One of Glasgow’s best pizza restaurants is coming to the West End this weekend in what will be an exciting addition to Ashton Lane’s food and drink scene.
Sano Pizza currently has three restaurants in Ireland split between Dublin and Cork, and opened their first premises in Glasgow in May 2022 in Finnieston. Last summer, they opened a second Glasgow location on Bell Street in the Merchant City.
The idea for Sano came about after twin brothers Raymond and Tony MacHugh visited Naples. All pizzas in Naples are made using a sourdough base, and cooked in traditional stone ovens at 500 degrees. Not only were these pizzas delicious, they had a much lower salt content. The other thing that struck the twins was how affordable the pizzas were – everywhere they went in Naples, the pizzerias were jammed packed with people, out enjoying fine food at affordable prices.
They set off to open a Neapolitan pizzeria in Dublin, purchasing two traditional stone ovens direct from the manufacturer in Naples. Not long after that, they found a site and opened their first Sano Pizza in April 2018 in Temple Bar.
Here is a first look inside the restaurant on Ashton Lane.
5. Sano Pizza
“We obviously can’t do the full bar range that we had before. We’ve certainly learned that there’s a huge quench for pizza wherever we go which is exciting. We’ve been in business a long time, its not exactly rocket science to do it. It’s about affordability as well. From day one, we’ve always striven to give the best value. That value isn’t just in the pizza, it’s everything you get whether that’s a flat white or a coca cola. It’s a proper restaurant experience when you come in, but you don’t get any surprises when you get the bill. We want to put something back into the community which is why we’re going to do a special deal for students in the area to give them value. We want to make it affordable for everybody and try and link in with local charities here too. It’s not just a case of stacking them high and selling them cheap. We’re going to try and fulfil Ashton Lane as a big unit because we’re going to have our own restaurant, Jinty’s downstairs and the beer garden on a sunny day. We’re not just going to have the people on the lane, we’re going to have people coming off Byres Road too. | Sano Pizza
6. Sano Pizza
Sano Pizza will open at 33 Ashton Lane. | Sano Pizza