Just a few metres from Queen Square, Renato’s stands as a local pizza joint serving up Detroit-style pies and a whole host of red sauce Italian-American dishes. It’s much more than that, however, on one side of this King’s Road restaurant’s ground floor dining room is a bar serving cocktails, natural wines, and craft beers, while the other hosts a pizzeria, slinging slices til late. Upstairs, you’ll find a more elevated space, which, while relaxed and intimate, offers a rotating menu of seasonal dishes alongside weekly specials and a carefully composed wine list.
Whether you’re getting hungry after a night at the bar, looking for a relaxed sit-down meal before (or after) a show at the Bristol Old Vic, celebrating with friends, or planning for date night, there’s a spot at Renato’s to suit. What’s more, you’ll find outdoor benches outside, alongside old beer barrels primed to host perching drinkers.
Renato’s pizzeria menu is built on an order-by-the-slice format, offering a signature ‘Streets of Detroit’ slice with ‘Motor City’ tomato sauce, basil, cheese and garlic oil. You’ll also find some New York-style slices, including classic cheese with basil, pepperoni with jalapenos and hot honey, and a chicken number topped with peppers, onions and BBQ sauce. If you’re after a whole pie, that’s on the menu too, including an ‘In Bloom’ pizza with garlic chestnut mushrooms, blue cheese and rocket (plus a drizzle of truffle oil), and many vegan and vegetarian options such as the ‘Leave Me Here’ which features plant-based pepperoni, jalapenos and hot honey.
Upstairs, meanwhile, Renato’s opens up a world of small plates alongside whole pizzas. We’re talking fried crushed potatoes with rosemary salt, dressed white beans with lemon and olive oil, charred padron peppers with smoked salt, and crispy deep fried artichokes served with a lemon aioli.