CHEZ PIPO

What CHEZ PIPO does

Chez Pipo (legal entity SOCCA SARL) is a traditional Niçoise restaurant founded in 1940 by Joseph Mazzone "Pipo" and operating from a single location at 13 Rue Bavastro in the old town of Nice, France. The restaurant is best known for socca — a gluten-free chickpea flour pancake cooked in a wood-fired oven built from Biot quarry stones on the site of a former forge, dating back nearly a century. The menu centers on Niçoise specialties (socca, pissaladière, pan bagnat, tartinades, soupe au pistou, tourte de blettes) with wine and mineral water, and the venue was the first in Nice to offer pizza (from 1945).

The restaurant operates as a walk-in, dine-in establishment open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner, with no reservation required for individuals; group bookings (8+ people) are accepted via a dedicated reservation system and pre-set tasting menus (Menu Découverte at €21.90 TTC, Menu Dégustation at €27.90 TTC). Revenue is generated exclusively through on-premise food and beverage sales; there is no delivery, takeaway, franchise, or third-party distribution. The current owner, Steeve Bernardo — a native Niçois with an engineering background from ESSEC and prior consulting experience in Lean Manufacturing across Europe — acquired the business on January 1, 2009, having previously worked as a waiter at the restaurant in the 1990s.

The restaurant has 27 employees, no institutional investment, and operates as an independent family-owned establishment under the SARL legal form with €5,000 of registered capital. Customer acquisition is driven entirely by word-of-mouth, travel recommendations, and organic social media (Instagram @chezpiposocca), with a bilingual French/English website supporting international tourist discovery.

Name

CHEZ PIPO

Legal name

SOCCA SARL

Website

https://chezpipo.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chez Pipo is a traditional Niçoise restaurant in Nice, France, founded in 1940 and owned since 2009 by Steeve Bernardo, specializing in socca and Niçoise specialties cooked in a historic wood-fired oven for walk-in diners and pre-booked groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Traditional Niçoise Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Ethnic & Regional Cuisine Restaurants (THAFACAD)

Keywords

• Niçoise cuisine
• Socca restaurant
• Mediterranean restaurant
• Casual French dining
• Regional street food

Headquarters

HQ city

Nice

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Food & Beverage Sales: Traditional restaurant revenue from serving prepared food and beverages to walk-in customers. Menu includes socca, pissaladière, pizza, spreads, pan bagnat, pistou soup, and sweet chard pie. Wine (Côtes de Provence AOC) and mineral water also available.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CHEZ PIPO is a single-location traditional Niçoise restaurant located at 13 Rue Bavastro in Nice, France, serving regional street-food specialties including socca (a chickpea-flour pancake baked in a wood-fired oven), pissaladière, farinata, wood-fired pizzas, and stuffed vegetables. The restaurant operates as a casual eatery offering both walk-in counter service and seated group table dining, with à la carte items and fixed-price group menus. The business is operated under the legal entity SOCCA SARL with approximately 27 employees.

Product overview

Chez Pipo is a traditional Niçoise restaurant offering a focused menu centered on socca - a gluten-free chickpea flour pancake cooked in a wood-fired oven. The product portfolio includes signature dishes (Socca, Socca Garnie, Pissaladière, Pizza), appetizers (Tartinades, Mini Pan Bagnat, Soupe au Pistou), and desserts (Tourte de Blettes). The restaurant also offers group tasting menus (Menu Découverte and Menu Dégustation) for parties of 8 or more. All products emphasize traditional Niçoise cuisine prepared with regional Mediterranean ingredients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Socca (chickpea-flour pancake) The signature dish of the restaurant — a thin pancake made from chickpea flour and water, baked in a wood-fired oven. Sold to walk-in customers and groups seeking authentic Niçoise street food.
• Pissaladière A traditional Niçoise onion tart topped with anchovies and black olives, baked in the wood-fired oven. Targeted at diners seeking regional Niçoise specialties.
• Wood-fired pizzas Pizzas baked in the traditional wood-fired oven alongside the socca. Sold to walk-in and seated customers as part of the regular menu.
• Stuffed vegetables (légumes farcis) Niçoise-style stuffed vegetables served as a regional specialty on the regular menu. Aimed at diners looking for traditional Niçoise home-style dishes.
• Group menus (formules) Fixed-price set menus (formules) for groups dining on-site, bundling multiple Niçoise specialties at a set per-person price. Targeted at parties, tour groups, and celebratory gatherings.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Direct peers

• Socca d'Or: Long-running socca specialist in Nice known for traditional chickpea pancake takeaway and dine-in service. Comparable as a direct competitor focused on the same core product and tourist market.
• Chez René Socca: Historic socca stand at the Cours Saleya market in Nice, serving the same signature Niçoise chickpea pancake. Directly comparable as a single-location socca specialist targeting locals and tourists in Nice.
• Lou Pilha Leva: Long-standing Niçoise socca and street-food concept in Nice with a comparable menu built around socca, pan bagnat, and other Niçoise staples. Most direct head-to-head competitor for traditional Niçoise snacks in the old town.
• La Merenda: Small traditional Niçoise restaurant in the old town of Nice run by chef Christian Plumail, focused on authentic regional cuisine. Comparable as a heritage, single-site, no-reservations Niçoise restaurant with strong culinary reputation.

Regional players

• Le Plongeoir: Iconic Nice restaurant set on a historic pier with Mediterranean cuisine and sea views. Comparable as a destination Niçoise dining venue relying on location, heritage, and tourist traffic rather than chain scale.
• Chez Davia: Traditional Niçoise restaurant in the Cours Saleya market area offering socca, pissaladière, and other regional specialties. Comparable as a market-area Niçoise casual dining competitor for tourist and local footfall.
• Le Petit Marché: Bistrot de tradition in Paris's 4th arrondissement serving classical French dishes with a Provençal accent. Comparable as a heritage, single-location French bistro built around culinary authenticity and a strong reputation.
• Bocca Nissa: Traditional Niçoise bistro in Nice serving regional specialties including socca, pan bagnat, and daube. Comparable as a heritage-style full-service Niçoise restaurant catering to locals and visitors.
• Café de Turin: Iconic Niçoise seafood and Mediterranean brasserie on Place Garibaldi in Nice. Comparable as a heritage, single-location traditional Niçoise dining destination serving tourists and locals.

Emerging players

• Janou: Provençal bistrot in the Marais, Paris, focused on traditional southern French cuisine in a bistro setting. Comparable as a regional-heritage French cuisine restaurant leveraging provenance and authenticity rather than scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/chezpiposocca
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chez-pipo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CHEZ PIPO