Santa Maria Ealing

I have been to Santa Maria more times than my waistline cares to admit! There is always a long wait for a table, but with a cute little pub next door (with garden!) this really isnt a problem at all – in fact, if you go preparing to drink for an hour or so first, it becomes part of the fun of the evening! Once you are there, the food is definitely worth the wait!! The pizzas are perfect each and every time, and watching the chefs spin the dough in the open kitchen in the middle of the restaurant adds to the charm. The restaurant is tiny (cosy!) and it feels very warm and intimate. The pizza is definitely reasonably priced given the quality of the dough, the toppings, the cheese etc. They have always been more than accomodating when wanting to swap/add/remove toppings and I have never had a bad experience there. I have seen a couple of complaints about the service – I have never had a rude waiter; you can see that they are busy and don't dwell at your table for any longer than necessary (unlike some restaurants where the waiter wants to become your best friend before they take your order!) but this doesnt bother me in the slightest – I would rather talk to my companions than a waiter anyway!! The wine is tasty and reasonably priced. All in all, I do not have any complaints to make about this restaurant. I have taken many friends here and everyone who has ever been with me has agreed it is the best pizza they have had – some friends even travel from Molesey to Ealing purely for their pizza! Writing this review has made me salivate so much, I think I know where I will be going for dinner tonight…!!

When the first waiter came to our table to take the order, I said that we would order some drinks first and order food ten minutes later when my wife would join us after parking our car. The waiter said we couldn't do that. He said that we needed to order food now or leave because the restaurant is a very busy one and many people want to eat there. I looked around and saw that the restaurant was almost empty. I pointed that out and insisted on ordering the drinks first. The waiter said in a rude tone that he'd check with the manager if I'd be allowed to do this. When he came back, he confirmed we couldn't. I then told him we had changed our mind and we'd order food right then. The waiter said it was too late and we had been in breach of the “policy”. That was it for me. I got up and asked my guests to leave with me. My guests refused to move (it had been quite a trek to get there) and a waitress came to confirm the “policy”. My wife arrived five minutes later. Whilst we ate, having been “allowed” to do so by the owner in the end, a customer at the table next to ours was loudly told off by the restaurant owner for having used a chair from an adjacent table. The extra chair was for the customer's very young daughter. I couldn't believe the owner was scolding the customer In front of the child. At the end of our meal, we paid and as we were gathering our belongings the restaurant owner said to my wife “Eh, you must leave now. There are many customers waiting outside”. The pizza is rather good, I must admit, but definitely not exceptional (I have had much better pizza in Nice). There is in any case, in my view, no food good enough to accept to be treated that way. If you are looking for a pleasant meal experience, stay well away.

Friends and I thought the food was good. However, waiting for excessive amounts of time because the place is so small is frustrating. The two young owners are also non-customer centric. They cannot handle the pressure of serving fast-pace crowds and sometimes overtly show the pressure by not keeping themselves contained or communicating well in the moment. I would not recommend this place purely based on this fact alone. There is basically no atmosphere and two young broods with a very unpredictable environment.

As far as pizza places go in london, Santa Maria tops the list over Pizza East, Portobello Pizzeria and any where i else I have tried so far. It lacks in size, the service isn't always great and it is hard to get a table but the food is good enough that i still go regularly.