It’s a bit of a catch 22 when you want to go out for dinner, with a large group on a Friday night, and you haven’t made a booking, particularly in the busy Rundle Street cafe precinct. While wandering around aimlessly, we discovered that Alfresco’s was able to accommodate us, however, the number of empty tables at a venue suggests the place isn’t that great. I’ve been to Alfresco’s before so I had a fair idea of what to expect.

Tonight I ordered the Speciale pizza; smoked ham, cacciatore, salami, mushroom, capsicum, olives. Considering there were so many empty tables at this place, our meals didn’t start arriving until 40 minutes after ordering. The meals didn’t arrive at the same time, as I had to wait a further 15 minutes for my meal. My friend sitting next to me then had to wait a further 15 minutes for hers. One of the waitresses offered my friend a free drink, but by the time her meal arrived, everybody had finished eating. Most reputable places would have given her a free meal.

When my pizza finally arrived, it looked pretty good; it was a nice light golden brown colour. I loved how they served the pizza on cute little cutting boards. I had waited so long that pretty much anything that came out of that kitchen was going to taste good. The pizza toppings were fresh, the quantity of toppings was generous and the topping distribution was perfect. Every bite of the pizza should have some topping on it. I wasn’t too impressed with the pizza base. The base was fairly thin, almost wafer like, and of a consistent thickness throughout. I felt the crust on my pizza was slightly overcooked; at times, I felt like I was going to crack a tooth biting into it. One of my neighbours had a smaller pizza and her crust was slightly thicker than mine. I got the feeling the same quantity of dough was used to make both the small and large pizzas, with my pizza base being more stretched out than the smaller pizzas. With all that being said, my pizza was fairly tasty and delicious.

When it comes to below average service, this place is fairly consistent. In my last review, I did say I probably wouldn’t be back, and for the most part, I was reluctant to set foot in this place. Alas, this was the only place last night that could accommodate our large group. It was OK several months ago, and it’s still OK now.

WHERE: 260 Rundle St, Adelaide