Colombo's Family Restaurant

This is my pick for a local family restaurant. Its along very similar lines to the likes of La Porchetta and Sofias: big servings with fairly affordable prices. But something about this place attracts me time after time. Maybe because it is the friendliness of the owner. Maybe because this is the place I often visited growing up. The pizzas are generally of good taste and at a good price. For pasta however, it is tasty but getting a little pricey for this standard of food. Definitely a family friendly environment though.

ITS A PIZZA JOINT, STOOPID!

If you want schmick Italian cuisine, lets be honest, I doubt you would go to a pizza joint. That's the great thing about Columbo's, a Balwyn institution, it makes no pretence of being anything other than that. Sure you can get a bowl of pasta or knock yourself out on a gnocci, but its a pizza house at heart.

The place is massive, it covers a double shop frontage and sprawls across two levels. Kids love it, service is quick, the pizza is cheesy and good and there is a gelati case at the front which is part of the kids deal.

They do a roaring trade in deliveries too if you are so inclined.