Back in high school, when glaciers were advancing, some friends and I once experimented with bizarre toppings for home-baked pizza. Peanut butter, I recall, was one such ingredient, as were marshmallows, ketchup and mustard.

The results were about as bad as you’d imagine. But I never lost that zest for experimentation or, as a road-food warrior, the impulse to order something original off a menu.

So when I read an article about a Calgary restaurant offering a dill-pickle pizza—and developing a cult-like following for it—I had to give it a try.

Pizza Face has been around a while, as a pop-up establishment in various locations around town. Two months ago, owners Mike Garth and Tony Migliarese opened a more permanent location inside longstanding health food store Community Natural Foods.

Pizza Face’s eclectic pizza menu ranges from high-end standards such as pepperoni and margherita to “cheeseburger” and specials like black truffles—all served on a blistered, puffy crust fresh from the high-temperature oven.

But it’s the Mike’s Big Pickle (12-inch, $19) that outsells everything else. It features garlic cream, mozzarella, olive oil and fresh dill. Oh, and a whack of sliced dill pickles.

So, how does it taste? A little astringent and certainly crunchy, offsetting the softer, chewier other ingredients. In all, a lot better than I expected. Give it a try.

The dill-pickle pizza was also my introduction to DoorDash delivery. As a rule, I prefer pick up or delivery by the restaurant, eliminating the often high fees charged by large-scale delivery services.

But I didn’t feel like driving close to rush hour. And Pizza Face’s delivery service is DoorDash. I must say, the sign up was quick and the pizza delivered to my door (free, plus optional driver tip) in just over 30 minutes.

Pizza Face
1304 10 Avenue SW, Calgary (inside Community Natural Foods)
Monday to Saturday noon-9 pm, Sunday noon-7 pm.
Pick up 587-585-8669