Oak-fired pizza dough and lunch add-on set in Gwanggyo: The European

The European Gwanggyo

Today I'm introducing a favorite near Gwanggyo Lake Park: The European Gwanggyo.

Location and exterior

It's located at 26 Centralpark-ro 128beon-gil, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi, inside Gwanggyo Café Street. (Parking available in front of the restaurant.)

The European specializes in wood-fired pizza and pasta — Western food done right. It's a wood-fired pizza specialist run by a chef who came from the Shilla Hotel. The dough ferments for 24 hours and is baked over oak firewood, which gives it that signature chewy texture.

Outside the restaurant, oak firewood was stacked up. Even at a glance, it looked like good-quality wood.

Where to park?

About 3 spots are available right in front of the restaurant. Roadside parking is also possible, and there was plenty of room on the weekday I visited. If it's full, you can park at the 2nd public parking lot on Gwanggyo Café Street.

1st and 2nd floor interior and window seats

The interior spans 1st and 2nd floors. The 1st floor has high ceilings, while the 2nd floor has windows that give it a nice sense of openness. The whole space is spacious, so it looked great for anything from small gatherings to group meetups. I also saw families visiting with kids.

If you like window seats, I'd recommend the 2nd floor. Soft sunlight streams in and you can see the green trees outside — I liked it even more for that. I ended up sitting on the 2nd floor.

Gwanggyo Café Street has a lot of good restaurants near Gwanggyo Lake Park. The landscaping is well done too, so it's nice for a walk. I loved that there were windows on every side — the whole restaurant opens up with full glass walls, giving it a great sense of openness.

The chandeliers scattered throughout, the artwork, and the velvet red carpet all felt upscale. The tables were spacious too, so it looked comfortable to order a variety of dishes.

Baby chairs were also plentiful. Parents can eat comfortably here too.

Fork, knife, spoon, cup, wet wipes, and water were all set at the table. The tableware all looked upscale!

Lunch perk and review event

Lunch perk: If you visit for lunch, you can add bread + soup + salad + drink for 7,000 won per person. It felt like eating a course meal, so ordering this for lunch seemed like a good idea.

Event: You can get a free drink for participating in a Naver receipt review. You just add it in when ordering — it wasn't difficult, so it was worth doing.

The menu

This is the menu as of September 2026. There was a wide variety — wood-fired pizza, pasta, handmade gnocchi, salads, steak, and more — and ordering via tablet at the table was convenient.

Rocket burrata pizza, 27,000 won

I ordered the rocket burrata pizza for 27,000 won. There were so many types of wood-fired pizza — the menu spanned 3 pages! Basil burrata pizza, melanzane, shrimp garlic, and more, with poached egg, shrimp, eggplant, mushroom, and meat toppings — an impressive variety for a wood-fired pizza specialist.

I ordered this one because I like nutty rocket (arugula), and the toppings were gorgeous.

Green and red — a truly classic color combo. A generous handful of rocket piled on made for a satisfying look. With the soft burrata cheese on top, it's a dish that would hold its own even as a brunch item.

The cheese scattered throughout elevated the whole pizza's finish. The salty, rich cheese flavor was great.

Radish pickles pair nicely with wood-fired pizza. They're made with beets, so the color was pretty.

Five stars for dough chewiness

Five stars here 🤚🤚 Can you see how thick the dough is? Isn't chewy dough the whole point of wood-fired pizza? The aged dough is baked briefly at high heat in the oven, keeping that chewiness intact. There was even a subtle oak aroma — the texture was perfect.

I made a gif to show you the bounce of the dough haha. If you're looking for a good restaurant near Gwanggyo Lake Park, you really should visit. The pasta and steak were also impressively high quality!

One pizza is filling enough for two people. Each slice was pretty big, so it was quite satisfying.

It was a wood-fired pizza where basil pesto, rocket, and nutty burrata cheese all came together harmoniously.

Final thoughts

There was such a variety of wood-fired pizzas — the classic margherita, the rich four-cheese quattro formaggi, pizzas topped with rocket or basil, and ones with shrimp, meat, eggplant, and more — so you can pick according to your taste! The dough was so chewy and delicious that I plan to come back whenever I'm craving wood-fired pizza. As a restaurant near Gwanggyo Lake Park run directly by a Western-cuisine chef from the Shilla Hotel, the food quality was very satisfying. It's located on Gwanggyo Lake Park's café street, making it a great spot to visit after a walk, so if you're looking for a good restaurant near Gwanggyo Lake Park, I hope you give it a try.