Over a year ago, Pizza Club was a corner shop hidden away at the back of Jericho on Albert Street, until business partners Shoaib and Kazi saw its potential and took it over.
Quickly realising that there was a gap in the market for a sourdough pizza takeaway and mini restaurant, they transformed it into Pizza Club and have been doing a roaring trade ever since, rumour has it Emma Watson was a regular when she was a student here.
And you know us, the merest whiff of a pizza and we’re there, veering right off the main drag on Walton Street and down past Al Shami, to find it.
It’s a simple set up but a sweet little place, really personally and intimately decorated with colourful art and positive messaging. Most people order takeout, but we sat at one of the four tables to check out Pizza Club‘s vibe and make sure it was the real deal.
So many places buy their pizzas, bases and sauces in, but Pizza Club has already racked up quite the reputation for their artisan pizzas and interesting toppings like the Brisket Burn (slow-cooked beef brisket, caramelized red onions, mozzarella, cheddar cheese, and fresh tomato slices).
So we sat back and watched Shoaib at work. Pizza oven blazing, we ordered – the pizzas come in two sizes, four veggie, four meat, one vegan. We went for a large Firebird with spicy chicken, mozzarella, jalapeños, cheddar and tomato sauce (£11 or £14) and a large Garden Glow – sun-dried tomato, basil pesto, mozzarella, cheddar and tomato sauce (£10.50 or £13.50) and waited.
I say waited, but actually we jumped up and watched Shoaib at work, rolling out the dough, adding the sauce, toppings and a lot of cheese and then launching them into the pizza oven.
A few minutes later we were dining with gusto, the pizzas generous in size and content, piled high with oozing cheese. I’m not sure how the Italians would feel about that much formaggio, especially the obligatory cheddar, but we were there for it.
They have a great soft drinks menu, the pink lemonade and milkshake helping it all slide down, the pizza slices satisfyingly droopy, the toppings sliding off, just as the doctor ordered.
Filling, great value and really different, we can see what all the hype is about around Pizza Club. And while it may not be a swanky restaurant it’s still a new, popular, independent neighbourhood pizzeria which the locals and students love. In the current climate that’s about as good as it gets.
Pizza Club is at 9 Albert Street, Oxford, OX26AY https://pizza-club.co.uk
