Lucia's Pizza Bar opened in 1957 and may well be Australia's first pizza restaurant, a title claimed for many years by Toto's in Melbourne. The cafe, at Adelaide's
In 1961, Toto's Pizza House, the country's first dedicated pizza restaurant, opened its door in Carlton, Melbourne – a classic, modern Italian pizza place.
1961 Toto's Pizzeria opens in Carlton
Toto's claimed to be the first pizzeria in Australia, and on this basis was inducted into the World Pizza Hall of Fame in 2007.
Nestled in the city's bustling centre, the famous Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba is not only the oldest pizzeria in Naples, Italy but the oldest pizzeria in the whole world.
Toto's Pizza House (Toto's) was the first pizzeria established in Melbourne, Australia, now a small chain of Pizza stores.
Lucia's Pizza Bar opened in 1957 and may well be Australia's first pizza restaurant, a title claimed for many years by Toto's in Melbourne. The cafe, at Adelaide's Central Market, served home-style Italian pizza and pasta and still has a reputation for serving the city's best pizza Margherita.
The pizza market in the country had grown and rapidly evolved since it was first introduced in the late-1940s when Italians and Greeks migrated to Australia after the Second World War. Since then, numerous pizza shops were established, which further impacted Austalia's culinary scene.
An often recounted story holds that on June 11, 1889, to honour the queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan pizza maker Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita", a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, to represent the national colours of Italy as on the Flag of Italy.
Shakey's Pizza is the oldest pizza chain in America
According to Shakey's Pizza, Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson opened his first pizza restaurant at 57 and J Street in Sacramento, California all the way back in 1954.
Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba is a pizzeria in Naples, Italy, which is widely believed to be the world's first pizzeria.
Primarily regarded as the first pizza ever created, the tried-and-tested margherita pizza was created in 1899 and continues to dominate as Australia's most popular pizza takeaway choice.
Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (Domino's) is the largest pizza chain in Australia in terms of both network store numbers and network sales. It is also the largest franchisee for the Domino's Pizza brand in the world.
The "Aussie" was invented by the late Salvatore Della Bruna, the Picasso of Australia's pizza heritage who established this country's first pizza parlour, Toto's on Melbourne's Lygon Street.
Summerville FarmSeven generations of a family tried to keep “alive” the oldest business in Australia, a farm in Tasmania, very close to Hobart. The farm has been open since 1808. From its early years, the farm was successfully supplying chaff. Nowadays, Summerville Farm has expanded to 2000 acres.
Although far from being the first Italian restaurant in Australia, Fasoli's was the first to earn enduring fame. The premises in Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, had been established since the 1850s as a lodging house and wine shop under the name of Pension Suisse.
Australia. Pizza Hut expanded to Australia in 1970, opening its first dine-in restaurant in Belfield in April 1970.
The ancient people living around the Mediterranean made the first step by eating all their flatbreads with toppings. Then the people of Naples took it and created pizza as we understand it today.
When a man once did the impossible, he was saved from almost certain death by the pizza place that he ordered from every day for ten years. Kirk Alexander, an Oregon man, was found in the ground of his Salem home on a Sunday after staff at a Salem Domino's Pizza called 911.
That did start in Italy. Specifically, baker Raffaele Esposito from Naples is often given credit for making the first such pizza pie. Historians note, however, that street vendors in Naples sold flatbreads with toppings for many years before then.
Based on etymology, the “Vocabolario Etimologico della Lingua Italiana” reveals that pizza comes from the dialectal pinza from the Latin pinsere, which means to pound or stamp. Other etymologists suggest it is related to the Lombardic word bizzo or pizzo, which means mouthful, and is related to the English word bite.
The origin of the word pizza
The word pizza as we now know it is recorded in English in the early 1800s, though early English lexicographer John Florio enters pizza for “a small cake or wafer” in his historically important 1598 Italian-English dictionary.
Pizza has a long history. Flatbreads with toppings were consumed by the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. (The latter ate a version with herbs and oil, similar to today's focaccia.) But the modern birthplace of pizza is southwestern Italy's Campania region, home to the city of Naples.
Pizza has become one of the Australia's favourite dishes. That's surprising considering that pizza was only really introduced in Australia in the late-1940s, when Italians and Greeks migrated to Australia following the Second World War. Since then, our country's pizza market has evolved rapidly.
A common unique type is the Aussie, Australian or Australiana, which has the usual tomato base or a seasoned base and mozzarella cheese with options of chicken, ham, bacon and egg (seen as quintessentially Australian breakfast fare). Pizzas with seafood such as prawns are also popular.
Although the usual Italian pizza varieties are available throughout Australia, they often have richer toppings than in Italy. The Aussie variety is a pizza that is usually topped with a base of barbecue sauce, mozzarella cheese, bits of chopped bacon, often ham, and a few eggs.