scored 7.5 with the Triple Crunch and the tiramisu both called out, and the European titles behind the name were won by the group and by Pascarella himself rather than by this kitchen.

Order

  • Ricordi d'Infanzia, slow-cooked beef ragu under a Parmigiano fondue
  • Provola e Pepe, smoked mozzarella with four peppers ground over it
  • Cheesewick, buffalo ricotta and stracciatella with Blue Stilton and a Piennolo tomato jam
  • Crocche stuffed with smoked mozzarella and Belper Knolle
  • The four-pizza tasting menu in the basement, with a wine pairing if you want one

Good to know

  • Booking: recommended
  • Timing: all-day
  • Best for: lunch, dinner, date, groups-ok, big-night
  • Avoid: The Triple Crunch sharing pizza. Steaming it, frying it and then baking it leaves you with thick bread and a smear of sauce; The tiramisu, which comes out soggy and short of the usual creamy lift; The charred baby gem salad, which turns up warm and limp
  • Expert picks: Leonie Cooper
  • Dietary: vegan-options, vegetarian-friendly (per venue statements; confirm for medical needs)
  • Verified 2026-08-01

Sources & mentions

  1. [1]
    The Infatuation London

    Rianne Shlebak, Senior Staff Writer London, review dated 23 March 2026, scored 7.5 out of 10 (the guide's 'Good' band, described as 'You'll very likely be satisfied by a meal here, especially for a specific situation'). Address printed as 140 Radical House, Wardour Street W1F 8ZT, price marked four dollar signs, tagged Lunch and Casual Dinners. Verbatim: 'Upstairs at Napoli On The Road feels like the Soho pizzeria it probably wants to be. It's warm, a little chaotic, and packed with tables of people who clearly came to sit down, have good pizza, and a good time. The basement, however, leans into a futuristic aesthetic that doesn't quite land, with purple-ish lighting bouncing off silver and white surfaces like a slightly awkward spaceship lounge.' On the food: 'The charred baby gem salad arrives warm and limp, maybe intentional, but we wish it wasn't. The Triple Crunch sharing pizza (steamed, fried, then baked) sounds exciting but mostly comes off like thick bread with a smear of sauce. Thankfully, the pizzas are very good. The dough is the standout, with a great crust and airy chew. The Provola E Pepe, with smoked mozzarella, is rich and satisfying, and the five-cheese Cheesewick somehow avoids being heavy. Skip the watery tiramisu, focus on the pizzas, and ask for a table upstairs.' Per-dish notes call the Provola e Pepe's smoked mozzarella 'a rounded, savoury depth that pairs nicely with the blistered crust', the Cheesewick 'rich without tipping into sickly, especially with the sharp pops of cherry tomato jam', the Triple Crunch 'a bit too close to bread with toppings', and the tiramisu 'soggy and lacking the usual creamy lift'

  2. [2]
    Broadsheet London

    Jo Taylor, 14 January 2026, pre-opening. Confirms the Soho site as the brand's first central London location, opening 'late February' at 140 Wardour Street. Designed by Barcelona studio Isern Serra, seating around 90, with a basement communal table for up to 20. Pascarella verbatim: 'Pizza is often treated as casual food, but we want to treat pizza with the same respect as any high-level cuisine'; 'The tasting menu is going to allow us to take people on a journey through seasonality, technique, memory and emotion'; 'We don't want to create the vibe you have in a Michelin-star restaurant. It must feel like you're entering a home.' On Soho: 'When I started working in London almost 15 years ago, I was working in Leicester Square, just a few minutes from Soho. I always thought, I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to open a place in central London.' Describes 50 Top Pizza as 'a guide founded in Italy in 2014 that sends anonymous inspectors to evaluate pizzerias'. NOTE: this piece places the tasting menu upstairs and the casual format in the basement, which the opened restaurant reversed

  3. [3]
    Time Out London

    Leonie Cooper, Food & Drink Editor, 13 August 2025, announcing the Soho opening: 'London pizza parlour Napoli on the Road does pizza very, very well.' Sets out the layout as built: 'a two-floor restaurant at 140 Wardour Street, with an a la carte menu on the ground floor and a tasting menu offering in the basement'. Pascarella verbatim: 'Soho is full of creativity, culture and open-minded attitudes. We're so excited to add a new approach to pizza to the tapestry of Wardour Street. Soho was where I first began working in London; returning feels like a homecoming and a dream come true.'

  4. [4]
    Time Out London

    Leonie Cooper, 21 July 2026, on the launched tasting menu: GBP 65 a head for four pizzas plus courses, wine pairing GBP 40 extra, available only at the Wardour Street branch. Course order: fritti, an asparagus and anchovy colatura white pizza with pecorino and anchovy sauce, a margherita with slow-cooked tomato, tomato jam, buffalo mozzarella and wild garlic pesto, a melon and cucumber salad as a pizza break, a vitello tonnato-inspired pizza with veal and tuna sauce, then Pascarella's signature topped with slow-cooked beef rib, shin, oxtail and pork rib, then sgroppino sorbet and a trio of puddings. Pascarella verbatim: 'Our tasting menu was not created with the idea of making something complex. We did not want to impress with techniques for their own sake or build a journey that feels distant from people, but to do exactly the opposite.' Confirms 50 Top Pizza Europa first place in June 2026 for the third year running, the Ape Piaggio start in 2016, Chiswick 2019 and Richmond four years later

  5. [5]
    Hot Dinners

    Gavin Hanly, 13 August 2025. 'It'll be a two-floor approach where upstairs will be a more standard pizzeria, but the downstairs space will feature a tasting menu experience. They say that they will give "pizza the same care and creativity as a fine dining experience".' Names the Nerano (fior di latte, courgette cream, courgette chips, provolone shavings, evo oil) and the Cheesewick (buffalo ricotta, fior di latte, stracciatella from Puglia, crispy Parmigiano Reggiano chips, Blue Stilton, homemade Piennolo cherry tomato jam) as the specialities, and records the design brief as minimalist with chrome pizza ovens centre stage. Third London pizzeria after Chiswick and Richmond

  6. [6]
    The Nudge

    Jason Allen, 5 March 2026, first-visit review of the Soho site. Verbatim: 'In order to get into the restaurant, you need to pass through a vestibule, an airlock basically, and the only thing inside it is a wall of plaques, including one declaring the man behind it all, pizza maker Michele Pascarella, to be literally the World's Best Pizza Maker.' On the dough: 'soft as a cloud in the centre, blistered around the edges, with those black-char freckles that signal a properly hot oven'. On the room: 'all austere minimalism: pale stone, clean lines, soft lighting, and an open kitchen dominated by two enormous pizza ovens that spend the evening turning out blistered discs at industrial pace. No red-and-white tablecloths, no Vespa memorabilia.' On the Ricordi d'Infanzia: 'It's indulgent, slightly ridiculous, and undeniably delicious.' On the starters: the Super Carrots is 'carrot cream made from fresh juice, pickled walnuts, crispy carrot ribbons, toasted seeds and fried sage'. Also 'the cocktails are excellent. The spicy margarita in particular is beautifully balanced.' States the Soho site 'is open daily'. Not currently in SOURCES.md; cited as named-byline London review coverage

  7. [7]
    Napoli on the Road (venue)

    napoliontheroad.com and the Soho menu page, fetched 30 July 2026. Awards block, verbatim: '50 Top Pizza: Europe's No.1 Pizzeria 2024, 2025, and 2026. World's 5th Best Pizzeria 2025. Michele Pascarella, Best Pizza Maker in the World 2023. Ricordi d'Infanzia, Best Pizza in the World 2025.' Dough statement, verbatim: 'Our pizzas are made with a bespoke flour blend of Type 0, Type 1 and Prima Macina. Prima Macina comes from the first breaking of the wheat grain, where flavour and nutrients are still naturally present, resulting in a more complex and expressive dough.' Also 'Everything that arrives at your table is made by us. We prepare and transform everything in-house.' Soho Spring Menu prices: Margherita GBP 13.90, Provola e Pepe GBP 16, Cosacca GBP 17, Parmigiana GBP 17.50, Ragu Bianco GBP 18, Ripieno al Forno GBP 18.50, Cheesewick GBP 19, Ricordi d'Infanzia GBP 19.50, crocche GBP 10, frittatine GBP 11, tiramisu GBP 8.50. A dedicated 'Pizze vegane' section lists four vegan pizzas built on vegan stracciatella (Margherita Vegan, Classic Marinara, Parmigiana Vegan, Courgette Vegan) and every other dish is marked (V) or (Vg) where it applies. NO gluten-free item appears anywhere on the Soho menu. As of this fetch the site still said 'Tasting Menu is comingggg', nine days after Time Out reported it live

  8. [8]
    Napoli on the Road (SevenRooms booking page)

    Venue-set policies, verbatim: 'Kids under 10 are welcome until 6 pm every day. Dogs, balloons and outside cakes are not permitted, sorry.' Bookings over 10 guests go to soho@napoliontheroad.com; venue hire to events@napoliontheroad.com. Blurb: 'Europe's No.1 Pizzeria by 50 Top Pizza for three consecutive years, 2024, 2025, and 2026, serving pizza made with fresh, seasonal ingredients and a signature light dough'

  9. [9]
    Food Standards Agency

    NAPOLI ON THE ROAD, 140 Wardour Street, London W1F 8ZT. Food hygiene rating 5, inspected 21 March 2026, local authority Westminster, FHRSID 1913707. Separate premises records exist for Chiswick (rating 5, 2 September 2022, FHRSID 489897) and Richmond (rating 5, 8 November 2024, FHRSID 1632588), which is how the three sites were kept apart

Record

slug
napoli-on-the-road-soho
city
London
group
Restaurants
category
Restaurant
cuisine
Pizza
area
Soho
price
$$
editorial class
Solid
ladder verdict
should-visit
provenance
verified
confidence
high
status
Open
address
9A Devonshire Road
coordinates
51.49214, -0.2562
last verified
2026-08-01
curated page
places/napoli-on-the-road-soho.md