Montreal style pizza

[Pigurd]

I am sorry if it is posted somewhere around here already, but i cant seem to find...

Which pizza places have what people refer to as "Montreal style pizza" and more importantly, which one does it decent?

i think it is the type where the cheese is on top of everything, and crust is thick

[everyonelovessushi]

While in Chania 25 years ago there was a restaurant that advertised "Canadian Pizza". Never had it , since the last thing I want in Greece is Canadian food.
Montreal pizza to me is the super heavy pizza with a ball of cooked dough in the middle to keep the flimsy box top propped up off the cheese. Does any pizza place actually use dough instead of the horrible plastic device?

[hungryann]

Lots of places throughout Greece have Canadian style pizza because of Greek Canadians moving back and opening pizzerias similar to the ones here. I never tried it either though because there are way better things to eat when I am there.
With respect to the ball of dough in the middle, if memory serves, I think Pendeli's and maybe Ouest Antonio's still serve them that way.

[BLM]

Pendeli's on Van Horne still has it at last check about a year ago or so. Not sure of the other Pendeli's location(I don't think the Pendeli's locations are connected in their curent incarnations).

[SnackHappy]

In the poor franco neighbourhoods almost all of the places still have the dough ball in the middle.

[eatwell]

Agree too! Sounds like Houston pizza in Regina,Sask. ex-Regina folks have been known to have it airlifted to their new locations. Funny, 'cause it's everywhere.

[Pigurd]

i searched but there were just so much options... seems like its hard for people to agree on pizza places

does anyone know a name of one near the fairmont queen elizabeth hotel?

[maisonbistro]

That's probably because there is no such as as Montreal style pizza.

[SnackHappy]

There is very much such a thing as Montreal pizza. It's the thick cheesy, tangy, pepperoni overloaded pizza served in all the greek owned delis in the province of Quebec. It has the pepperoni under the cheese and the other toppings on top. The usual set of toppings is pepperoni, mushroom and green pepper also known as all-dressed. It is something unique to this region and can therefore be called Montreal-style.

I'm surprised you've never heard of it.

[thelonious777]

I'm not buying it. I'll give you that its more or less distinctive to Montreal to call the pepperoni, mushroom and green pepper combo "all-dressed" but the pizza you describe is widely available throughout North America and, in my mind, there is nothing distinctive about the way it's prepared here (unless it's the unfortunate practice of referring to a relatively mild salami with a diameter of 3" as pepperoni).

It could just as easily be called Winnipeg-style pizza.

[amelie1980]

I agree, I've never heard of "Montreal-style" pizza. The best pizza in Montreal, in my opinion, is the white at Amelio's, but that's another story. :)

[Shattered]

Agreed. It's the same as any mediocre pizza coast-to-coast. Heck, I'm of the opinion that the best QPR for pizza here comes from Delisio.

[The Chemist]

"It could just as easily be called Winnipeg-style pizza."

Let's not get nasty now...

Although, I agree with you that pizza here is not distinct enough to be a 'style'.

[tombombadillo]

New York style pizza is much different

[carswell]

Don't have a dog in this race (the mere thought of researching gooey, greasy North American pizzas makes me queasy) but there's a lot of support for your position out there. For example:

Q&A about Montreal-style pizzas: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/55911

Couple of pizza shops in BC that offer Montreal-style pizzas:
http://www.411.ca/business/British-Columbia/North-Vancouver/Veneto-Pizza/396534.html
http://www.weblocal.ca/mambo-gourmet-pizza-nanaimo-bc.html

"I'm a strong believer in the merits of Montreal style pizza (different from NY, like bagels, it is a seperate entity).": http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/09/di-fara-pizza-and-exaggeration-that.html#112664321145345769

Query about Montreal-style pizza in TO: http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210839

And including this choice if possibly apocryphal story: "I read once in a book on Canadian money-laundering. the author claimed that back in the day, the Montreal mob laundered its money through a string of meat-processing plants (or some such), and forced Montreal pizza parlors to all purchase excessive amounts of pepperoni. The pizza places all had such stockpiles of pepperoni that they took to hiding it under the cheese to conceal how much of the stuff they put on their pies. This led to Montreal-style pizza, in which toppings are hidden under the crust."
- www.metafilter.com/78598/A-laymans-gu...

[TheSnowpea]

As someone who studied at Université de Sherbrooke, I can report there is a Sherbrooke style way of serving pizza: with butter containers on the side, so you can butter up your pizza crusts...

Two decades later and I still recall how appalled I was! LOL So I suppose there could be regional styles...

[bomobob]

Uh-oh, not this again:)

Just do a search for pizza, and you'll find endless discussions.

[kpzoo]

Hiya, no lack of Montreal-style pizza in Montreal. Check out:

Best Montreal style pizza?
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/530380

Other threads comparing Mtl-style to other styles, with more suggestions:

Montreal Pizza
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/97595

Best pizza in MTL
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/369745