Blackburn businessman launches chic new pizzeria on famous Curry Mile

The new 50-seater Ecco Pizzeria has officially opened next door to the luxury dessert Heavenly Desserts parlour on Wilmslow Road.

The restaurant, which cost £350,000 to refurbish will serve ‘authentic Italian’ food, including Neapolitan 'wood fired pizza, pasta and Italian inspired chicken parmesans and burgers'.

It also includes a bakery section with freshly made goods throughout the day, including 'brioche ciambella (doughnuts), Italian cheesecakes and flavoured gelato'.

It is the second Ecco Pizzeria to open in the UK following the launch of the Leeds branch of the same name.

The Manchester branch is being run completely separately from the Leeds restaurant. It includes a management team of second generation British Italian Muslims, whose dream was to provide the people of Manchester Authentic Halal Italian cuisine.

Invited guests were joined by social media stars and influencers from across the North of England at the official VIP launch night on Saturday.

The venture has been launched by Blackburn businessman Ish Ahmed.

He said: “This is bringing something new to this famous stretch of road.

“It has been difficult to finish the project as there were so many stops and starts over the past two years due to the pandemic.

“We are delighted to be finally opening our doors and treating Manchester diners to something they may not have tasted before.”

Ish said the brand had been keen to include only authentic Italian ingredients, with our core ingredients imported from Italy on a weekly basis.

The restaurant is based on the lower ground floor with the ground floor itself taken up by their Ecco Pizzeria ‘Grab and Go bakery delights’ and is home to one of the largest wood fired ovens in the area.

Ish added: “It makes sense to have the ‘Grab and Go’ on the ground floor as we are on a very busy stretch of road with a lot of people passing by on their way back from work or university.

“We want people to enjoy our Italian coffee and freshly made brioche doughnuts and other treats and/or treat themselves to our authentic Italian food.”

The new Ecco Pizzeria is located in a relatively new building on Wilmslow Road and is the third restaurant launched by Ish and his team after the opening of the Bolton and Manchester branches of Heavenly Desserts.