I just know you’ve experienced this: It’s the end of a long day, just a few hours to go until bedtime, and you’re ready to hit the fast-forward button and hit the sheets. The only problem is that you still have a big question to answer.
What’s for dinner?
With three children, a cat, a husband, a household, and a business to take care of, I have to admit there are days when I just don’t want to cook — or days when I’m really craving some quick, delicious, comforting food (that, again, I don’t have to cook).
In the year and a half that I have lived in Malinska, there’s one place that has regularly answered the “What’s for dinner?” question for me.
Corona Pizza or “The Pizza Place”
Upon moving here, we quickly came across what my children nicknamed “The Pizza Place,” which was within walking distance from our home (but take that with a grain of salt, as nearly all of Malinska is within walking distance from our home!). Open 6 days per week with long hours and fast/friendly service, frequenting The Pizza Place was a no-brainer.
Arriving in the wintertime, not a lot of restaurants or other businesses were open, closed down for the off-season (and in some cases, the pandemic). Among the few restaurants open was Corona Pizza in the heart of Malinska, serving up pizzas, burgers, and other dishes that would make any US expat feel welcome.
Contact Info & Location:
Hours: 12:00–22:00 PM (Noon to 10:00 PM); Monday-Sunday (closed on Tuesdays)
Address: Pavus II 1, 51511, Malinska
Phone: +385-95–8828–622
Pricing & Wait Time:
Especially considering the range of options the restaurant offers, they are incredibly affordable. One of their most popular pizzas, the “Pizza Slavonia,” is only 63 kuna ($8.40 USD or £7.10 UK) for a standard size.
As for the wait time, it’s also incredibly reasonable. There’s a rare evening where we will wait 45 minutes for our order to be ready when there’s a long line of orders in front of us, but most of the time, we only have a 15-to-20-minute wait for our order to be ready.
When I said that The Pizza Place answers our “What’s for dinner?” question, I meant it.
What We Ordered:
Mozzarella Sticks & Steak Fries
The mozzarella sticks and steak fries at Corona Pizza are one of my daughter’s favorites and go-to orders.
The mozzarella sticks are wonderfully crisp on the outside and perfectly gooey and cheesy on the inside — exactly what you would want from your mozzarella sticks. The fries, too, are extremely flavorful, crisp, perfectly golden, and tempting; you can’t have just one!
Cevapi & Fries
Both of my sons love Corona Pizza’s cevapi and fries. The order typically comes with a serving of cevapi bread (Lepinja), though we placed this order (pictured) without it.
I’m very picky about cevapi, and these have been more than satisfactory. These cevapi have that perfect “snap” that a good sausage will have, and they’re incredibly flavorful. When I want cevapi, I order these!
Wings & Fries
There aren’t many places on the island of Krk that offer chicken wings, but among the places that do, Corona Pizza’s wings are becoming one of my favorites.
Pictured below are naked chicken wings that I later dressed at home (I’ve recently developed a series of new food intolerances), but the restaurant offers a range of sauces to choose from, including a delicious buffalo sauce and sriracha sauce.
These wings are always perfectly cooked and have a wonderful bite to them, which anyone who loves wings will appreciate. The chicken itself also has a great flavor and is always juicy, not dried out.
These are great with the restaurant’s fries, mozzarella sticks, or my new favorite, alongside their Chicken Caesar Salad (and before you say anything, I know that’s a lot of chicken).
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
Usually, I like to make my own salads, but this is one of the few salads in Malinska or Krk that I will order at the end of a long day or when I don’t have all the ingredients I need in my fridge.
This salad is packed with flavor with fresh greens, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, corn, chopped chicken, and diced onions. You also can get a serving of really delicious, yogurt-based salad dressing.
And as a US expat, I’m always surprised at just how fresh all of the ingredients are. These ingredients are always fresh, newly cut, and perfectly crunchy.
The Big Burger with Lepinja
The burgers at Corona Pizza have an incredibly unique and delicious flavor. The best way I can describe it is that it tastes like a mild burger that’s been paired with cevapi, and the flavor absolutely keeps you coming back for more.
The Big Burger has to be my favorite, though, as it is a larger burger served with Lepinja, many toppings, and several sauces.
I won’t lie to you — this burger is messy, but with all that flavor, it’s well worth the mess, and it will undoubtedly fill you up.
Some Past Recommendations:
The pictures I’ve shared in this review are from my latest visit to the restaurant when my husband and three children were home, and one of their friends was visiting. It’s not indicative of everything we enjoy ordering from the restaurant.
Here are a few of my other favorites:
Pizza
Our adventures at Corona Pizza began — shockingly — with their pizza, and a couple of their pizzas will always be my favorite: the Pizza Gusta and the Pizza Hawaii. The Pizza Gusta includes several types of meat, including these delicious little sausages that add an incredible depth of flavor and saltiness to the pizza. The Pizza Hawaii includes a different style of ham (not what you would expect if you’re used to Canadian ham in the States; this one is thinner, milder, and pinker in color, but it’s wonderful) and, of course, incredibly flavorful pineapple.
Burger
If you’re worried the Big Burger will be too much to take on, I also strongly recommend their Cheeseburger. Their burgers are really good, the cheese they’ve selected is delicious, and their buns are so incredibly good, fresh, and crisp.
Tortilla
The Tortilla Mexico has to be my all-time favorite item from Corona Pizza, I’m not even kidding. Imagine a large tortilla, filled to the brim with chicken, Kulen (a spicy, thinly sliced sausage), corn, lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and a spicy Mexican sauce. It also usually includes beans, which I order without.
If you enjoy spicy food, this tortilla is not the spiciest, but it has that incredible spicy-like flavor that builds. It’s absolutely delicious on its own but also pairs well with the restaurant’s fries.
