The Open Banana: The Pizza in Calgary

When I first moved to Calgary, the only thing more shocking to me than the eggrolls (don't get me started) was the pizza. A friend of mine from back home ranted and raved about Pizza 73. Yeah... its cheap, but very mediocre chain pizza. That's not what I was looking for, though in my confused state of affairs I did settle on Chicago Deep Dish as my favorite pizza chain in Calgary. I also tried some small ma & pops shops and was equally disappointed. When I moved downtown, I gleefully noted a "Pizza & Steak House" (another Calgary institution) underneath my building. Naturally, I picked up a pizza and.... what?? Why is the sauce sweet? Why is there so much cheese? Why is the pepperoni so thick? Why is this so expensive!?!

So I did some research on Chowhound. Calgary pizza is what many foodies refer to as "Calgary-Greek-Style" pizza. This style of pizza has a not-as-greasy-as-Pizza-Hut pan crust. The pizza is thick. All the toppings go under the cheese, and the pizzas tend to be heavy on the toppings.

The sauce is often spiked with a little cinnamon or something sweet... which is undoubtedly the workings of Greek fingers. Alternatively, some sauces speak more of oregano, and it is quite common to have pizza offerings that use a meat sauce. I have to admit, I originally was not a fan of this style of pizza and longed for the pies back home. But I've put in my hours and have acquired a taste for it.

What really made me scratch my head is the menu system. Here is a pizza menu that is virtually identical to every other pizza menu in the city. Please note that there are thin crust joints and other styles of pizza in Calgary, but this blog is solely dedicated to the Calgary-Greek-Style, which I think best represents what Calgary pizza uniquely is, and what I would tell somebody to eat if they wanted to know what pizza was like in Calgary.

Okay, so what is the deal with the numbered system? Surely you don't need to dedicate a slot on your menu to "Ham" .... or "Mushroom, Green Pepper". I'm pretty sure I could come up with that myself, and I would just ask for a pizza with mushroom and green pepper. This whole thing is pointless. All you need to do is show the pricing for a plain cheese pizza and the cost of additional toppings, and then show what the additional toppings are, and if the customer isn't a complete retard I'm pretty sure they will be able to figure out how to order.

Most menus do get more interesting at the bottom of the list, where they showcase pizzas like:

But who are Paul and Jim? Why are these two pizzas basically identical with minor ingredient substitutions? Usually these "pack on everything" pizzas would include shrimp. Here is something strange:. I come from a land of fresh and local seafood, but you will NEVER see shrimp on a pizza. Whereas here in this landlocked cattle town, there is shrimp on pizza like it's going out of style! ... and I never knew it was in style. Especially when you use those canned salad shrimp... ewwww! I tried it once and my pizza tasted fishy. There's anchovies for that, if that is your desired effect.

Calgarians also like to order dipping sauce with their pizza. Things like ... ranch dressing. They really like to smother ranch dressing on everything here in cowtown.

Okay, I'm almost done complaining about Calgary pizza. My next complaint: It's expensive!! Since it's so thick, the sizes tend to run smaller... so whereas normally a large pizza would be a 16", in Calgary a large is a 12" and it will cost you at least $20. It's usually very filling, though. Calgary is expensive in general. If you don't like it, you can eat Pizza 73 and drink Lucky Lager.

I have differentiated three types of places to get this pizza.
1) The Pizza & Steak House. I don't know if these exist outside of Calgary... but think of it like, a bunch of Greeks came to Calgary and instead of opening up diners, they opened up these. Probably because Calgary is known for steak. Besides pizza and steak, the menus unfailingly feature Veal Cutlets, Veal and Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Cordon Bleu and some pretty basic pasta. Example: Nicks.
2) The Pizza & Sports Bar. Example: Atlas.
3) Greek restaurants that serve pizza. Probably better put, these are pizza restaurants that serve Greek food. Example: Manies.

Now what we've all been waiting for! Some pictures of pies!

Atlas Pizza & Sports Bar. On Memorial... kind of off the beaten trail, but it has many, many fans. Yeah, they wouldn't deliver to me. I had to get a friend to drive me there. And... I might do it again. The golden cheese and crust is the best part of this place, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I ordered less toppings. This was a vegetarian and all those vegetables piled beneath the cheese were just a burden to me. Next time: plain cheese or plain pepperoni.

Dimitris Pizza in Kensington. This is loaded with toppings and it looks like a disaster but it was very, very enjoyable. I actually enjoyed it more than my plainer spinach & feta pizza I got from there, which I will also show because it is more aesthetically pleasing.

Check out the big cloves of garlic located in the middle of this pizza. Yum! - if you like garlic!

Manies Pizzeria & Greek Cuisine on 17th Ave SW. People say this is the best pizza in Calgary. I say it's overpriced and not even that tasty. I am particularly not a big fan of the crust.

4th St. Pizza in Mission. Not as thick as the others (or maybe I just didn't put that many toppings on it) but this was really good. This was one of my favorites.

Spiros Pizza. This was my favorite to date. See how the cheese is baked crispy and golden on the crust? The sauce has that sweet spice in it here, which I normally don't like, but this pizza was just so perfect.

Sophies Pizza. I heard that these people were originally part of the Spiros crew, but I can't be sure. The pizza is similarly amazing, but the sauce favours oregano over cinnamon. The crust doesn't look as good either, but I swear this was an all around good pie.

Inglewood Pizza... in ... Inglewood. But they delivered to me downtown. This place actually placed 3rd in this year's FFWD "Best of" edition for the pizza category, and was the only Greek-style place to make the cut. But I've had this pizza and it doesn't make my top 3. There was something not quite right about the crust.

Paul's Pizza and Steak House. Downtown. They got something sweet in that sauce and thick cut pepperoni. I think you can even get the meat sauce and pastrami on your pie. But the crust here just doesn't do it for me, and when it comes to Calgary-style pizza... it's all about the crust and cheese.

Nick's Pizza and Steakhouse. This is a well known Calgary institution. I was not at all impressed by the pizza.... this isn't even Greek-style! Just very lackluster.

This picture is no good, but a friend took it on their phone for me before I realized I should be better prepared for my Calgary pizza research. This is Ogden Pizza & Pub, and it's actually pretty good for being out in Ogden (not that Atlas has a better location). The sauce is flavoured with oregano, and everything was satisfactory, except for when I tried the shrimps on my pizza and it tasted fishy.

My Top 3:

1) Spiros

2) Sophies

3) 4th St.

Runners Up are Dimitris and Atlas.

Spiros Website

Sophies Website