Since 2017, Merewether residents have been flocking to the corner joint to get their weekly pizza fix and as of mid-July, New Lambton locals can officially do the same with the DiRoma Pizzeria 2.0 now open.

Brought to you by Riccardo and Paola, DiRoma are continuing to change the landscape of Newcastle pizza with their fresh take on toppings paired with authentic Italian bases.

It’s been a little over a week since they flung open the doors of their New Lambton space, and to say they’ve been under the pump may just be the understatement of the year.

“When we first opened Merewether, I remember thinking how great it would be if we could do 20 pizzas in a night. The second day, we’d done over 200 pizzas.

“New Lambton was even crazier! The day before our launch, we had over 500 people say they would be attending. I tell the guys at Merewether to close and to come here to prep. We started prep on Tuesday and the opening was on Sunday,” Riccardo said.

Sticking with their original branding, the interiors of DiRoma offer their signature exposed brick with the New Lambton joint offering a much larger space. With seating both indoors and outdoors, order your takeaway goods and pull up a chair and enjoy your DiRoma goods.

“We wanted everything in this space to be perfect before we opened. We think we’re going to renovate Merewether to look like this,” Paola said.

For those of you well versed in the DiRoma menu, you’ll know all about their unique approach to pizza – that is, redefining the art of pizza-making while preserving the essence of their Italian heritage.

Specialising in ‘Romana Tonda’ pizza style, their dough is made fresh in-house every day, topped with the finest of ingredients before being cooked to perfection at 400 degrees. The menu showcases both authentic Italian classic pizzas as well as their proud signature gourmet creations.

With the opening of this space, the team have been able to drop the price of their pizzas across the board and have added in some new favourites for the keen foodies to try.

“The Italian Sausage has been our most popular so far. We wanted to come up with a pizza that resembles what you can get from the food carts at a market in Italy. They grill onion, capsicum, and sausage, maybe add a little bit of mayonnaise, and slam it on the bread. That combination is very basic but it’s been our best seller here,” Riccardo said.

For those unsure where to start, we asked Riccardo and Paola to share their favourites because surely, they would know what’s good on the menu!

“Diavola add prawns is my favourite. The Swiss Chicken is also another favourite as it’s my personal creation,” Paola said.

“White Truffle is my personal favourite,” Riccardo said.

Not just about pizza, the menu also boasts a selection of pasta dishes and of course, garlic bread.

“We have people come in of all ages. We cater to the five- or six-year-olds who just eat cheese pizzas to grandma and grandpa who are treating themselves to a truffle pizza.”

Riccardo and Paola have big plans not just for the New Lambton spot but for the brand as a whole. With lunchtime trade at New Lambton not far off launching and the plan to have five DiRoma venues open by the end of next year – the future is looking supreme!

As the saying goes, all paths lead to Rome… or was it DiRoma? Either way, we’re going to be eating pizza!