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Pita Pies Better Than Pizza?

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Fabulous folded pita pie and brisket sandwich at Doughlicious

Doughlicious does a lot of things well. First and foremost, it’s a northeast Calgary Mediterranean market, selling big bags of fresh-baked pitas, baklava and all manner of Middle Eastern groceries.

It’s half Middle Eastern market, half restaurant

For its mouthwatering Friday and Saturday 11 am barbecues, it serves applewood-smoked brisket and roasted chicken platters. It even deep fries made-to-order little doughnut balls.

They even deep fry, made-to-order mini doughnuts

But what keeps me coming back is the huge, chewy pita pies, with more than a dozen toppings—ranging from a basic zaatar (a steal of a lunch deal $4) to my roasted red pepper and cheese mumhmara ($6.99). And how’s this for a mashup: a shish tawock, featuring roast chicken, fries and garlic sauce wrapped in a pita?

How about chicken and fries wrapped in a fresh pita?

Now that I think about it, a good pita pie is a poor man’s pizza, costing about one quarter the price of an upscale, thin-crust pie. So why not also check out the longstanding Village Pita Bakery in the city’s northeast, where you can grab a pizza-sized meat pie for only $5.25.

A pizza-sized meat pie at Village Pita Bakery

If you want to go hog wild, order an additional covering of grated cheese for an extra $3.75. Or, for $9.00, get a fresh spinach and feta cheese pita. To really stretch your wings, consider toppings of zattar spices or strained yogurt (labneh). And don’t forget to grab a bag of fresh-baked pitas.

Doughlicious
4140 6 Street NE, Calgary
Monday to Saturday 9 am-7 pm, Sunday 9 am-4 pm
403-230-5160

Village Pita Bakery
208, 255 28 Street NE, Calgary
Monday to Saturday 8 am-7 pm, Sunday 9 am-5 pm
403-273-0330

Great New Calgary Bakery is Just a Millo Away

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Millo Millo Bake Shop is a fine new bakery in Calgary’s Killarney neighbourhood

It’s great to see an upscale bakery just open in my neighbourhood. Millo Millo Bake Shop is an elegant space on Killarney’s busy 37 Street SW, a 2-kilometre drive from my house.

It offers a wide range of baked goods, from croissants and Earl Grey scones to loaves of sourdough bread, bagel sandwiches (starting at $12) and high black forest cakes.

Mostly sourdough loaves

I start modestly with a lovely, chewy pretzel bagel ($3.75) and a local Chronicle-roasted coffee. After all, it’s a short drive for repeat visits.

A nice, chewy pretzel bagel

This little pocket of 37 Street is becoming a bit of food scene, with Freo Breakfast & Lunch next door and Balkan-based Erina Bakery around the corner.

Millo Millo Bake Shop
3003 37 Street SW, Calgary
Wednesday to Saturday 8 am-4 pm, Sunday 9 am-4 pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday
587-353-0777

Calgary’s Best Pizzerias: It’s a New Culture

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UNA Pizza delivers a perfect margherita

The votes are in (just mine count). Here are my five best Calgary pizza picks, also reflecting my thin-crust bias.

5. UNA Pizza + Wine
618 17 Avenue SW and four other Calgary locations

At the vanguard of the thin-crust movement in Calgary 15 years ago, UNA has since expanded to five city locations. A dozen blistered-crust offerings are complemented with a mountainous kale Caesar salad topped with crispy prosciutto and a hard-boiled egg.

4. Coco Brooks
649 42 Avenue SE and two other Calgary locations

Not so much a guilty pleasure as a three-decade love affair, I always order the hearty, one-person scrambled egg ’n bacon pizza ($11.43), served in a little cardboard box.

Perfectly pleasing egg ‘n bacon pizza at Coco Brooks

3. Azzurri Pizzeria
2404B Edmonton Trail NE

This is old-school Napoletana pizza, from the 00 flour dough to the Riccioppo family that runs this cozy joint.

Fabulous blistered crust at Azzurri Pizzeria

2. Noble Pie
Back alley, 720 11 Avenue SW

Noble Pie transitioned from a brewpub pop-up to a back-alley Beltline location. No matter. The cool kids are all over this delightful spot, lining up for a 4 pm opening.

And the winner is…

  1. Pizza Culture
    1114 Centre Street North

It’s not just me who loves Pizza Culture. It’s a certified Napoletana pizzeria and has been named the 96th best pizza place in the world. Bonus: The sourdough crust is perfectly blistered in 90 seconds in the 900-F wood-fired oven.

90 seconds in Pizza Culture’s wood-fired oven and it’s done

Best Calgary Pizzas: Azzurri Pizzeria

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Fabulous blistered crust at Azzurri Pizzeria

Azzurri is old-school Napoletana pizza, from the 00-flour thin crust to the dough tossing to the 900-degree brick oven. The resulting blistered crust is perhaps the best in Calgary. What puts this little spot over the top is the wonderful family ownership of mama Terry and sons Allesandro and Faustino Ricioppo.

Azzurri is very much a family operation

There are 13, 12-inch pizza styles on offer, many featuring San Marzano tomato sauce, fior di latte, prosciutto and, in the case of my Italia ($29.50), house-made spicy sausage. As you can see, the prices are a little on the high side. 

Azzurri Pizzeria
2404B Edmonton Trail NE
Tuesday to Saturday 4 pm-9 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday
403-299-8774

Coco Brooks: The Little Pizza Joint That Keeps Delivering Big

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Perfectly pleasing egg ‘n bacon pizza at Coco Brooks

It’s been more than 20 years since I discovered Coco Brooks, the little personal pizza-in-a-box joint in southeast Calgary. Each time I go (about every two years), I order the same thing: a marvellously fluffy scrambled egg ‘n bacon pie hot from the oven. Trust me, it works.

An efficient, no-frills operation

At $11.43, it’s a bargain for four thick slices that can easily keep me going for two meals.

Coco Brooks
640 42 Avenue SE, and two other Calgary locations
Monday to Saturday 9 am-7:30 pm
403-243-2677

A Noble Pizza

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Back-alley entrance to Noble Pie

It can be kinda hard to get into Noble Pie. First, you have to find the popular Beltline pizza joint—down an alley or, like me, by walking through the adjacent Cookbook Company store.

I still get there at the crack of the 4 pm Saturday opening, only to discover a line of 10 people ahead of me. Sorry, no reservations, no cash, just a waitlist or an online takeout order, perhaps from the night before.

No matter. If you make pizza this good, people will find you. Even a senior like me, sharing the darkened space and rap soundtrack with a crowd 40 years younger and a bustling crew of pizza chefs and servers.

No bright lights here

Noble offers a couple of nibbles, a worthy Caesar salad and some wine and canned beer; I didn’t see any beer taps. But it’s really all about the pizzas—from the constantly evolving, blistered crust to high-end toppings— that keep flying out of the oven.

Of the 11 pizzas on offer, I choose a 13-inch Sweet Cheesus pie ($24). It’s a marvelous melding of tomato sauce, aged and fresh mozzarella, caciocavallo, grana Padano, pecorino, Sicilian oregano and drizzled hot honey. Six generous slices of chewy bliss.

Sweet Cheesus Pizza

Noble started as a pop-up pizzeria in Eighty-Eight Brewing in southeast Calgary. Four years ago, owners Mike Lange and Leslie Lamont moved to this back-alley location.

Noble Pie
Back alley 720 11 Avenue SW, Calgary
Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday 4pm-9pm, Friday-Saturday 4 pm- 10 pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday
Text 403-536-4075