Feels like it's been a century since I went on one of my trademark maniac quests to explore one of my truest loves: pizza. While even approaching the level of replicating tasting 70+ places in the span of four months is a tad ambitious (just a tad), the fire still burns within. Since my initial Pizza Quests in 2018 and late 2019, a bunch of new and intriguing pizza joints have opened and as a self-determined expert... my expertise is clearly required.
BUT FIRST... THE GRADING SCALE!
A (One of the very best you'll ever have)
A- (Mind-meltingly good)
A-- (Super Stellar)
B++ (Stellar, but Lacking the extra "oomph" for an 'A')
B+ (Great)
B (Pretty Good)
B- (Good... imbalanced but still possibly worth a visit)
B-- (Solid)
C++ (Moderately Enjoyable)
C+ (Okay, Has Its Appealing Charms)
C (Decent but Flawed)
C- (Flawed)
C-- (Very Flawed)
D++ (Tastes Like Pizza At Least)
D+ (Resembles Pizza At Least)
D (Looks Like Pizza At Least)
D- (Calls Itself Pizza At Least)
D-- (Calls Itself Pizza And Is Lying)
F (That Sewer Juice Is Starting To Look Appetizing)
6ix Pizza was initially born and operating out of various ghost kitchens before opening their first permanent storefront on Queen Street West near Bathurst a few years ago. This initial location appears to have been successful enough that the company began franchising new outposts, the second of which opened on Queen East in the Beaches earlier this summer (replacing a Pizza Hut that moved up to Kingston Road).
While this location does offer pizza by the slice, I swung by rather late in the evening and the slices available looked particularly fossilized. Besides, I was extremely hungry and wanted to choose my own toppings... which resulted in a bit of a hiccup on my part. 6ix Pizzas only use Halal meat, which limits the available options somewhat (no pork, most notably). They do offer a beef pepperoni, so I went for a medium three topping with that, pineapple and.... chopped garlic. Yeah. Whoops.
I was hungry and I panicked! Needless to say, pineapple and garlic are an atypical combination for a pizza. In other dishes I'm sure they can feature together in complimentary harmony to something else... but in this case there was definitely some clashing. The juicy sweetness did not mesh with the sharp sting. Eventually (after a few slices) I just picked all the pineapple off and ate it separately.
Diving into the pizza itself... 6ix Pizzas' tagline is "We Got The Sauce" and this pie certainly lives up to that billing. This is a very saucy pizza, and the sauce itself has a very compelling, almost nutty sweetness to it. There's little acidic bite to it, instead the consistency is thick and almost like a hearty red pasta sauce. It's really quite good, and there's plenty of it.
The rest of the basic components aren't quite as unique or memorable. The crust is especially unremarkable, lacking any definitive presence, crunch or interior texture. It's just... there. Very underwhelming. As for the cheese: it's fairly okay though extremely thin and soft... not a whole lot of flavour beyond basic "mozzarella-type cheese" taste. There isn't a whole lot of it (compared to the sauce) and aside from texture you hardly notice it for most bites. This is a very soft, doughy pizza to begin with... and while I'm not a heavy cheese on pizza type of guy, a thicker layer of the cheese they do have here would help keep these slices from being rather floppy at points.
As for the toppings: pineapple is pineapple (it's not overcooked or dry, which is good) and there is a generous amount of the chopped garlic bits baked throughout the pie (it's as though they knew their specific audience for this one), but the beef pepperoni is certainly different. It lacks the oily greasiness and saltiness of typical pork pepperoni, which is to its benefit and detriment. The texture is drier and slightly chewier, though not to the point of unpleasantness (similar to thinly sliced well cooked beef). Alas, there isn't a whole lot of seasoning or taste to it... this is an extremely lean cut (unsurprisingly, since it is Halal) and the pepper or juiciness is extremely lacking. Interesting texture, but kinda bland in terms of flavour.
If not for the interesting sauce, this would be a serviceable but very unremarkable pizza. The sauce is legitimately tasty, different and very good... and though it covers this thing generously the flavour of it doesn't overwhelm the other lesser elements in play here. This results in what I'd say is a 'good not great' pizza, certainly worth a try (just for the sauce alone) and with that moderate level of expectation it likely won't disappoint. I'd grade this somewhere between a 'B--' and a 'B-' myself, which by estimate places them somewhere in the 65-70 range on my big list.
Thanks for reading! Next time, we'll tackle one I've been dawdling on for far too long...
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