Karijola
Iconic pizza restaurant which introduced Zagreb to gourmet pizzas
Some 20 years ago, Karijola – the iconic Zagreb pizzeria, made a real revolution in the perception of pizzas among Croats. They were the first to make thin crispy pizzas with fresh ingredients and real mozzarella. Karijola has two pizzerias in Zagreb and one on the island of Vis, and it is still among the top pizza houses in Croatia.
Karijola pizzerias Zagreb have a simple interior with many wooden details. The emphasis is put on what is on the table. The terrace in the courtyard is a green oasis, perfect to enjoy your food in nice weather, and the one in Kranjčevićeva is located along the restaurant.
What is served
With minor changes, pizzas in Karijola have not changed from the very beginning, and are characteristic for their thin and crispy crust. There are about twenty of them on offer — from classics to their famous pizzas with shiitake mushrooms to seasonal ones with fennel and asparagus; pizza Marargarita with plain and buffalo mozzarella, pizza with four types of cheeses, two types of white pizza, pizza with smoked beef, pizza picante, Karijola's signature pizza...
To each pizza you can add a wide range of extras of your choice — they offer two types of mozzarella, smoked beef, prosciutto, ham, pancetta, three types of mushrooms, capers, arugula, asparagus, anchovies...
In addition to pizzas, in Karijola you can order pitta bread, focaccia or three types of salad.
Karijola offers craft and regular beers, a selection of Croatian wines poured open and a short list of cocktails such as Aperol Spritz and Hugo.
What our chefs had
The Delicious Zagreb team opted for Karijola's classic — pizza with pancetta and mushrooms and pizza with anchovies and zucchini.
Pizza with pancetta has a classic red tomato sauce, mozzarella and three types of mushrooms — button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and shiitake. It was no surprise that, even twenty years later, Karijola's pizza is still superb, especially if you like thin pizzas and crispy crusts. The second pizza we decided on was with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, zucchini, salted anchovies and capers. It's a fantastic balance between the saltiness of anchovies, the freshness of tomatoes, the acidity of capers and finally the mozzarella, which rounds off the whole story nicely.
Although some great pizza houses have opened in Zagreb in the past ten years, it's really no surprise that Karijola is still known as one of the city's favourites...
