Less than halfway through our pizzas, my boyfriend and I began a discussion about whether the best pizza in London is here at Story Deli or at Valentina in Notting Hill - it is that exceptional. We've had Franco Manca, Rossopomodoro, Princi's square pizza slices (from the cafe, not the restaurant), Pizza Pilgrims, Pizza East, Homeslice, Fundi Pizza, Fratelli di Bufala, and the aforementioned Valentina, but the pizza here is entirely different because of its toppings and yeast-free base. Story Deli's pizza exemplifies the Italian and Californian principles of making simple dishes prepared expertly using the best ingredients. What is just flour, water, and salt becomes an addictively crisp flatbread-pizza hybrid after a few minutes in their scorching oven. Even without toppings, the pizza crust is flavourful, and we ate every last crumb we could find on our wooden serving boards/plates. But oh, the toppings. Here is where their focus on just using the best ingredients turns their pizza into something spectacular. We shared two pizzas: CHORIZO, PUMPKIN & GOAT'S CHEESE chorizo, sage roasted pumpkin & red pepper, goat's cheese, fresh red onion, mascarpone, olives & roasted rosemary oil (£17) SIMONE tomato passata, garlic roasted courgettes, mascarpone, smashed tomatoes, olives, buffalo mozzarella, oregano & basil pesto (with ham) (£17) Both were the best pizzas I have eaten since my last visit to Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles (another restaurant that prioritises ingredient quality). Each ingredient is flavourful in its own right (particularly the sage roasted pumpkin), but the combinations are inventive and harmonious. The pizzas each arrive on a large wooden cutting board, and there are forks, knives, and pizza cutters available for your use on the table. (My boyfriend enjoyed using the pizza cutter as his knife the entire time.) Yes, it is difficult to eat these pizzas with your hands, but who really cares? All that matters is that you can truly taste the quality of the ingredients and the care with which they were prepared. One pizza per person is plenty of food, so come hungry. We paired our pizzas with an excellent organic British lager by Freedom and a refreshing Italian Pinot Grigio by Le Carline Di Piccinin Daniele. Be aware that they only offer one type of beer, two white wines, and one red wine. We also took one of their fudgy brownies to eat later, which was okay but nothing special. Finding the restaurant might be a challenge, as it is only marked by a tree branch above the door. It is really just north of Bethnal Green Road on Brick Lane. (Look for the sign proclaiming "pizza this way" in the window of the shop at the corner of Brick Lane and Bethnal Green.) Inside, the restaurant is sparsely decorated with just a few white candles and rustic mirrors piled together on either side of the room. It is not a place to bring a rowdy group. To anyone who complains about the price of the pizzas, I'd like to point out two things: 1) Their uncompromising stance on just using the best ingredients results in higher costs to them but translates into exceptional pizzas for you. The goat cheese on the chorizo and pumpkin pizza, for example, could not be substituted for a cheaper alternative, because the resulting pizza would not taste as good. This is an obvious thing to point out, but I think this place receives unjustifiable vitriol over its prices because people claim it is "just pizza." 2) Each pizza could be considered as a pizza and a side salad (especially the Fico that I saw at another table, which is covered by an avalanche of greens), which makes eating here comparable in price to eating at other pizzerias. Consider the cost of an equivalent meal at Rossopomodoro: Verduretta Pizza (similar to Simone) -- £10.95 Afragolese Pizza (the most vaguely similar to the Chorizo pizza) -- £14.95 Rucoletta Insalata (to count for the arugula on a Story Deli pizza) -- £5.25 x 2 = £10.50 Total: £36.40 (compared to £34 at Story Deli) Even with just one side salad, the bill at Rossopomodoro is £31.15. There is no doubt that the quality of Story Deli's pizza is worth an additional £2.85. Not to harp on Rossopomodoro (though I do consider it overrated), but I chose it because it does not receive the same accusations of being overpriced. Sure, you might leave Rossopomodoro with an extra slice or two to take home (or throw away) because their pizzas are slightly larger, but Story Deli is about quality over quantity. And I'll choose that any day of the week. (Visited October 2013) read more

Story Deli - simone pizza with courgettes & pesto - Pizza Near Me - London, XGL

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This Pizza is amazing. It is probably the thinnest pizza I have ever had (you must eat with a fork and knife), and bursting with flavor. My wife, two kids and I ordered 2 pizzas. After we finished, we decided to order one more as it was incredible. We ordered the pizza for take away, so we didnt actually eat in, but the service was just fine. The persons that took our order were very nice. Here's the good and bad: Good -Pizza tastes amazing. The pizza's on the menu are different than the ones offered up by your typical pizza joint, and they are packed with so many diverse flavors, its like drinking a phenomenal wine and tasting all the different notes contained within. -The decor is great. Farmhouse style table seating and white walls make for a very clean and minimalist vibe. Its nice and wasnt crowded when I visited. -Fast! When I ordered my pizzas it took about 8 minutes until they were hot and in my hands. The Bad -Expensive. 16 pounds for each pizza is steep, especially given that that each person will need a whole pizza to themselves. -The place can be hard to find since there's no sign on the building. Just head down the empty street and look for the 2 blue doors. Hopefully one is cracked open, and head in! read more

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First. Effing amazing pizza. I had the spicy Charlie Jones (tomato passata, roasted red peppers, spicy sausage, taleggio, parmesan, toasted spices, garlic, crushed birds eye chillies & sweet chilli sauce). I'm lactose intolerant, so I had it with no cheese and extra sauce instead. Paper thin crust, perfectly crisp. Marvelous. It comes with a pile of rocket on top, so you get pizza and a salad in one. Enjoyed this with a glass of malbec. Nice and mellow, but robust enough to match well with the pizza. Second. £17 for a pizza I ate all in one go? That's a friggin lot of money. Sure, the place is awesome, hipster, the food is luscious, etc. But that price? As much as I'd love to taste more of their amazing pizza, I might not go back. read more

Man, this place is cool. Just across from Brick Lane, there's no sign outside, just some beautiful blue doors... and if it's a cold night you might just have to knock to get in. Oooh, exclusive. When you walk in you're greeted by delicious pizza smells but instead of a restaurant the place feels like an artist's home: big wooden communal tables, high ceilings, open kitchen, wine in small table glasses, just how I like it... and the pizza is GOOD. Thin thin crust and still crispy despite the toppings. You'll need to eat it with a fork and knife. It's a bit on the pricey side for about £17 for a thin crust pizza but worth it for the atmosphere. read more

Located just after the far northern end of Brick Lane, this shabby chic decorated organic pizzeria is a real treat. Communal seating on wide, long birch benches, white washed interior, open kitchen, high ceilings in a bright room. The pizza dough is thin and crispy around the edges, topped with what is essentially a giant organic salad of your choice and a drizzle of some of the best tasting extra virgin olive oil. Pizza is served on wooden boards and they are flexible in changing toppings. Plenty of vegetarian choices but also great cold cut meats like prosciutto and other hams. They even serve organic drinks like cola. You leave feeling healthy and light. A great casual and healthy lunch place with friends after hitting Spitlfields Market, Shoreditch or Brick Lane I couldn't give it 5 stars purely because the one waitress was extremely inattentive and slow, despite only two of the four communal tables being half full. She forgot our table water twice, couldn't work the coffee machine which made a racket and didn't bring the bill for a good 20 minutes after waving our arms for her attention. read more

Story Deli - Pizza Near Me - London, XGL

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OMERGERD this place is the worst. Apparently treating your customers with respect is too mainstream, but it's cool since they were doing before it was hip. The waitress was literally pissed that we were seated. When we told her that the pizza didn't meet certain expectations, she told us that we don't have to eat it. Stay away from this place. Don't get fooled by the other ratings that say this place is awesome. They have been tricked into thinking this place is good because it is different. Hitler was different, but doesn't mean he was good. Yes, this place is that bad. read more

Tried few of their pizzas sharing with some friends, and I have to say that they are amazingly tasty! thin crust, spicy and full of flavor. The downside is the price, 18 pounds for a thin pizza is a lot even for Shoreditch. read more

On our trip to London, we went here every night for pizza, even after our dinner! No pizza I have had from NYC, Chicago, even Italy has more flavor than Story Deli's pizzas. Seriously the best pizza I have ever had, and I only wish I lived closer. Its so simplistic, with such fresh high quality ingredients, and you leave not feeling overstuffed, but you leave feeling oh so satisfied. Also, the have organic soda! read more

Not my first time at Story Deli, not my last no doubt. With no plans for dinner in Shoreditch on a Saturday night, I gave the now-moved Story Deli a quick bell and asked if it was busy. The friendly guy who answered was delightful and said they would have no problem squeezing us in. I assumed that because they had moved, it was to a bigger location. Nope, it seems smaller actually. We grabbed two cardboard box seats at the end of a table and poured over the menu. You have to get one each, there's no room for sharing here. We got the aubergine and the ham, spinach and gorgonzola. The ham could have been warmer, but was still thin, flaky and delicious. The aubergine was so so good, but maybe had a little too much balsamic reduction for my liking. We also had a bottle of malbec and a vanilla carmel nut icecream. The icecream, like the pizza, is understated but amazing, clearly made with excellent ingredients, care and attention. Yes, this place is expensive, it was 80 quid for the two of us but totally worth it. read more

There's this discussion about how NY pizza's really good but completely different from Italian pizza. Some may even think that the NY slice is among the best anywhere so when a colleague brought up that the best pizza in the WORLD was found in neither NYC nor Naples but in London, we had to check it out. First of all, we were wondering around brick lane trying to find this place and finally found it in an unmarked building. You step in and this looks like a great location for a test kitchen or a team building make your own pizza night. A nice non-pretentious restaurant with wooden tables and wooden chairs/stools. We had a decent number of us and a corporate card so we ordered drinks, 10+ pies and desserts because at 17 pounds per pie, it is pricey (especially if you convert to USD... jebus). My pizza was the ham, cheese, spinach and red peppers. By ham, they mean a form of prosciutto. Mmm!!! Since sharing means caring, we tried each other's pizzas. A colleague got the super spicy one and it packed a punch but that salami was quite nice. Worth the pain? Yes. They had this nice aubergine and garlic pie that made me rethink my distaste for eggplants. I have no idea what my other colleagues ordered but each one tasted great. The crusts are incredibly thin, like you're eating a papadum or tortilla pizza. The ingredients are fresh and oh so tasty. Desserts! That brownie was something special. A slight crust on the outside and a rich velvet density on the inside. I'm glad I split it with my friend. Best pizza in the world? I still like my slice from Lucia's or Lombardi's but for a super thin crust pizza, Story Deli wins! read more

I'm surprised with the high ratings of this place, the pizzas were so expensive for what you got. £17 for a pizza and still hungry afterwards is not ideal! The base was incredibly thin, so the toppings were too top heavy, you couldn't pick it up without dropping everything! It also made the crisp base very soggy in the middle and seemed to be covered in oil. The five of us shared 3 pizzas and two garlic pizza breads (same size as pizza) but were still hungry afterwards! Don't bother with a coke, it's £3.50 for a can! Service was ok. read more

AMAZING! Hidden gem, without a sign outside right across the street from busy Brick Lane. The crust is VERY thin and the toppings are the main thing to come here for. The owner sometimes closes the restaurant for half an hour and drives to the market mid day, just to get fresh ingredients, rather than keeping them for too long. Not cheap, with 17 quit for a pizza that is mainly made up from the most delicious and fresh toppings and crust that might leave you hungry if you come in starving, but it makes up in freshness, ambience, and all over character of the owner(s) and staff. One of my favorite places in London. read more

Great pizza place near Shoreditch. Came here around two years ago. Not sure if I like the pizza or the location/décor/set-up more. 'Gram-worthy. For reals, the pizza is great, and they pizza oil just enhances the pizza's flavors. Very thin pizza, slightly falls apart when you pick-up. Def recommend if you're looking for pizza for lunch or dinner in Shoreditch. read more

The pizza at Story Deli is an experience, once tried your expectations of pizza will of hit a new level. LOVE it. The setting is tranquil, a real retreat from the buzz of the neighborhood. read more

Just round the corner from Bethnal Green Road with minimal signage, this place feels like a popup. Lovely service, excellent thin and crispy pizza with generous toppings. Minimal selection of pizzas but all done incredibly well. read more

What Sheera G. said! Nailed it. Five stars because even though it's expensive, but worth the money and maintenance of the vibe. Any cheaper and it would be too crowded. #economics I'll add: - No reservations, but a nice and efficiently helpful man always answers the phone during office hours. He is very reassuring about the fact that they can usually always fit in groups of up to four, even during Saturday nights. He was somewhat right--they told me 45 min, I waited 30 min (during which I could have eaten on my own if I had wanted), and then we got a table right away when my other friends showed up. - They're pretty, but not prideful--toppings substitutions are possible. I subbed out Gorgonzola (bleagh) for garlic roasted chickpeas (yum) - Get the vanilla caramel nut ice cream. And the brownie. Yes, it will cost you about £10. But you cannot turn £10 into better sugar & fat food. - They only take cash at the moment. - A pizza, a bottle of wine split four ways, bomb-diggity ice cream, a brownie split four ways (it was that rich), bottled still water, and service = £30. I thought it was great value. - You can store your coats and things in the cardboard stools. My mind is blown by the genius of this, and I am going to buy one of these stools from them very soon. Yes, they are also a clever furniture store. I love you, Story Deli. Please don't change. read more

Great atmosphere, great service, great food, and great wine. I would compare the pizza here to really delicious homemade pizza. The crust is extremely flakey which makes it hard to pick up, so definitely more suited to eat with a knife and fork. All the ingredients are high quality. I would definitely come back here and recommend it if you enjoy good pizza. read more

I am in love with everything about this place, the atmosphere is friendly, organic and beautiful. The best pizza I have tasted, ever.