Lorenzo's Pizza

Lorenzos is a local Ottawa chain, with a restaurant location near our house. As a restaurant, it's a bit of a dive, but the few times I've had the pizza, I remember that it's been pretty good, so we decided to we needed to add it to the rotation. You can order online for pick-up or delivery in addition to dining in.

This is serious pizza - thick and heavy, with lots of cheese and toppings. Real bacon. Nicely crisped cheese. Chewy crust.

Cost - $22.30 (save 10% on pick-up!)

Crust - 8/10
Cheese - 9/10
Sauce - 8/10
Toppings - 9/10

Overall Impression - 8.5/10

This pizza isn't for everyone - but if you like a hearty pizza, it's a gem. My advice would be to skip the restaurant and go for pick-up or delivery. I think this one will work its way into our regular rotation.

Bella Vista Restaurant

This weekend's selection came at the recommendation of several blog readers - Bella Vista Restaurant near Bank and Alta Vista. We'd been in the plaza several times, but had never stepped inside the restaurant. This is a sit-down restaurant, but they also do take-out and delivery at selected times. We picked up our pizza and brought it home.

As soon as we opened the box, I knew we were in for a good pizza. The cheese and toppings were spread almost right to the edge of the thin-ish, but chewy crust. Lots of real bacon and mushrooms, and the sauce had a rich flavour to it. I think this pizza might come closest to approximately my beloved Fida's.

Cost: $25 for a large with mushrooms and bacon (pick-up)


Crust - 8.5/10
Cheese - 8.5/10
Sauce - 8/10
Toppings - 8/10

Overall Impression - 8.5/10

This place is worth a repeat visit for sure. Several of our readers also mentioned that they offer a Gluten Free crust which comes highly reviewed. 

House of Pizza

Today's pizza was unplanned - our day ran later than expected and we had nothing set up for dinner, so I decided to pick up a few slices on my way home. I pulled into "House of Pizza"  which was on the way home and ordered 4 slices - 2 pepperoni and 2 cheese. Not our usual special, and to be fair - these were pre-made slices. The combo price was $5 for 2 slices and a drink. The 2 pieces totaled a quarter of a pizza - but a small pizza.

As you can see...not very appealing. D described this as "cafeteria pizza". Maybe this pizza wasn't given its full opportunity to shine, because it was a slice that had been reheated, but either way, it was a disappointment. The cheese was congealed and barely stayed on, the crust was like cardboard and the rest was unmemorable.

Cost: $10 for four small slices and 2 pops (not very filling) - our usual seems to run about $20 plus tax

Crust - 3/10
Cheese - 3/10
Sauce - 4/10
Toppings - 4/10

Overall Impression - 3/10

We won't be returning to try a full pizza!

Louis' Restaurant and Pizzeria

Tonight we decided to try a pizza that D remembered from his childhood - Louis' Restaurant and Pizzeria in Vanier. Their website claims "Best Pizza in Town", so we hoped it would live up to the hype and the memories.

Parking was a bit sketchy since it is shared with the bowling alley. The inside of the restaurant looked like it hadn't been updated since the 70s - which was part of its charm The box was heavy with pizza goodness, complete with a greasy hand print on the cardboard.

Once we opened it up, the pizza did not disappoint. Thick crust with a yellow, egg-bread like flavour (though there was a bit too much around the edges) and a nice layer of golden cheese. There was a good amount of sauce, though the flavouring was somewhat bland. Big pieces of real bacon and mushrooms topped things off. A big dough ball held things in place (just like my beloved Fida's!).

Cost: $24 for large, 2 toppings (pick-up)

Crust - 7/10
Cheese - 8/10
Sauce - 6/10
Toppings - 8/10

Overall Impression - 8/10

A front-runner so far, and worth a repeat visit.

EZPZ Pizza

Since I was down in Old Ottawa South for an errand, I decided to swing by the old Sunnyside pizza corner to check out its newest resident. The corner of Sunnyside and Seneca was the long-time home of Fida's pizza, and a Milano's pizza has now taken its place. The opposite corner has been home to several different places, none of which has been able to last.

The current inhabitant is EZPZ Pizza. I phoned ahead and came to pick-up the pizza. They seem to have lots of pick-up and student specials.

This pizza was much more "chain-style" than the others we've tried. The crust was thinner and crisper, but seemed a bit dry and lacked that nice chewy pizza texture. The toppings were plentiful and there was a decent amount of cheese. There was less substance to this pizza - I ate three slices, instead of my usual two.

Cost: $15 for large, 2 toppings (pick-up)

Crust - 4/10
Cheese - 7/10
Sauce - 7/10
Toppings - 7/10

Overall Impression - 6/10

A pretty nondescript pizza, though the price was right.

Gloria's Pizza

A google browse of local pizza joints turned up Gloria's Pizza on Walkley. This week, we opted for delivery rather than take-out and ordered through Just Eat. Through our email confirmation told us 40 minutes, our pizza arrived about 25 minutes later.

The cheese was nicely well-done and covered the toppings and extended to the edges of the crust. Both the sauce and crust were decent. The biggest disappointment, however, were the toppings - the bacon wasn't real bacon, but rather was a ham-like topping.

Cost: $22.83 (large 2 topping, including $1 for delivery)

Crust - 7/10
Cheese - 7/10
Sauce - 7/10
Toppings - 3/10

Overall impression - 6/10

This was a pretty good pizza, but because of the disappointing bacon-topping, we won't be ordering it again. A plain cheese pizza lover might be more of a fan.

Super Duper Pizza

Located in a little strip mall, the tiny hole in the wall,  Super Duper Pizza claims to be "The Best Pizza You'll Ever Eat". We were excited to see if it would live up to its name.

The box was heavy and as soon as we opened it up, we knew it was a serious pizza. It was layered thick with a very generous amount of cheese. The crust held up well to all the cheese and the toppings (real bacon) and sauce had a nice taste. It was a very filling pizza though, and I could barely eat one and a half slices.

Cost - Around $23 for a two topping large (pick-up)

Crust - 8/10
Cheese - 9/10
Sauce - 8/10
Toppings - 8/10

Overall impression - 8/10

There will be a repeat trip to Super Duper - but only on a night when we are up for a serious pizza!