Best pizza in Glen Eira: Ciccio’s Woodfire Pizzeria voted best in region

You’d think opening a restaurant during Melbourne’s lockdown was a bad idea — but it paid off for this popular pizzeria.

Ciccio's Woodfire Pizzeria owner George Xylourgidis puts a lot of love into his work. Picture: Instagram

For most people, opening a restaurant in the middle of Melbourne’s coronavirus lockdown would be unpalatable.

But the move has paid off for George Xylourgidis, who opened the doors to Ciccio’s Woodfire Pizzeria in May last year.

The family-friendly restaurant in Murrumbeena has been voted the best pizza joint in Glen Eira by Leader readers, as part of the Delicious Local campaign.

Xylourgidis said the local support had been “amazing” and helped him navigate the rough seas of opening a restaurant during a global pandemic.

The team of 12, including front of house and kitchen staff, have been hard at work dishing up about 1500 pizzas a week, including about 500 across Friday and Saturday nights.

“We opened in May and basically did take away for the first four or five months and then started dine-in in June,” he said.

“The locals have been amazing and just really supportive, which has been great.

“We’ve got people who dine-in each week and maybe pick up a takeaway here and there and we’ve got people who come in multiple times a week.

“We’re kicking goals.”

Ciccio's Woodfire Pizzeria owner George Xylourgidis (left) with his mentor and former boss Sam Fazio from Fazio Hampton. Picture: Instagram

Xylourgidis said the trick to keeping people coming back for more was the quality of the food and the friendly ‘home away from home’ vibe.

“We’ve created this atmosphere that’s like a second home for people,” he said.

“There’s a real family vibe — the team and I sit down to a meal together every week and I think people pick up on that vibe.”

The pizzas at Ciccio's Woodfire Pizzeria in Murrumbeena have been crowned the best in Port Phillip and Glen Eira. Picture: Instagram

Xylourgidis has been slinging pizzas for the past 13 years, starting at his parents’ takeaway shop before working under the guidance of Sam Fazio, of Fazio’s Hampton.

“He has been a great mentor to me and taught me so much and he’s the one who really encouraged me to start my own restaurant,” he said.

“He really likes the pizza here too and often comes and dines here when he’s had enough of his own food.”

Xylourgidis said the most popular item on the menu was the venue’s namesake dish, the Ciccio which is topped with San Mazano tomato, bocconcini, shaved leg ham, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, Spanish onion and soppressa salami.

And while you might thinking working with pizzas every day would turn you off eating them, Xylourgidis says “I’ve always got room for pizza”.

Ciccio’s Woodfire Pizza is at 105-107 Poath Rd, Murrumbeena.