Ma.Ma Pizza — Restaurant in San Gimignano

It's not often you get great pizza AND strike up a long conversation with the owners of the pizzeria...but this is what happened to us. (Non capita spesso di mangiare un'ottima pizza E di intavolare una lunga conversazione con i proprietari della pizzeria... ma questo è quello che è successo a noi.)

First, the pizza: Quattro stagioni...by quarters, artichoke, ham, olives and tomato, and mushroom. Straight out of the oven, hot, delicious, aromatic. Simple food, prepared well...Washed down with a 9% Slalom beer in my case, and a lemon soda for my partner. (Innanzitutto la pizza: Quattro stagioni...a spicchi, carciofi, prosciutto, olive e pomodoro, e funghi. Appena sfornato, caldo, delizioso, aromatico. Cibo semplice, preparato bene... innaffiato con una birra Slalom al 9% nel mio caso e una bibita al limone per il mio compagno.)

Second, the people: Andrea and Sara are engaging, kind, and very funny...It's not often - if ever - you feel so welcome in a pizza shop. Andrea has a good smattering of English, Sara more so. We ended up chatting on the street, as they'd gone out to have a break. I ate my last two pieces on the street as we chatted about Italy, Tuscany, the people, the places they'd been, Australia, and more. (In secondo luogo, le persone: Andrea e Sara sono simpatici, gentili e molto divertenti... Non capita spesso, se non mai, di sentirsi così benvenuti in una pizzeria. Andrea ha una buona infarinatura di inglese, Sara ancora di più. Finimmo per chiacchierare per strada, dato che erano usciti per fare una pausa. Ho mangiato i miei ultimi due pezzi per strada mentre chiacchieravamo dell'Italia, della Toscana, delle persone, dei posti in cui erano stati, dell'Australia e altro ancora.)

Thirdly, the place itself: On the main street of the village of Ulignano. Small (seats maybe 8-10), local, very traditional yet a little quirky. (In terzo luogo, il posto in sé: sulla strada principale del paese di Ulignano. Piccolo (posti a sedere forse 8-10), locale, molto tradizionale ma un po' eccentrico.)

Fourthly: We loved it. An experience we'll never forget. Perhaps we were lucky - it was towards the end of the night and things had eased off - and so there was time to work and relax, which is probably rare. (Quarto: ci è piaciuto molto. Un'esperienza che non dimenticheremo mai. Forse siamo stati fortunati - era verso la fine della notte e le cose si erano calmate - e quindi c'era tempo per lavorare e rilassarsi, cosa probabilmente rara.)

The translation from English into Italian is straight off Google. It's probably a little weird - but you get the idea, hopefully. (La traduzione dall'inglese all'italiano arriva direttamente da Google. Probabilmente è un po' strano, ma spero che tu abbia...

We were staying in a fancy agriturismo about 10-15 minutes up the hill, but we had a bad meal in the agriturismo restaurant on the first night so decided to try some takeaway pizza the second night. We decided upon Ma.ma because it was close. Very friendly owners, probably the most friendly we have met in Italy so far especially as we cannot speak Italian and some service we have received at other places has felt a bit rude when they find out we cannot speak Italian. The pizzas were tasty and the prices were reasonable....

Visiting Ma Ma Pizza in Ulignano was an absolute delight, truly a gem in the heart of Ulignano! From the moment I walked in, the welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff made me feel right at home. The pizza was great - the crust was crispy, yet soft and chewy, topped with fresh, locally-sourced ingredients.

The Margherita was a personal favorite.

Thank you, Ma Ma Pizza, for a memorable experience. Can’t wait for my next visit! 5 stars...