Europa, Middlesbrough

An absolute disgrace. Good parmo when you get it but waited 2 hours for a delivery & when we called to chase it they hung up on us until they closed for the night, not worth it!

ive been back to the europa many times and enjoyed it everytime. you have not had a parmo till you have had one at the europa. its a must. the staff are friendly and the service is second to none .

I eat there about 2-3 times a week the foods great. I've eaten there for years and will carry on eating there. The staff are friendly and welcoming to. Its a great pace to eat and its got a good atmosphere.

one of middlesbrough best restaurants and THE best restaurant for parmos

The Europa Restaurant is located on Borough Road in Middlesbrough. The Europa is a very popular venue in central Middlesbrough, offering home cooked fayre, and it also provides a really good "take away" service. The restaurants typical patrons are weekend revellers, requiring a "nose bag" following a evening of "binge" drinking in the town centre. The atmosphere is regularly lively, rowdy even, but always light-hearted and jovial. As you can imagine, the Europa becomes very busy at "chucking out" time. Cooking times and your waiting interval for a table will lengthen accordingly during these peak periods. The staff are fantastic at seating their clientele though, and will simply ask people you don't know to "bunch up" if they feel they can squeeze you on a table. I have dined with some real characters over the years. Yeah, a few may have been a little unsavoury, but in the main I've had a real hoot at the Europa. The restaurant is arguably most famous for it's invention of the Parmesan or "parmo" as it's affectionately known. Making a parmo involves deep-frying a flattened chicken or pork fillet in an egg and breadcrumb batter, then smothering it in Bechamel sauce before topping off with cheddar cheese. The original Parmos were topped with Parmesan cheese, hence the name, and then grilling or baking the parmo in the pizza oven. The parmo is available in two sizes: large or full parmo, half or regular parmo, sometimes known as a ladies' parmo. According to local legend, in 1993 a Teesside man asked for some pepperoni to be added to the topping before cooking, following which, local takeaways added a variety of 'topped Parmos' to their menus. The full Parmo is usually served in a pizza box along with chips and side salad, though a large round polystyrene tray is becoming increasingly common.

The parmo is rare, if not non-existent in areas outside of Teesside, so if you're in town, pop into the Europa and order yourself a parmo. 100% nectar.