Road trip! Grab your best mixtape, load those 2-4s in the trunk, bring your most garish Hawaiian shirts and get ready to roll because... um... we're going to Hamilton? Uh... wooooo...
Jokes aside, I've spent ninety-five percent of my life giving little-to-none in the way of thought towards the city affectionately known as "The Hammer". Recent creative developments have necessitated my visiting Hamilton on a semi-regular basis and so it's been a neat experience getting to explore a bit of a place so neighbourly close to Toronto yet so vastly unknown to me.
This exploration has to include their pizza scene, obviously... with the most renowned place to folks outside of Hamilton being Cowabunga (dudes). Like many other reputable pizza joints, Cowabunga opened up in 2020 (a challenging year to start a business but a good year for delivery food that travels well) and appears to have become a sensation from day one... the crown jewel being their celebrated "Best Cheese Slice In The World" victory at the International Pizza Challenge last year. That's best in the world, which means better than just number one! The article is definitely worth a read: crazy to think it all almost didn't happen because their luggage (with the ingredients inside) vanished at some point crossing the US border.
The birth of Cowabunga and their considerable success is a testament to the strong connectivity of the online pizza community... with founders/co-owners Andy Huynh and Justin Tanada initially meeting and interacting via Instagram through a shared love of all things pizza (I can relate, fellas). Both worked in various pizzerias for some time and eventually tried their own hand at making their own pies... at first hoping just for a stall in a Hamilton farmer's market before a space on Upper Wellington Street (in an area known as "The Mountain" to Hamiltoners/Hamiltonians/Hamiltonites/sorry I don't know) became available.
The small space had been a previous home to other pizzerias over the years (meaning less work to modify the place for pizza production) and once ready, the intention was to be just a simple takeout spot. Clearly the demand for their pies said otherwise.
While that original location of Cowabunga is further south and still a take-out only venture, I checked out the newer one (a much shorter stroll from the West Harbour GO Station) which has a considerable amount of seating (including a streetside patio), a full bar (the pink and blue lights tucked into the back of that photo) plus an assortment of arcade machines because... well you can see it's just that kind of place.
I had other business in Hamilton more urgent than pizza (believe it or not) and so getting a full pie wasn't ideal from a time perspective. Fortunately there is a sizeable slice counter... although unfortunately they didn't have any of their quite intriguing 1-Up creation available... but fortunately they did have some of those famous cheese slices fresh from the oven. Fortune! One slice of cheese, one of pepperoni, a dip... and I was on my way.
I think part of what has made Cowabunga such a widely appealing sensation is their straight-forward simplicity, although there are some well-crafted details to be found within said simplicity. The pepperoni slice definitely falls under what I like to call an "Arcade Slice" wherein it's loaded with pepperoni and is plenty greasy on the fingers (perfect for loosening up the tight joysticks and buttons on a Frogger machine). But not too greasy: it's far from dripping oil or making the paper plate transparent. Just the right amount here.
There's also terrific light crunch to this slice... with gentle pillowy softness around the crust and cheesier middle. The pepperoni (as you can see) are the little cups and have a lovely crispiness to their edges. The overall texture of the slice really is excellent: enjoyable from first bite to last, losing none of it's pleasantness even once cooled off.
That texture really is the key here as the flavours, while also really good, aren't especially distinctive or mind-shattering in their own way. Odds are you've tasted these nearly-exact flavours at this strong quality before at another likewise fantastic pizza joint. I'm not docking points for that... a damn good pepperoni slice like this is more than welcome anywhere on my block.
Now we have the big one. The dough-winner for Cowabunga which launched them into international pizza fame.
Honestly, if not for that award there's next to zero chance I'd have ordered this. I'm really not a "just cheese" slice kind of guy. Maybe if there's some blue or goat or some kind of additional smoked cheese on there... but just basic pizza cheese and sauce? At least a classic Margherita has some basil on there. So boring.
Nevertheless I obviously had to, so here is that cheese slice from Cowabunga.
Like the pepperoni slice, the texture is wonderful. Easily foldable (if that's your thing) and floppy enough to droop a little off the edge of the plate (these slices are also quite sizeable). Again I love the softness of the dough here... it's quite bready (possibly sourdough as well) and nicely baked without being overly chewy or stiff and crumbly. It sounds silly to say (I mean write) but without question my favourite thing about both these Cowabunga slices was the actual sensation of eating them. Endlessly satisfying.
For "just cheese" there are some layers of flavour in here also. A tiny hint of sweetness, good oiliness... while the tomato sauce definitely has a dominant touch of finely ground garlic powder in there. The mozzarella is baked just right to still have some gooey give to it and not have any kind of that tough/crunchy bubbled shell (that tastes like plastic) you often find from far lesser pizza joints. Instead those baked bubbles on the cheese are light and airy, the slice still plenty cheesy and soft beneath.
Beyond all that... it tastes like a cheese slice. A really, really good cheese slice sure... but it's a freaking cheese slice. I can't possibly elaborate on that any deeper, right? Good lets move on.
Quickly on the dip, which is a Truffle Parm. Way more of the parmesan flavour than any truffle, the richness of which shows up faintly here and there but is barely noticeable. Really tastes like a quality housemade caesar salad dressing (it probably is) without any fishy saltiness... making it a more than acceptable pizza dip.
Overall! I don't really have anything negative to say about Cowabunga Pizza. No immediate criticism jumps to mind. I loved both slices on first bite... although the cheese slice did lose that well-meaning charm and become semi-boring about halfway through, which as I said is more of a 'me' thing (cheese slices just don't excite me).
Would I recommend Cowabunga? Absolutely. While I am going to give a high grade, I will say that a true final judgement lingers upon how their more complex pizza offerings fare. Among other pepperoni and cheese slices I've ever had, these would rank among the very best... but I'm not quite there as far as saying they are among the absolute best pizzas I've ever had until I dive deeper into their bag, if that makes sense.
Still, they are pretty darn good... making me eager to try some other Hamilton pizza joints (Tony G's, Mai Pai) that have also been recommended to me. For now, I'll give them an "A--" with the potential to move up significantly should those more complex/diverse pizzas be as good or better. If they opened up a location in Toronto and maintained this level of taste and quality, they'd comfortably make the Top 25 for the entire city.
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