A look inside the pizzeria run from a back garden

Mouth-watering aromas of wood-fired pizza dough waft through the air on a residential road in Redfield.

The kitchen inside Danny Saville’s house on Glendare Street looks more like a kitchen you’d find inside an established restaurant – complete with industry-standard fridges, stacked pizza boxes and a dough mixer.

Danny, the man behind Back Garden Pizzeria, has transformed his kitchen and garden into a Neapolitan-style takeaway pizza restaurant.

The kitchen inside Danny Saville’s house on Glendare Street looks more like a kitchen you’d find inside an established restaurant – photo: Rachel Sutherland

The restaurant was launched during lockdown in 2020, when Danny was working as head chef at Prego – his hours were reduced and he found himself with more thyme on his hands.

He then started making sourdough pizzas, using Italian produce, from his back garden during lockdown as “a bit of a hobby and a bit of fun”.

Danny, who has been a pizza chef for 12 years, said: “It was amazing when we first started out during lockdown, it was collection only and we started this WhatsApp group and people were adding their mates in.

“It was really nice seeing people’s faces every week and people would book their pizzas a week in advance.

“I didn’t set out thinking this is going to become a business, but it just took off. We built up a following and started getting regular customers.

“I’ve always wanted to own my own business, especially my own pizza place. I’ve always had that ambition.”

Back garden pizzeria was launched during lockdown in 2020

Following a surge in clientele, the business’ Instagram page was launched and Back Garden Pizzeria started doing its own deliveries across the city.

Reflecting on those times, Danny said: “That was a lot of logistics, taking the pre orders, working out the routes and the delivery time slots.

“At that time we were doing around 60 pizzas a night, delivering them all ourselves which was quite chaotic.”

When hospitality began to open up again after lockdown, Danny was asked to return to Prego to work full time as its head chef.

Despite loving his job and his colleagues there, he decided to “take the plunge” with his own pizza business as he “wasn’t ready to give it up”.

Danny started making pizzas from his back garden during lockdown as “a bit of a hobby and a bit of fun”.

With the business expanding and with work and home quite literally on top of one another, Danny said he is keen to move his business out of his house.

“With the home and work balance, it can sometimes be a bit tricky sharing the same space.

“We’ve been looking for a venue for a while but it’s just a bit tricky in Bristol at the moment, it’s really competitive and there’s not that much about on the market,” Danny explained.

When asked if he has any advice for anyone thinking of starting up their own business Danny said: “I’d definitely advise people to test water as a side hustle and build it up before you go for it full time.

“Secondly, don’t be a cowboy – make sure you know your stuff. When it comes to food, hygiene and safety is really important. Do your research.

“Finally, make sure you have done everything that needs to be done from a legal perspective. For example, registering as a food business, securing a food hygiene rating and getting public liability insurance.

“If it’s something you’re passionate about you’ve got nothing to lose.”

The Bristol pizzeria went beyond Danny’s back garden and appeared at Glastonbury and Shambala festival in 2022, selling over 11,000 of its handmade arancinis to festival revellers.

Danny and his team are expected to make a return to Shambala this year.

The business owner thanked everyone in the city for their support, he added: “Without the support of everyone we couldn’t do what we do and it’s amazing that we were able to grow from that initial ‘Pizza Party Line’ WhatsApp group to now looking for a proper venue and making a living from the business.”

Back Garden Pizzeria can be ordered through Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Foodstuff. To find out more, visit www.instagram.com/backgardenpizzeria

All photos: Rachel Sutherland

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