You can’t go wrong with pizza. Though it seems you can top this default comfort food with just about anything, most restaurant pizza menus stick to tried and true ingredients. But the following restaurants take ’za in wild, new directions, offering toppings from donair meat and eggs to taco ingredients.
Seniore’s donair and shawarma pizzas are the perfect late-night indulgence. These meaty pies are topped with beef donair meat or chicken shawarma, sweet sauce and cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Be forewarned, this pizza creation is meant for big appetites. The takeout pizzeria also sells pizza by the slice and has a few seats by the counter for those stopping in for a bite. Seniore’s is open until 2 am during the week and until 4 am Fridays and Saturdays.
Shiraz Persian Cuisine’s Mehdi Rashidian has created his own unique pizzas, and they’re the only non-traditional Persian dish on the Centre Street Northeast restaurant’s menu. These 14 Persian pies are topped with saffron rice and various combinations of ingredients. The saffron chicken breast pizza won top honours at Pizza Pigout, an annual citywide pizza contest and fundraiser. The kashk-e-bademjon (eggplant dip) pizza is also a big hit.
Adventurously Asian, the banh mi pizza at Beer Revolution is topped with Vietnamese braised short rib as well as pickled carrot and daikon, jalapeno peppers, mozzarella, fontina, sriracha mayo and cilantro. Further unique creations include a chicken-wing pizza, chicken-Caesar pizza and The Southpaw, which is topped with salami, crispy kale and pepperoni. Also recommended, the Blazing Saddle is topped with blackened steak, bacon, horseradish aioli and white cheddar.
Located on Calgary’s 17th Avenue Southwest strip, Una serves California-inspired cuisine primarily including delicious thin-crust pizzas. Among them, The Californian is topped with spinach, a sliced free-range egg, cheese, organic cream, black pepper and shaved pecorino cheese. As well, the four-maggi pizza is topped with four types of cheese, truffle oil and honey, and the tiki pizza is topped with prosciutto cotto, shaved pineapple, tomato sauce, friulano and jalapeno oil.
For a Mexican twist, try the taco pizza at Vern’s Pizza. This Latin beauty is topped with seasoned ground beef or chicken as well as taco chips, tomatoes, green peppers, cheddar cheese and, of course, salsa. You’ll find Vern’s locations across the Prairies, including one in Millrise and another in Radisson Heights.
Pizza Bob’s pies feature some splashy and savoury ingredients. Try the smoked salmon pizza topped with cold-smoked Pacific salmon, red peppers, capers and dill and served on a cream-cheese crust. Also recommended, the barbecue chipotle pulled pork pizza features a garlic-butter crust topped with pulled pork, mushrooms, peppers, caramelized onions and cheddar.
Combining two satisfying comfort dishes in one pie, the Ebbets Field Pizza at Brooklyn Pizzeria is topped with perogy ingredients. Its garlic-butter crust is topped with sliced baby potatoes, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream, chives and mozzarella. Another adventurous option is the meaty Brooklyn Crawler Pizza, which is topped with tomato sauce, crumbled meatballs, fire-roasted bell peppers, olives, artichokes and mozzarella. The pizzeria is located in the northwest community of Royal Oak.
Cibo serves up a family-style, Italian food. Adventurous bacon lovers will appreciate the wild boar bacon pizza. It’s topped with wild boar bacon, fennel salami, smoked pancetta and house-made sausage. Also recommended, the pear pizza is topped with gorgonzola, walnuts and honey. The eatery’s regular-menu pizzas are half price during its late-night pizza happy hour, which starts nightly at one hour prior to closing.
What could make pizza even better? More cheese, of course. Head to Supreme Pizza to indulge in a pie topped with Indian paneer cheese. Get a ranch paneer pizza that’s topped with vegetables and paneer tossed in ranch dressing or the classic paneer pizza, which is topped with even more vegetables and paneer tossed in a tomato-based sauce. Also recommended, try the butter chicken pizza.
Spot On Kitchen & Bar serves contemporary thin-crust pizzas as well as classic pizzeria-style Karouzo Family Pizza. The restaurant’s Perogy Pitsa Pizza features a garlic-butter crust topped with mashed potatoes, spicy Spolumbo’s sausage, bacon, cheddar, mozzarella and green onions. It’s served with sour cream. The restaurant also serves the Bruce Lee Pizza topped with teriyaki chicken, red onion pineapple, mozzarella, sesame seeds and green onions.