Crispy Italian Bar

The Gold Coast is bursting at the seams with top-notch Italian joints, but every now and then, one comes along which grabs our attention with a unique concept. And incredible pizza, of course.

Let us introduce you to Crispy Italian Bar, the first-of-its-kind traditional Italian bar on the Gold Coast. As charming owners Ricky Proserpio and Matteo Tricario explain to us, traditional Italian bars or ‘Bar Italianos’ seamlessly blur the lines between restaurant, cafe and bar—a place where you can grab a panini and espresso at 9am, an aperitivo at sunset or sit down with friends and chow down on pizzas. There’s no rules and that’s just how we like it. This fresh and innovative concept of dining truly brings the best of Italian dining to the Gold Coast.

If you’re after a morning feed you’ll find an extensive range of specialty coffee drinks, all brewed on Attibassi beans from the Bologna region of Italy. Crispy Italian Bar is the exclusive distributor of these Italian beans in Australia, so you’ll get a coffee unlike any other. Pair your coffee with ten different types of panini, like the ‘Panino Goloso’ wood-fired panini, loaded with smoked leg ham, mozzarella and mushrooms. 

The antipasti menu is loaded with delights like burrata with housemade bread and vegan pesto, and wood-fired spicy garlic prawns with chilli. Oh, yes, Crispy Italian Bar’s logo is a chilli and their love of chilli is emulated throughout the menu—although you can always get them to dial back the heat.

The star of the show is the pizzas with 15 pizzas gracing the menu, all of which can be made gluten-free. The wild mushroom with mozzarella, mixed mushrooms and truffle oil is delectable and we can’t go past the vulcano, with prosciutto di parma, Calabrian nduja and stracciatella. Expect ultra-crispy yet thick pizza crusts—hence the very aptly named ‘Crispy Italian Bar’. 

The dessert menu puts a twist on tradition with their Nutellami, a decadent folded Nutella-stuffed pizza with whipped cream and chocolate pralines. Pair this one of the many sublime cocktails or digestivos and you’re in for a seriously top-notch Italian feast.

Image Credit: Crispy Italian Bar