Pizza Pilgrims confirms November Birmingham opening with European expansion on the horizon

Pizza Pilgrims is opening its first restaurant in Birmingham at the beginning of November before exploring European expansion following its acquisition by German pizza and pasta chain L’Osteria.

The Birmingham opening will be followed by a site in London’s King’s Cross with a basement featuring an Italian-style “disco bar”, founders Thom and James Elliot told The Caterer.

The pair, who won Restaurateur of the Year – Group at the 2025 Cateys last month are also eyeing up further European expansion for the business which currently operates 26 sites across the UK.

It will form a natural move for the group after German pizza and pasta chain L’Osteria acquired a majority stake in the business last week.

L’Osteria was founded in Nuremberg, Germany in 1999 and is known for its 45cm pizzas. It now operates more than 200 restaurants across 10 European countries and is backed by investment fund McWin, which is also behind Gail’s, Big Mamma Group and Sticks ‘n’ Sushi.

The deal will see Pizza Pilgrims make use of L’Osteria’s European network as it looks to expand in the UK and overseas.

Speaking to The Caterer, Thom Elliot said he hoped one year from now Pizza Pilgrims would be operating in Europe.

“But what’s really exciting about this partnership is they’re not saying ‘here’s a whole pile of money and go and open 20 new sites in a year’. They don’t want to make us go faster. They want us to go at the same pace and get it right. But it is opening a super fascinating new European journey.

“I’m not saying it’s easy to go and cross country boundaries, but with their experience of doing it and I think the fact that the European market – with the exception of Italy – is slightly behind on Neapolitan pizza, there’s a real opportunity there.

“And it’s an opportunity not just for the brand, but for the people within it because there are plenty of young people who have shown interest to go and live in a new country for three years.”

As well as expansion opportunities, working as part of a much larger group will give the Pizza Pilgrims business opportunities to leverage its purchasing power.

Already the business has got to a size where it is buying enough mozzarella from its supplier in Napoli that it can switch to an upgraded version which is made fresh every day. “As you get bigger, you can get better,” said James.

Thom added: “There are things you can lean into – like they can buy napkins and Coca Cola shit-loads cheaper than we can, but they’re certainly not going to change our cheese. And we won’t let them because it’s written down in the contract.”

Read the full interview with Thom and James Elliot in The Caterer next week