IT’S National Pizza Day – fancy picking up a slice of the Italian favourite?

Or how about making your own?

We’ve got some top tips from an award-winning pizza venue on Sutton Oak Drive – Dial A Pizza – which has been serving up perfect pizzas for more than 30 years.

Today, Friday, February 9, is National Pizza Day - a whole day dedicated to everyone's favourite cheesy Italian treat.

The cheesy topped dough that can be eaten hot or cold is a favourite when it comes to ordering fast food.

Do you go for a traditional margherita pizza with cheese and tomato or do you like extra toppings on every slice?

Last year, as part of our Best of 2023 campaign, we searched for St Helens’ Best for Pizza venue.

John Jones and Steven Neild clearly have all the ingredients for success as Dial A Pizza took top honours.

They’ve been making pizzas in St Helens for three decades, opening in March 1990 and moving to live in the town shortly afterwards.

They offer a pizza delivery service direct to your home, office or workplaces covering the whole of St Helens and surrounding areas including Prescot, Whiston and Burtonwood.

John and Steven were made redundant from the Merchant Navy in 1989 after being at sea for 11 years as chefs.

The pair travelled around the world stopping at ports and making notes about how pizza places were offering a delivery service – something which was rare at home in Liverpool.

St Helens Star: Dial A Pizza has been serving the Italian fast food for more than three decadesDial A Pizza has been serving the Italian fast food for more than three decades (Image: Dial A Pizza)

John said: “We noticed St Helens only had one pizza place in the town centre, so we took over an industrial unit and converted it to a fully operational pizza kitchen and purchased two vans.

“We now operate six vehicles so the business has grown over the past 33 years.

“We had no previous business background but we had a mentor from Liverpool City Council, who was helping young people set up their own business, and we visited lots of business seminars to gain extra knowledge.

“We were involved in catering since the age of 16 so catering was something we knew a lot about.”

All Dial A Pizza deliveries are served by experienced staff who have worked with the company for more than 15 years and they guarantee 100 per cent pure mozzarella on all their pizzas with a dough base that has zero per cent salt.

Margherita pizzas are good sellers - cheese and tomato – together with the Arizona meat feast, which is topped with pepperoni, ham and American spicy sausage. 

They have popular specials including those from Hawaii, Kentucky and Nevada.

John said: “Pizzas are popular as they have been bringing families and friends together for celebrations and gatherings for years.

“Pizzas are made for sharing, whether it’s small, medium or large.

“Pizzas can be fun to make but nothing makes you happier than hearing your door bell ring and the delivery person arrives with your pizza!”

Here are John’s top three tips:

  1. Use a strong quality batch of plain flour. This makes the best pizza dough as it gives the dough strong elasticity.
  2. Salt doesn’t need to be added to make a good quality dough mix, making a healthier base.
  3. Top your pizza with quality ingredients. One hundred per cent pure mozzarella is low in fat so a healthy addition to any pizza.