Rudy's Pizza Napoletana: This central Sheffield restaurant might just be home to the city's best pizzas

There is a lot of competition among the Steel City’s many fine and beloved eateries, but for me, Rudy’s on Division Street serves up the best pizzas I’ve enjoyed in Sheffield for as long as I can remember.

With its open kitchen, the creation of their incredible, authentic Neapolitan pizzas takes centre stage.

The delectable 00-made dough is made fresh on site every day, and takes 24 hours to double ferment and is cooked within 60 seconds.

The dough was crispy, flavourful and utterly delicious, and absolutely sang with the toppings of tangy and fresh San Morzano tomatoes, indulgent fior di latte – semi-soft, fresh cheese made in the style of Italian mozzarella – portobello mushrooms, basil, oregano, sea salt and garlic oil for my Portobello pizza. I savoured every mouthful of the freshly-made creation. They were also able to swap out the parmesan to make my pizza vegetarian, which was hugely appreciated.

My dining companion also really enjoyed his Salame pizza, which came with San Morzano tomatoes, fior di latte, parmesan, salame Napoli, basil and extra virgin olive oil.

He said the thick, batons of salame were mouth-wateringly tasty, and he too thought the pizza was excellent.

We started our meal with a Caprese salad. Fresh ingredients are essential for this dish, and the beef tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and buffala mozzarella and fresh basil, more than delivered and the extra virgin olive oil and luscious balsamic glaze really helped to elevate an already enjoyable dish.

When we visited on a busy and bustling Friday night, Rudy’s was alive with groups of friends, relatives and couples enjoying the laid-back ambience of the restaurant, helped by the soft lighting from overhead lamps and candles on each table.

The stripped back decor is modern yet the restaurant itself still somehow feels quite cozy, and the chalk boards with specials for both food and drink really help to create the feel of a neighbourhood pizzeria.

Classic hip hop and R&B was played softly in the background, and despite being located on one of the city centre’s busiest streets on a weekend, Rudy’s felt a world away from the sometimes-chaotic feel of Division Street on a Friday night.

The service was fantastic too, every member of staff we interacted with was friendly and helpful, and really helped us to feel welcome.

When our waitress discovered the Neepsend IPA keg beer my dining companion ordered had run out, she brought him a similar canned beer by the same brewery instead, and I know he appreciated her taking the initiative like that. Having local Sheffield breweries such as Neepsend and Abbeydale on the specials list was a nice touch.

I ordered one a Sospiri from Rudy’s cocktail menu, made with Malfy blood orange, elderflower, peach, prosecco and fresh strawberry and was tangy, sweet and enjoyable.

The cost of the food was quite reasonable too: two pizzas, a starter and two drinks came to £39.30.

Overall, the dining experience at Rudy’s was fantastic, and you can see why the business has expanded to the point that they now have 17 restaurants, most of which are located in northern cities including Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool.