This Week In Pizza: King Bolzano Pizzeria

 

I know what your first question is: who or what the heck is a "bolzano"?

Well! According to Vocabulary.com, it's a city in Italy very close to the Austrian border. And that's all for this article! Thanks for reading, be sure to follow West Collier Street on Facebook, Instagram and wherever you get your social media fixes! 

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Okay okay. King Bolzano Pizzeria (or "King Bolzano Mix" as their sign says) is a little hole in the wall restaurant on the quiet corner of Broadview Avenue and Dundas Street East. They have virtually no online presence whatsoever, beyond an abandoned IG account with a single post from late 2023 (which I'm assuming is when they opened). 

This is definitely not the kind of place that's gonna win any style points... the interior gives off the vibe of a cafeteria more than anything (a clean cafeteria for the record, don't mean any insult by that description). Basic little tables, counter in the front, a help-yourself fridge with soda drinks (and beer) and big windows from which to watch the 504 streetcars pass by.

As I've mentioned many times, I may be a pizza snob by nature (kinda part of the job description when you're reviewing and ranking things) but I'm not snobbish as far as what I'm willing to try. Unless it has like a 3/5 on Google or something or isn't obscenely expensive (there's a reason I haven't ventured out to Oretta yet) I'm game to try it because sometimes you really can find that diamond in the rough. If I just constantly tried the fancy pizza joints all the time... well odds are I'd rarely be disappointed but where's the fun or adventure in that? This is a "Pizza Quest" after all, not a "weird Toronto man tries high end pizzas as a hobby in his spare time" thing (it is still that, but I'm adventurous damnit!)

So I went into King Bolzano (after getting my bike fixed at the nearby excellent DYI shop Bike Sauce) with no expectations whatsoever.  This could be truly incredible or absolutely cheap and terrible, both outcomes seeming equally likely. Yet... neither of those happened!

 

    

What you see is a bit of a modification on one of their specialty pizzas: you've got bacon, mushrooms, goat cheese and some sliced sausage (hidden below the cheese). Plus a garlic dip on the house! Truly the gentleman working behind the counter knows the path to my heart ("I want you to come again!" were his exact words). Alas, I am a cold-hearted bastard in pizza matters and despite such generous kindness, if the pizza itself is bad this will be a one-and-done.

Good thing it isn't bad! It's not exceptional: this pie has some serious weaknesses that I'll dive into momentarily... but it's rather decent and affordable considering this is a four topping medium coming in exactly at 15 bucks. 

 

 

These are quite simple flavours: not a whole lot of depth going on here. Lots of cheese and it's a notch above your bland Pizza Pizza-like fare, the bacon has great salty tenderness and there is seriously a lot of it... plus that hidden secret sausage (there are so few slices of it underneath the cheese) really gives a nice little flavour punch when you least expect it. The pizza also has nice crunch on the bottom, making the overall texture quite nice (gooey on top and crispy below). A lot of good stuff happening there. 

As for the negatives... the dough and the sauce, plus the mushrooms. There's a watery aspect happening here, both with the mushrooms (kind of a frozen/canned taste) and the tomato sauce... the latter really having no presence whatsoever. Likewise with the bread... you're getting that specific frozen pizza crunch, a fleeting dough flavour that is gone within seconds rather than any delicate or buttery bready-ness.

As such, this does kind of taste like a store bought frozen pizza you've heated up in the oven. Hey, definitely one of the better ones in that particular avenue of pies... but the similarity is unshakable. There's enough craft here, terrific flavour balance in the toppings and cheese that I wouldn't call this a"cheap" pizza... more like the quality isn't great but there is enough care to make something decent with what they've got. 

And hey, most importantly... never at any point was I not enjoying it, despite these shortcomings.

 

 

Overall. Entirely okay and I'd gladly take it over the majority of the big pizza chains... but I wouldn't suggest it as a "you gotta check this out!" kind of place. A shame that there are so many weak links on here... if the sauce had just a bit more zing, or the mushrooms were juicier rather than watery (still better than being dry, so points there)... I could probably grade this a little bit higher. 

Still, appearances can be deceiving and this little spot is indeed better than you might think via a mere glance from passing by the outside. It's a "B--" for me... actually tasty and entirely fine. You probably want a fresh pizza if you checked them out though... the slices held up okay on the reheat (toaster oven) but ordering a dried out slice? The full bodied texture of this pie is its greatest attribute since the flavours don't really have much staying power.