Pizza In Montreal

[Kenk]

I would like to know what pizza places you like?

Pizza is very regional and every body in that region likes different versions of the pizza of the region.(can you call this terroir???)

Montreal pizza usually uses a sweet and spicy sauce, the toppings placed on the sauce and the cheese on top of that.

I like the pizza with lots of sauce hot with real full fat cheese so when you pick it up a log string of cheese has to be contained. When you eat a slice, a saucy line of grease rolls down your elbow and drips off the tip.

I have not lived in Montreal for a while so I can't give a favorite right now. The next time I visit I will work on my pizza place.

I am now living in Ottawa my preference here is Mort's in Bell's Corners. Tastes very much like a good MTL pizza.

What pizza place do you like?

[Lesley C]

Montreal is a horrible city for pizza and it keeps getting worse. I only go to Pizzeria Napolitana on Dante in Little Italy.

Otherwise, I make it at home.

[ExCentriX]

I don't know if you ever come to the South Shore, but there is this place called Como Pizza! They have one in La Prairie, and one in Candiac. They might have a few in Montreal, but I am not sure about that. But that will be the place that you will find Real full fat cheese, that will drip down your arm all the way down to your elbow! They put tons of pepperoni, cheese, bacon....practically tons of everything! Get the Como special.

[SteveW]

I'm looking for any great pizzerias in the East end of Montreal. Anyone find any in that area of town?

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Steve

[Smoking Bear]

I second ExCentix's vote for Como Pizzeria. My first job as a cook was at Como. Their pizza is as described above but of course they will make it anyway you like. They do a lot of volume but still keep the quality very high. Ingredients are always fresh and of top quality. When I worked there they were using real olive oil in their dough. I doubt there are a lot of pizzerias that do the same.

Might be worth the trip if you are that desperate!

[SteveW]

I'm going to try Como Pizzeria soon. I've certainly heard of them before. I think I went there years ago. Smoking Bear(or anyone else), do you notice regional differences within the Montreal-area of pizza(West Island, South Shore, West End, East End, Laval)? For instance, is the sauce less spicier in the East End of Montreal compared to West End of the city. Is Montreal-style pizza(cheese on top) universal throughout the city or not.

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Steve

[identifiler]

I am wondering waht is this Montreal style pizza that is refered to. Are we talking america pizza here ? Based on the description, it sounds like it... Leslie must be like me, trying to undersatnd what is that greasy saucy stuff you are talking about.

If you are a fan of the pizza, Napolitana is the only spot. I was just there on Saturday... and damn it's very good. My favorite----> Minerva (feta, onions, baked olives, etc...).

I have appreciated the pizza at Cuccina for some years but I'm not sure if it has kept up. Leslie, I believe the pizza spot right beside Latini is not bad at all. It actually fairs very well, if only I could remember the name...arrgghh... Da pizzataro, I knew I would remember.

[mimijun]

I second leslie & identifier!

The pizza at Napolitana is also my favorite, and the only place I go to for pizza!

Ciao! Mimijun

[cheekycook]

So far The best pizza I've had was at a restaurant called "Carole's" on rue Principale in Lachute.

Other than that, I would try Coronet Pizzeria on Poirier street in St-Laurent, they've been making pizza since 1962 so I think they know what they're doing.

However, there are so many restaurants making different types of pizzas that it really depends on what you're looking for in a pizza.

I'm not a big fan of those thin crust jobs, they're like air, I could eat an entire small pizza to myself and still be hungry 15 minutes later...

[riboflavinjoe]

my favorite 99 cent pizza joint, for crawling around downtown late at night is either pizza sipan on st. cat, near st denis (right in the strip joint heaven, if there is such a thing), or al-taïb, on guy close to maisonneuve. mmm... 99cent pizza. NEXT THREAD: BEST SHISH TAOUK!!!

[SteveW]

I am wondering waht is this Montreal style pizza that is refered to. Are we talking america pizza here ? Based on the description, it sounds like it... Leslie must be like me, trying to undersatnd what is that greasy saucy stuff you are talking about.

If you are a fan of the pizza, Napolitana is the only spot. I was just there on Saturday... and damn it's very good. My favorite----> Minerva (feta, onions, baked olives, etc...).

I have appreciated the pizza at Cuccina for some years but I'm not sure if it has kept up. Leslie, I believe the pizza spot right beside Latini is not bad at all. It actually fairs very well, if only I could remember the name...arrgghh... Da pizzataro, I knew I would remember.

Montreal-style pizza is the cheese on top of everything. Usually it's the tomato sauce at the bottom, followed by the cheese, then the rest of the toppings. Kenk described it at the beginning of this thread.

Where is the Cucina restaurant(it must be somewhere in upper St. Laurent)? Da Pizzataro, are owned by the Le Latini people.

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Steve

[identifiler]

Cucina is st laurent fairmont/laurier. I haven't been there in ages (almost going back to the years of LUX) used to be a really hot french resto beside that place...

I can't comment on recent pizza but they have a good oven (the most important part), it's very casual and the terrasse is a big hit in the summer. Maybe someone who has been there recently can comment.

[raspoutine]

The pizza at cucina is O.K. but certainly not worth going out of your way for. Their pasta is to be avoided at all cost. You've been warned.

As far as doughy crusted, Montreal style pizza is concerned, my favourite has got to be Place Tevere in Dorval. It's the one I grew up on, and the one all subsequent pizzas had to measure up to, and virtually every single one has failed miserably.

Cook-em-all, what is the name of the place you ordered from when I helped you move all those years ago?That was a fine pie as well.

[Kenk]

I agree with Leslie that most pizza places are getting worse.

Alot of pizza places are cost cutting and replacing cheese with low fat cheese(rubber) or even worse process cheese.

BLECH!!!

I also make my own pizza but I have been in a pizza making funk.

I am either making my tomato sauce too bitter or the balance between topings and sauce and cheese is out of whack, or my cheese is not quite right. I was making the crust too hard. I was not used to my oven and over cooked the crust, the bottom heat was too high. I now watch my pizza closer and layed some quarry tile on my oven rack to reduce the intensity of the bottom heat in my oven.

The cheese thing is driving me crazy. I know if you use mozzorella to use full fat. Do not use the el cheepo block of cheese, the salt content is way too high and your body go out of wack for a day. I use Tre-Stella balls usually.

What kind of cheese mixture can I try?

[eat2much]

I haven't been back in a few years but Pizella on St. Mathieu makes wonderful European style pizza. I believe that they are owned by the same folks as Bocca D'oro.

There used to be a few good places in and around the McGill ghetto when I was a student, but for some strange reason I can't remember too much from my student years and the names escape me.

Now that I am older, wiser, and a little more health conscious I order in from Village Pizza on Cote St. Luc Road which makes a whole wheat pizza that is pretty good and not too greasy.

Edited May 6, 2003 by eat2much (log)

[jersey13]

As far as doughy crusted, Montreal style pizza is concerned, my favourite has got to be Place Tevere in Dorval. It's the one I grew up on, and the one all subsequent pizzas had to measure up to, and virtually every single one has failed miserably.

I love Tevere pizza too. They have a branch in the food court in Fairview. Actually my favourites on the West Island are Gigi's in Pointe Claire Village and Mory's in Pierrefonds. I love a thick crusted pizza!

[identifiler]

We often do them for the kids.

First I make the doe from the basic doe recipe in the Kitchen aid mixer book, you can also by the frozen pizza doe at Pain dore. It's not bad.

Then I have two square plates with holes in them, I bought them at Dante quincaillerie, sometimes I'l line it up with foil sometimes not. My pizza are roundish rectangular...HAHAHA I usually roll it thin, then I lift the doe in front of me in sunlinght and stretch it using the top of my hands, I stretch it until I can see some light going through the do, I do this all around the do, stretch, find another spot, stretch, next spot and so on.

The tomatoe sauce consists of my own summer prep from the garden, organic san marzano, genovese basil and some coriander, I like the zesty tatse the coriander adds to the pizz (I vacuum pack it). EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT IN USED IN MINUTE AMOUNT. Thin coat of tomatoe sauce, I may add on one open mergez saucages from queue de cochon. A couple of dabs (like ink blots) of grinded dried tomatoes in olive oil. Cheese usually a mix of 3-1-.5 Moza, parmesan, cheddar. Again, just a light sprinkle. Sometimes I get my hands on vacuum sealed, oiled goat feta made in Quebec or I'll cut couple of blobs of buffalo boconcini.

The pizza is cooked regurlarly until there is a small lift in the crust, then I chop up some parma prosciuoto and get fresh rocket from the garden, chopped, dump a couple of handfull and broil it at the last minute. You want that proscuoto/rocket to be very green and soft still (like in an omelette). A nice stream of oil from my brother's San Michelano orchids tops it off.... summer here I come.

[raspoutine]

There used to be a few good places in and around the McGill ghetto when I was a student, but for some strange reason I can't remember too much from my student years and the names escape me.

Amelio's on Milton is quite popular with students, and it has been around for a while.

Jersey, You're right about Gigi's, top notch! I'm not so sure about Tevere in the Fairview food court though, maybe I'm wrong. Also, is the original Place Tevere still open in Ste-Genevieve?

[mcmillan]

i think amelios is very good as well ,milton and st famille,they do a crazy white pizza.........

[jersey13]

Jersey, You're right about Gigi's, top notch! I'm not so sure about Tevere in the Fairview food court though, maybe I'm wrong. Also, is the original Place Tevere still open in Ste-Genevieve?

I hear ya raspoutine. Food courts are downright evil for any type of cuisine.Well... let's just say that if I'm really hard up for pizza and happen to be in Fairview.......But really, when I order in, it's almost always from Gigi. I think the original Tevere is still open but I'm not often in that area.

Another place I discovered while on contract in that area is a little hole on the wall on McGill street not far from Soto in Old Montreal. Sorry I can't be more specific but I did mention in a thread somewhere that I am directionally impaired. Their tomato/cheese pizza was terrific..

And of course the 0.99 wedges to be found along St Catherine always taste good after a long night of on the dance floor. But then again at that point, nobody's ever that discriminating.

Edited May 6, 2003 by jersey13 (log)

[Rex]

You guys should try PRATO right next to Schwart's.

[champignon]

I personally found Pizzeria Napolitana a great big disappointment, after much build up. It was salty-salt and the funky bunch. The service was substandard, and it was expensive for a micron thin crust and some scattered ingredients. Obviously I ordered the wrong one.

Amelios on the other hand (corner of Milton and Ste.Famille) is stick to your ribs pizza. Lots o sauce, Lots o cheese, plus a free salad and bring your own wine. Eleven bucks feeds two hungry adults and the service is fast. Okay, they just want you to get the **** out so the line keeps moving.

[food_eater]

Montreal-style pizza is the cheese on top of everything.  Usually it's the tomato sauce at the bottom, followed by the cheese, then the rest of the toppings.

Let me tell you that the cheese on top is a really handy feature. I've grown up in Montreal, and like them "all dressed". When eating at a pizza place in Hungary, we got a menu that was all Hungarian, Czech and German, and the waitress spoke no English or French, so I was on my own. The only one that looked even close to familiar was called "Extra", and I figgured it would be pretty close to "all dressed". Not a chance. "Extra" means you get canned peas and corn (bordering on popcorn) on top with minimal cheese to hold it all together. Those little peas and corns were highly unstable and ended up rolling all over the floor. By the end, we must have lost half our toppings. Fun, but disappointing.

The most memorable pizza (don't remember if it was the best) was when I was a young boy and won 2 extra large pizzas at Elios Pizzaria from a radio show. Our family of 6 included 4 strapping young boys ages 10-16, and we could only eat one slice each before we were full. We only ordered one pizza, and we brought home leftovers. I swear that the pizza was an inch thick.

That was around 8-9 years ago. Does anyone know if it is still around?

[identifiler]

Champignon, no question about it. Saltiness there is. If I go to Napolitana, I have to bring a picther of water in the bedroom that night and chug it around 2:00AM hahahaha, but I like it like that.

The service has always been bad there, it's almost a signature and it is 80 $ for a family of four. I just enjoy that getto Italian feeling, make sure you have a couple of Italian smart ass comments in your head, scream them out as the waiter passes by and you'll get some respect. Italians are weird that way. Bring a group of 16 in there with 10 kids...those waiters are just gonna scrap the floor for ages and I don't feel guilty one bit about it.

[SteveW]

The most memorable pizza (don't remember if it was the best) was when I was a young boy and won 2 extra large pizzas at Elios Pizzaria from a radio show.  Our family of 6 included 4 strapping young boys ages 10-16, and we could only eat one slice each before we were full.  We only ordered one pizza, and we brought home leftovers.  I swear that the pizza was an inch thick. 

That was around 8-9 years ago.  Does anyone know if it is still around?

Elio Pizzeria is still around. They make pizzas in two different styles. The traditonal thick crust Montreal style pizza & thin crust pizzas. And they still sponsor a bicycle race & many other community events.

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Steve