Toto Pizza

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Neapolitan Story, Told in Metres

Toto Pizza has been part of Auckland's food landscape since 1993, but its roots stretch back much further — to Naples, the city that invented pizza and the birthplace of founders Antonio Crisci and Sergio Maglione. After the original restaurant earned its reputation as an award-winning destination, the two founders returned to reopen it themselves, driven by a single ambition: to recreate l'autenticità di Napoli on Hardinge Street.

That recognition has followed them. Gambero Rosso, the authoritative Italian food guide, awarded Toto Pizza its coveted slice rating in 2023 — a mark of credibility that carries real weight when the guide's standards are rooted in the very tradition Antonio and Sergio grew up with.

The Dough Comes First

Toto's own description of their process is disarmingly honest: the dough is "a bit needy." It's mollycoddled, given time and attention, then left alone to develop — emerging only at the moment an order is placed. That patience is the foundation of everything.

The ingredients are chosen with the same care. Mozzarella is made to Toto's specification using traditional Italian techniques. The tomatoes are San Marzano — thinner, more pointed, with a stronger and less acidic flavour than standard varieties. The Grana Padano and cured meats are of authenticated Italian origin.

Pizza by the Metre

What sets Toto apart visually and practically is the format: Neapolitan pizza served by the half metre or full metre. A half metre feeds three comfortably; a full metre serves six — the restaurant's own caveat being that teenage boys may require a different calculation entirely. It's a format built for sharing, for parties, for the kind of casual abundance that good pizza should inspire.

The menu extends beyond pizza to pasta, dolci, and drinks, with set menus available at multiple price points — making Toto equally suited to a weekday lunch or a private gathering. Catering, delivery, and takeaway round out the offering for those who want the same quality at home.

Consistency as a Philosophy

Antonio and Sergio frame their work not as a fixed achievement but as a daily discipline — continuously searching for better ingredients, continuously refining technique. For a pizza restaurant recognised by one of Italy's most rigorous food guides, that restlessness is precisely the point.