In The Media

Melbourne’s Cheesiest Dishes & Spots You Need To Try For That Iconic Pull Shot

Melbourne's food scene is pretty cheesy already but with cheese stretches, scoops, melts, tosses and every other way you can add cheese to something trending hard in algorithms, venues have gone into over-drive.

Whether you crave stretchy, melty or fried-to-perfection, these spots turn fromage into art (and content obvs). Just come hungry and order extra napkins.

Diners' Choice Awards 2025

Deep End Pizza offers a unique and memorable pizza experience with "amazing" Chicago and Detroit-style pizzas. Patrons rave about the "best pizza I've ever had" and the friendly, attentive service. The restaurant atmosphere is vibrant and welcoming, making it a must-visit for pizza lovers seeking something special.

Deep End Pizza x Dingo Ate My Taco: Birria Pizza

Cinco de Mayo kicks off on Monday, May 5, so finding an appropriate way to celebrate is the right move. While no one would blame you for shaping a feast filled with tamales and carnitas, Deep End Pizza and Dingo Ate My Taco have collaborated once again on their crowd-pleasing Birria Pizza. Bound to make the month one to remember, this limited-run creation combines Deep End's beloved Detroit-style pizza base with Dingo's authentic birria – a slow-cooked Mexican stew — inviting you to dip your slice as you dine.

The winners of Time Out Melbourne's Food & Drink Awards 2025 have been revealed

The People's Choice Awards are an opportunity for our readers to share their thoughts on Victoria's culinary scene and select their favourite restaurant, café, bar and pub. Well, you've had your say and thousands of votes have been tallied.

BEST RESTAURANT: Deep End Pizza

The Best Pizza in Melbourne

Melbourne established its pizza credentials long ago. The now-closed Toto’s Pizza House, our first pizzeria, opened on Lygon Street in 1961. Neapolitan-style pizza – woodfired, crisp at the edges, pliant in the middle – has dominated restaurants ever since, with spots like Pizza D’Asporto and 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar developing loyal followings. More recently, a new generation has done some tinkering with interesting results. Capitano and Deep End have embraced pie styles from North America, while Red Sparrow and Green Acre show that plant-based pizzas can please even the most avid omnivores. Try these top slices across the city, curated by Broadsheet's expert food and drink editors.

TimeOut Best Pizza In Melbourne Right Now

In America, the way you like your pizza says more about you than pretty much anything else. Thin crust or deep dish? Eaten flat, folded in half, with a knife and fork or dipped in sauce? Thankfully, we're not in America and at this new spot on Brunswick Street, you can eat your 'za however you like and no-one will bat an eye. Deep End specialises in three of the most distinct types of American-style pizzas: New York-style thin crust, Detroit-style square crust and Chicago-style deep dish.

These Are Melbourne’s Best Pizzas, The 2025 Edition

One of the most important food groups to Melburnians, pizza, is held in a treasured category of its own. Boasting some of the finest pizzerias outside of Italy, the level of craft here is world-class from classic leopard spotted Neapolitan-style to thick-cut deep dish.

Craft Crawls: Fitzroy

It might sound a tad dramatic to say dreams come true at Deep End Pizza, but if you grew up idolising 90s cartoons with yellow illustrations of fat pepperoni pizzas then I personally think the statement is more than apt. The tiles are red, the ceiling is tall, and the staff are your best friends.

The focus is on “regional American pizzas” with the showstopper / Instagram gave being the Chicago deep dish. But the Detroit, New York and varieties like New Haven and Chicago Tavern style that even the most ardent Australian pizza fan are likely to be unaware of are all masterfully crafted too

12 Spots for the Best Pizza in Melbourne

Deep End Pizza brings some serious American flavour to Fitzroy, and they don’t hold back. The menu takes you on a tour of American pizza styles, from New York’s thin and foldable slices to Detroit’s crispy square pies and Chicago’s famously thick deep dish.

The Peppa Roni is a crowed favourite, with their house pepperoni blend, roasted capsicum, and pickled chilli adding just the right amount of kick. If you’re up for something indulgent, the White Sausage 2. – loaded with Italian sausage, taleggio, and gorgonzola – delivers big on both flavour and comfort. Plus, they’ve recently added gluten-free pizza options to the menu!

Diners' Choice Awards 2024

Deep End Pizza offers a unique and memorable pizza experience with "amazing" Chicago and Detroit-style pizzas. Patrons rave about the "best pizza I've ever had" and the friendly, attentive service. The restaurant atmosphere is vibrant and welcoming, making it a must-visit for pizza lovers seeking something special.

Deep End Makes The World New Haven Pizza Map

Called “the pizza capital of the United States” by the popular reviewer Dave Portnoy and the country’s best pizza “community” by celebrity chef David Chang, New Haven boasts some of America’s oldest and, by increasingly popular opinion, finest pizza. But it’s not just the pizza itself that’s being exported. It’s also the style. Apizza places now span the country from coast to coast and top to bottom. (And beyond, in distant lands including the UK, Belize, Hong Kong and Australia.)

Deep End is one of the more standout pizza joints

Deep End distinguishes itself with an offering of three iconic pizza styles. There’s the New York-style thin crust; the crispy-cornered Detroit-style focaccia base; and hulking Chicago-style stuffed deep-dish pizza. You can’t miss the decadent deep-dish pizza, which Kasten says isn’t as commonly seen in Melbourne as the others.

Eight new (and new-ish) Melbourne pizza places serving styles beyond Neapoltian

This one’s not so new, but it gets across the line for its dedication to American pies of all (stars and) stripes. The Fitzroy pizza bar comes from chef and co-owner Paul Kasten, who’s from the US. At Deep End Pizza, he’s bringing three all-American pizza styles to Brunswick Street: cheesy Chicago-style deep-dish; crisp Detroit-style pan pies topped with the likes of ’nduja and hot honey or potato and guanciale; and thin-crust New York-style rounds with nine cheeses and truffle oil, say, or Wagyu brisket with mozzarella and comte.

Here Are 8 Joints That Prove Melbourne Knows Pizza

Melbourne’s pizza heritage traces back to 1961 when Toto’s, the city’s first pizzeria, opened on Lygon Street. Though Neapolitan-style pizza prevailed, defined by its wood-fired crispness, new-generation pizzerias have emerged with innovative twists.

Surprisingly, some pizzas now rival the best Neapolitan interpretations despite being cooked in electric ovens or using different tomato varieties. While traditional pizzas hold their charm, the thrill of experiencing novel, Melbourne-exclusive creations is unparalleled.

New-wave venues are channelling nostalgic, American-style pizzas.

Self-confessed pizza nerd Chef Paul Kasten is originally from the US and opened Deep End Pizza in Melbourne's Fitzroy. Kasten spent time working at fine-dining restaursnts in USA cities known for their pizzas styles, so it's safe to he's covered alot of ground.. When the chef came to Australia, it didn't take long for him to identify an opportunity to produce something a little different. "I saw a gap in the local market here in Melbourne in terms of high-quality, American pizza styles".

Best pizza Victoria

Piping hot from the wood fire oven or fridge cold the next day, nothing beats a slice of pizza. Read all about our top picks and explore the list on an interactive map. Serving up amazing Chicago deep dish pizzas, Detroit pan pizzas, and New York Style thin crusts, this venue is a must visit for pizza fans.

Favourite Melbourne Dishes

Our eating was incessantly incredible and incredibly incessant this year. From fried dough in many forms to transcendent curries, to thicc pizzas and “the best American barbeque in Australia”, here’s the highlights reel. In past years, we’ve restricted this best-of list to new dishes from new venues. But we’ve decided to throw out our own rule book in 2022, opening it up to any and all Melbourne dishes (and drinks). These are all the ones the Broadsheet team couldn’t get enough of this year – from Melbourne institutions, spectacular newcomers and everywhere in between.

50 under $50: Melbourne's best-value eats revealed

This is not just any old pizza place, but a purveyor of regional US specialties. These include thin-crust NY style with toppings like hazelnut pesto and goat’s cheese, or whole clams with chilli and bacon. There’s Detroit pan pizza with its focaccialike base and flavours of ‘nduja with confit garlic, or piney brussels sprouts, pine mushrooms, three cheeses and garlic sauce. There’s also Chicago deepdish, which takes half an hour to prepare. When it arrives, you’ll see why. It’s so deeply layered with ingredients – mozzarella, tomato sugo, pepperoni, sausage, mushroom and capsicum – that it needs all that time to cook.

Melbourne’s Best Cafe and Fast-Casual Openings of 2022

We know Melbourne knows pizza. But Deep End does chunky, cheesy Chicago-style pies that – chances are – you’ve never tried here before. A shit-ton of molten cheese bubbles away in the middle of the 10-inch deep-dish delights, each of which has a 30-minute cook time (don’t fill up on starters). They’re decadent, decidedly lofty and definitely not a twice-a-week dinner. But it’s not all about Chi-Town. The brief is all-American, so you can avoid the cheese coma with a New York-style thin crust or a crispy-cornered Detroit-style focaccia base.

Deep End makes a full 360 into deep-dish pizza. Does it deliver?

Not just any old pizza place but a purveyor of regional US specialties. These include thin-crust NY-style with interesting toppings like hazelnut pesto and goat’s cheese, and whole clams with chilli and bacon. There’s also Detroit pan pizza with its focaccia-like base and flavours of hot salami (’nduja) with confit garlic, and ‘piney brussels’ – sprouts, pine mushrooms, three cheeses and garlic sauce.

Dive into Fitzroy's Deep End for deep-dish pizza and other rarely seen US styles

Is Melbourne riding a third wave of artisan pizza? A fascination with regional pizza styles from the United States is slowly emerging, and the opening last month of Deep End in Fitzroy is cementing the trend.

There's not a Neapolitan slice to be found at the pizzeria by chef Paul Kasten and partners. Instead it's offering three distinctly different pizza styles from three US regions, all of which are a novelty for Aussies.

Deep End is the name of Fitzroy's new pizza parlour that's aiming to take the Melbourne pizza scene to a whole new level

Deep End, remember the name Fitzroy pizza fans. They’re a new pizza parlour with an American focus that base their pizzas around three iconic types – the New York style thin crust, the Detroit style square crust known for a unique light texture base focaccia base and crispy cheese rim, and the 10-inch Chicago style stuffed, a deep-dish pizza they say is rarely seen in Australia.

New York state of mind: US-style pizza movement sweeping Melbourne

“A number of American-style pizzerias have been picking up over the last three to five years, but really the Aussie pizza scene is very Italian-centric,” Kasten said.

“The only sort of non-Italian specific pizzas are the really low quality end, so I think people are identifying there’s a big gap in the pizza market varieties.”

Fitzroy’s Latest Slice Shop Is Serving Up 10” Chicago-Style Pizza Pies

Fitzroy’s just scored a new pizza shop dedicated to several styles of pie with origins tied to the US of A. It’s called Deep End, and there are certainly no prizes for guessing the menu heroes more than a few deep-dish style pizzas.

You’ll find Deep End at 412A Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. They’re open 7 days from 5pm for dinner and lunch from 12noon weekends.

Chances are you haven’t tried one of these in Melbourne before. “It’s a very decadent, once-in-a-while option, but one that is sure to get people’s attention.”

Melbourne does a lot of things excellently – coffee, rooftop bars, theatre. And pizza.

And now there’s a new player bringing American-style slices to the inner north. Deep End is on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, guided by chef and co-owner Paul Kasten (Deeds Taproom and Host Dining).

“I’ve been a bit obsessed with [pizza] for a few decades now,” Kasten tells Broadsheet. “For a long time, I’ve wanted to take all the technique and product knowledge I picked up cooking very refined food and apply it to a more casual and accessible concept.”