Spagalimis Pizzeria Takeaway Bar on Main North Road is the Redwood branch of a genuine Christchurch original — a pizzeria that has been handcrafting pizza in the city since May 1978, when the first Spagalimis opened at the corner of Colombo and Kilmore Streets with eight tables, around 44 seats and just seven staff.
Consistently good, handmade pizza grew that little restaurant into a city-wide family: Victoria Street followed in 1991, Church Corner in 1995, then New Brighton, Beckenham and Nelson, with the central city restaurant now in Ironside House at the corner of Salisbury and Montreal Streets. The Redwood store, at the corner of Prestons Road, looks after Christchurch's northern suburbs.
This branch is Spagalimis in takeaway form: handcrafted pizzas made to order for pickup, with delivery available to most areas of Christchurch. Backed by a 100% NZ-based team that also runs kids' birthday parties, group dining and fundraising, it's an easy, dependable answer to pizza night in Casebrook and Redwood.
Long before Christchurch had a pizza scene to speak of, Spagalimis was already rolling dough. The very first Spagalimis Pizzeria opened in May 1978 at the corner of Colombo and Kilmore Streets — a modest eight-table dining room seating roughly 44 people, run by just seven employees, with takeaway pizzas available from day one. Nearly five decades on, the name is a genuine Christchurch institution, and the Spagalimis Pizzeria Takeaway Bar at 356 Main North Road in Redwood is its outpost for the city's northern suburbs.
Growth came the old-fashioned way. Thanks to a very consistent, quality product, demand kept climbing until, at peak periods, the little restaurant simply couldn't keep up. In May 1991, after what the team calls an exhaustive search for the right site, Spagalimis opened on Victoria Street — a spot that later made way for the current central city restaurant in Ironside House at the corner of Salisbury and Montreal Streets. Church Corner followed in 1995 on Riccarton Road, and further stores appeared at New Brighton on Marine Parade and on Colombo Street in Beckenham, with a Nelson branch extending the family further afield. Through it all, the Redwood store at the corner of Prestons Road has carried the flag for takeaway and delivery in the north of the city.
For Casebrook and Redwood locals, this Main North Road store is the closest thing to having a piece of that 1978 story just down the street: same handcrafted pizzas, same long-standing name, in quick takeaway form.
The Redwood branch is Spagalimis in grab-and-go form. This is the store locals use when dinner needs to be easy: handcrafted pizzas made to order, ready to collect from the counter on Main North Road, or brought straight to the door. Spagalimis delivers to most areas of Christchurch, so whether you want to pick up or have a pizza delivered, the pizzeria aims to have all your bases covered — a promise that dates right back to the original restaurant, where takeaways were on the menu from the very first night.
Ordering ahead through the Spagalimis website makes pickup painless — handy on the way home from work, after sport, or any night when cooking feels like too much.
Ask Spagalimis what it does and the answer hasn't changed since 1978: handcrafted pizza. It's a short phrase with a long history behind it — dough and toppings prepared by hand, pizzas made to order, and a standard consistent enough to build a city-wide following one table at a time. That consistency is precisely what grew the original eight-table restaurant into a multi-location pizzeria, and it remains the backbone of everything the Redwood takeaway bar sends out the door.
There's no gimmick here and no shortcut — just the same simple proposition that has kept Christchurchers coming back for more than forty years: honest, handcrafted pizza made by people who have been doing it a very long time.
Over the decades, Spagalimis has woven itself into Christchurch family life well beyond the dinner table. The team runs dedicated kids' birthday parties, caters for group dining, and supports local fundraising efforts — the sort of community roots a pizzeria earns only by sticking around. Regular specials and newsletter deals add to the appeal, and as a proudly 100% NZ-based business with all prices in New Zealand dollars, it keeps things straightforward for locals.
If you're new to the area, it's worth knowing that the Redwood takeaway bar is one of several Spagalimis around Christchurch. Dine-in restaurant service and bookings are available at other locations, including the central city store and Beckenham — so the full sit-down pizzeria experience is never far away. But for a handcrafted pizza at home, this corner of Main North Road is the neighbourhood's most direct line to a Christchurch original.