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
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
Over the next week, Calgary tourists and residents will be scrambling to choose from dozens of free Stampede breakfasts. If you need some guidance, the slam-dunk winner is the marvellous Ismaili Muslim breakfast July 12.
But you still need to eat lunch (maybe) and dinner. How about pizza? Not the greasy slices on the Stampede grounds, but the best artisan pies in the city.
Sorry if you’re a fan of deep dish or New York or Chicago styles, but this is my list, and I prefer thin, blistered crusts, with one exception. I’ve just reviewed Pizza Culture and will be covering four more pizzerias in the next few days, culminating in a declared winner. Here is the first of the other contenders.
I’ve been told the margherita is the perfect test for judging a pizzeria. That’s because its simple ingredients can’t hide under a bombardment of toppings or distract from the primacy of the crust. In fact, I’d happily chew an unadorned crust if it meets that high standard.
Which brings me to Calgary’s UNA Pizza + Wine. It aces the margherita test with only five ingredients: certified San Morzano tomato sauce, fior di latte, grana Padano, basil oil and Maldon salt. There’s still ample room on the edges for chewing the slightly blistered, thin California-style crust.
Marvellous margherita at UNA Pizza
UNA offers 11 other pizza styles, with toppings ranging from fennel sausage and roasted cremini mushrooms to smoked mozzarella. Make sure to leave room for a famous, mountainous kale Caesar salad, topped with crispy prosciutto and a hard-boiled egg.
Note: Both the margherita pizza and a small Caesar salad are available at the happy-hour prices of $10.50 and $7.50, respectively, from 2-5 pm and after 9 pm.
UNA has grown to seven, mostly Calgary, locations, since it opened on 17 Avenue SW in 2010.
Broadcast is one of five UNA locations in Calgary
UNA Pizza + Wine 618 17 Avenue SW and four other Calgary locations Opens daily at 10:45 am 403-453-1183
Perfectly blistered sourdough crust at Calgary’s Pizza Culture
I’m fast, ordering a roasted mushroom pizza as soon as I’m seated at Pizza Culture in north-centre Calgary. Thanks online research!
But apparently not fast enough. By the time I’ve read the other 22 pizza descriptions in the menu, my 12-inch pie has been delivered, thanks to a giant 900 Fahrenheit wood-fired oven that perfectly blisters the sourdough crust in 90 seconds.
Opened in 2020, Pizza Culture has fast climbed the ranks, earning coveted Napoletana certification status and being named 96th best pizzeria in the world.
Pizza Culture is in a brightly-lit space with an expansive, shaded patio
It covers all the pizza bases, from a standard marinara to ricotta truffle to n’duja. You can even grab a fresh-baked loaf of sourdough bread to take with you.
Pizza Culture 1114 Centre Street North, Calgary 403-277-4900
Slow-roasted tandoori chicken at Calgary’s Masala Bhavan
As I place my order at compact Masala Bhavan, I’m advised the tandoori chicken, marinated overnight, will take 15-20 minutes to roast in a clay oven. Fine by me; just means my meal is being made to order.
It’s a big, sizzling platter of food—four messy bone-in legs for $16, rounded out by four chewy pieces of naan and a refreshing goblet of butter milk.
Fragrant butter milk is new to me
Masala Bhavan is a celebration of South Indian cuisine, with a Red Seal chef crafting a menu ranging from the familiar butter chicken to the more exotic uttapam (rice-lentil pancakes) to paratha bread.
Masala Bhavan Express 103, 45 Greenbriar Drive NW, and one other Calgary location Opens 11:30 am Monday and Wednesday to Friday and noon on weekends. Closed Tuesday 403-534-1034
Don’t know why, but the word “authentic” is tied to Mexican cuisine like barnacles to a boat. You don’t hear much about authentic Korean food or authentic French fare. But Mexican without the attached “a” word is like fries without ketchup. I’m not even certain what authentic means, especially in a country that must boast a dozen regional cuisines.
Sure enough, Mestizo Taqueria uses “authentic” in describing the Mexican street food served in its Calgary restaurant in Kensington. But it then translates “mestizo” as a person of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry who, in this case, creates a fusion of flavours.
The family who owns the taqueria hails from Mexico City, which no doubt has its culinary peculiarities. But for me, “tastes great” trumps authenticity just about any day. And I must say, Mestizo boasts Calgary’s best tacos, which come in 19 styles, all served on corn tortillas.
One of many tacos (right) on offer at Mestizo Taqueria
My lengua (tongue) taco tastes much better than it sounds; the fried pork intestines will have to wait a braver day. My favourite taco is the suadero ($6.50), featuring slow-braised beef brisket, sauteed onions and a delightful, spicy arbol salsa.
Mestizo is down a 10th Street alley, up a steep flight of stairs and in a little dining room, where customers are serenaded with festive Mexican music. Didn’t ask if it was authentic.
Mestizo is off a Kensington laneway
Mestizo Taqueria 124 10 Street NW and one Calgary food market Monday to Wednesday 11:30 am-9 pm, Thursday to Saturday 11:30 am-10 pm. Closed Sunday 825-365-8607
With a name of Tacos Mexico, it’s not surprising this popular southeast Calgary restaurant does Mexican street-style tacos two dozen ways. Allowing me to test standards, like birria and brisket, and new-to-me marinated cactus ($13 for four). All first-rate stuff, doused with hot sauce and cradled in double, corn tortillas.
Tacos Mexico is an adjust-your-eyes to the gloom spot along busy Macleod Trail Southeast. It doesn’t matter. The place is hopping at lunch, attracting, I’m guessing, local workers, many speaking Spanish.
The darkened interior doesn’t deter the faithful at Tacos Mexico
Tacos Mexico 3725 Memorial Drive SE Opens 11 am Tuesday to Friday, noon on weekends. Closed Monday 403-457-6117
The days of $1 tacos at a rusty Mexican food truck, in the southwest U.S., are long gone. But I’ve found a way to partly turn back the clock, at Native Tongues Taqueria in Calgary’s Britannia neighbourhood.
It’s called happy hour. Between 2 and 4 pm weekdays, the Mexican restaurant offers its delightful tacos for 25 per cent off.
So on a quiet midday Thursday, I ordered a small meal of three tacos. One was a barria: braised beef in adobo sauce. Two a cochinita pibil: braised pork with achiote and pickled onions. Third, deep-fried haddock with chipotle mayo.
Happy-hour tacos at Native Tongues
Fabulous, messy stuff, with a cloth napkin to wipe up the spillage. All for the happy-hour price of $12.67.
Understated elegance at Native Tongues
Native Tongues Taqueria 829 49 Avenue SW and two other Calgary locations Daiy 11:30 am-10 pm 403-454-8976
Marathon Mouth 