Everyone seems to have an opinion about Da Pietro — and many describe it as serving some of the best pizza in the Czech Republic.

For years, food lovers regularly traveled to Pilsen just to try it. Since the restaurant opened its Prague branch on Bělehradská Street in Vinohrady, tables have been difficult to secure almost every evening.

We recently met with owner Petr Soukal to talk about his journey and what lies ahead for him and his business.

In fact, Petr is building a small on-site mozzarella production facility so the cheese can be made fresh daily, an extension of an in-house salami operation already running on Italian methods.

“We would like to show our customers the authentic products, from small producers, small farmers, not like from the big brands,” Soukal said. “Every ingredient is important to us. We don’t like to make compromises.”

Pizzeria da Pietro in Vinohrady

A Decade-Long Journey

The Da Pietro story began in December 2013, when Soukal opened a small Italian food shop in Pilsen.

“I loved Italy and was thinking about what I was going to do,” Soukal recalls. “I wanted something of my own, so I decided to import ingredients from Italy.”

After two years, Soukal began considering a new idea: transforming the shop into a pizzeria, despite having no previous experience in gastronomy.

To learn the craft, the pair traveled to Naples, where they met pizza maker Luigi Castaldo, who taught Soukal the basics, introduced him to suppliers, and later helped launch the first Da Pietro in Pilsen in 2016.

With people making the trip from Prague, a second location followed in Vinohrady at the end of 2023, bringing with it a custom-built wood-fired oven and the same sourcing strategy that made the original unique.

 

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“At the beginning it was like more a fun idea. We didn’t expect to grow like this,” Soukal said. Around 95% of ingredients come directly from Italy, from artisan producers and small farmers he knows personally.

No Compromises on Ingredients

Flour, tomatoes, and mozzarella are the three he says he will never compromise on. For a long time, that meant loading up a van and making the drive themselves.

The logistics have grown more complicated as the business has expanded but the sourcing strategies remain the same.

Today, around 95 percent of Da Pietro’s ingredients come directly from Italy, sourced from artisan producers and farmers Soukal knows personally.

Despite the growth and attention, Soukal says the philosophy remains the same as on day one — focus on quality, know the producers, and never cut corners.

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