Yum comes in all forms… be it thin crust, thick crust, stuffed crust, with extra toppings, lots of cheese, oven backed or smoked beside an open fire – pizza rules the world!
If you haven’t figured this out for yourself yet then that just means that you probably haven’t found the right pizza for you yet, so let me help you navigate your way through the maze that’ll hopefully help you find your favourite.
Here’s a list of 5 of the best places to have a pizza in Pretoria:
Caraffa
Caraffa has had its doors open for near 30 years dedicating each day to making food good enough for an Italian mama.
The family run restaurant has established itself as the go-to place for a home cooked Italian meal away from home. Their portions are generous, like anything with love should be, and they stock Italian vintage wines.
The Alla Calabrese is the bee’s knees! With a bacon, salami, ham, onion, pepper and chilli topping under a blanket of cheese, I can say that I’ve nibbled on happiness and lived to tell the tale.
Old Town Italy
I find everything about Old Town exceedingly charming; the variety for one is plentiful, the smell of the fresh bread is inviting and the pizzas are worth skipping town for.
They call it an authentic Italian market so naturally one would expect pizza that’s worth writing home about and theirs is. The pizzas are made the traditional Neapolitan way; slow cooked with a hectic appreciation for the craft.
I know that it’s a bit of a bore but I genuinely enjoy their Margherita Extra. Its based with Napoli tomato sauce, fresh basil and crushed oven roasted cherry tomatoes, garlic infused olive oil, a sprinkle of pecorino and oregano. What sets it apart though is that the local cow’s milk Mozzarella is substituted by imported buffalo Mozzarella which appeals to the cheese addict in me. Buffalo Mozzarella is a rich, full fat soft cheese and I think it really does make a difference.
Rumor has it that there’s no risk of anything unpleasant at Alfie’s Pizzeria and I can’t say that I don’t agree. Of course they also have pastas which are amazing but for now the focus is on the pizza.
The Alfie’s Special has to take the cup though. The cherry tomatoes, freshly sliced prosciutto, crumb cheese on a beautiful base and cooked to perfection in the wood-burning oven. The patate e cipolla is also a winner with its sweet onion, indulgent potato and Mozzarella topping.
They keep it simple with a menu that’s to the point with a large focus on pizza. And man, they’re serious about their pizzas. For one you’ve got a choice between the focaccia, calzone and pizza rosse (classic tomato based pizzas), pizze bianche (pizzas without a tomato base). All in all Alfie’s Pizzeria isn’t the least bit pretentious, but its standards are sky high.
Forkies Real Food Parlour
Forkies is a funny one, it’s a Cuban restaurant that makes ridiculously yummy pizzas.
Just by looking at the logo it’s easy to tell that they’re about their business and the disclaimer “we make food, we make it real, we make it forkin good” also makes way for high expectations which I found were undoubtedly met.
There’s just as much creativity in the mix of flavours as there is in the pizza names which I found amusing. There’s the Jamaica Me Crazy, Autograph, Mike’s Pizza, The Lucky Leprechaun and Oh My Veggies to name a few.
Pizza pie is a winner! The half-moon shaped pie made from pizza dough filled with caramelized onions, herbed tomatoes, butternut and Mozzarella cheese will have you feeling some type of way. In a great way. Like the pizza, it’s also baked in an open fire next to smoking logs of wood.
Another one of their popular pizzas is the Autograph, hence the name; it has a herbed tomato base, slow roasted brisket, caramelised onions, a tomato/onion/pepper salsa, Mozzarella, Cheddar, homemade BBQ sauce and coriander.
Do yourself a favour and make your way there, you’ll be thoroughly impressed by the food and the place.
Cassa Bourguesa
The cosy 68-seater bistro-style restaurant probably makes the best stone baked pizza in the 012. The menu offers amazing tapas style dishes like bobotie, waterblommetjie bredie, peri-peri chicken livers, spanakopita, steaks and seafood. As I said they make perfect pizza.
The Meat and Meat Pizza is great for meat lovers! With four different meats including ham, salami, bacon and chorizo sausage and steak strips under an abundant layer or Mozzarella cheese, you’ll surely be back for more. The Bcc Pizza is also a few different flavours of yum with Mozzarella, bacon, Gorgonzola, chilli and maraschino cherries. Whatever you pick really will make you happy. Promise.
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