I have a couple of go-to websites that I look at daily and they are BLOG TO and the other is TORONTO LIFE.  Like all forms of social media you have to make your own judgments, however what I look for is articles on new types of food/restaurants, real estate and events happening in the city.  I recently read one about a new restaurant on College Street called “Danny’s Pizza Kitchen.  One of the things that caught my eye was this paragraph…..

“Danny’s does classic American dining. The signature dish is tavern pie, a thin crust–style pizza cut into small squares, popular in midwestern cities like Chicago and St. Louis. And a lot of the other menu items have a distinct American sensibility: burgers, french fries, caesar salad, mozzarella sticks.”

I used to travel to the mid-west frequently and finding places that had “tavern pizza” was always high on the list.  I made a reservation and my trusty assistant chef (Ms. Sheila) accompanied me on this journey.  It’s located in what is considered as “Little Italy” or what is known as the original Italian restaurant row in the city.  Now, that has clearly changed and you could easily point out a number of other areas that would be more reflective of places to go for Italian food.

Because they just had this review I was pleased that we could get a reservation (weeknight).  It’s located at 611 College Street, just down the street from another old school classic pizza joint called Cafe Diplomatico.  A well visited place and one I’ve written about before.

They have seats for 38 inside and about 24 outside in the front.  The front patio is not a permanent patio (I don’t think).  It looks like something that a number of places have built to help them keep things going during the time when Covid shut everything down.  I applaud the city for doing this for an industry that was hit extremely hard by the shut downs and continue to struggle especially downtown.  

We were seated quite promptly and service was very good.  The menu has a number of items on the menu including of course what we came for - the pizza.  If pizza is not what your looking for you can get things like chicken, a tavern burger and shrimp scampi.  A table near us had the chicken and looked great.  My only negative is the wine list - the choices for a single glass were limited. Very good selections if you wanted a bottle but for a single glass it was only a wine from Austria and one from Portugal.  I would add at the very least a Cabernet and something from Italy.  Come on - we’re having pizza!

The decor is interesting with the main seats at the front and more seating along the side beside the bar.  Here is what Toronto Life had to say….

Back in May, Barna and Hopkins took out a five-year lease on the space formerly occupied by Virtuous Pizza, which came with a pizza oven. Most of the 1,400-square-foot interior needed an overhaul, so they got to work, adding wood-panel walls and finger-flute banquettes. For the decor, Barna and Hopkins borrowed inspiration from classic American taverns: candles, stained glass, paintings, family photos.

“We’re trying to create something that feels warm, cozy and lived in, not austere and frigid,” says Barna. “We made sure that most of the pieces on the wall had some sort of personal significance to us. It would have felt disingenuous to go on Amazon for a week and stuff this place with crap.”

We had a small hiccup with the salad because we asked for no anchovies and when they brought the salad the assistant chef - Sheila, commented there was no dressing on it?  We asked the server and I guess the anchovies are in the dressing so they took it back and made us a new one.  All worked out.  As you can see from the picture the pizza looked and tasted amazing.  I’m giving it a 4.5/5 - one of the best.  We didn’t have any dessert and the bill was very reasonable.  The real test is “would I go back”?  And the answer is a strong yes.  I suggest you give it a try on your own.

So…that’s it. Not a long one but that’s okay. Till the next time!