This name just pokes so many questions upon my mind. Pizza... Olive. So.... is it an olive that's specifically related or flavoured like pizza? I'm no fan of olives but I actually might be into that. Or... is "Olive" used as a name here, like Olive Oil from Popeye? "Pizza Olive" is some kind of quirky character who is just really into pizzas, thus why she has the nickname? Again, I'd probably be into that... anybody reading this know her number?
Whatever the reason for the odd name, Pizza Olive opened up sometime just over a year ago in the Village By The Grange food court right near St. Patrick subway station... a food court I can't say I'd ever visited prior to this review.
While yet again I can't find much of anything in regards to backstory about this place, I can yet again take one of my trademark wild stabs and say/guess that the owner(s) are Iranian or have some kind of familial connection to Iran... as their Instagram has a couple of posts in support of the freedom demonstrations there*. An accurate deduction or no, this is not a pizzeria attempting to put a Persian spin on pizza... as they proudly state their intentions toward "Authentic Italian Pizza and Pasta" while using dough fermented for 72 hours beforehand.
(*it would indeed seem a lot has happened in Iran since I wrote the first draft of this article, huh)
I happened to be in the area checking out the soon-to-be-shuttered Steve's Music (picked clean of anything resembling a clearance deal, sadly) and figured trying an unknown pizza place would be some form of minor accomplishment at least. Wandering inside the Park on the Grange, it quickly struck me how much its modest confines reminded me of the little food courts within the downtown St. George UofT campus back in my (long lost) university days. "Hmmmmm" I said aloud, mulling over this observation before then remembering OCAD exists and is still directly across the street from here (it certainly explained all the students everywhere). I am brilliant, I swear.
We are talking about what is essentially a mall food court pizza here... and so this might not be the most diverse menu one has ever encountered. Still though, there are numerous options both for pizza and beyond (sandwiches and pasta), quite ambitious for a limited kitchen space. While their meatball pie was quite tempting... the notion of axing/picking off the red onions and olives was not so tempting, despite the obvious topping namesake. Instead, I went with their standard pepperoni with the addition of jalapeños for some extra zing.
It should also be noted that I ordered one of their small (10 inch) pies instead of the larger size which this takeout box was intended for, thus explaining the comical amount of empty space there (the fella apologized that they didn't have any smaller boxes).
From this better angle, you can see that this is one poofy pizza. Like one of those circular backyard swimming pools (Milpool?). Heck, this almost looks like a Chicago deep dish and there is quite a bit of cheese in the centre.
A good sign is how gooey and stretchy this mozzarella is: there's some serious pull to it and it tastes quite authentic (none of that dry, plastic-like texture you get from the cheap stuff). In a weird way the considerable amount of cheese actually balances out the more-than-considerable amount of crust here, as this dough is rather light and airy tasting despite its inflated size. Even better, it really has a full-mouthed fresh feel on each bite, suggesting this indeed is some pizza dough they've lovingly taken their time with.
The flavours overall aren't going to rock anyone's world... but they are solid for what they are. The tomato sauce has a strong hint of garlic powder to it (though much of it bleeds into the cheese), the jalapeños on here have some juice to them and so do bring a notable sting... and the pepperoni is just your standard 'good quality' sliced cured fare, hitting the right point of greasy saltiness without too much of either.
The crust also has a bit of cornmeal grit to it, similar to Domino's... in fact many attributes of this pizza do remind me of that particular chain. Except: this isn't overcooked, there's more cheese and it's better cheese, the tomato sauce actually has more flavour than a squeeze bottle, the crust isn't stale and I definitely didn't want to just throw this out once it got cold. So..... yeah! Definitely quite a few levels up from Domino's... like one of those skyscrapers where you'd have to change elevators when traveling between the floors.
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Overall... this is a very simple style of pizza. Big crust, big cheese... go to town. And it is a tasty one. It made me wonder if Food Court Pizza is actually a style and if so, this is definitely the best one of those I've encountered so far. There's an undercurrent of freshness to that dough that really sells everything else, even though the flavours are fairly basic.
A small pizza from Pizza Olive serves as a large snack (or a modest meal if you're somebody with a regular human appetite) and while I'd say this is one that is quite a bit short of being a pizza you 'absolutely have to head out and try'... it is one I think won't let you down if you happen to be in the area, whether it be for the AGO or OCAD or you're killing time after an LRT ride before checking out MGMT at SBA (somebody please pay me by the abbreviation, I could keep going). Pizza Olive gets a solid "B" grade from me, good enough for the back end of a top 100 in all of Toronto I'd figure.
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