Wow... they finally named a pizzeria after the lead singer of U2? Wild! Strange that instead of Dublin I'd find it in the heart of Toronto's Greektown...
This might be the rare review wherein I have more to show on the photography side than actual words about the pizza, which will probably be welcome news to hear from those of you who prefer to skip my longer winded stories and descriptions. I can say that I had no real plan to try this Pizza Bono... I didn't even know they existed! But I happened to be at Danforth and Pape (trying Juicy Birds actually), saw them in the corner of my eye and well... hey I've been doing this pizza thing for several years now. Me getting lured in by a new unknown pizza joint should barely register any surprise at this point.
There's not a whole lot I can say about the history of this place. They're extremely new (opening up at the very end of this past September) and they're right next door to where regarded BBQ joint Greenwood Smoke used to be (regrettably I never tried them... for the record Pizza Bono was previously home to something called GRUB SHACK).
You walk inside and the place has that unquestionable 'new restaurant' aura and scent. The lighting feels a bit awkward, everything is still shiny and mostly unworn. Knowing nothing about this place at all in the moment, I wondered if this was indeed their opening day. I wandered to the counter (which itself is also awkwardly deep into the pizzeria) and ordered myself a slice of pepperoni with a garlic dip, truly a classic combination.
The Google Rating for this place is absolutely smitten at the moment (4.8) and it's very easy to explain why: this is one absurdly cheap slice! This and the dip... was still only $4.30. That's Canadian dollars by the way... and yes the year is still 2025. Heck even if not, I don't think I could've found a deal like that when I was in high school freaking twenty years ago. Insane!
At such an outstandingly reasonable price it's a bit wishful to expect the pizza itself to be equally outstanding, which it certainly is not. I've definitely encountered much worse, of course, at nearly double the price no less (my review of the now closed District Pizza is a prime example of this).
The problems are... well a bit of everything. There's barely any sauce, the dominating taste is the dough (likewise the texture is extremely soft and doughy) while not even the greasier flavours like the cheese or pepperoni really shine through. It's also the kind of slice you really need to season yourself: a sprinkle of pepper or garlic powder or really anything would at least give this something... as is it's sadly quite bland.
It's an extremely cheap pizza slice so I'm not disappointed or anything (unlike District)... I'm just describing what my mouth is telling me. None of it is outright bad either: the crust does have a faint sourdough-like hint to it and the texture does feel fresh (almost suspiciously soft, even). The cheese is okay and doesn't have any dry, plastic-like texture... none of this tastes at all like cardboard... and while the general quality of this slice does taste cheap, it's not to the point of being both cheap and careless. If anything, this reminds me of the Harbord and Spadina late night joints, Cora's and Papa Ceo's (I know one absorbed the other but I forget which).
Besides, we're burying the best thing here: the garlic dip! There's a bit more to this than just garlic (as the greenish hue might suggest)... I got a significant hint of basil in here alongside that creamy garlicky taste. Quite clever and quite good, I approve. The dip itself was also like fifty cents... which I also approve of (though with another raised eyebrow).
Overall... I really cannot recommend this as a place you definitely need to try, as this pizza just had so little in the ways of flavour to grab even the tiniest bit of attention. It's pretty boring and very, very mediocre fare.
That said, the price is just so incredibly below the market rate for a pizza slice that it's simply impossible to dislike this pizza either (being "meh" rather than awful also helps). Places that are bad and expensive (such as Four Brothers on King West) are the ones most fully deserving of my ire and dismissal (just being really really bad also works).
Pizza Bono is certainly not bad. It ain't great... or even good... it really hits that absolute minimum baseline (for me anyway) of palatability for a pizza. I definitely ate it, nothing stood out as terrible or great (aside from that awesome dip) and on I went with my life. That's pretty much the definition of a middle ground "C-" pizza for me. Again, the price is still great and after a night knocking back too many drinks you could do much, much worse than a couple slices from this spot.
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