One Balgowlah pizza shop has a story that now stretches well beyond the Northern Beaches. What began as a local venture for a Brazilian couple still has its original store in Balgowlah, even as the business has expanded across NSW and Queensland.
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Roberta Rondelli and Thiago Ciria, owners of I Love Pizza, moved to Australia from southern Brazil and settled around Manly. Roberta had worked as a chef, while Thiago was a project manager, before the couple decided to open a pizza business of their own.
Balgowlah became the starting point because of its central location. The couple also wanted to introduce pizza influenced by the flavours they had grown up with in southern Brazil, offering something a little different from what they were seeing locally.
Several of those early creations remain on the menu today. Chicken Catupiry, Portuguese, Churrasco and Five Cheese are among the pizzas that have stayed since the early days of the Balgowlah shop.
When Local Support Mattered Most
The business eventually expanded beyond its original location, opening stores in Dee Why and later Mona Vale. The Mona Vale shop had barely begun when COVID-19 restrictions brought major changes to the hospitality industry.
I Love Pizza moved to contactless delivery as its only service option, while customers continued ordering from its three Northern Beaches locations. The business says those orders helped keep the three stores going as hospitality businesses adjusted to pandemic restrictions.
Still Part Of Balgowlah
I Love Pizza now has more than 20 stores across NSW and Queensland, while its Northern Beaches operation remains centred on Balgowlah, Dee Why and Mona Vale. More than 30 people are employed across those three stores.
Yet Balgowlah remains the place where the story began. It was where Roberta Rondelli and Thiago Ciria first introduced their Brazilian-influenced approach to pizza on the Northern Beaches, with local customers soon becoming an important part of the business.
Local customer support became particularly important during the pandemic, when continued orders helped keep the three Northern Beaches stores going.
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More than a decade later, the original Balgowlah store is still operating. The business has expanded considerably since then, but the Balgowlah shop remains the location where the couple’s pizza venture began.
Published 26-September-2026
