Bradford – Louisa Parry

I’ve had a lot of hits to my website recently from people wondering about Pippo’s, the new Italian restaurant at the Greengates crossroads in Bradford.

I’m not in any way affiliated with them, I was just someone (like you people searching for it), looking for info about it. However, since they don’t seem to have any details online yet, I’ll post what I know:

They opened in mid-November 2011.
They’re open every evening (I think) and at lunchtimes too.
The lunch menu is a cut down version of the main menu but still pretty extensive and cheaper: £4.95 a dish.
The evening menu features all the pasta, pizza and Secondi Piatti dishes you’d expect from a Ristorante Italiano ;). Lots of choice.
When we went, in the second week of opening, there were some issues with card payments and licensing for alcohol (they were happy for people to BYO though). There is still a sign on the door suggesting one or other is problem – the Asda around the corner can help with both problems (open til 8pm, 24hr cash machine).
Their phone number is 01274 270802
Their postcode (if you need to sat nav it) is BD10 0RB
There is a small car park between the restaurant and the small memorial garden with the angel in it.

Review

We moved from reasonably central Leeds to Greengates two years ago and are sorely missing having a selection of fab restaurants on our doorstep – so were very happy earlier in the autumn when we saw that the old Seven Stars Inn was being renovated into an Italian restaurant. And we were very glad to see that it was another local independent business, rather than something else like Costa. (We do go to Kiplings and Kebabish sometimes but prefer our curries elsewhere, and even curry-fiend like us need some variety sometimes!)

The people behind Pippo’s have done a decent conversion job – it’s clean, bright and airy now, with nice, simple wooden furniture. It’s not the most hyper-stylish restaurant ever but it’s not trying to be. To compare it to places in Leeds, it’s old school like Pietro’s in Headingley used to be (we’ve not been to its new incarnation Giorgio’s) or that place that used to be upstairs opposite WH Smith in the town centre (Fiore’s?) rather than the fancy wild-mushrooms-and-truffle-oil places like Salvo’s or Gusto, or the razzle-dazzle of Bibis. I do ~~like~~ love Salvo’s but every now and then, a girl needs a large amount of tomato & cheese – and Pippo’s is perfect for that.
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1. Boron has inserted himself between us while we slept so when I wake up, he’s under the duvet, with his head resting on my pillow next to mine. We stay there for at least an hour until John wakes up and he purrs a deep, satisfied purr the whole time.

2. We decide to finally implement something we’ve been talking about for a couple of months – we go to the RSPCA to see about adopting a dog. We meet two boys who have lived with cats before and we’re encouraged to play with them and walk with them. As John walks away with the second dog, I tell the handler that I think John looks good with a dog at his side.

3. We head into Bradford city centre for lunch and some charity shopping. It’s been a while since we’ve been there on foot – certainly the first time since we moved to a BD postcode, but probably a couple of years before that even. On the way up to Oxfam, we notice that the nature of the city starts to change after Duke St: the big-name chains gives way to smaller, independent shops, and it feels like a first time visit to a small town instead of a familiar city.

4. The sound check runs late so we have to eat quickly – it’s a shame to gobble such lovely food. The soup starts out neat and orderly, all the additional ingredients in their own part of the bowl and enjoyed individually, but as I eat, it all gets mixed together and a fuller flavour is revealed.

5. Kev writes my name in the condensation on the window and as the evening proceeds, the letters streak until all that is left are vertical drip lines down the pane. Above, the red light turns the dull gold window frame into a surreal ruby.

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Pippo’s: the new Italian restaurant in Greengates, Bradford

3BT – purring, suits you, changes, soup, window