Stile Napoletano opened in the old Chester Market in 2018. Founder Giacomo Guido, originally from Ischia, an island in the Bay of Naples, visited Chester in 2017 with his wife and fell in love with the city. He opened his own restaurant on Watergate Street in 2020 and has recently been officially ranked 13th Best Pizzeria in Europe at the prestigious Top 50 Pizza Europe Awards 2025 in Madrid. The accolade placed them as the third-best pizzeria in the UK and already signalled their growing international status.

Based in London, the Hampstead pizzeria where he worked won an award for best pizza in London in 2015 and was also voted one of the best pizzerias in the world, winning praise from the Evening Standard and The Times. The Times described Guido’s pizza as “divinely light and airy.” Guido also sailed to victory in the 2017 London Pizza festival. 

“Chester was the first place that we visited and we just loved it. We didn’t think about it too much, we just decided to move here. There were no Neapolitan pizzerias in Chester at that time. There was other places, but different pizza styles. We saw the advertising at the back of the bus that Chester Market was looking for new traders. I didn’t know where it was because we had just moved here. I was thinking of the London markets… If I had known what it was like, I would not have asked for a place in there!” he jokes. At that time the Market was very much in decline with declining footfall and a high number of empty units. The arrival of a new breed of traders including Stile, Nice Bites, That Beer Place and Bookingham Palace all helped the Market’s revival in 2018 onwards.

“We were in the city centre and we are making a unique product that you can’t get anywhere else. The first day we opened we sold out of pizzas, it was a Saturday and I had never seen the Market so busy. ”

Stile Napoletano soon established itself as one of the key traders in the Market, which for the first time in years, became a destination for food and drink. ” The last period that we were in the old market we already had this place here. We got the keys on the 28 Feb and lockdown was 19 March. It wasn’t a great time. The positive was I had time to do all the work here and to plan the opening. It was stressful, but I don’t want to think about the bad times. We managed to open , and you know over the last few years it has not been easy for businesses. “

Speaking of Stile’s award, he comments that , “the Top 50 pizza is a guide, not a competition. There are anonymous inspectors that visit. We were lucky that they came to visit, we didn’t know they were here, they paid their bill and they left. A month before the awards they send you an email to say that you will be in the guide, but you don’t know your position. Last year we were 18th place in Europe, this year is 13th. We are the first one in the UK outside London. ”

Top 50 Pizza Europe’s expert judges commented “Stile Napoletano has earned a solid reputation thanks to its consistency, constant attention to quality, and a well-defined identity that does not compromise. The approach is artisanal in every phase, from the carefully crafted dough to the rigorous selection of raw materials.”

The business’ special quality is Giacamo himself. “It is because I am here every day” What started as a two-person team has grown to twelve, but the restaurant remains entirely chef-led, opening only when Giacomo is in the kitchen. “I don’t want to say it’s only me , its the work of everyone that’s here. The pizza is a very artisanal product, so being the chef and the owner is important, I want to be sure that we use the best ingredients and that we do things the way they should be done. I do it because I love it and its my passion. “

The Stile menu is focused on traditional pizzas with signature dishes which use seasonal produce. “Most of our ingredients come from Italy. For example we use Amalfi Coast lemons, which we get from Francis Thomas, all of our vegetables we get from there, they are very good at finding us special products. We want people to have something here, and then every time they think of it, they know that if you want it again, you can only come here. That is going to secure that customers return to us. “

With the Chester high street massively changing in recent years, even more so since the pandemic, Watergate Street has increasingly become a location for bars and restaurants. “When I moved here, Assembly wasn’t here, Death by Tacos wasn’t here, the Japanese restaurant wasn’t here. We started something and other people followed. James at Death by Tacos told me he came to the Market because of us, he had seen our success. They are doing a great job and its always nice to have more businesses because it brings more people to our streets. After the awards we have had so many people coming to us, we have people from Liverpool, Leeds, someone came from London to try our pizza. As you can see we are quite small, but since last month we have 80 people booked every day, from 5-9 and we have 25 seats. It is very good! ”

The award has attracted a lot of attention. “On Monday we had a national food writer visit and he came at 530, but we had no space so he decided to have a takeaway. He shared a post on Instagram saying that he was recommended to come here , he said it was the best pizza of his life! Sometimes you work hard and you don’t get anything back, that can happen. But here I can work 14 hours a day, and you can see that people are happy, and you get that nice feedback, and you can pay everything and everyone, that is very nice. You look around and you can see that some people are struggling to pay their rent, struggling to pay their staff, their suppliers, the rates and taxes. I am happy we are busy and doing well. “

For the future, Giacomo reveals that : ” We have had an offer to open something in Chelsea in London. For now its just a proposal, but it doesn’t mean we are leaving Chester, it would be a second location. I will stay here one hundred percent! My own plan is to find a bigger place, making sure we have enough space for everyone that wants to come here. But of course we don’t want to lose our standards, we still have to do what we do in the best way possible. “

With the business confirmed as one of the Top 100 Pizzerias in the World, the final global rankings will be revealed in Naples this September. “Being on the list is already a lot. The good thing is just being on the list! We have even been included in the Good Food Guide this year. We have the same excitement when something comes from Chester, we take all the feedback as something special. You can make a very good product, but at the end you have to make sure that customers like what we do and that’s what we do every day. Our priority is to make sure that people find a nice place and that they feel welcome. They need to know that I am here every day, so if you come again you are going to get exactly the same quality. I do it because I love it. I am happy to be able to do what I like to do! “

Having been open 7 years, Giacomo reflected that : “We have customers that have been coming since day one. We have customers that used to be girlfriend and boyfriend and now they are married. Young families with children, now they are teenagers. It’s nice seeing people growing and families growing. “

To find out more about Stile Napoletano, please visit: https://stilenapoletanopizzeria.co.uk/