Best of the Gold Coast 2019: The Gold Coast’s best pizzerias
When the moon hits a slice of a big pizza pie, that’s amore — and the Gold Coast has so much amore for pizza. After counting the votes, Amber Macpherson can reveal the best pizzerias on the Gold Coast.
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WHEN the moon hits a slice of a big pizza pie, that’s amore — and the Gold Coast has so much amore for pizza. After counting the votes, Amber Macpherson can reveal the best pizzerias on the Gold Coast.
Slice Pizzeria
7/1837 Gold Coast Hwy, Burleigh Heads
Let’s be real — no one is modest when it comes to devouring pizza, and folks at Burleigh Heads Slice Pizzeria know it.
Owner Ryan Leader says the minimal amount of yeast in his pizzas’ dough means you can go to town on an eight-slicer without worrying about the bread-induced stomach ache (don’t mind if we do).
“We put as little yeast as possible in, which makes it much easier to digest,” Ryan says.
“That’s why you can eat so much of it.”
The pizza process is slow and methodical at Slice, but Ryan says it’s worth it when the final product is a winner.
“We make the dough from scratch, we use Molino Caputo 00 flour, we get that from Italy,” Ryan says.
“We slow rise our dough, it sits in our cool room for a week as a natural fermentation process.
“The tomatoes (we use for sauce) are San marzano, they’re from a protected area in Italy.
“With the ingredients and sauce, at the start you’re trying to build a relationship with your suppliers and get that trust happening.
“We’ve got great suppliers and people that share your passion.”
Ryan says top picks on the menu are the bolognese and the margheritana.
“The bolognese, we slow cook the beef on it here ourselves, it takes six hours,” Ryan says.
“The cheese and sauce is simple and it’s classic.
“We have a huge menu with 30 pizzas and half of them are vegetarian.”
Merlin’s Pizza
17/221 Christine Avenue, Varsity Lakes
Merlin’s Pizza owner Scott Jellich can rattle off every single ingredient on any one of his pizzas off the top of his head — if that’s not pizza passion, nothing is. “I make about 1000 pizza a week and I’ve done it for 15 years,” Scott says. The Varsity Lakes shop is the second Merliln’s Pizza restaurant, with the first opening up in Palm Beach in 1991. Scott says the recipes have stayed the same, with the base the most crucial piece of the puzzle pie. “The dough is the most important, you need the right amount of flour, yeast and mixing time, the right amount of time to let it set,” he says. “We use quality food and fresh vegetables. Our Excalibur, that’s a super supreme, is the most popular with the adults. Ham, bacon, mushrooms, pepperoni, capsicum, onion, pineapple, mozzarella and olives and garlic sauce. It’s massive.”
Pops Pizza and Kebabs
16/31-37 Dreamworld Parkway, Coomera
The secret ingredient at Pops Pizza and Kebabs is good old customer service. Owner “Pops”, as he prefers to be called by his customers, says you can’t deliver a great pizza without a friendly smile. “If you’ve got a really good product and service, then it adds up,” he says. “Service comes first. I’ve been here for six years, after six years people know you. Even the little kids, they say, ‘there’s Pops’.” The Oxenford takeaway shop cooks its pizzas in a brick oven using freshly made pastry and ingredients. The most popular pizza options are the meatlovers and supreme, but if you’ve got an insatiable appetite, Pops offers a 71cm “il grande” pizza with up to four flavours on each quarter.
Creative Pizza Carrara
7/145 Pappas Way, Carrara
Creative Pizza are no strangers to our Best of the Gold Coast vote, but owner Ron Rezuk says last year’s win has made his customers hungry for more. “It gets harder when you win it because you get tall poppy syndrome,” Ron says. “You have to get better because people are testing you more, they’re wondering why you won it. That means we try and get better. We care a lot about every single pizza, and that really is important.” Ron says when pasta sauce runs through your veins, making pizza becomes an obsession. “I’ve been doing it for 45 years, it’s passion, I can’t help it. You just have to make a great pizza. We try and stay creative, we introduce new features quite often, if people like them we keep them. We cut our veggies every day, doughs are done by hand every day. Everything is premium quality.”
Salt Meats Cheese
The 4217, 10 Beach Rd, Surfers Paradise
You think making pizza is just some salami and zucchini and a-lots-a-mozzarella? Think again. “It looks easy but it’s not,” Salt Meats Cheese owner Alex Vicinanza says. “It’s easy to eat the pizza but not to make. The secret is to make the dough rise for around 48 hours.” Salts Meats Cheese employs chefs from the birthplace of pizza — Naples — and orders its flour and some meats from Italy. “We are original Italian, we try to use proper Italian recipes and we have flour coming from Italy for proper Italian pizza. We use the right amount of topping that’s the best quality.” Top slices include the prosciutto pizza and the quattro carne (aka four meat).
White Rhino
Shop 38, 55 Cavill Ave, Surfers Paradise
The people go wild at White Rhino for its Moreton Bay bug pizza. Featuring five bug tails delicately shelled and sliced, marinated in chilli and garlic before being scattered atop a soft, fresh dough, White Rhino partner Matthew Keegan says it lures in the masses all day. “The bug pizza has got a wasabi-type aioli,” Matthew says. “People really like it, they say the Moreton Bay bug is so different to have on a pizza.” Other notable nibbles are the White Rhino pizza with pork and fennel sausage, salami, fior di latte cheese and rocket. “All of the pizzas are designed from scratch from the guys in the kitchen, pizza bases are made in house fresh every day,” Matthew says.
Neptune Pizza
213 Universal St, Oxenford
When you’ve got a craving for pizza, sometimes it just can’t wait. “Usually while people are waiting (for their pizza order), I give them a slice of pizza to taste,” Neptunes Pizza owner Vincent Gasbarra says. The pizzeria and takeaway shop is hidden away in the backstreets of Oxenford, but after more than a decade feeding the locals it’s been put on the neighbourhood map. “I’ve been here 14 years now, where we are is pretty hidden away,” Vincent says. “A lot of people come and go, and for us to be here this long is word of mouth.” Vincent makes the dough fresh every day and says the signature Neptune, meatlovers and garlic are the best rated pizzas.
Bread’n’Butter
76 Musgrave St, Coolangatta
Bread N Butter broke hearts when it closed in 2016, but like any romance story, when they come back, it’s meant to be. The Italian and Spanish pizza and tapas restaurant reopened again in the same Kirra Beach spot in September last year and customers have been quick to forgive and forget that they went without its pizzas for so long. Bread N Butter offers a mix of traditional Italian-style and Australian-influenced pizzas baked in its Marana stone oven, imported from Verona. The staff say every pizza is made with love, with the margarita, supreme and weekly specials often the most popular picks for customers.
Marios Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria
Oasis Shopping Centre, Victoria Avenue, Broadbeach
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Mario’s Italian Restaurant was serving pizza to the public before it was cool. “Mario’s has been around for 30 years this year,” owner Andrew Dimattina says. “We’re such an iconic place, and one of the first pizzerias on the Gold Coast.” Don’t expect sourdough bases and minimal toppings on the Italian staple, though — Mario’s pizzas are loaded with ingredients atop a crunchy pastry. “Our pizza is probably old school Australian style,” Andrew says. “The toppings are not as traditional Italian. We don’t have a soft dough, ours is cooked with a nice crispy flavour and crunch to it. Personally I like the diavola which is a bit of hot sopressa, mozzarella and capsicum.”
Best Bite Pizza
Shop 1/28 Coomera Grand Dr, Upper Coomera
Best Bite Pizza is another big believer in it’s what on top that counts. “We fill our customers’ bellies with the toppings,” Owner Jamie Rajpal says. While Jamie has been in the pizza game for 16 years, his new Upper Coomera shop has only been open for three months and offers an innovative bake-at-home pizza option. “Something that’s really unique is the take and bake — we make the pizza in front of the customer, and they take it home and cook it. No-one has done it in Queensland, or even Melbourne.” Best Bite bakes a wide variety of traditional pizzas as well as Indian-influenced pizzas, including a butter chicken and paneer tikka.
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