A staple on the Brisbane dining circuit, pizza, you might say, is the city’s love language. A mash-up of high-end Italian restaurants, late-night neighbourhood pizzerias with a killer pizzaiolo on staff and laid-back laneway pie slingers, Brisbane’s pizza scene is ever-evolving, ever-growing.
But when it comes to the best pies, there are a few elements to discern the good from the bad. The dough, the sauce, the toppings; all key in crafting an authentic, Italian-style pie. Craving a slice or five? Here’s where to get the best pizza in Brisbane.
Superfly
Wooloongabba
Down Wooloongabba’s Eden Lane Precinct lies Superfly, arguably Brisbane’s best pizza joint. Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it from the outside, this tiny pizzeria slings just six different pizzas, a selection of meatballs, one pasta dish and one dessert (tiramisu, naturally). The dough is made in-house and left for 24 hours before hitting the oven. They also sell house-made ranch dressing to dip your abandoned pizza crusts in – something we can all get on board with.
How to order: as well as a small indoor and outdoor seating area for diners, you can order off Bopple.
Pizzantica
New Farm
Residing in the old ‘Casa Italia’ Community Club in New Farm, Pizzantica has breathed new life into an old Brisbane relic. What was once a mobile kombi catering business has become one of the most highly regarded, and awarded, pizzerias in the city. A nod to its surrounds, the menu consists of traditional antipasti, contorni and pasta dishes, in addition to their thin and fluffy, woodfired, Napoli-style pizzas. Go the Quattro Formaggi or the ‘Kombi’ with nduja, parmesan, mushrooms, smoked garlic, and mozzarella.
How to order: seating is available in-house, as well as ordering online for pick-ups. The original kombi oven (plus one pizzaiolo) is also available to hire.
Commercial Road Public House
Newstead
Retro beats, natural wines, and cocktails, and serving some of the best pizza in Brisbane, Commercial Road Public House has flipped the definition of ‘traditional pizzeria’ on its head. Described as a neighbourhood wine bar with pizza by owner Kyle Weir, the menu consists of just five pizzas, a few choice sides, and a 50+ strong drink list of pet nats, skin-on wines, and bougie cocktails. Order a bottle of the Commercial Road Public House Rose and the ‘Spicy Boi’ Calabrian nduja, roast capsicum, capers, basil, and chilli oil pizza. Add burrata or wagyu bresaola to your pizza—because you can do that here.
How to order: walk-ins only.
Tinderbox Kitchen
Fortitude Valley
One of the first pizzerias to open in what was once a quiet nook behind James Street’s boutiques, famed Brisbane restauranteur, PJ McMillan’s Tinderbox continues to be a frontrunner for the best pizza in Brisbane. While you can’t go wrong with the pork and veal meatballs or the duck pappardelle, it’s their pizzas that take centre stage. Bases are crispy, fluffy, and perfectly blistered (thanks to the huge, Beech woodfired oven in the centre of the restaurant) and ingredients used are free range and locally sourced.
If you’re not sitting down, ordering the house speciality ‘Tinderbox’ pizza—Mooloolaba prawns, chilli, zuchinni, fior di latte, basil, and cherry tomatoes—or savoyarde pizza—potato, rosemary, leek, raclette, lyonnaise onions and scarmoza—you’re not doing it right.
How to order: indoor and laneway seating for dine-in, Deliveroo and UberEats for takeaway.
Beccofino
Teneriffe
Since opening in 2004, Beccofino owners Cordell Khoury and Paolo Biscaro have stuck to a simple vision; to produce show-stopping but unfussy Italian food. And by the lines still out front on any given night, it’s as popular now as it was almost 20 years ago when Becco first opened its doors. Its core menu features both principale and pasta dishes, plus a dedicated line up of classic rosso and bianche pizzas. The Number 1 on a rosso base with fior di latte, basil and torn Proscuitto di Parma is a crowd favourite, but you can’t go wrong with the daily pizza special.
How to order: walk-in dining at the restaurant, or order online on Deliveroo.
Julius Pizzeria
South Brisbane
As younger sibling to Beccofino, Julius Pizzeria dishes up all the crowd-pleasers Becco is known for– just heavier on the pizzas. Their huge woodfire oven overlooks the main dining area and takes just 90-seconds to cook their thin Napoli-style pies. Hit the piping hot calzone of tomato, mozzarella, shaved ham, friarielli and ricotta, or throw the rule book out with the pizza carbonara of mozzarella, parmigiano, pancetta, egg, pecorino, and black pepper.
How to order: order takeaway on Deliveroo, or dine in-house or alfresco along the laneway.
La Lupa
West End
For Roman-style pizza in Brisbane, it’s hard to overlook La Lupa. Taking up prime street frontage in West End’s Light + Co precinct, this little pizzeria is an ode to the owners, sommelier Andrea Contin and head chef Valentina Vigni’s Italian heritage. Part Roman pizzeria, part natural wine cellar, La Lupa’s pizzas are thinner and crispier than the popular Napoli-style, adhering to the traditional Roman process of a longer proving time.
Their Lupacchiotto or ‘wolf cub’ fermented pizzas use fermented dough (using a sourdough starter instead of a baker’s yeast), giving it a distinct bite—the ‘Mortadella’ with sliced mortadella sausage, pistachio cream, burrata and pistachio crumble is truly something else. When in Rome, pair your pies with suggested matching natural wines.
How to order: order in and take a seat in the restaurant or outdoor overlooking Montague Road.
Tocco Italiano
Teneriffe & Chelmer
Owner and restauranteur Arturo Bounocore has brought a touch of Ravello on the Amalfi Coast to a corner in Teneriffe and Chelmer. The definition of a neighbourhood pizzeria, Tocco focusses on a small menu of red and white-based Napoli-style pizzas, plus a handful of pasta dishes to keeps the hoards happy. A cross between a relaxed trattoria and family gathering, Tocco is unwaveringly welcoming. Order a few of the classics; the margherita con melanzane e prosciutto (grilled eggplant and prosciutto), nduja e gorgonzola (hot salami and gorgonzola) and the diavola. Salute.
How to order: Book online to dine-in or order takeaway over the phone.
Little G
Woolloongabba
Building a reputation as an authentic neighbourhood pizzeria in Dutton Park, Little G’s following has grown existentially—subsequently moving its much-loved establishment to a much larger space in Woolloongabba. While the digs may have changed, the menu remains ever reliable; expect delicacies such as wagyu meatball pizzas with chilli and garlic butter, or eggplant, smoked mozzarella, and pesto. Your guess is as good as ours as to what’s on the menu any given night (it continues to change daily) – but it hits it out of the park. Every. Single. Time.
How to order: bookings can be made for dine-in for six or more, takeaway for pick-up over the phone.
Fratelli Famous
Eagle St Pier
Traditional Neapolitan bases, big America-style toppings: Fratelli Famous’s pies are total comfort food eating. At the mercy of your cravings, Fratelli Famous operates on a ‘build-your-own’ model, handing you the reins with over 30 toppings to choose from. Their pizzas still get the royal treatment, their house-made dough hand-stretched and thrown into the woodfired over for 90 seconds. If creativity evades, order one of the four classics on the ‘Famous’ menu.
How to order: casual dining in is available, as well as pick-up and delivery via Deliveroo.
Prova Pizzeria
Stafford Heights
Prova’s 15-strong pizza menu is proving a hit with the locals, filling a pizza-shaped void on Brisbane’s northside. Chock full of crowd-pleasing classics—margherita, salame, capricciosa—as well as more modern classics like the Hawaiian and piselli, Prova covers all dining bases with a handful of antipasti dishes, and one (just one) pasta dish – their infamous 100-layer lasagna.
For something a little different, hit the zucca pizza—pumpkin cream, mozzarella, pancetta, parmesan, and basil (the recipe hasn’t changed since opening)—and pair with a bottle of the chianti DOC.
How to order: expansive indoor and outdoor seating for dine-in, Deliveroo and UberEats.
Tartufo
Fortitude Valley
For award-winning, Italian dining in one of Brisbane’s most elegant restaurant spaces, Tartufo ticks all the boxes. While fine dining is the order of the day here, when Tartufo decided to open a small pizza restaurant within its existing space, they committed. A member of the highly coveted Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (and one of only 22 members in Australia) Tartufo’s pizza is as close to the Naples original as you’ll get outside of the motherland. It would be criminal not to order the indulgent ‘tartufo’ pizza: rosso base, fior di latte, prosciutto, porcini puree, cherry tomatoes, parmesan, basil, pork sausage and crust-encased truffle paste. It’s a whole vibe.
How to order: book over the phone or online for indoor or alfresco dining, or takeaway pick up.
