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

Una Pizza is Never Enough

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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 

Gourmet Pizza in 90 Seconds

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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