The Top Pizzas In Toronto -- Redux!

It is back! After nearly a year of personal highs and lows, challenges and lozenges, but more importantly a long "mostly break" from delicious sauce, cheese and dough... I've returned to my true pie destiny with an updated best pizzas in Toronto list.

I limited myself to about two dozen-ish new places this time, not wanting it to spiral out of control like when I did the original list of 75 (where I initially only wanted to try about 15... ah naivety). Some of these are spots that have opened since I published that original list, some are places that have been around for decades that I didn't get around to that first time, and the rest just flew under my radar as I (somehow!) had never heard of them.

Anyway to the action! Like last time, I'll be starting at the bottom and working my way up. I'll be re-ranking everything (just because it's easier and more fun for me) with maybe a new master list at the very end.

Here we go...


Regina Pizzeria and Trattoria: C-  (Rk: 105)
782 College Street

Like always, someone has to be on the bottom. First go around it was Scaddabush, with a repulsively salty, frozen tasting and pricey pizza smaller and less filling than some slices on this list. Well, Regina unfortunately is more unpleasant than even that, not helped by that it's expensive (17 bucks for a small two topping). 

Regina delivers the cheese and not much else. Simultaneously gooey and stiff, the texture of this pie is extremely bizarre, with barely any tomato sauce to counteract it. My jaw was sore from chewing after five minutes of eating it. Not just that, but it's morbidly impressive to produce a pizza with bacon and goat cheese so disappointing. The goat cheese was fine but the bacon was so soft and undercooked my stomach became queasy after a couple of slices. Later reheating just amplified the stiff, stale texture and the soggy bottom dough completely dripped away. Boo.

Would I take it over Pizza Pizza, or Papa John's? Sure... ish... but not by much and at least those places are cheap. Regina is easily the weakest pizza I've tried on this quest. It's bad and you should feel bad.


Bocconcini: C (Rk: 101)
96 Gerrard Street East

Similar to Fresca Pizza on College (it's that garlicy rub), Bocconcini is a little spot near Ryerson with affordable slices and pickup specials perfect for the nearby student population. As a pizza, it's pretty underwhelming and bland. There's little sauce, the dough just kind of exists and beyond the garlicness there's little distinctive flavour. There's really not much else to say, it's cheap mediocre pie perfect for young students on a tight budget. Cure your hunger but not excite your senses.


Jessy's Pizza Toronto: C+ (Rk: 96)
2200 Dundas Street West 

So I was in Halifax a few months ago and after trying some local breweries, my buddy and I passed by a Jessy's location on the way back to our AirBnB. Knowing they had a new-ish location in Toronto too, my first thought then was to try the Halifax location and then later compare it with the Toronto one. 

Unfortunately, I didn't do it that night. But I went halfway. Naturally, it being a Nova Scotia chain, I had to get a pie with donair meat on top. This donair meat was salty, super thin yet juicy, a close approximation of the real regional McCoy. However, the rest of the pizza was very generic, with thick but overcooked cheese (similar to Domino's) and bland supermarket tomato sauce. The crust at least had a nice crisp outer texture and soft inside that was surprisingly enjoyable even as the pizza cooled. Overall... the donair meat makes it interesting but pretty whatever otherwise. Really wish I'd tried the Halifax one though.


Rocco's Pizza and Pasta: C+ (Rk: 93)
972 The Queensway

Here's a memorable one, although the pizza itself is basically a footnote. A good dude from my baseball league was throwing a shindig in Mimico, somewhat close to where the Queen streetcar ends. Only problem is I live near the other end of the Queen streetcar, and the 501 is the longest streetcar route in Canada (about 25km... apparently one of the longest in the world too). So forget that... I rode the bike instead! Three hours later... I'm a genius. Anyhow I was starving and on the way I stumbled upon this very hole-in-the-wall, neighbourhood joint near Islington and Queensway.

Originally my tentative plane enroute was to try Mamma Martino's, but they were completely packed and I was already late-ish in an unfamiliar part of town. Enter Rocco's* here. First off, I definitely was pleased by the real bits of bacon, cooked crispy without being excessively chewy. Likewise the pepperoni was crisp also, a good counter-balance to the cushiony dough and cheese-like texture. A very greasy pie, to be honest, though thankfully not dripping oil, and with the tomato sauce almost entirely non-existent this slice resembled something closer to cheesy bread with toppings than a typical pizza slice. Decent for a hungry mad cyclist.

*not to be confused with 'Rocco's Plum Tomato' also in Etobicoke 


Romi's Pizzeria: C+  (Rk: 90)
3062 Bloor Street West

An Etobicoke mainstay for decades, Romi's has moved around but been in the neighbourhood for over fifty years, once occupying a strip mall on Berry Road (across the street from where I lived in Grade Ten!) until moving to its current location on Bloor near Royal York. 

Romi's exemplifies something I'll call the "Neighbourhood Effect": wherein a place is more highly regarded overall because it has become such an institution in an area that the reputation skews the perception of the actual product (First pizza quest I said something similar about Bitondo's and people lost their minds at me).

As a pizza, what Romi's offers is entirely fine. First off these are huge! This one pictured above was a medium and larger than most kitchen sinks. Considering that, the prices are very reasonable and thus you can understand the popularity. It tastes like pizza, no particular element out of place. Analyzing it further though, the sauce is while plentiful (always appreciated), overly earthy and bland. The cheese is not obnoxiously loaded on and nicely covered, the crust and dough stale with a slight crunch. Terrific toppings though (real bacon, rinds of fat on the ham) and those are definitely the strength here. 

Flavour-wise overall, it's unremarkable and stiff. You won't be disappointed (or excited), though in a generation of mediocre chains strangling up the market I definitely have a soft spot for a long time pizza spot not much younger than my parents. Individual slices would be preferable, however. 
 

Classico Louie's Pizzeria: C+ (Rk: 89)
2547 Yonge Street

A victim of being overshadowed during my Leaside expedition (I'll explain... much later), Classico Louie's is a Yonge Street hole-in-the-wall-easy-to-miss-if-you're-just-walking-by spot (or if you're just rarely anywhere near Glencarin.)

It's also quite forgettable. Some interesting topping combinations (like the slice seen here, loaded with mushrooms, pesto, feta cheese and sundried tomatoes) but it's almost six bucks for this thin fella and its basically all toppings, with little in the way of mozza or non-crust dough for support. Tastes incomplete. It's very similar to a Pizzaiolo option, with that vague grainy taste in the dough and a hint of olive oil baked in. Decent I suppose, but overpriced and not at all unique. 


Salty Dog Bar and Grill: C++ (Rk: 86)
1980 Queen Street East
 

Well... they really load on the toppings, and they are strong for a meat-lovers bar pizza: crisp real bacon, nicely thin pepperoni and not dry ground beef (seasoned like bar chili without any of those other fixins in there). It's damn oily (unsurprising considering this particular combo of toppings) and yet the dough and crust is up to the challenge of holding this monstrosity together despite a soft spongey feel. 

Where it loses some charm is the tomato sauce (like tinned pasta sauce) and especially the cheese. It has this bizarre, super liquidy texture that tastes more like a cheap nacho cheese coating than actual mozzarella (maybe frozen shredded with too much residual moisture). A real shame since this was a very pleasant surprise otherwise because of those enjoyable toppings. Instead the cheese bleeds this hint of processed taste into the entire pizza, even the texture, and so it can't score any higher. 


Golden Pizza: C++ (Rk: 83) 
1201 Broadview Avenue

An interesting one. As you can see from the photo above, Golden is a pan style pizza, a deep dish type that usually is lighter on the sauce and not as vertically engaged as your standard Chicago style. Pizza Hut, for instance, is similar to this. Also similar to Hut is how extremely greasy Golden Pizza is, since while this thing bakes in the oven the grease has nowhere to go except pooling in the bottom of the circular baking sheet. This gives the pizza a fried taste to it, especially if the cheese is nicely gooey and melted.

If you've read my pizza thingys before, you probably know how much weight I give to "re-heat" value, and tragically when there's tons of excess grease that flavour often bleeds into everything and makes the dough (especially in the centre) unpleasantly soggy. This also makes eating it cold similarly unappealing, as the whole thing will taste like licking a dirty frying pan. Golden Pizza isn't quite that bad, with strong enough cheese to fight that gross greasy taste to a draw. However the seasoning on this pie is super odd, much like the saltiness you find in thicker frozen pizzas. It's the pizza of diminishing returns: quite nice at first but once that initial heat from the oven fades you're racing against the clock.


Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria (Part One): C++ (Rk:80)
386 Bloor Street West

It's hard to judge food totally accurately when physically you're unwell. A lot of this past year (2019) I suffered through somewhat constant loss of appetite issues (and later sleeplessness, but that's unrelated to pizza so irrelevant here). 

It was one of these modes when I tried Famoso so it's difficult to describe, since I kinda feel like I had to force myself into it. Nevertheless. My esteemed Pizza Associate and I each went in different directions with Famoso: she went for the traditional Neapolitan style, myself for what they described as an authentic 'New York Sicilian Style Thick Crust Pizza'.

Definitely two very different styles and very different tastes (my associate was kind enough to let me bogart a slice of her's). This thick crust one here, while completely goddamn gigantic, doesn't have much going on beyond sheer girth and excellent chorizo sausage. The thing is overloaded with toppings but it lacks any cohesive flavour, just tasting like a bunch of stuff. At almost thirty bucks for these monsters, sure you and your hungry buddies will get your moneys worth. Quantity over quality.


Da Venezia Gourmet Pizza: B-- (Rk: 71)
1568 Avenue Road

A good buddy of mine lives right around Glencarin and Yonge here in T.O. One afternoon we'd made plans to hang out and I decided: what the heck, I'll leave home early, detour off and try some pizza spots near his part of town. North York adventure!

Riding down Avenue Road near Lawrence, I came across Da Venezia. First bite, I honestly googled their address just to be sure they weren't a Pizzaiolo location beforehand that kept the recipes. However, this is a legit solid spot. It does have that grainy dough taste of Pizzaiolo and the style of slices are very close, but there's a slighter freshness to the ingredients that a big chain struggles to capture. One thing (or the thing) that makes those chains so popular and so accessible is familiarity. You know what you're gonna get, thus you know what to expect and your disappointment is ideally minimized. Like say, if you order Pizza Pizza and thus expect to be flushing money down the toilet... unlikely to be disappointed.

Anyhow, Da Venezia. It's fine, if slightly over-seasoned. Tastes exactly how it looks. Bonus points for their nice house dipping sauce (also pictured above) which is like a garlicy sour cream.



Express Pizza: B-- (Rk: 70)
447 Church Street

Some notable things about my (now multiple times) trying Express. Firstly, considering the area, they are smartly open extremely late. Secondly, I've been out drinking with my (former) co-workers 'almost' every time I've tried a slice there. Fortunately for the purpose of this review, I've been sober enough times to get an accurate idea of what their slices are like (instead of drunken eating where you're hungry, dizzy and chomping away at like three times your normal chewing speed). 

The slices are flat and crisp, with a good covering of cheese accompanying some nice crunch. Flavour-wise it's agreeable, generic quality put to good use and exceution. It really comes down to texture which is their greatest strength, that crispiness with the soft cheese layer makes it satisfying and enjoyable to eat.

Thirdly, the very first time I tried Express was a completely random and lucky happenstance. Late August: pretty late and heading home on my wheels. I was set to ride down on the west side of Church except there were taxis everywhere, stop-starting and hunting for fares. When on a bike, best to if possible avoid the usually random movements of cabs (especially at 1am) so I crossed the street to the east side and figured I'd take some side streets instead. As I walked by Express, these two middle aged dudes were sitting on the steps next door eating slices. They noticed me peek in at the still open pizza shop and one of them asked me if I'd want half his slice! At first I politely refused, but he insisted and so... what the fudge. He gave me the half he hadn't taken a bite of yet, I thanked him and away I went. That night it'd been maybe a month then since I'd eaten pizza (believe it or not), and so in a way having that slice helped kick-start this second pizza quest. Maybe none of this happens if not for those taxis nudging me across the street. Pathways of life. 


Dino's Wood Burning Pizza: B- (Rk: 64)
820 The Queensway

  
It's about to get pretty cramped. There's a lot of good somewhat hidden pizza in this town and now that I've tried over 100 places, ending up in the top 65 is far from an insult. 

Dino's has been in the news quite a bit in recent weeks, amusing for me since I'd never even heard of them until the late October afternoon I tried them (that's life in the East End for ya). Now I bet some of you might look at this photo thinking "jalapenos on a pizza? He's finally lost his freaking mind." To which I say: I went and tried 105 different pizza places in the span of about fourteen months... that train departed a long, long time ago. Besides, jalapeno on pizza is basically like having a seedy, spicy green pepper on there anyway.

As for the taste, it's a nice soft, slightly gooey pizza in the middle (thankfully avoiding the realm of sogginess) with a thick-ish crust that adds much needed texture and foundation. The cheese and sauce are decent and okay respectively, although at least there's enough of both to be a presence. No, the real star of this show are those sausage slices, not too salty or greasy with a nice subtle earthy heat (a nice contrast with the sharper spice of the jalepeno). There are some chili flakes scattered about also but they're entirely unnecessary, there's enough hot flavour here as it is. Also bonus points: the garlicky side sauce is a stronger homemade version of Pizza Pizza's infamously addictive garlic dip, just a little creamier with more of a herb aftertaste. Fine stuff.


Bar Poet: B- (Rk: 63) ***190 Skee-Ball Score***
1090 Queen Street West

Another entry in the 'Places I'd Never Heard Of Until The Day I Tried Them' category, it was recommended to me by (another former) co-worker, and since I was working a double between my then two jobs, and since I had my bike, and since I had four-plus hours to kill, and since I was really hungry... well you see where I'm going with this. 

First off, Bar Poet is just a groovy kind of place. I'm definitely way more of a Queen East person than a Queen West one, but this is the type of spot I'd probably check out a lot if I lived way closer and still drank (...as much as I used to, ha). I mean, a bar/restaurant with a skee-ball table right by the entrance? Perfect to pass the time while waiting for a pie. Second, the pizzas aren't huge but they're considerably cheaper than a lot of options ranked lower on my list, falling closer to the 10-12 dollar range than the way more common 16-20. Third, for some reason the kitchen staff were giving away 3 Speed lunchboxes, so I scored one of those also. I am not opposed to buying off the critic when the critic happens to be me.

The pizza itself? Very light dough, not overly cheesy although sort of shredded and oily, and nicely sweet tomato sauce which mixed well with the subtle spice (those red chunks are like an Nduja paste). Its biggest flaw though, and certainly obvious by the picture above, is just how incredibly greasy this pizza was. Maybe it was the oil from the paste, not sure, but this thing was seeping through the box. My arteries felt traffic jammed not even halfway through this dripping lad. 

It could just be this particular pizza, and the rest of what was happening is good enough that I would try it again to see (especially if those prices remain so reasonable). The grease and oil just overpowered this one so much I can't rank it any higher. 


La Grotta Pizzeria: B- (Rk: 61) 
951 Pape Avenue 

 

A heavy one. Loaded with mozzarella and goat cheese, a healthy amount of sauce, diced chicken breast and a wallop of roasted red peppers, this was an incredibly soft, sweet and doughy offering from a tiny East York resto. The texture is quite pleasant and all of the ingredients mix well together, though I could do with way fewer peppers since they tend to dominate the flavour. The softness of the foundation also makes it a bit soggy once cold and difficult to reheat (maybe a frying pan on low heat could work, other ways I tried made it collapse somewhat). 


Very notable (and weird/charming) is the astethic inside the place: fancy tables with wine glasses and linens set, yet it's a small room covered in wood paneling, wedding curtains, generic landscape portraits and various other nic nacs. It was so odd, like mixing a bright cozy fine dining room with your Nana's attic. Overall, surely one of the more unique places I've tried and a good-ish option. 


Zini Pizza: B- (Rk: 60)
795 St. Clair Avenue West

To be totally forthcoming, I've never followed a consistent method for picking which places exactly to try. I mean sure, there are the pizza heavyweights of the city well known in food circles. Those ones are must-try for a quest like this, of course, so I plan somewhat ahead in those cases.

For the majority of other spots on the list, I likewise look them up and plan to go there specifically.  But some others, like Zini, I happened to be in that neighbourhood (trying somewhere else) still a bit hungry and I figured... why not? Now, I won't try just any place. Usually if it's a place I've never heard of, out comes a quick Google search just to ensure they've got an average review score of 4/5, that there isn't a history of health code violations etc. 

Zini is your classic pizzeria hole in the wall. The ceramic tiled floors/walls, student specials and the slowly rotating slice warming cylinder. You know the look. The pizza itself won't look as pretty as some other pies on the list but the price is cheap, the toppings on this meat lovers slice were of surprising quality (except the sausage crumble, pretty dry and bland) with legit bacon strips and well sliced pepperoni. It's got nice texture and isn't overly doughy or greasy (like you'll find at a lot of slice spots I've covered already). There's nothing else to say except it's unremarkably solid, satisfying.


Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria (Part Two): B- (Rk: 59)
386 Bloor Street West

Wait a second... that name sounds familiar... well yeah it is the very same Famoso I ranked back in the low 80s. 

Well you've probably (and hopefully) concluded that this was the superior Famoso offering, although not one of the better wood fire pizzas I've had. For one it looks a mess on appearance, with toppings scattered about without much care for the finesse of presentation. A small complaint, sure, but every bit counts. Taste wise, it's entirely fine. A bit overcooked, as the cheese (not much to begin with, must've used it all on that thick crust one) melted and merged into the sauce. That sauce is probably the strength here, with that nice hint of earthy sweetness you find in any Neapolitan tomato sauce worth the price of admission. Toppings were good (this place does have good sausages) but just overloaded for a thin pie like this one. 

As a pizza in general, it's good. For this style of pizza, it's ok but underwhelming. There are so many better options in this city at that price point, making this offering somewhat forgettable.  


Buzz Buzz Pizza: B- (Rk: 58)
822 Wilson Avenue

Any of those last five new places I reviewed probably could've been placed in any order. Each have flaws, each have strengths, all share the fact I wouldn't consider them anywhere close to the best pizza in Toronto, but I also wouldn't consider them just mediocre either. Buzz Buzz meets that level also, but they get the slight nod over the others for three key reasons: they pile on the garlic, they're the most affordable/best bang for your buck, and the inside of the place is like stepping inside a time machine. 

The pizza itself reminds me of the perfect kind of pie you'd want when you're thirteen, you're super hungry and your school team just won a big game. It's thick, the cheese has that nice buttery feel, they really pile on the minced garlic (I know that's me haha), the sauce tastes canned/generic but one of the better generic ones that actually has tomato flavour. Throw on some lightly cooked, tender bacon strips and you've got a winner for dinner. It has flaws sure, this particular pizza was overcooked on that one side and with a crust that thick and bubbly it goes stiff and much less fun once it gets cold (thus my junior-high sports team reference, no way in that scenario it lasts that long).

That nostalgic vibe is the feel of the place, really. It's got this half 1970's sports bar, half family-restaurant aesthetic that is, well... probably completely accurate. There are framed photos on the walls of local school teams they sponsored twenty years ago, autographed pictures of hockey players, the bar and the walls are all wood... you really feel like you walked into a retro movie with thick moustaches and 'extra-plaid' plaid shirts. It's that timeless factor that nudges it ahead.. and they pile on the garlic.   



All right, we've covered a lot of ground so far but I don't want to overload one article with the everythings. Next time we'll slip into the new Top 50 and see how the remaining dozen-ish places stack up.