Antica Pizzeria E Cucina — Restaurant in Adelaide

After the experience I had it’s hard not to exclusively say scathing remarks but my time here was truly from memory the worst dining experience I’ve ever had.

Went out with my wife on the 15th of August 2025. Weather was cold and a little rainy but the outdoor seating available was under cover so we saw no issue. The venue also had gas heaters so even better.

Menu has a good range of options and my wife and I opted to share some food, getting a pizza Margherita, mozzarella in carrozza, and garlic focaccia. We also ordered a bottle of beer and glass of orange juice.

Unfortunately the garlic “focaccia” was probably just pizza dough with some garlic butter, not very tasty. The pizza was okay, dough was cooked which is good but the cheese was not particularly melted, just ended up being big thick hocks of flavourless solid cheese. The mozzarella in carrozza is kind of like a triangle mozzarella stick type thing and was actually amazing which is sad given how bad the rest of the experience and food was.

With regards to service it seems the waitresses either both just couldn’t care less or were having an off day. Given it was cold and we were outside I requested they turn on the gas heaters which they did. Unfortunately it went out after about 5 minutes and the waitresses never realised and reset it so we spent the remainder of dinner in relative cold.

We were originally sat at an intimate 4 seater table however after we ordered our food another couple were sat down beside us and the only separation between us was that the waitress removed the middle plank of wood in the table to make an artificial gap between what was still just one table. A very awkward night ensued with both of us being a little quiet given how close we were. This was not two tables at all, just one with a plank removed.

Food came quickly but unfortunately the waitresses forgot our drinks. They did however manage to deliver a glass of wine and espresso martini to our close table companions… which I would image would take longer to prepare than a bottle of beer and glass of orange juice.

All in all, it was a cold, forgettable meal with horrible service. It could have been better if I chased down the wait staff to get my own drinks and reset the gas heater but I shouldn’t have to sacrifice time talking with my wife just to get the bare minimum service.

If you are after pizza just go to melt down the street or Etica in the city. Both have immensely better quality food and can actually give the bare minimum service.

Would take a lot for me to go back here...

Arrived for dinner on time and our table wasn’t ready so they asked us to wait on a table by the roadside in the heat. It was a 34 degree night. We were not offered water or checked in on at all so after 15 minutes we went in to see if our table was ready. They clearly had forgotten about us, but they led us to the table. When we ordered drinks we asked for table water as we weren’t offered. After 10 minutes the waitress had not brought our water so I went up to the bar and grabbed it myself. The waitress then took some time to come back to take our food order so eventually had to get their attention. We made the mistake of having our entree come out first and then main. The entree came out first in good time. Arancini balls and garlic focaccia were delicious, but the polenta chips were tasteless, even with the sauces. We waited 45 minutes for our main which was just a couple of pizzas and had to remind them several times we were still waiting. During this time, other diners came in near us 45 minutes after we were seated and got their pizza 20 minutes before us! The food running order was all over the place!! The people near us who got their pizza before us clearly knew the owners or staff. The waitress, who had told us several times she was run off her feet, managed to find 5 - 10 minutes talking to them about her weekend. The pizza was good but not worth a 45 minute wait. They had at least 7 people working in the kitchen and pizza oven area who seemed to be tripping over each other and standing around half the time, and wait staff seemed oblivious to the needs of their patrons it seemed, unless they were regulars or know the owners. My partner aired our discontentment when we went to pay and the waitress told us once again they were so busy (they weren’t even booked out) which we dismissed as excuses for poor service. We made a point that if we had to go to a Fringe show or a movie we would have missed it as they took so long!! For the inconvenience, the waitress gave us $13 off a $250 dinner, which is some consolation I guess. First time there and we won’t be back, disappointed and cannot recommend. So many other great pizzerias...

Don't know where to start. We ordered pasta nepolitana(?). The pasta was under cooked and the sauce tasted like they opened a can of tomato puree and poured it on top. When we returned it they didn't ask if we wanted another they just assumed and came back and said we are preparing another for you at which we said no thank you. If an Italian restaurant cannot do pasta right the first time what hope have we on second time. The calamari was nice but for $26 for main I expected more than 7 pieces. The vegetarian pizza were tasty but again how about putting the toppings closer to the edge rather than leaving over 5 cm of base around the edges. This reminded me of KFC where they pretend to fill your box of chips but on inspection it is only half full. Might expect it from fast food but not a high end restaurant. Beer choices were very limited and maybe one light beer choice would be nice. This was after the lack of attention by staff and after our order was taken we were ignored. we couldn't get any of the staff's attention to get another bottle of table water. Lucky they were not that busy. Maybe if we ordered sparkling water we might have gotten better attention. Then when we asked for the bill they had the pasta included in the price. When we challenged this at the counter the staff said they were not going to charge us. Don't put it...