60 Seconds to Napoli is another German restaurant chain serving the best pizza Napoli style. I visited their restaurant in Essen with a friend to see, how good they really are.
Noori & I know the 485 Grad restaurants in Cologne from several visits with our friends. We just love it, and we love pizza!
This is our very first time, we ate at 60 Seconds to Napoli. We were very curious, what we would find...
Pizza Napolitana got chained again
A couple of years ago the first German pizzeria started this concept of original Pizza Napolitana in Cologne. 485 Grad became a shooting star in the German gastro scene. They had ambitious plans. Unfortunately the two founders split up, which led to the spin-off NineoFive. The same concept with slight variations. Now 60 Seconds to Napoli took up the same idea of Pizza Napolitana and started their own restaurant chain with a similar concept. Regarding their wine supply, AskToni is their partner in charge of the wine concept.
Therefore I was very curious what the differences between these 3 restaurant chains are, which are built on the same idea - bringing great Italian pizza and great wine to the table. This is exactly what we will order today.
A good first impression that lasted til the end
On an early late-summer evening we visited the recently opened 60 Seconds to Napoli in Essen. There were just a few guests, and we chose a nice table on the patio underneath a heater. A few moments later, a server approached us, greeting us friendly, and handing the menu to us. Without having to ask him, he offered fresh water for Balti and Felix. We gladly accepted. Intuitively we knew, we are in the right place here. We quickly found our favourites on the menu.
The heat is on in Napoli!
Thanks to the heater above our seats, the entire stay on the patio was very comfortable. We talked about private and professional topics. The drinks and food came in an appropriate time and timing, so we never had to wonder when our food is eventually coming.
After our pizzas, we asked for desert. Unfortunately our vegan choice wasn't available anymore. But it was somehow we didn't exactly mind. It can happen.
Noori & I definately had a great time at 60 Seconds to Napoli. Noori couldn't finish her pizza completely. She asked for a take-away box . Felix & Balti guarded on it our way back home.
The (in)famous toilet check
Like in every restaurant review, the toilet check is a must. I went for it. Over 75% of the restroom was designed in black. Does that sound familiar? Yes, but there was plenty of light. You can find what you are looking for. You can see, that everything is tidy and overall clean. On the wall hung a list indicating hourly toilet checks. When I entered the mens' room, a staff member was about to complete his check. Good overall impression. I do not ask for more.
Our result about 60 Seconds to Napoli
For Noori and me, 60 Seconds to Napoli passed with flying colours.
They have vegan-friendly alternatives in every section of their menu. Unfortunately their wines are not marked vegan-friendly or not.
But what is the difference to their conceptional relatives 485Grad and SevenOnine?
It's not just a different wine consultant they have.
The most striking difference is, that 485 Grad and NineOfive have a huge wine list with a good percentage of high-class wines. Sommelier rock star Sebastian Georgi was the co-founder of 485 Grad. Now he runs his own NineOfive restaurants. He was the one implementing that huge wine list.
AskToni designed a much smaller wine list for 60 Seconds to Napoli...also offering some good wines. For a businessman this has a big advantage. With a huge stock of many expensive wines, you bind lots of money in your storage. You also need lots of time to train your staff on wine issues on regular basis. Specialized and highly trained trained staff is more expensive that regular servers. For not being a wine temple, but only a great place to go out to and having one of the greatest pizzas in town, 60 Seconds to Napoli has a high financial advantage to their competitors.
I think 60 Seconds to Napoli will open more restaurants in Germany for sure. If they will go abroad...no-one knows yet, and I wish them the best of luck, if they plan so.
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