Booking a table for six or more people usually means someone has to think through the logistics — who’s ordering what, whether the kitchen can handle it, whether there’s actually room to sit everyone together. Cafe Brunelli’s menu is built around sharing in a way that takes most of that thinking off your plate, whether you’re organising a birthday, a work lunch, or just a bigger-than-usual catch-up.

What’s on Cafe Brunelli’s Sharing Platter?

Cafe Brunelli’s sharing platter brings together golden fried bites and creamy dips with fresh salad, warm pita, cheeses and savoury meats — the kind of spread that’s meant to go in the middle of the table rather than in front of one person. It’s the obvious starting point for a group booking, since it gives people something to pick at while the rest of the table finishes deciding on mains.

Why Cafe Brunelli Works for Groups

A few practical things make Cafe Brunelli easier to organise a group around than a lot of Adelaide restaurants. The Rundle Street location has U Park right next door, which matters more than it sounds when you’re trying to get eight people parked in the CBD at the same time. The West Lakes location sits inside the Westfield West Lakes shopping centre, so it works well as a stop before or after a group shopping trip rather than needing to be the whole outing.

On the menu side, wood-fired pizzas are naturally built for splitting — order a few different ones and let people take slices, rather than everyone committing to one whole pizza each.

Best Dishes for Splitting Across the Table

Sharing platter — the obvious starter, built for the middle of the table.
Wood-fired pizzas — order two or three different ones (traditional, gourmet, vegetarian) and let everyone take a slice of each. Our wood-fired pizza guide has more detail on the range.
Seafood platters — listed on the menu specifically as a platter option, so it’s already designed to be shared rather than eaten solo.
Risottos and pasta — less naturally shareable than pizza, but easy to order a couple of different dishes and pass plates around if your group prefers to taste a bit of everything.

Planning a Group Booking: A Quick Checklist

Confirm the headcount before you call. Even a rough number helps staff work out seating faster than an open-ended “a few of us.”
Flag dietary requirements up front. If anyone in the group is vegetarian, vegan, or has an allergy, mention it when you book rather than at the table — it gives the kitchen more time to plan.
Decide roughly how you want to order. Individual mains, or a shared spread of platters and pizzas — deciding this before you sit down speeds up ordering once everyone’s there.
Ask about timing if it’s a special occasion. For a birthday, mentioning it when you book means the team can plan dessert timing rather than it arriving mid-conversation.

Why Shared Food Works Better for Bigger Tables

The bigger a group gets, the more individual ordering slows everything down — six separate mains means six separate cooking times, six separate plates to time together, and inevitably someone’s food arrives while someone else is still deciding what they want. A menu built around platters and pizzas built for splitting avoids most of that. Everyone gets food roughly at the same time, and nobody’s stuck watching the table eat while their dish is still in the kitchen.

It also changes the social shape of the meal. A table full of individual plates tends to split into side conversations, whereas food in the middle of the table gives people a reason to keep passing things around and talking across the group rather than just next to them — which is exactly what you want for a birthday or a catch-up rather than a formal sit-down dinner.

Booking for a Group — What to Know

For anything more than a standard table of two or four, calling ahead is worth it rather than just turning up. It gives the team time to plan seating and make sure the kitchen isn’t caught off guard by a large order landing all at once.

Location	Phone	Address
Cafe Brunelli City (Rundle Street)	(08) 8223 2221	187 Rundle St, Adelaide SA 5000
Cafe Brunelli West Lakes	(08) 8355 0445	308/111 Brebner Dr, West Lakes SA 5021

For catering or larger private event enquiries, it’s best to contact the location directly and ask what’s possible — options can vary and aren’t something to assume from the standard menu.

Birthdays at Cafe Brunelli

Shareable mains solve half the problem for a birthday table; dessert solves the rest. Cafe Brunelli’s dessert cart — cakes, dessert pizza and handmade chocolate bombs — is built the same way as the mains, for passing around rather than one dessert per person. We’ve covered the full dessert menu in more detail if you’re planning around a birthday specifically and want to know what to order to close out the meal.

Work Lunches Near Rundle Street & West Lakes

For a CBD work lunch, the Rundle Street location is close enough to a lot of Adelaide’s city offices to work as a walk-to option, and the menu covers people who want a quick pasta as easily as it covers a group wanting to split pizzas. West Lakes suits teams based in the western suburbs, or a work catch-up combined with an errand at Westfield. Either way, if your group has vegetarian diners, our vegetarian and plant-based dining guide covers what to order so nobody’s stuck picking around a plate.

Combining a Meal with a Westfield Shopping Trip

If your group is planning a day out in the western suburbs, West Lakes being inside Westfield West Lakes makes it easy to build the whole outing around one location — shop, eat, and if there are kids along, ask about the gelato deal that’s sometimes running with kids’ meals before you head back out. It removes the usual friction of a group trying to agree on where to eat after shopping, since the restaurant is already part of the same complex rather than a separate drive.

For a CBD equivalent, Rundle Street’s position in the heart of Adelaide means a group can combine a meal with browsing the surrounding shops or just enjoying the street itself, without needing to plan transport between a shopping stop and a dinner booking.

Group Dining Options at a Glance

Occasion	What to order	Location tip
Birthday	Sharing platter + pizzas + dessert cart	Call ahead for larger groups
Work lunch	Individual mains or split pizzas	Rundle Street for CBD offices
Casual catch-up	Sharing platter + coffee	Either location, walk-in usually fine
Family outing	Pizza + kids’ gelato deal	West Lakes, near Westfield

A Note on Timing for Bigger Groups

One thing worth planning for with any group booking, not just at Cafe Brunelli: the bigger the table, the more it helps to arrive close to together rather than trickling in over half an hour. Ordering shared starters and pizzas works best once most of the table is seated, since splitting a platter or a pizza before everyone’s arrived means either holding food back or someone missing out on the first round. If your group tends to run late, it’s worth building a buffer into the booking time rather than the sit-down time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Cafe Brunelli take bookings for large groups?

Yes, at both locations. For larger groups, it’s best to call ahead so staff can plan seating.

What’s included in the sharing platter?

Golden fried bites, creamy dips, fresh salad, warm pita, cheeses and savoury meats — designed to share before mains arrive.

Is Cafe Brunelli good for birthday parties?

The mix of shareable pizzas, platters and a dessert cart with cakes, dessert pizza and chocolate bombs makes it practical for groups who want food everyone can pick from.

Does Cafe Brunelli offer catering for events?

For catering or larger event enquiries, contact the location directly, as options can vary between Rundle Street and West Lakes.

Which location is better for groups, Rundle Street or West Lakes?

Both offer the same shareable menu. Rundle Street suits CBD groups; West Lakes suits groups combining a meal with a Westfield visit.

Can a group order a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes together?

Yes — the shared format makes this easy, since a table can order a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian pizzas and pass slices around rather than everyone needing an identical dish.

What should I mention when booking a group table?

A rough headcount, any dietary requirements, and whether it’s a special occasion like a birthday all help staff plan seating and timing before you arrive.

Book Your Table

Whether it’s a birthday, a work lunch, or just a bigger catch-up than usual, Cafe Brunelli’s two Adelaide locations are set up to handle it — call ahead for anything more than a few people, and let the sharing platter do the early work while everyone settles in.