Ricca's Restaurant

Ricca's is a family-run Italian restaurant on Queen Street in Newton Abbot, built around an open kitchen so diners can watch pizzas going in and out of the wood-fired oven at the back of the room. The dough is hand-stretched and made fresh on site, and dishes are cooked to order rather than held ready, which shows in the pizza crusts and in the pasta alike.

Beyond pizza, the menu runs to grilled meats, steaks and other Mediterranean-leaning mains, with a full gluten-free menu alongside vegetarian and vegan choices, unusual for a restaurant this size. It's open evenings only, five until eleven every day of the week with the kitchen closing at nine, which keeps the focus tight on dinner service rather than trying to cover breakfast and lunch too. The room is busy and informal rather than fussy, geared for date nights and family dinners alike, and the restaurant also runs seasonal set menus around Christmas, Valentine's Day and Father's Day.