Independent award-winning pizzeria, Zia Lucia, has finally opened its doors to eager customers Reading! Situated on St Mary’s Butts, the artisanal pizzeria is the first of its restaurants to open outside of London, and is part of Zia Lucia’s plans to open four additional sites throughout 2024.
Since its humble inception, Zia Lucia has become renowned for its impressive selection of 48-hour slow-fermented doughs, including traditional white flour, wholemeal, gluten free and vegetable charcoal black base. It was recently voted 38th best artisanal pizza brand in the world, and its black pizza won the UK National Pizza Award.
Reading restaurant goers will not only be able to choose from four types of dough, but for a limited time only, they can also enjoy a limited-edition olive dough exclusive only to Reading! Founders Claudio Vescovo and Gianluca D’Angelo are at the forefront of the UK’s pizza renaissance, opening their first pizzeria in London in 2016, driven by their enthusiasm for using the finest Italian produce to create iconic dishes done well! Tables are available to book now at www.sevenrooms.com/reservations/zialuciareading.
Claudio describes the decision to bring Zia Lucia to Reading: “We were thrilled when we found this site, and cannot wait for everyone to enjoy the Zia Lucia experience! We believe this town matches perfectly with our community style dining and moderately priced, delicious traditional food. What we love about our restaurants is the vibe and the atmosphere created by all our visitors: friends, family, business gatherings… Zia is for all!”
Gianluca adds: “Genuine pizza, homemade appetisers and desserts, paired with our own craft beer and Italian style cocktails and coffees, served in a friendly and relaxed environment is what we are all about! We are constantly overwhelmed by the passion our customers show towards our four pizza doughs: watch out for a new pizza dough, which has been developed for the new opening!”
Zia Lucia, translates as ‘Auntie Lucia’ and the restaurant is inspired and named after Gianluca’s very own aunt. A fantastic cook and generous host, Lucia is the inspiration behind the brand. The new site has all the Italian charm of Zia Lucia’s other restaurants, with a seated capacity of 50, including outdoor seats. The materials used reflects the style of the kitchen and dining room of the real aunty Lucia, recreating a cosy and warm feeling with a sixties twist. Featuring a huge hand-crafted pizza oven as the centre piece of the restaurant, expect timber flooring, big windows, sixties inspired colour code and a jolly wallpaper with motives that will send you straight to the auntie’s dining room.
The menu features fresh, classic Italian toppings, the signature Arianna Sbagliata pizza, and all available on all four types of dough. Toppings range from irresistible Italian favourites such as fiery nduja, spicy spianata salami, truffle honey, burrata, rich gorgonzola cheese, vegetables roasted in their pizza oven.
Alongside the pizzas, will be a selection of Italian-style starters, plates, salads and desserts. The drinks menu focuses on Italian style cocktails including Spritz, Negroni, and their own craft beer Birra Cabriole’, as well as wine and prosecco all sourced from small Italian producers back home.
For more information and full menu please visit www.zialucia.com/reading. You can follow Zia Lucia on social media @zialuciapizza on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
