Great Pizza at King Slice

King Slice
Location
: 1598 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.kingslice.ca/

Whenever there’s a discussion of the best pizza joints in Toronto, King Slice pretty much always comes up.  They’ve been around since ’89 and predate all the trendy spots in the GTA by a few decades, so clearly they’re doing something right.

And yeah, okay.  I just tried a pepperoni slice, and I get it.  I don’t know if it’s my favourite slice in the GTA, but it would be in my top 10 for sure.

King Slice

It’s a simple slice of pizza, but everything is just right: it’s got a good amount of cheese and pepperoni (it’s heavy on both, but doesn’t feel overloaded), the sauce has a zippy richness and definitely doesn’t taste like the canned stuff you might expect from an old-school place like this, and the crust is nicely baked (if a bit bland) with a light crispiness on its exterior.

King Slice

That’s not to mention the famous garlic oil, which they can either slather on just the crust or the whole slice (I went with the former).  This stuff is herby, garlicky, and delicious, and definitely brings the pizza a bunch of personality.  The crust is otherwise a bit lacking in flavour, but once you add a bunch of that garlic oil, you’re in business.

King Slice

The pizza doesn’t taste as fussed-over as some of the trendier joints in the GTA like Badiali or One Night Only (I’m pretty confident that there’s no sourdough or 48 hour proofs happening with the dough here), but for an old-school, no-frills pizza joint like this, it doesn’t get much better.

King Slice

I liked it so much that I came back about a week later to try the margherita slice, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I should also note that the slices are comically oversized; I don’t think I’ve had such a gigantic slice of pizza since the heyday of The Big Slice (RIP).

Tasty Slices at Di’s Pizza Pies

Di's Pizza Pies
Location
: 115 St. Paul Street, St. Catherines
Website: https://www.dispizzapies.com/

Yeah, Di’s Pizza Pies is in St. Catharines and is a bit of a trek from the GTA, but if you’re in the area or passing by, it’s worth stopping in.

Di's Pizza Pies

They had a few slices on offer; I went with the pepperoni (“Red Sauce, Mozzarella, Battistoni Cup and Char Pepperoni, Pecorino”).

Di's Pizza Pies

The pizza is interesting.  I sort of assumed this was going to be the usual thin crust, NYC-style pizza that you can find at so many pizza joints in the GTA.  But the focaccia-like crust is actually quite different from that style of crispiness and chewiness, with a crunchy exterior and a fluffy, bready interior.

Di's Pizza Pies

It definitely works, with the more substantial crust doing a great job of holding up to the flavourful sauce, salty peperoni, and generous amount of cheese.  It’s a great slice.

A Great Slice at Maker Pizza

Maker Pizza
Location
: 59 Cameron Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.makerpizza.com/

I was surprised to see I haven’t written about Maker Pizza on this blog since trying their Reuben pizza several years ago (which I didn’t particularly care for, and which is no longer on the menu).

Maker Pizza

I’ve been back several times since then, and the pizza is always stellar.

Maker Pizza

On this visit, I got a slice of the pepperoni with spicy vodka sauce, and yeah, they continue to serve very good pizza.  The slice had a decent amount of good quality pepperoni (the type that curls up and becomes a grease goblet — the best kind), a nice ratio of cheese and sauce, and a good amount of flavour and a mild spicy kick from the spicy vodka sauce.

Maker Pizza

Of course, a pizza lives and dies by its crust, and the crust here is stellar — great blistered edges, crispy enough to hold up to the toppings and the sauce (but not overly crunchy), and a good amount of chew.  It’s a top-notch slice.

Stellar Pizza at Cowabunga+ in Hamilton

Cowabunga+
Location: 30 Vine Street, Hamilton
Website: https://www.cowabungapizzeria.ca/

Apparently, Cowabunga+ serves the best slice of cheese pizza in the world.  Well, okay, I’m listening.

Cowabunga+

When I found myself in Hamilton recently, a stop was a must.

Cowabunga+

They have a few different pizzas available by the slice, but obviously, I had to go with the award winning, best-in-the-world cheese.

Cowabunga+

The cheese pizza, per their menu: “marinara, mozzarella blend, fior di latte, oregano.”

Cowabunga+

It’s a very tasty slice of pizza.  Is it the best in the world?  No, but I’d be shocked if it weren’t the best in Hamilton, and it’s up there with the better slices in the GTA.

Cowabunga+

The crust has a bit more heft than the norm, with a good level of exterior crispiness, a satisfying dense chewiness, and a very pronounced sourdough flavour that’s actually quite delightful.

Cowabunga+

It’s very, very cheesy, but that substantial crust mostly holds up to it (though it was buckling and tearing a bit under the weight of the deluge of cheese).  It might have been too much cheese on a different slice of pizza, but here, there was a good balance between the crust and cheese.

Tasty Slices at Gram’s Pizza

Gram's Pizza
Location
: 1640 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/grams.pizza/

Pizza!  It’s good!

(Why yes, writing the opening paragraph of these blog posts is always the hardest part, why do you ask?)

Gram's Pizza

Gram’s Pizza is a new pizza joint near the Junction that serves a variety of slices, along with whole pies.  I went with the cheese (“tomato sauce + mozz + grana padano”), because a plain cheese pizza is the best way to suss out the quality of a pizza joint (also cheese pizza is delicious).

Gram's Pizza

It’s a solid slice of pizza.  The crust has a nice crispy exterior and is slightly thicker than the norm for this style of pizza, but it works.  And they’re clearly not shy with the grana padano, with its nice salty sharpness really shining through.

Gram's Pizza

It didn’t exactly rock my world, but it’s a very good slice of pizza.  I’d come back.