Theo's Pizzeria Elephant and Castle

The second outpost of this South London micro-chain, Theo’s Pizzeria in Elephant and Castle builds on the success of the original branch in Camberwell, serving reasonably price Neapolitan-style pizzas straight from a wood-fired oven. Just a couple of minutes away from Elephant and Castle tube station, Theo’s offers lunch and dinner menus both of which stretch beyond just pizzas. This makes it a great place to come whether you’re looking for a quick lunch or a full-on feast.

Poking out from the ground floor of a concrete block of offices, Theo’s Pizzeria has large glass windows on three sides allowing you to see right into the restaurant from the outside. Once inside, the simple décor provides a very relaxed ambience to the restaurant, with a glistening pizza oven standing proudly in the open kitchen and café-like chairs and tables dotted around the space.

The food menu differs depending on which meal you come for. The lunch menu offers great bang for your buck with a variety of panuozzos – pizza dough sandwiches – on offer, all for just £5. A fiver at lunch will also get you a hefty wedge of aubergine parmigiana, or some amazing arancini. There is, of course, also the option to have one of Theo’s classic pizzas.

For dinner, you can begin your meal with starters such as burrata, and pizza fritta (deep fried pizza) topped with pork belly. The main event, however, is of course the pizzas which range from a smoked margherita, to a calzone filled with ham, mushrooms, ricotta, tomato and mozzarella. A short selection of desserts includes Italian classics such as tiramisu and pistachio and orange zest cannolo.

All of this is accompanied by a broad drinks menu which covers beers, wines by the glass, carafe and bottle, cocktails, traditional Italian spirits, and a selection of soft drinks.