pepperoni – Michael Eats

Stellar Pizza at One Night Only

Published on October 27, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 581 Pape Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://ono.pizza/

I’ve been hearing basically nothing but great things about One Night Only since it opened — it started out as a home-based pandemic-era lark, but quickly became popular enough to justify their own storefront.

They’re way out on the east end and have somewhat unusual hours (they’re closed on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays), so it took me a while to check the place out, but man I’m glad that I did. The pizza here is phenomenal.

I tried the pepperoni, bacon and jalapeno; I typically like a more sparsely-topped pie, particularly when I’m first trying a place, but that was all they had left when I showed up at around 1:30 on a Saturday.

It’s an amazing slice of pizza. The crust has a great balance between exterior crispiness and interior chewiness/fluffiness, with just the right amount of heft and flavour.

The slice is generously topped but still nicely balanced, with a good ratio between the sauce, cheese, and toppings. And while it’s not the pizza I would have picked if I had the choice, it features great quality pepperoni and bacon, and the pops of heat from the jalapeno slices works well.

The buzz about this place meant my expectations were quite high, but this still managed to exceed them. It’s easily on par with top-tier places like Badiali, North of Brooklyn, and Superpoint. It’s so good.

Delicious Slices at Mac’s Pizza

Published on August 10, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 759 Dovercourt Road, Toronto
Website: https://www.macspizza.ca/

It’s getting easier and easier to find great slices of pizza in the city — in and around the core, at least. Once you get further into the outskirts and the suburbs, good slice shops get few and far between (at least in the west end — does great pizza exist in Etobicoke or Mississauga? If it does, I haven’t found it!).

I’ve tried a couple of slices at Mac’s. The first was the Lemonhead: “lemon pepper cream, black peper, zest, wedge.”

Who knew that lemon could be so delicious on a pizza? I certainly wouldn’t have guessed, but the zippy lemon does a great job of balancing out the rich slice.

I also sampled the angry pep, which is more traditional: “pep, jalapeno, hot honey, basil.” It’s quite tasty. The pepperoni / hot honey combo seems to be getting more and more ubiquitous, and justifiably so; it’s a tasty combo. And the mild kick you get from the jalapenos complements the slice quite well.

The pizza itself is definitely above average, with a nice balance between the lightly crispy exterior and the chewy interior. It’s quite good.

Tasty Detroit-Style Pizza at Renaissance Pizza

Published on July 3, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 809 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.renaissancepizza.ca/

Did Toronto need another Detroit-style pizzeria? No, probably not. But does it really matter when the pizza being served is delicious? Again, no, it does not.

They have a bunch of tasty-looking pizzas on the menu at Renaissance, from the traditional (pepperoni, fennel sausage) to the not-so-traditional (tandoori paneer, duck confit). But if you’re ordering by the slice, you’ve got two options: cheese or pepperoni. I went with pepperoni.

It’s a great slice of pizza. As is traditional with Detroit pizza, the sauce comes on top of the cheese; interestingly, it’s applied post-bake and is (I think) completely uncooked, giving it a vibrant, garlickly freshness that contrasts nicely with the heavy cheese and greasy crust.

It also has that classic Detroit-style crispy cheese all along the edges, which is as delightful as ever.

My only issue is that I think it’s possible Detroit-style pizza shouldn’t be served by the slice; in this case, at least, the bottom of the pizza lost its delightful crispiness, which is a big part of what makes this type of pizza so great.

Every other element here was so tasty that this wasn’t a deal-breaker, but I’d definitely just order a whole pizza next time, rather than risk getting another soggy slice.

Thin Crust Pizza at Burattino Brick Oven Pizza

Published on April 9, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3109 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.burattinopizza.ca/

Burattino is an LA pizza chain specializing in thin-crust pizzas that opened their first location in Toronto a couple of years ago.

They have a handful of fairly unique pizzas on their menu, though the black garlic 120 pepperoni caught my eye — it comes topped with black-garlic-infused marinara, along with a whole bunch of pepperoni (120 refers to the amount of pepperoni slices on the large version of pizza).

For the unfamiliar, black garlic is made by roasting garlic at a very low temperature over the course of several days, giving it a unique jet-black colour and a mild, sweet flavour.

It’s a solid pizza. The black garlic sauce gives the pie a tasty roasted garlic flavour, which contrasts nicely with the salty pepperoni. The thin crust is a bit boring (it’s comparable to chains like Pizza Nova or Dominos rather than the better pizza joints in the GTA), but it gets the job done.

Tasty New York Pizza at Prince Street Pizza

Published on November 16, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 472 Front Street West, Toronto
Website: https://princestreetpizza.ca/

Prince Street Pizza is a New York pizza joint that specializes in square, Sicilian-style slices that recently opened in Toronto with a whole bunch of hype. The lines were reportedly around the block.

Thankfully, things seem to have settled down a bit (there was a short line when I went, but nothing too bad). The place is takeout only, but if you go around the corner to the shopping area at The Well, there are some outdoor tables to be had.

It turns out the excitement over the place is quite warranted; it’s very good.

They have a variety of more traditional slices, along with the square ones they’re known for. I went with the Spicy Spring, which is their signature slice.

This particular pizza is basically just no-frills pepperoni, but every element is right where it should be: the slightly spicy pepperoni is thoroughly tasty (and it’s the type that curls up into little grease goblets — the king of pepperoni), the quality of the sauce and the cheese is top notch, and the crust is great.

The crust here is greasy enough that it essentially fries on the bottom, and yeah. Yeah, that’s the way to do it. It’s crispy, chewy, and has a great flavour.

While I liked that the slice wasn’t too overloaded with cheese, my only real complaint is that this meant that a lot of the pepperoni didn’t have anything to stick to, and fell off as soon as I picked up the slice. But if that’s the biggest complaint about a slice of pizza, you know you’re in good shape.