Two brothers from Bridgend have brought a taste of Italy to the town with their new takeaway 280Grammi. The owners wanted to try and offer people a taste of something authentic and judging by the reaction so far they have managed to succeed.
People online have hailed the takeaway as a "real Italian" which has lived up to its promise of offering high-quality Neapolitan pizzas which are light, tender, and moist at the same time. They are currently selling lots of different types of pizzas from spicy chicken to tasty-sounding vegetarian concoctions.
But they are also selling other incredible looking Italian dishes such as spaghetti and risotto. For the latest restaurant reviews sign up to our food and drink newsletter here.
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Brothers Claudio and Mario Meoli both own the takeaway and have been enjoying the experience of starting a family business so far since they opened in December. Mario moved to Bridgend seven years ago but he grew up and lived in Naples in southern Italy for the majority of his life like his brother.
Mario said: "I wanted to run a business which would run as a takeaway because Franco, who runs Franco’s Vecchio Italian Restaurant which is also in the town, doesn't really like dealing with the takeaways so now people can order authentic pizzas in Bridgend. It's gone down well so far and business has been good. We try to do more than just Neapolitan pizzas as well because not everyone likes the difference in that and other kinds.
"We find that some people as we learn about them don't always like just Neapolitan pizza. We try to stay in the middle between pleasing British people and Italian people but you can't go wrong with the use of fresh products.
"And if you use the proper Italian products you can never go wrong anyway. You know the base is there but Neapolitan pizza is different. It's much softer but sometimes people don't appreciate it because it's soft. But we try to make the pizza excellent no matter what." Get the best user experience with WalesOnline’s Premium app on Apple or Android.
Lots of new restaurants have been popping up in Bridgend recently and the foodie scene is seemingly thriving with new additions including Marble steakhouse and the Japanese restaurant Gin & Sake. Considering the range of establishments in the area Mario said: "You can't see other things as your competition. You've just got to concentrate on yourself and making the food as good and as fresh as possible and getting it to that high standard.
"You've always got to have confidence and celebrate the products. Don't worry about everybody else. Work hard. You can achieve it and that's what we want." And after a successful start since they opened the takeaway two months ago Mario is also already looking ahead towards the future.
He said: "We will see and if we opened up one, two, or three more takeaways like this that would be great. If the demand is there you go forward." Some of the comments on social media so far have already been singing 280Grammi's praises.
And YouTube star Ben Phillips, who has more than 18m social media followers, recently visited the new takeaway and learned how to make Italian food with the staff. Trying out a bowl of pasta he created with them afterwards he said on a video he shared to his Facebook page: "That looks absolutely – wow. Smells amazing. Absolutely amazing. Here we go. This is really Italian – the flavours in that are unbelievable."
