Venti8 Pizzeria

Better than Forge

Yep. We said it.

After countless local recommendations, we finally tried The Forge Pizzeria for ourselves. It was good and we can understand the hype, but still walked away thinking Venti8 Pizzeria delivered the better woodfired pizza overall.

Here’s why….

On a cold, rainy Wednesday evening, we found ourselves stepping inside and immediately noticing something impressive. The owner, Nava, was running the entire place on his own, calmly juggling dine-in tables, takeaway orders, phone calls, and cooking every single meal.

There were two tables dining in (including a lovely couple we got chatting to, more on them below!), a steady stream of takeaway customers, and phones ringing… yet somehow, everything flowed seamlessly. No stress, no chaos, just quiet confidence. It was genuinely impressive to watch.

Now, we both love a good woodfired pizza… but since leaving Brisbane, we’ve been a little underwhelmed.

That changed here.

The pizzas at Venti8 are, in our opinion, a premium woodfired experience. The bases were phenomenal – light, fluffy, perfectly balanced (not too thick, not too thin), and sturdy enough to hold the fresh, delicious toppings. Nava uses fresh, high-quality ingredients, and you can absolutely tell he’s had years of experience (18 years as a chef, in fact).

Venti8 has been open for around a year and a half, and Nava is currently working six days a week. Like many small business owners, he’s hoping to spend more time working on the business rather than in it, but speaking from experience, that’s easier said than done.

It’s hard to let go of control.
It’s hard to trust others to do things the way you would.
And it’s hard to invest in people, knowing they might not stick around.

The realities of small business are very real, which makes supporting places like this feel even more worthwhile.

Sadly, not long after our visit, Venti8 experienced a break-in, something no small business owner deserves after pouring so much time, energy, and care into their work. What stood out most to us, though, was Nava’s response: calm, compassionate, and focused more on understanding than anger. It honestly reflected the same warmth and character we experienced during our visit.

So if you’re nearby and considering somewhere for dinner, takeaway, or a relaxed evening out, this is the kind of local business we’d encourage supporting. And trust us, you’re not just going for the support – you’re going for seriously good food.

We shared a pizza and the lamb ragu, and we’d highly recommend doing a pizza and pasta combo if you don’t want to miss out on either (paired with a bottle of Shiraz, you can’t go wrong!).

We’d definitely recommend dining in if you can, because there’s something pretty special about enjoying the pizzas fresh from the woodfire oven. But if you do grab takeaway, especially during a chilly Ballarat winter, we’d suggest popping the pizza back in the oven for a few minutes once you get home to bring back that just-cooked magic.

If you’re in the area, we’d highly recommend making the drive to Venti8. It’s one of those places that quietly exceeds expectations, and leaves you already planning your next visit.

A Little Local Story (Dean & Creswick)

One of our favourite parts of the night was chatting with the couple dining next to us.

They live in Dean, where they purchased the old pub during COVID and transformed it into their home, how amazing is that?

They also own the IGA in Creswick, and told us they’ve made Venti8 their new go-to pizza spot after consistently great experiences, including bringing a group of eight the week before.

We love hearing things like that.

They also mentioned they live across the road from what they claim is Australia’s smallest microbrewery, the Bankhouse Brewery. It operates out of an old bank building and is retail-only (so no sitting in for a drink), but came highly recommended. We haven’t made it there just yet — but it’s firmly on our list.

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