El Greco Woodoven Pizza will argue that Greece was the
true origin of pizza, and the Italians just wanted to claim the credit for it.
Situated on the main strip of pubs and restaurants in Port Adelaide, El Greco is situated on Commercial Road with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. It can be clearly identified from their fire flame signage and is not often seen without pizza lovers enjoying the fresh woodoven pizzas.
El Greco Woodoven Pizza Outdoor Signage (Source: El Greco Website)
We visited on a Tuesday night so it was reasonably quiet, but there were a few families eating, along with another couple. The restaurant is big enough for you to sit far enough away so you don't feel like your dining with others. It's great that everyone can see the pizzas being made fresh, thrown into the woodoven pizza and pulled out regularly to check on their charcoal look. Oh!, and if it's cooked or not.
Inside the restaurant at El Greco where you can watch you pizza being freshly made and cooked in the woodoven
We chose the option of having a half and half pizza of BBQ chicken and meat lovers and it was absolutely delicious. We've never had a pizza with so many toppings, but still cooked evenly and crispy on the bottom. I know I've never been able to whack a load of topping on a pizza without the base being as soggy as a wet piece of toast. Even the dough was tasty, and dough is never tasty! We're not often fans of thin base pizzas, but this had just the right balance between thin and thick - perfect.
The half and half BBQ Chicken and Meat Lovers pizza was mouth watering
We literally couldn't wait to serve a slice and start tucking in
The menu offers over 17 different traditional pizzas, with an additional 7 gourmet pizzas, including many vegetation options in both small (9") and large (12") sizes. If it wasn't for all the toppings on the pizza we shared, we would have loved to have tried the dessert pizza with fruit, chocolate sauce, icing sugar and strawberry syrup, which sounds like its to die for.
The menu also offers a range of sides, a good choice of pasta dishes, risotto, meat dishes and salad. The restaurant is fully licenced and the bar is accommodating for most alcoholic tastes, along with a good base menu of soft and non-alcoholic drinks.
The interior of the restaurant does look well used, somewhat dated and a little tired around the edges. It's clean and tidy, it's just that a lick of paint and a bit of TLC would freshen things up. The passion from the pizza chef makes up for this, though. There was not a person who came into the restaurant he did not know, apart from us, which is a good sign of his regular custom, and he serves the pizza with such pride that you cannot miss. He wins every award from us for being able to make the perfect pizza.
The interior is looking a little tired and dated, but it doesn't change how delicious the food is (Source: El Greco Website)
The service overall was friendly and in good time, even with 3 different people taking our order, serving drinks, and then the chef serving the pizza.
The restaurant also offers takeaway for pick up and delivery within a 4km radius for a reasonable $4 (minimum order $20). The specials for dine-in change weekly and there are set takeaway specials which offer good deals.
The restaurant is large enough to cater for functions of 40 people inside and another 20 outside and it also offers children's birthday parties on Saturdays from 12pm until 3pm with a small pizza and soft drink for $12 per person. Booking required.
There is plenty of room externally at El Greco for al fresco dining
El Greco also accepts the Adelaide Entertainment Book voucher which offers 25% off your total bill, up to the value of $25.
Don't go past Port Adelaide without dropping into El Greco, you won't be disappointed.
