Best Pizza In Melbourne
Melbourne established its reputation as a hotbed of pizza long ago. On Lygon Street in 1961, Toto’s Pizza opened its doors as the city’s first pizzeria. Even though Neapolitan-style pizza – woodfired, crisp on the outside, pliant in the center has come to dominate Melbourne’s restaurants since then, a new generation of chefs has been experimenting with the dish. There have been some intriguing outcomes; it is now possible to obtain pizzas equal to or better than the finest Neapolitan renditions, although they are baked in electric ovens or do not include the renowned San Marzano tomato. While we like conventional pizzas, there is nothing quite like the thrill of discovering something completely new and unique to Melbourne’s culinary scene.
In This Article
Melbourne is mainly known for its Italian restaurant scene, which is especially lively at night. Furthermore, although the best Italian restaurants in Melbourne are a separate subject, kitchens that specialize in pizza dough and freshly made pizza toppings are just as essential. Melbourne pizza is delicious for breakfast, lunch, supper, or a late-night snack. Pizza is the favorite and most adaptable dish, with light crusts, luscious tomato sauces, and fresh toppings.
Here are some of Melbourne’s best pizza picks.
Takeaway Pizza
Takeaway Pizza, a casual restaurant, offers American-style slices to dine in or take away, with no silverware or table service. However, it also serves as a bar and late-night hangout, offering wine from local suppliers and tropical drinks.
The all-night slice menu only offers four choices – cheese, pepperoni, a meat pizza, and a vegetarian pizza but the whole pizza menu is more comprehensive and includes many vegetarian alternatives. For an additional $2, you can have a gluten-free foundation or vegan mozzarella. The traditional pizza dough is fermented for three days before being baked into a thin foundation with crispy edges.
Owners Sam and Tom Peasnell (brothers) and their friend Adam Goldblatt are not Italian and do not claim to be. They take a no-rules approach, which has earned them many admirers at Dexter, their American barbecue restaurant across the street.
Tomatoes are the chicken schnitzel old-smoked to retain sweetness while imparting smokiness, and pastrami is cured in-house for 10 days before being smoked. Another pizza offered is topped with pastrami, shaved frozen bone marrow, spring onion, and meat sauce.
The tiki cocktail menu focuses on rum, mezcal, and tequila. A 12-bottle wine selection includes small-scale producers such as Jamsheed and Alpha Box and Dice. The names change every month, with an emphasis on low-intervention and rare varietals.
When the sun sets, candles are lit, and the disco ball starts to spin, casting dappled light on the flowery wallpaper at the rear. The black and white harlequin-patterned floor and bar are constructed from recycled tiles from another pizza restaurant.
Address: 535 High Street Preston
Contact: 03 – 9044 6850
Website: takeawaypizza.melbourne
Doc Pizza
DOC Pizza is considered a Melbourne staple for a good cause. DOC Pizza, like 400 Gradi, is regarded as one of Melbourne’s pizza industry pioneers and has been a stately legend since its initial store in Carlton opened its doors to great acclaim in 2007. DOC’s are now available across Melbourne, and the brand has even crossed state borders to include outlets in Sydney and Brisbane.
Proliferation, however, does not mean dilution, as DOC Pizza remains a classic choice for those looking for Melbourne’s best pizza. Every outstanding pizza restaurant takes its cues from Naples, and the kitchen prioritizes simplicity above all else, putting a premium on the quality of the cuisine they offer.
DOC Pizza has established itself as an unstoppable force of Italian produce with several delicatessens and a coffee shop near the original restaurant. If pizza is what you’re after, stick to the essentials like the signature and satisfyingly light Pizza DOC, prepared with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh basil, a classic in Italy and a classic in Melbourne.
Address: 295 Drummond Street, Carlton
Contact: (03) 9347 2998
Website: docgroup.net
400 Gradi
400 Gradi, located on renowned Lygon St, has earned quite a name in the pizza industry. Johnny Di Francesco, who hails from a traditional Italian family, is the CEO of 400 Gradi. He is also the first Australian to be taught in Naples according to the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana VPN standards, so it’s no surprise that his pizzas are among Melbourne’s finest.
Ample space converted from GAS’s gloomy grandeur into a bright and efficient trattoria with flashes of copper and white marble, crammed with pizza lovers. A wood-fired oven capable of reaching 400 degrees, hand-blended sugo made entirely of San Marzano tomatoes and salt, “00” flour, minimal yeast, and 24 to 36 hours of fermentation time is what cooks your favorite pizza.
Di Francesco’s name has subsequently been attached to a variety of pizza-related establishments, including 90 seconds in Docklands, which delivers) excellent pizza in 90 seconds, based on his belief that if a pizza takes more than 90 seconds in the oven, it isn’t genuine Neapolitan-style pizza.
Toppings for pizza include the usual pig, cherry tomato, and everything else you’d expect from a traditional pizza.
Address: Crown Entertainment Complex, Shop 25, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank, Melbourne
Contact: +61 3 9292 5777
Website: www.crownmelbourne.com.au
Mr Wolf
Mr Wolf is a simple, squarish room in the basement of a modern apartment building with blond wood accents, marble-topped tables, and a green tree-trunk mural feature wall as its focal point. This restaurant might easily be regarded as uninteresting if it weren’t for the fact that the simple design enables you to fully immerse yourself in the main attraction – the pizza itself. The focus is on fresh, high-quality ingredients in classics like the margherita and diavolo (mozzarella with anchovies), with just enough topping to let each flavor shine through. Salumi, braises, and other classic Italian meals are also available.
A modest archway leads to Tiny Wolf Bar, the restaurant’s little sister spin-off that not only extends its reach but also allows it to operate in a more low-key manner throughout the day. The smaller neighboring area’s primary draw is a similar mural wall, with the difference that the tree trunks are now black and white and a center bar has been added.
A vast wine cooler has a large variety of drinks designed to complement the pizza (with BYO choices available on Tuesdays) because, honestly, anything else would be a distraction from the pie.
Address: 9-15 Inkerman Street St Kilda
Contact: (03) 9534 0255
Website, www.mrwolf.com.au
+39 Pizzeria
The restaurant is large and rectangular with stark white walls, an open ceiling, and a glass cabinet filled with massive Italian cheeses and cured meats (vegetarians may need to avert their eyes). Pizza is the favorite here, despite the availability of pasta dishes such as Bolognese or cannelloni.
The swordfish pizza from the specials board is an unusual mix that falls short. A ‘salad’ foundation raw fennel, orange segments, and pistachios are sprinkled on top of thin slices of milky white swordfish placed on a fior di latte cheese foundation. It gets an A for creativity, but the ensemble (especially the fish) is bland and could need salts.
If you don’t feel like eating pizza, +39 also serves a fantastic selection of antipasti, pasta, salads, risottos, and desserts. We all know how tedious it is to keep asking for more parmesan, but little details like a grinder loaded with a cube of parmigiano-reggiano at each table make the dining experience even more smooth.
+39’s pizza menu is quite simply tempting for kids and adults alike, emphasizing beautiful, fresh ingredients and genuine Italian cuisine. +39 eateries are warm, busy, and modern; they’re places where you’ll want to stay a little longer and maybe order another pizza for you and the kids to share.
Address:362 Little Bourke Street Melbourne
Contact: (03) 9642 0440
Website: plus39.com.au
Ladro
Ladro is a well-known and well-deserved restaurant regarded for its outstanding pizza. Since Melbourne’s famous love affair with the Italian staple began, many restaurants have come and gone, but this one has been a constant frontrunner.
Since 2003, the slick business has been in existence. It’s clean, basic, and all about the flavors, with a simple black and white décor, densely packed marble-topped tables, and stylish personnel dressed in neat red and black.
There’s a pizza for every taste, including gluten-free options, ranging from meat to porcini mushrooms. These are supplied whole with a cutting wheel so you can pick your slice size. When the open kitchen is crowded, the boisterous clatter in the minimalist room produces a welcoming cacophony of happy diners, making for a terrific show.
Ladro puts a unique twist on their pizza titles and flavor combinations, making it a fun culinary excursion for the whole family. You may also add chilli, capers, and truffle oil to your pizza to make it more interesting. Junior diners may choose pizza or pasta in four different flavors for $15, then add a bomboloni or ice cream to complete their meal.
Come for the pizza, but don’t miss the specials menu inscribed on the white tiled wood-fired pizza oven. Pasta, sweets, and the day’s roast may be available here. The restaurant serves granola and Italian French toast with panettone and ricotta and other brunch items on weekends.
Address: 120 High Street, Windsor
Contact: (03) 9510 2221
Website: ladro.com.au
Leonardo’s Pizza Palace
Leonard’s Pizza and Ramblr, a casual fine restaurant in the south, a party bar, are owned by Nick Stanton, Guy Bentley, Mark Catsburg, and Jonathan Harper.
Leonardo’s seems like it’s been here forever, with its 1970s-style wood paneling on the walls, piled terracotta wine racks behind the bar, and terrazzo flooring. The dining area offers traditional Italian fare. It’s the sort of location where you might wind yourself spending hours. It’s nearly always crowded here, but you may reserve ahead of time over the phone.
On the walls are faded photographs of the original owner, Salvatore Mercogliano, cooking pizza in the 1970s and black-and-white shots of the Beatles, Marylin Monroe, and a slew of vintage bombshells eating pasta.
Another arched aperture at the rear of the dining room frames Leonardo’s cooks presenting great eight-slice pepperoni pizzas, among others, topped with tiny glasses of ranch dressing. The anchovy, roast pepper, olive, and caper pizza is more recent, as is the pig and fennel sausage pizza with garlic oil and sage.
Aside from pizza and house-made pasta, the kitchen produces smashable, accessible late-night fare that lends itself to a wild evening. The peas salad, roasted broccolini and almonds, topped with macadamia cream and shredded pecorino is delicious. On the other hand, the chicken schnitzel is unrivaled; the twisted, deep-gold disc comes with a mountain of garlic butter and capers heaped on top.
Address: 29 Grattan St, Carlton VIC
Phone number: 03 9242 0666
Website:leonardospizzapalace.com.au
Lazerpig
You can have the taste of a soft crust, thin foundation pizza every time you visit Lazerpig. They know how to use the wood-fired oven and get better pizza out of it than anybody else in Melbourne. In addition, many may assert that it is among the finest, particularly if you are seeking a pizza with both a straightforward, no-nonsense Italian flavor and one that is more adventurous.
Pizza lovers who like classic-style pizza and pizza fans fond of non-traditional toppings will find everything they are looking for at this restaurant on Smith Street in the hip Collingwood neighborhood.
Lazerpig Is one of the better choices here, using a peperonata foundation and building with pig and fennel sausage, fior, roasted jalapenos, honey, and parmigiano.
Regardless of how you choose to play it, you cannot overlook the pies: these treats are practically magical in their ability to summon the oven in the middle of the night.
Address: at 343 Smith St, Fitzroy
Contact: (03) 9417 1177
Website: www.lazerpig.com.au
Shop 225 Pizzeria
Lorenzo Tron discovered he had nothing to prepare for his vegan mother when she visited Trieste, northeast Italy. They’d drive from Pascoe Vale all over the city in search of plant-based Italian cuisine, but they’d frequently come home disappointed.
Tron and friend Roberto Davoli purchased Shop225 in late 2016 after becoming dissatisfied with the travel and disappointment. All of their pasta and desserts, as well as eleven of their thirteen pizzas, are vegan-friendly. Shop225 was the first pizza in Australia to be certified by Coeliac Australia, and it features a kitchen separated into two zones to avoid cross-contamination. Rice, tapioca, maize, soy, pea, and potato flours create gluten-free pizzas.
The standard pizza dough is rested for 72 hours, resulting in a lighter, fluffier, and more digestible crust. The Zio Pino (mushrooms, Grana Padano, and truffle oil) and the Verde are also famous (eggplant, smoked scamorza, pesto). The Melo (fior di latte, ham, maple pineapple) is unlike any other Hawaiian pizza you’ve ever eaten. Gnocchi and lasagne are two pasta that can’t go wrong.
Ingredients are obtained from as close to their original source as feasible. Tron and Davoli created their vegan stracciatella, scamorza, mozzarella, and cream “cheeses” in collaboration with Damona, a tiny non-dairy cheesemaker in Coburg. They also have a vegan Nutella produced in-house, which is excellent for topping dessert pizzas.
The new Shop225 is a family-friendly neighborhood hangout, small and cozy. Every night, Tron and Davoli are out on the floor, chatting with customers and sharing meals. They’re both natives from Pascoe Vale, and if you give them the opportunity, they’ll eat your ear out.
Address: 225 Melville Rd, Pascoe Vale South VIC
Contact: (03) 9077 4904
Website: shop225.com.au
Capitano
The owners of Bar Liberty, Casey Wall, Manu Potoi, and Michael Bascetta, are the brains behind this Italian-American eatery.
After study visits to his birthplace in the United States, Chef Wall created the simple and accessible cuisine. With house-made bread and spicy pickled fennel, shaved prosciutto (produced in Ballarat) and pig neck gabagool (cured ham) are served. Then there’s a pecorino cheese pizza with fresh and aged mozzarella. The somewhat sour, fermented base has a nice char and a slight droop at the sharp end, which Wall refers to as “the New York flop.” On Capitano’s website, you may purchase takeout pizza.
Young kale and wild greens are covered in an anchovy-spiked vinaigrette and blanketed with parmesan for a vibrant and tangy salad. Beef, pig, and fennel meatballs go nicely with sliced apple, fresh fennel, and aged ricotta. Lasagne, veal parmigiana, and dry-aged steaks are available to share.
Wine is a significant thing here, as it is at Bar Liberty. Capitano’s list is smaller than Liberty’s, with a few producers that “don’t mess about too much” with their wines. Around 95% of the wines are produced in Italy or made using Italian grapes. Whites have structure, weight, and savouriness, while reds are light, with plenty of acidity and vivid fruit flavors that pair well with tomato-based recipes.
Now it’s time for some drinks. The list here revives the drama of shaking and stirring, while Bar Liberty is all about service convenience. It has a classical feel about it (limoncello spritz, grapefruit Americano). Bitter and sour dominate, with chamomile, saffron, orange, and amaro thrown in for good measure. The grapefruit granita with Campari float serves as both a drink and a dessert.
The interior, which is decorated in maroon and white, is cozy. Over hardwood tables (some white-clothed, others not), bentwood chairs, and banquette seating, Art Deco light fixtures provide a gloomy atmosphere. Sam Rogers, who worked as a music producer in Berlin and now runs the front of the house, brings you Italian disco from the 1970s and 1980s.
Address: 421 Rathdowne St, Carlton
Contact: 9134 8555 (03)
Website: capitano.com.au
The Final Thought
Melburnians have flocked to Toto’s, the city’s first pizza restaurant since Salvatore Della Bruna opened it on Lygon Street in 1961. This basic Italian classic has grown into Melbourne’s most popular culinary obsessions, earning a permanent position in the city’s culinary culture. Pizza is a staple of Melbourne cuisine, and it comes in a variety of preparations and styles.
When you think about pizza, go out and pick your favorite pizza from a variety of eateries in Victoria.
