La Porchetta

I dont mind La Porchetta, although I think that people tend to compare it to little small pizza places and/​or cafes — when in reality, its actually nowadays a large chain pizza restaurant.
Being a chain, the quality of the pizza and pasta is never going to be as good as the little boutique places, but as a relatively cheap takeaway or eat in option, its actually quite good.
Its the sort of place that everyone raves on about when they are 18 and have just moved to the inner city (because the food is better than in a lot of outer suburban places) but after living in the inner city for a few years, people start to realise that there are better options around — Deganis at Barkly Square does much better pizza for instance.
That said, its still a fun, sociable place where a group of people can enjoy pizza, pasta, mediterranean salads and all that sort of stuff and have a fairly good (and cheap) evening out. Its also particularly kid-​friendly.
As others have said, it is busy, the staff are often rushed off their feet and it is noisy — but then thats kinda the idea — its supposed to be like a busy pizza restaurant in Italy.
Its also a good option for getting a takeaway pizza and eating it in the park with all the possums in it just down the road (opposite the Kent pub).
The other good thing is the icecream — its cheap and good enough quality to enjoy.
All in all, La Porchettas has a place in my world — its not the best place around or my favourite place, but it serves a purpose! Like many places that have been around for so long, I think people often put very high expectations on La Porchetta!

I went for lunch mid week and the restaurant was not extremely busy. Waiting staff were quick and our orders came out within 5 to 8 min. The Pasta was as good as ever and would recommend anyon to go there.

This is for families with small kids who are buying into the brand of La Porchetta. Food below average.
Pizza’s are overly cheesy with cheap ingredients.
Pasta is over-​priced for its quality.
The table staff clearly don’t want to be there.
Music is often too loud.
Ice-​creams aren’t as good as the place next door.
Décor is a montage of the now deceased owner’s photos with family, celebrities and randoms.
Nice brick walls though.

This is the genesis of the La Porchetta franchise of restaurants, but unfortunately that doesn’t coffer very much in terms of experience or quality.
Stodgy, overpriced and — despite all of this — generally quite crowded. Best avoided.
If you need to stick to the area, try Woodstock Café — otherwise venture to one of the many options in neighbouring suburbs.

La Porchetta is a chain of Italian restaurant found through Australia, but the Rathdowne Street location is the original location and maintains some of its local charms. The only thing that seems to adorn the walls of La Porchetta are photos of the owner, Rocco Pantaleo, with various famous people hung throughout the place. It’s slightly weird.
Although La Porchetta does remind me of some of the Italian restaurants found on Lygon Street, Rathdowne Village doesn’t really have any cheap Italian restaurants that I know of. La Porchetta serves all things Italian from traditional pizzas (capricciosa, napoletana, mushroom, margherita) with some non-​traditional pizzas (the lot, aussie, Mexican) from around $ 15 to $ 20. There are also pastas and risottos on the menu for a similar price.
The food at La Porchetta isn’t anything amazing, it’s quite mediocre Italian food, but it’s cheap and quite filling. The place is big so groups are welcome, but also be weary of the families and children.

La Porchetta? No thanks. In fact, the only reason I went here one night was because a.) I had just moved nearby that day and was too tired to cook and b.) I was told it was the ‘original’ La Porchetta and therefore the best…
If this was the best than I would hate to see the rest.
The pizza is greasy and not in a good way, the produce used was bottom grade and I think the price was OTT considering the quality of the food and the tacky décor.
La Porchetta in Carlton is almost always full of kids too — good for some, not good for others. So keep this in mind if you are planning a visit. But really, I think you should just take my advice and go to Lygon Street if you are after pizza, this place is disappointing.

La Porchetta is cheap and cheerful. The food is filling and tastes like it has been literally thrown together and heating up in the oven, and my pizza definately had a haphazard experience which almost prompted us to take it back and ask where the cheese was — and why 80% of the ingredients were on one half of the pizza. But to be fair — I wouldnt expect much more for the cheap price or quick turn around time. I’d recommend La Porchetta if you are really hungry and just want something to eat on the way past.
The HIDDEN GEM however, is the Icecream! GIven that most icecreams now cost in the region of $ 5 – 7 at IceCream Bars or Café’s, I was pretty excited to discover that for $ 2 you can get yourself a seriously big icecream, either in a cup or cone. And you can grab one walking past, you don’t need to be dining to get this deal. With a delicious range of Icecreams (and a 98% fat free sign that raised an eyebrow) this is a much better bet for an after dinner treat than the ⁷⁄₁₁.
The deacor is also pretty interesting, with photos of the founders with all sorts of different people and in interesting situations.
Low expectations will be happily satisfied.

Founded in 1985, La Porchetta is the brainchild of Rocco Pantaleo and Felice Nania. Although there are over 80 La Porchetta’s across Australia and New Zealand, the Carlton restaurant in the heart of Rathdowne Village is the original and (probably) best.
All over the walls you can see the passion of its founders for motor racing, sports, people, Italy and Australia in pictures. They also share a passion for cheap and authentic Italian food. The menu serves up all the Italian classics and you get massive portions to boot.
If you are craving a big Italian feed and don’t want to break the bank, then La Porchetta has got your back.
La Porchetta is as unpretentious as a restaurant could be and you get good honest food. Don’t expect to be blown away but you’ll certainly be satisfied and very full.

Local friends I made in Melbourne (who, admittedly, did live across the road) expressed shock that I hadn’t been to La Porchetta which, they assured me, was a Melbourne institution. And as I’m generally up for pizza and ice-​cream, it wasn’t too long before I had my first La Porchetta experience. From walking into the restaurant, you would never guess that this store had spawned a whole franchise (over 100 restaurants all over Australia, now — they started off with this one pizza place in the ‘80s). It looked like someone had once seen a picture of Italy, thought That place looks pretty, I should do something with it and then drowned it with framed Formula One posters and pictures of themselves with celebrities. Rocco, one of the co-​founders, is that celebrity-​obsessedminor celebrity. Loudly and colourfully taking the money behind the counter the first time I was there, it seems like this well-​loved self-​made man isn’t shy when it comes to showing the world his three great passions: famous people, Formula One and shots of Italy. Interestingly, though, that’s a big part of what makes La Porchetta so traditionally Italian; the loudness, the brashness, the flirting and, of course, the excellent pizza at seriously value-​for-​money prices; for two of us, a generous-​sized pizza each and a half-​carafe of wine cost us just over $ 20. If you’re in Italian-​dominated North Carlton there’s a lot of competition for the pizza dollar, but La Porchetta ain’t a franchise for nothing — and it’s worth it for the chance of seeing the face that occupies 1000 celebrity photos.