The Best Pizza in Adelaide

Updated 2 days ago

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Adelaide’s pizza scene has turned up the heat in the last few years. The teams behind Anchovy Bandit and Pizzateca have both started turned their respective operations into budding empires. Some of the city’s top chefs recently turned their attention to pizza dough. Now Adelaide serves every kind of slice under the sun, from chunky Detroit-style deep dish to floppy woodfired Neapolitan. These are favourites around town.

  • “Oztalian” pizza and local wines to match. An imported Italian wood-fired oven sits in the middle of this rustic restaurant; fresh and white with pastel-pink and green accents. It’s turning out pizza that’s well worth the trip to McLaren Vale.

  • In the ’50s, pizza was something most Australians had only seen in foreign magazines. Lucia's changed that when it opened in 1957, introducing locals to the Italian staple. It serves the same pizza and pasta that’s been around for decades. We hope it never changes.

  • Blue Velvet brings traditional (and not-so traditional) pizza and pastries to Henley Beach Road. The Pastry Lab, which serves a bounty of vegan-friendly treats, is well worth its own visit.

  • Classic Neapolitan or thick, crunchy Sicilian pie? This tiny takeaway shop is doing both, plus pizza a portafoglio, or “wallet pizza” in Italian.

  • Park in one of west end’s biggest beer gardens with a tasting paddle and chunky, Detroit-style pizza slices by a Lost in the Forest co-founder.

  • This fun-and-fast spot is the third venue by the Pizzateca crew. Expect all the staples of your neighbourhood pizzeria (ham and pineapple, supreme and a smoky barbeque chicken), plus a few you won't find elsewhere. Also, canned wines, spritzes and house lager by Big Shed.

  • Suburban nostalgia and clever cooking collide at this new-wave pizzeria by the Herringbone team. Go for gussied-up classics and new-wave creations – as well as pastas, salads and a hangover-busting meatball sub. There's also a clutch of easy-going beers and SA wines to pair with your slice.

  • This pretty mid-century-style brewery serves approachable beers, new-wave wines and a veg-forward menu in a heritage former council chambers. It also doubles as the home of beloved inner west cafe, Karma and Crow

  • A California-inspired pizza bar serving Italo-American classics. The pizzas here are undeniably great, but it's the atmosphere that will really keep you coming back.

  • A freewheeling Italian joint that's inspired by tradition – but never bound by it. Bandit’s woodfired pizzas and housemade pasta are among the city’s best, and the drinks list spans Italianate cocktails, amaro and solid non alc options. Salute!

  • You'll ask yourself the following when you enter this neon-lit gem: is Sunny’s a pizza joint that also happens to feel like a house party? Or is it a bar with DJs and primo pizza? Happily, the answer is “yes” to both.

  • Fill your plate with a selection of antipasto, pizza al taglio, stuffed eggplant, slow-cooked meatballs, hearty roasts and more, then try to leave room for a strong line-up of Italian pastries, or kick on into evening with cocktails.

  • The standard-setter for Neapolitan pizza in Adelaide. The rest of the selection – including antipasto, pasta and desserts – is tight and considered. The same goes for the wine list of Italian and South Australian drops.

  • Peer through the large front windows at this Pirie Street favourite and you’ll see two beautiful red-brick ovens. They’re the only source of cooking heat for the entire restaurant, and you can learn how to use them – this spot hosts pizza-making classes for the dough-curious.

  • Fitting a pizza oven and restaurant into a tiny space would worry most, but not Est Pizzeria. It uses the space it has – and uses it well. If you’re coming with a group, the banquet here makes things nice and easy.

  • The word “grotto” alludes to someplace secret – a secluded cavern of magical quality – and this little pizza-house isn’t far off that. Make your choice, add a tumbler of wine (or beer) and nab a stool at the communal table.

  • Real-deal Neapolitan pizzas and metre-long pies. And they're more than just a gimmick, too – they're seriously good, and an ideal option if you're booking for a larger group (or an ambitious small group).

  • The pizzas here are made using sourdough bases, and they’re informed by the principles of the Mediterranean diet.

  • Where the Mediterranean meets the Middle East. Starters hew towards the Middle East, while the wood oven in the corner delivers pizzas and house-made pita bread.

  • This relaxed Italian diner does just about everything really well. The pizza is great, and so is the pasta, but it's the space – stucco walls, large outdoor terrace, Mediterranean feel – that will really transport you to Italy.

  • Pizza backed by research and certified by the Accademia Italiana della Pizza in Italy.

  • Experience beautiful design, excellent food and friendly service at this pizza and wine joint from the team behind Anchovy Bandit and Bottega Bandito. Expect classic and left-of-centre pizzas and veggies from the hearth, plus a 10-out-of-10 wine selection.

  • After a winery-hop through McLaren Vale, kick back with a wood oven pizza.

  • A neighbourhood pizza bar serving “old-school” pies, rocky-road calzone and Negronis all day, every day. There’s also a tight selection of gnocchi, fettuccine and small plates including eggplant fries and salumi.