You’d be forgiven for thinking that there’s no way this unassuming shop front by day could become a bustling, fun filled environment that slings some of Adelaide’s best pizzas by night. But we assure you, it does.

Pizza Meccanica opened its doors on Hawker Street in 2016 but its story begins long before that, when owner, designer, and chief pizza meccanic Stelios Birbas fired up his first real pizza oven at home in 2010. Whilst he spent many years from that point building his own graphic design agency, that pizza lit a spark which fuelled a fire; a fire by which their Napoli style pizzas are cooked by today.

Hospitality had been in Stelios’s family for a long time and that ethos flows through to the energetic and friendly vibe that quite literally greets you, as you pass the fuel pumps and enter the front door. Every detail has been thought of, even down to the drinks menus, presented on Meccanica license plates and filled with refreshing cocktails and a 99% South Australian wine list.

But really, you care about the food. And so do they. We could go on about the level of detail put in each pizza, like the sea salt imported from Sicily to feed the dough, the number of hours the dough is fermented to ensure its texture and flavour, or the specific hand stretching technique used to make sure those delicious, charred pockets of air (aka cornicione) pop up while cooking. We could go on, but we won’t.

What you need to know is this small but specific menu has been carefully selected to provide a quality over quantity dining experience. That’s not to say the pizzas are small. No, you’ll be needing to wear your stretchy pants for this adventure. But you won’t find pizzas swimming in toppings, just a few, carefully selected ingredients are used, to ensure each is properly celebrated. That’s Napoli style.

They’re cooked super-fast in a hot as hell oven, which was also imported from Italy, and was created with ash and sand from Mt Vesuvius. Some may say that makes the pizza explosively good. You’ll erupt with joy at the first bite. Ok, sorry. We’ll stop.

There’s also a brilliant range of shared small dishes to start and side salads to keep things fresh. Grab yourself some sizzling hot feta with caramelised garlic, you won’t regret it. Desserts are Italian style, as you’d expect, filled with love.

This vision was not a quick one to come to reality for the Pizza Meccanica team and has taken a lot of hard work and dedication from Stelios and his crew. But just as he fell in love with the location so quickly (it’s in Bowden, what’s not to love?), so will you fall in love with both the pizza and the staff here. The results of all this hard work should have you dashing down there… as soon as you’ve finished reading this. You can of course takeaway and enjoy on the couch, but for the full effect we’d recommend grabbing some family or friends and dining in.

Thanks for once again ensuring the best is in Bowden, Pizza Meccanica. It’s folks like you that keep Life More Interesting.

Pizza Meccanica
2 Hawker St, Bowden SA 5007
Phone: (08) 8232 0044
Website: pizzameccanica.com.au
Facebook: /PizzaMeccanica/
Instagram: @pizzameccanica/