Restaurant in Brunswick East, Australia
Credentialed Neapolitan pizza, easy to book.
400 Gradi is Melbourne's benchmark for authentic Neapolitan pizza, with the Brunswick East flagship on Lygon Street delivering wood-fired precision at a mid-range price. Founded by Johnny Di Francesco, it is the right call if pizza is the priority. Easy to book, casual in format, and well-suited to solo diners, groups, and weekend explorers.
If you are looking for wood-fired Neapolitan pizza done with documented precision in Melbourne, 400 Gradi on Lygon Street is the place to book. Founded by Johnny Di Francesco, the Brunswick East flagship has built a reputation on a single discipline: authentic pizza cooked at 400 degrees Celsius in a wood-fired oven. It is not the most ambitious dining room on Lygon Street, and it does not try to be. What it delivers is a clear, focused proposition — serious Neapolitan technique at a neighborhood address — and that is exactly what makes it worth your consideration over more generalist Italian options nearby.
400 Gradi sits at 99 Lygon St, Brunswick East, the original location in what has since expanded into a multi-venue group. The kitchen operates around wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, cooked at the temperature the name promises. The commitment to that single format is the point. If you want a broad Italian menu with pasta, secondi, and a wine list built around the whole table, you may find the offering narrow. If you want pizza executed with genuine care for the Neapolitan standard, this is where the bar is set in Melbourne. For explorers of the Italian dining scene in Victoria, the Brunswick East flagship is worth visiting as a reference point , a place that demonstrates what the format looks like when it is taken seriously rather than adapted for a broader audience.
The Lygon Street location draws a consistent weekend crowd, and the wood-fired format translates well to a relaxed midday visit. Neapolitan pizza is a practical lunch anchor , the cooking is fast, the format is shareable, and the visual presentation of a properly blistered, leopard-spotted crust coming out of a wood-fired oven is itself a signal that you are eating something made with intention. For weekend explorers working through Melbourne's inner-north dining strip, 400 Gradi functions as a strong anchor stop rather than a destination that demands a special-occasion booking. The room is accessible and the service format suits groups moving through the area as much as it suits dedicated dining plans.
Book 400 Gradi if you want Neapolitan pizza at a venue with demonstrated credentials in that specific tradition. It works well for small groups, couples, and solo diners who want a direct, high-quality pizza lunch or dinner without the complexity or price point of a full-service Italian restaurant. Food and wine explorers who want to understand the Melbourne Italian dining continuum should use this as a reference point alongside venues like Carlton Wine Rooms in Carlton and Cutler & Co. in Fitzroy for a broader picture of what the inner-north does well. If your priority is wine depth or a longer tasting format, look elsewhere. If your priority is pizza done right, book here.
Address: 99 Lygon St, Brunswick East VIC 3057. Booking difficulty: Easy , walk-ins are generally possible, though weekends can fill the room. Format: Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, dine-in. Founded by: Johnny Di Francesco. Group suitability: Works for small to medium groups; the format is shareable and the room accommodates casual group dining. Solo dining: Comfortable , the pizza format works for one. Price tier: Mid-range for Melbourne dining; positioned well below a full-service Italian restaurant. Price per head is not confirmed in our current data, but the Neapolitan pizza category in Melbourne typically runs AUD 20–35 per pizza at this tier. Reservations: Recommended for weekend evenings; easier on weekday lunches. Dress: Casual. See our full guide to Brunswick East restaurants for the wider neighborhood context.
If 400 Gradi is on your itinerary, the surrounding inner-north gives you a strong day's worth of eating and drinking. Our Brunswick East bars guide and Brunswick East wineries guide are useful next steps. For a longer Melbourne dining day, consider Attica in Melbourne for a full-service tasting menu at the other end of the ambition spectrum, or Kadota in Daylesford if you are extending into regional Victoria. For hotels and experiences during your stay, see our Brunswick East hotels guide and Brunswick East experiences guide.
Come for the pizza specifically. The kitchen is built around authentic Neapolitan technique and wood-fired cooking at 400°C , that is the thing to order, not a broad Italian menu. Johnny Di Francesco founded the restaurant as a specialist venue, and that focus is still the defining feature. First-timers should arrive knowing this is a pizza restaurant with genuine credentials in that tradition, not a full-service trattoria.
Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza is the reason to be here. The kitchen's whole identity is built around that format. We do not have confirmed menu data to list specific pizzas, but any wood-fired pizza from a venue with this level of documented commitment to the Neapolitan standard is going to be the right call. Avoid over-ordering , the format does not require supplementary courses to deliver a satisfying meal.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. For weekday lunches, walk-ins are generally realistic. For weekend evenings, a reservation a few days out is a sensible precaution given the volume Lygon Street venues attract on Friday and Saturday nights. This is not a restaurant that requires weeks of lead time the way a Michelin-tier tasting menu does.
Yes. The pizza format is naturally suited to group dining , sharing multiple pizzas across a table works well and keeps the experience casual. For larger groups (8+), it is worth calling ahead or checking the website to confirm whether a reserved section or private space is available, as we do not have confirmed seating data for the venue. Brunswick East is accessible from central Melbourne, making it a practical group dining destination for the inner-north.
Depends on the occasion. For a birthday dinner with a group of friends who love pizza, it is a strong choice , the venue has genuine credentials and the food quality supports a celebratory visit. For a formal anniversary or a milestone where the service experience and room ambiance need to carry significant weight, look at Attica or Cutler & Co. instead. 400 Gradi is a specialist pizza restaurant, not a full-occasion dining room.
For Neapolitan pizza specifically, 400 Gradi is the reference point on Lygon Street. If you want broader Italian, Carlton Wine Rooms in Carlton offers a more wine-forward Italian experience a short distance away. For a completely different style of Melbourne dining in the inner-north, Cutler & Co. in Fitzroy operates at a higher price point with a broader contemporary menu. See our full Brunswick East restaurants guide for the complete picture.
Yes. A single pizza is a complete meal, the format does not require a companion to work, and the casual atmosphere on Lygon Street makes solo dining comfortable rather than conspicuous. If you are a food explorer passing through the inner-north alone, this is one of the more satisfying solo stops on Lygon Street.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 Gradi | Easy | ||
| Attica | Australian Modern | Unknown | |
| Brae | Modern Australian | Unknown | |
| Saint Peter | Australian Seafood | Unknown | |
| Rockpool | Australian Cuisine | Unknown | |
| Flower Drum | Cantonese | Unknown |
Comparing your options in Brunswick East for this tier.
Yes, and it works well for groups. The Lygon Street flagship has enough room to handle small to mid-size parties comfortably, and the pizza format — shareable, fast from the oven — suits group dining better than tasting-menu restaurants. For larger groups, call ahead rather than arriving without a reservation, especially on weekends.
The focus at 400 Gradi is Neapolitan pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven at 400 degrees Celsius, and that is where the kitchen's credentials sit. Stick to the pizza rather than treating it as a full Italian restaurant. Johnny Di Francesco built the venue's reputation on that one format, so ordering away from it misses the point of coming here.
Same-week bookings are generally fine for weekday visits. Weekends on Lygon Street fill the room, so booking two to three days out is sensible. Walk-ins are possible but not guaranteed on Friday and Saturday evenings. This is not a hard-to-get reservation by Melbourne standards.
It depends on what the occasion calls for. If the celebration is centred on great pizza in a lively, relaxed setting, 400 Gradi delivers with genuine credentials behind it. For a formal dinner with full table service and an extensive wine program, other Melbourne venues are a stronger fit. It is a strong birthday or casual anniversary option, not a white-tablecloth night.
For Neapolitan-style pizza specifically, 400 Gradi has the strongest documented credentials on Lygon Street. If you want to stay in the inner north but try a different format, Brunswick East's broader dining strip offers casual Italian and neighbourhood restaurants worth exploring. Pearl's Brunswick East bars and dining guides cover the surrounding options.
This is a wood-fired Neapolitan pizza venue built around a single discipline — pizza cooked at 400 degrees Celsius, founded by Johnny Di Francesco, who has built an award-winning Australian pizza group from this Lygon Street flagship. Come expecting a pizza-led menu in a relaxed, neighbourhood-style room. It is not a destination fine-dining experience, and it does not need to be.
Yes. The casual format and counter or small-table seating at the Lygon Street location suits solo diners well. A single pizza is a complete meal, and you will not feel out of place eating alone. Weekday lunches are the quietest window if you want to avoid the weekend crowd.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
