Brighton’s pizza proliferation

How many pizza places are too many? In Brighton and Hove, apparently, that number doesn’t exist. At last (very approximate) count, the city clocks in at some 30 pizza-first joints – Neapolitan, Detroit-style, New York slices, the UK’s first vegan pizzeria, plus a mix of chains and fiercely loved indies. By our calculations, that’s roughly one per square mile.

So while we’re not quite at pub-level saturation, that’s still a serious amount of lovingly crafted dough flying around for one pretty small city. And that’s before you factor in restaurants with pizza on their menu or mobile operators like Slicycle (clue’s in the name), regularly popping up at spots like the Loud Shirt Tap.

But this pizza predilection is not a uniquely Brighton phenomenon. London’s been seeing a full-blown pizza boom, too, with residencies turning into permanent sites and new openings appearing from east to west, including viral sensations Crisp Pizza teaming up with the people behind The Devonshire, the most popular pub in the country, to open The Marlborough in Mayfair.

Brighton might move at a slightly more leisurely pace than the capital – three opened in just over a week in London last year – but the same appetite is clearly there. Pommy’s Pizza (New-York style, Italian-run) opened last June to great fanfare after a masterclass in how to build a brand on social media, adding a second site just four months later. Then came the return of Original Tony’s – fine-dining chef Toby Hackett’s hybrid take on Neapolitan and New York pizza, which opened on Trafalgar Street last summer, and quickly became another local favourite.

And the latest soon-to-open addition to the pizza gang is the eponymous Jack’s Pizza. After starting out making his Detroit-style pizza in his parents’ home kitchen, Jack went on to secure a residency at The Brunswick in Hove, and now has a full bricks-and-mortar opening in a prime North Laine spot, opening early April.

At the same time, Brighton’s also seeing a wider shift to in-person everything – run clubs, coffee meet-ups and creative gatherings across the city – as people hunger for real-life connection away from the 24/7 pull of the screen. And pizza fits neatly into that. It’s quick, sociable and best shared. Pizza’s nothing new, of course, but it’s never been this good or this everywhere before. And in an always-on city like Brighton, it’s an easy way to bring people together.

Words and images by Amy Brooke, co-founder and editor of Brighton On The Inside‍