Wild Pepper

Wild Pepper is a pizzeria in the busy strip of restaurants on Hardgrave Road at West End.

There are tables inside and out. If there are large tables of hungry pizza eaters, like on the night we were there, inside can get a bit noisy. So if you are there for a quiet night for 2, sitting outside might be the better bet. The surroundings are modern, clean and casual.

To kick off your meal, try one of the pizza breads - herb, chilli, jalapeno, pesto or garlic - which are all $10.

We gave the starters a miss, and went straight to the pizzas. There are a good selection of vegetarian, meat and seafood pizzas. If you are looking for a more traditional Italian pizza, then go for the "Margarita" (no its not a cocktail, its a Margherita) with tomatoes, basil and parmesan, at $9 for a small, $12 for a medium or $15 for a large, or a Pepperoni with pepperoni, green capsicum and chilli at $10/$13/$16.

If you're not one for traditional Italian toppings and are looking for something a bit different, you won't be disappointed. Try the "David's own" with red kidney beans, salsa jalapeno chili, guacamole, sour cream and cherry tomatoes at $14/$17/$20 or the Roast Chicken with chicken, roasted pumpkin, feta, pine nuts, spinach and harissa at $15/$18/$21.

Aside from the standard menu, there were also two special pizzas available on the night we were there. Unfortunately, we didn't see the blackboard until we were walking out (and weren't told about them when ordering) so we missed out on those.

Best of all, they offer all their pizzas with gluten free bases for all those Coeliacs out there. Although the gluten free bases aren't as crisp and thin as a real pizza, its great to be able to order any pizza off the menu. Gluten free pizzas only come in one size, and are charged at the large pizza price.

I went for half an "Oscar Wild" (Italian sausage, caramelized onion and parmesan) and half a Chilli Prawn (prawns, basil and chilli). Both halves were really tasty, topped with fresh ingredients. The Oscar Wild was particularly good - the salty sausage, sweet caramelised onion and tangy parmesan combining well. We also had a small Margherita, which was excellent. Simple, but crisp and tasty. Sometimes its hard to go past a good Margherita.

There are also salads on the menu. We ordered the pumpkin salad ($8) with our pizzas. The salad was enormous and was listed on the menu as baby spinach/rocket, roast pumpkin, pine nuts & parmesan. Unfortunately it was absolutely caked in a seeded mustard dressing. There was so much mustard in it, that after a few attempts at scraping off the mustard from the spinach and pumpkin, we just gave up. If you are ordering a salad with your pizza, it's probably best to order something other than the pumpkin one, unless you haven't had your mustard fix for the year.

Finally, if you haven't had your fill of pizza for the night, there are also dessert pizzas. We had eaten more than enough, so didn't even consider one. But if a banana or strawberry dessert pizza is your thing, then dig in.

Wild Pepper is BYO, and there is a bottle shop right next door, which is extremely handy. Serve was adequate and relaxed.

If you are looking for tasty pizza at good prices, then Wild Pizza is definitely worth a visit. And if you are a Coeliac, then you'll find it's one of the few pizza places in Brisbane where you can have just about anything off the menu. You can also order the pizzas take away if you are lucky enough to live close by.

What does all this mean? Tasty, fresh pizza at very reasonable prices.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - OK
Ambience - Modern casual
Value for Money - Great
Wine - BYO

Vegetarian - Great
Gluten Free - Top Shelf

Wild Pepper
75 Hardgrave Road
West End
P - 07 3844 1262
W - http://www.wildpepper.com.au/