CITY’S BEST LOCAL PIZZA
THE votes have been tallied and the battle for pizza supremacy has been won, with Pizza Riviera taking out the gong for the city’s best slice.
Hundreds of people took to the Bulletin’s Facebook page to vote for their favourite pizza joint.
Pizza Riviera knocked off the challengers in Players Pizza, Mamma Mia’s Pies, Pastries, Pizza & Pasta, Gizzilli PizzaPasta and Tony’s Pizza, to be declared the city’s best.
Pizza Riviera manager Danielle Hume said it was a real honour for the familyowned and run business to take out the top spot.
“It’s a real honour to have so many people vote for us and to think we are the best pizza in town,” Ms Hume said.
“It’s all the fresh ingredients. Everything is made in here.
“Dad is from Sicily and he brought the recipes from there and I think in this industry that Italian heritage is what makes it really good.
“Everyone who works with us takes pride in what we make here. Dad and I are always at the shops and all of the staff really care about the pizza.”
Ms Hume said their customers were loyal as they came and that helped them over the line.
“We have a really loyal customer base and I think that’s because we cater to what people want. It’s all about the customers,” she said. “The weekends are big. When the football season starts it is flat out. It’s always busy and surprises us how loyal our customers are. Some of them have been with us since the beginning.
“Dad will be walking down the street and he will be talking to them, or they’ll come into the shop and see me and say ‘ Mini Frank’.
“It’s about those relationships. It’s family, it’s good to keep it close with our customers.”
Players Pizza came a close second after only six months in business with owner Sophie Chamberlain saying they had made some massive ground in the pizza scene in Townsville in a short time.
“We’re a sports- themed pizza shop … we totally back the Cowboys obviously and any other local sporting club,” Ms Chamberlain said.
“We’re family owned. Mum and dad and three kids all work here, and have been going for six months and in that time we have gathered a huge following.
“That comes down to the customer service, the quality of product we produce and the games and the arcade machines, set us apart.”
Mamma Mia’s Pies, Pastries, Pizza & Pasta came in third, Tony’s Pizza’s took fourth spot and Gizzilli’s Pizza- Pasta came in fifth.
Gizzilli Pizza- Pasta Supreme Pizza — Large $ 16.95
Gizzilli’s Pizza- Pasta is a rare treat, so unexpected and almost an unknown entity that when the deliciousness hits your lips it stuns you. First up Jexter Trinidad could well be the nicest person in Townsville, humble and a good bloke, who just happens to make beautiful pizzas. His story is fantastic as well, from spending years working at several pizza shops across the city as a delivery driver, to now owning and running his own, is a real Cinderella story. The Supreme pizza he served up was great, everything about it, from the large sliced ingredients, to the mix of cheeses he uses, to the sauce and base, it was all spot on. There was weight to the pizza, and when I took a bite of that wonderful slice, I knew I was in for a treat. Mr Trinidad said: “People love our pizzas, but I think the best pizza that people want to try here is our Chicken Satay, there is no pizza shop who is doing something like that,” Mr Trinidad said. “Meatlovers and Supreme are still big sellers, but people do like the Satay. The supreme is really nice and we make sure we put enough ingredients on each pizza so it is really nice and people do come back for it.”
Score: 7/ 10
Players Pizza The Chicken Caesar ( Grand Slam) 12 inch — $ 19 15 inch — $ 24
Players Pizza and their massive range of traditional and gourmet pizzas are taking Townsville by storm. Their creations are as varied as their in- store experience – with the old- school arcade games, free slushies and massive Cowboys mural, they are changing up the way Townsvilleans eat their pizzas. The Chicken Caesar ( Grand Slam) pizza was an absolute treat. There is so much to it, I’m not sure my unrefined tastebuds could really pick it all up. Although the ranch dressing, the parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts are so far removed from what I would normally eat on a pizza, it was a really great taste. It was an unexpected treat. Players Pizza manager Sophie Chamberlain says the ingredients they use in their pizzas are the best they can get. “The flour comes up from Melbourne, it is straight from Italy, all the sauces are made here from scratch,” Ms Chamberlain said. “I’m a chef by trade. I did 18 years and I’ve brought that knowledge into here and you can taste that difference.”
Score: 7.5/ 10
Tony’s Pizza Supreme Pizza — small $ 13
Tony’s Pizza has a cult- like following in Townsville. People who live in the CBD and around North Ward will brook no ill will about their holy grail and rightly so. It is essentially the pinnacle of traditional pizza and they do that well: decent base, good sauce and enough ingredients to satisfy. The Supreme Pizza is a fan favourite and is a delicious little treat and I can see why people love grabbing a Tony’s and heading to The Strand for a feed on the beach. If you get the chance to grab one of Tony’s pizzas I’d highly recommend getting into one of them.
Score: 5/ 10
MY TOP 5 TASTER: CHRIS MCMAHON
IF there is one thing I know, it’s food, I’m no Gordon Ramsay, more of a Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, when it comes to my pizza expertise. I’ve eaten all sorts: hot pizza, mildly warm pizza and the best kind, leftover cold pizza after one too many frothies. The pizza odyssey to find the city’s best slice was an epic journey, filled with highs, no lows, just delicious treats from wonderful people trying to make the world a better place, one pizza at a time. I’d recommend every single one of these places and I will be making my way back to all of them over the next few months to delve into their menus.
Mamma Mia’s Pies, Pastries, Pizza & Pasta Meatlovers Pizza — $ 17.50 for a medium.
The new kids on the block have really got something special going on here. The Meatlovers pizza I got to wrap my laughing gear around was absolutely delicious. There was a good amount of bite to it and enough meat on the slice to give you the sweats. Owner Maria Musumeci said cooking had always been a passion for her, and bringing her mother’s recipe into the kitchen was what set her shop apart. “It’s a real passion of mine, cooking pastas and pizzas … the name is after my mother and the whole Nonna thing, which is where we learn a lot of our cooking traditions from,” Ms Musumeci said. “I’ve had 15 years previously in the pizza and pasta industry, so it feels like coming home to something that I love. And the Meatlovers pizza is made from fresh dough, it’s just as it comes. The sauce is very seasoned like my mother used to make and all the ingredients are fresh – fresh ham, chicken – and it really makes a difference. The Meatlovers is very popular.”
Score: 10/ 10
Pizza Riviera The Extra Special Pizza — $ 19.50 for a large
If you’ve lived in Townsville for longer than a month, you should have by now eaten at least one slice of Pizza Riviera pizza. It is an institution, the slices are massive, the ingredients are delicious and plentiful, and it is a staple in my diet. The Extra Special was an absolute treat and as always with a Riviera sitting, I devoured the slice like an animal. Manager Danielle Hume said: “There is nothing frozen here. The sauce is made fresh. It’s all about traditional recipes here, especially with the Italian background. The Extra Special is like a super supreme. It has a bit of everything on there and is a pretty popular choice here. The Giant Riviera special is probably our most popular. It is massive and can feed the whole family.”
Score: 8/ 10