Tag Archives: Pizza Calgary

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