Pizza Artisan

Wood-fired pizza van. Amazing silver bubble, like a 50's camper van that's been too close to Area 51.
  • Food and drink
  • Takeaway
  • Food truck

It contains on board a real wood-fired pizza oven and sells a range of vegetarian and meat pizzas. It doesn't do kebabs and suchlike.

    Cuisine:
  • Italian
31 reviews

St Aldates
outside Christ Church
OX1 1DP

Opening hours: 6.30pm - late

07813 111003 Visit website View menu pages/Pizza-Artisan/238740639472501 @PizzaArtisan
  • Wheelchair-friendly
  • Takeaway

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Reviews

Possibly THE GREATEST pizza in Oxford. Delicious and made right in front of you - super fresh, and the option at the end to 'personalise' with an aromatic oil (the garlic is just beautiful), rocket/spinach leaves, and Parmesan... Is there anything better? There's a huge choice, and the smaller size is just perfect for one. The servers are incredibly friendly and fun. One of best friends is vegan, and it's fantastic to be able to get pizza she can eat too.

Also never had a problem with the queue despite having eaten there now several times - I've waited for longer for less and paid more at restaurants. I'd take this pizza with the super awesome team over any restaurant/take-away pizza any day of the week!

I love their pizza - and I say that as someone who lived in Italy for several years. On the occasions I've been there, the queue hasn't been too bad, mainly because the weather was terrible. What can you say to these reviewers who complained that they had been 'made' to wait 20 minutes even to order? You chose to do it. Don't blame the pizza guys if you decided to wait. I've found them very friendly on all my visits to the van.

On a recent trip to New York, my wife and I went to a famous and highly recommended pizza place under the Brooklyn Bridge and while the pizza was good, it wasn't as good as the pizza van!

Judging by the size of the queues we're not the only people who like their pizzas. Sometimes you have to wait a while, and I have frequently queued for 40 mins to get an order in (and then another 30 for the pizza) but its completely worth the wait to get a delicious pizza with fresh and interesting ingredients and (the best part) a soft bready base which may be the best pizza I've ever had, and possibly one of my top 10 meals ever!

The owner and employees (when not trying to cater to a queue of 40 people) are friendly, and it's worth noting that despite the popularity they have not jacked the price up.

We go there almost every Friday, the only downside being that sometimes you have to contend with a hell of a queue. But good things come to those who are patient, and even if you don't love the pizza as ardently as us, Pizza Artisan is definitely something worth being patient for.

I love pizza but today these guys made us queue for over 20 minutes just to inform us that we would have to wait another 40 minutes to get our pizza. Seriously their pizza is good but it's not that good. Some respect for their customers would be nice.

After queuing for 20 minutes and taking my order the guy in the van told me that I would have to wait for 40 minutes and took my money without waiting for an answer. Generally, I''ve eaten their pizza a couple of times and it definitely resembles Italian pizza more than Dominos but their oven seems to be too cold as their pizzas take an extraordinarily long time to cook. Moreover, the whole dance around whether you want ruccola on your pizza and do you want anything else on it takes an extra 5- 10 minutes. This could be asked when the order is taken to speed up the ordering process. Overall, today I was very upset with the way these people wasted my time and then treated me rather nastily after making me wait. If they're not managing they could also put up a sign telling people that they're behind and not taking orders for some time until they free up their queue.

Great pizza! The firewood oven really makes the difference! It's my favourite pizza in Oxford!

Thanks to everyone at Artisan Pizza for cheering me up on many a windy/rainy Oxford evening. Open late and consistently excellent quality, this pizza is cheaper and better than any I have ever sat down to in a restaurant, and well worth the money. They offer Inventive names and flavours, with Kaiser's Mistress being a personal favourite. Keep up the great work.

This place serves the most delicious pizza I've ever eaten in the UK, cooked in a proper wood oven by the soulful Paul and his lovely assistant, in his groovy van, accompanied by great music.

The bases are perfectly crispy and thin, toppings luscious and tasty, generously finished after cooking with fresh rocket, spinach, parmesan, and choice of oils including chilli and garlic.

Very reasonably priced at £7-8 each, or £3.50 for the small version. Big queues have been building up recently, but it really is worth the wait. Recommend you then sit on the wall outside Christchurch and eat it while still hot!

Wow... long wait (almost an hour) but it definitely was worth it. The pizzas are amazing and far the best I've eaten in the UK (usually the "thing" called pizza isn't worth trying) crispy, tasty and really made with love and passion.

Thanks for your work, it was great fun to see you guys rotate the dough to reggae music. ;-)

The pizza van is truly the best pizza you can find in town and it gets pretty close to very good real Italian pizza. Highly recommended to stop by and admire the owner's brilliant idea of transforming a little van in wonderful street wooden oven heaven!

If your looking for classic music, friendly people, and by far the best pizza in town go down to Pizza Artisan! This van may seem a bit out of the way for some, yet the pizza is well worth the extra mile. There is a great variety of choices with an added bonus that you can add oils and other toppings for free. The wood smoked pizza is truly the best that I have had in town, and I find that short wait for the pizza to cook thoroughly enjoyable because they are always rockin out to good music. Also I'm from New Mexico and they have one of my favorite toppings: Green Chile!

The best pizza in Oxford, nay, the world. It will definitely be one of the things I miss most when I leave.

Having eaten wood fired pizza in Tuscany and other parts of Italy, I don't bother with pizza in the UK - why would you when nothing comes close to the real thing? Then, whilst checking Daily Info for something else, I stumbled across rave reviews for Pizza Artisan. 2 days ago with high expectations I walked into town with my daughter to check it out. The owner and his assistant are charming. We ate the pizzas in G&D's. I have to say both pizzas were utterly delicious. I can recommend Oxford Blue with extra roasted garlic and chilli oil.

In fact I will be back there today with all 4 of my kids!

 

This place is amazing! They make wonderful pizza... best one i had for ages!

The best pizza in town - by far! I am Italian and a regular customer at Pizza Artisan: the ingredients are amazingly good and fresh, and the staff skilled and super-friendly. Highly recommended!

Definitely the best pizza I've had in Oxford. Emphatically fresh and made in front of your eyes. Great topings, excellent base. Good value for money.

The Veggie Special pizza is great even for carnivores.

I’ve been a regular to Pizza Artisan for a while now and without doubt they are the nicest pizzas I’ve ever had in Oxford. Unlike a lot of the takeaway pizzas you find in a student city such as Oxford the pizza base is not a cheap stodgy chewy mess and instead it’s light and fluffy inside whilst retaining a crisp outside. I expect this is down to their use of an actual wood fired oven instead of the commercial ovens found at most take-away places.

The menu consists of a good range of really nicely thought out pizzas, a favourite of mine is the Iberian with comes with roasted red peppers, potato slices, chorizo and black olives. Each pizza comes with the offer of a rocket and spinach salad on top, a range of olive oils (the garlic is amazing!) as well as fresh parmesan cheese to add yet more fresh flavours.

The atmosphere around the van is lively and buzzing and I get the feeling that it’s starting to become a bit of a meeting point for foodies of an evening now with friendly service and a range of tunes while you wait for your pizza (which cooks really fast in the stupidly hot oven).

A friend and I went to the Pizza Artisan to share and saw they now offer £3.50 mini-bite-size pizzas.

I hope this isn't just an experiment, and they're a permanent fixture, they're a delicious decent snack.

(That's right) £3.50 - Bargain!
NOM! - I've eaten there several times & it certainly is special. My partner is Italian so we've tried Pizza all over Oxford, but this is her favourite. Also, I wonder what they're planning with this: www.pizzaartisan.co.uk - the chef mentioned it?
The first time I had one of these I found the topping a bit skimpy. Lovely fresh ingredients, though, and beautifully cooked.

The point-of-sale Citroen van outside Christ Church college is traditional, classic, quirky, fun, and - above all - clean.

The second time I had one (I'll admit I didn't go back for some time: a friend prompted me to try one again) the toppings seemed fairer for the price.

The more adequate topping meant I could taste more as well as feel better fed (and not feel I was just paying for the novelty of it all). It was delicious, I have to say.
I've reviewed this splendid enterprise before, so this is just to let its fans know that the van is back (as of November 2011). It can be followed on Facebook.
I am giving my highest recommendation. This pizza is delicious. Worth much more than its price. I am, as was another commenter below, a fairly discriminating (snobbish?) pizza eater; and rarely have tried pizza I would praise. With this pizza, however, I am not only praising, but bothering to write this review. The base is excellent (thin and appropriately crisp), salsa delicious (one of the fruitiest tomato sauces I've ever had - right on the money), and toppings fresh, simple and thus ideal. Also worth saying that the pizza man himself was friendly, polite and deservedly busy.
This is the best pizza in Oxford and the wood fire is amazing. Friendly staff. Thank you Guys, All the best
The mastery and skill that has been put into each one of his pizza pies is undeniable. He demands absolute perfection and delivers it. In California we are surrounded by pizza of all types; thin and thick, greasy and vegan. I have enjoyed every slice that Paul has crafted from his mobile wood fired oven. The Sgt. Pepper is by far my favorite. piled on top he offers Rocket, s&p, olive oil and parmesan cheese. Love this place, a definite must go. Get there early as he may run out of this delicious food.
PS If you made it to Southern California there is a culture of food trucks that is booming. You have your niche - come to the land of opportunity.
Thanks Paul!!
Always exquisite. Reasonable prices, friendly service, good location, and the best pizza in Oxford. I'm a student and visit regularly - never had to wait longer than 10 minutes or so, from arriving at the van to walking away with my pizza. Apparently they won't be around on Sundays from now on. As for the other days of the week, it can be a bit erratic but they generally tend to be around serving from about 7pm until midnight. Beats any pizza - restaurant or otherwise - that I've had.
So how good is Pizza Artisan? Let me be clear: definitely not as good as some of the Chicago and New York legends. But the best pizza I've had in almost a decade of living in the UK? Certainly, yes.
Pizza Artisan is that truck outside Christchurch every night that looks like a spaceship, a fitting appearance: the pizza is out of this world (good). I am a self-proclaimed pizza snob. I am from Chicago, the home of deep dish and the best pizza in the world. I usually criticize and seldom compliment pizza from anywhere but the Windy City.

But Pizza Artisan is too good to say anything negative about. In fact, it's the best pizza I have had in a very long time, and that includes some of my favorite places in Chicago. Paul, the owner, makes every pie with great care and to great reward for to the customer. The only down side to this place is that the line keeps getting longer every new day. Right now it is the best kept secret in Oxford. But I don't think Pizza Artisan will be a secret for much longer.
Some of the best pizzas I've had in the UK - perfect dough and a deep, rich sauce complimented by a good array of well though out toppings. They only do 5 or so pizzas but every one is delicious. There is a great range of oils, rocket/spinach and other extras which really round off the pizzas well - how pizzas should be! Ring ahead to avoid queues at the weekend.
Those pizzas, that van. Which is the best part of the experience? The pizzas are so well priced and top top top delicious; the service is efficient but also very friendly; and that restored Citroen van is a little charmer. Standing in line having a chat in the queue outside the Christ Church entrance on St Aldates - it sort of puts a new dimension on eating out - especially with that fire heating up the surrounds on a cold night. It's excellent - well done!
This is really the best pizza in Oxford. The main event is the beautiful, light, puffy crust, but the toppings are also good: the tomato base is rich but not too cloying, the cheese is good and there are a decent range of additions. I'd like to see more diversity on the menu, such as a bianco, but apparently that's in the pipeline.

When you think of the typical, no-better-than-it-needs to be food that this city is mostly (under)served by, you can only applaud the passion and good taste of this operation. The students know that this is a good thing: so should year-round residents.

Cool van, too.
There is a fire in that van! A real, proper fire! If this is not enough to lure you, then you should definitely go for the pizza. We went on a Thursday night, then we went back Friday night, and then we went back on Monday. It is that good. You know when you have a dish in front of you, and, half-way through, you get bored with it, and you're indifferent about whether or not you finish? Well, this is not the case here.

The first night, we were so engrossed with our food that the last slice in the box actually came as a shock. We just HAD to go back for more. And you have to consider that we'd just missed the bus home, waited 20 minutes for the next, and by the time we reached home, the pizzas were lukewarm at best.

We had the Funghi (tomato sauce, mozzarella, and mushrooms, £5.50) and the Diavolo (tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, sweet red chillies, red onions, and mushrooms, £6.50). The second time, we had a Chimera (tomato sauce, mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, and roasted red onions, £7.50) and a Diavolo without pepperoni (made vegetarian to order). The third time we had the Diavolo again, and the Madonna (tomato sauce, mozzarella, red onions, fresh cherry tomatoes, fresh rocket salad, and Parmesan shavings, £6.50).

The all-important base is bready and nice without being doughy or chewy, and nothing beats a pizza out of a wood-fire oven. Each pizza is topped after cooking with fresh rocket and baby spinach (nice touch), salt and pepper if you wish, grated Parmesan (not traditional, in the part of Italy I come from, but no complaints), and a selection of oils, from extra virgin olive oil to flavoured oils, chilli oil, etc. The proprietors are friendly and smiley.

You can phone and order your pizza in advance for pick-up, although at times they might not be able to pick up the phone: of the three times, twice we had quite a queue. Good news travels fast. You know what? ... Tomorrow night, pizza.
Review this venue

St Aldates
outside Christ Church
OX1 1DP

Opening hours: 6.30pm - late

07813 111003 Visit website View menu pages/Pizza-Artisan/238740639472501 @PizzaArtisan
  • Wheelchair-friendly
  • Takeaway

Share this venue

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