Crown Grocery & Pizza
1 – 1104 20 Ave. N.W
403-210-2666
Order: House special ($12). A 12-inch medium pizza topped with mushrooms, pepperoni, ham, beef, Italian sausage, black olives, onions and green peppers.
Crust: Unfortunately, the pizza wasn’t cooked all the way through. I’m assuming that this was human error and not the “style” they’re going for, but mine was really underdone. The outside was cooked lightly but the remainder was a soft, doughy, unappealing mess.
Sauce: A simple tomato sauce, with a thick — but not too thick — consistency. It had a decent sweetness, but not much flavour otherwise.
Toppings: The toppings were the highlight of the pie by far. Everything was firmly held in place under a well-browned lid of cheese. I’m not entirely convinced there was any beef, but that was offset by a healthy amount of crumbled Italian sausage. There was a nice balance between vegetables and meat, with a lot of both spread generously.
Dining options: Takeout or delivery.
Decision: I wasn’t aware of the doughy bottom until after leaving Crown’s, and I couldn’t be bothered to return there to get them to re-cook it. Instead, I ate two slices in the interest of my review and pulled the toppings and cheese off the remainder of the wedges. Despite being a reasonably priced pie and the fact that the rest of the dish was good, I simply cannot give a pass to the undercooked base, and therefore, this pizza gets two out of six slices.
Next Up: Boston Pizza
Please email pizza suggestions to darelleats@gmail.com. Follow Darell’s pursuits at twitter.com/darelleats
Comments: 19
McCommunist wrote:
on Jul 15th, 2011 at 8:58am Report Abuse
clouie wrote:
on Jul 15th, 2011 at 9:44am Report Abuse
st.jane wrote:
on Jul 15th, 2011 at 5:38pm Report Abuse
Jim wrote:
LOL, could not agree more. You would think FFWD could find someone who actually knows a little something about pizza... reading this column is like reading a 5-year-old kid's opinion on world politics. :(
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 8:35am Report Abuse
kristasylvester wrote:
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 12:11pm Report Abuse
Darell Hartlen wrote:
I thought I would take a few minutes to try and address a few of the comments. If I miss anything, please let me know or email me directly at darelleats@gmail.com.
There seems to be some concern about the type of places that I am reviewing. My main issue with that is how am I supposed to know if a place is good or not before I try it? Isn't that the point of going, trying and reviewing? One thing that I learned from the Burger Hunt experience is that good food is good food no matter where it comes from. Don't trust any preconceived notions that you might have and go in with an open mind (and stomach). The convenience store pizza could have proven to be a hidden gem (it didn't), and had it, would there still be contention here? Same with Boston Pizza, they're doing something different that I haven't seen elsewhere so I wanted to share the information. Deconstructed perogies on a pizza? Neat!
There have also been comments about the variety of choices. I'm torn on this one... Ideally, trying to find a common pizza ground to try and compare every week sounds like a good idea, but I don't think the column would have any longevity if that was the case. By trying house specials or pizzas with alternate toppings, it helps give an idea of what's out there.
If my budget were greater, I would love to sample more than one pizza at each place or even make return visits to have a better scope on consistency of product, but it's simply not a possibility.
As for not getting to anyone's suggestions, I certainly do apologize. My list of potential places never seems to get any shorter and I really do try and get to places that readers recommend. Please keep them coming!
Again, if I have missed anything, let me know. I truly appreciate the feedback and want to make this the best possible experience for the readers!
Cheers,
Darell
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 12:42pm Report Abuse
st.jane wrote:
Michael's Pizza
Sophie's Pizza on Richmond Road
Vern's Pizza
Atlas Pizza
Bellaroma Pizza
Hanni's Pizza
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 6:34pm Report Abuse
Darell Hartlen wrote:
I'm not trying to sound rude, but Sophie's and Atlas have already been done (they are the archives) and Vern's and Hanni's I did as a full restaurant reviews a few years ago (and also in the archives). That being said, I do intend to try both for Pizza Pursuit in good time.
I will also make sure that Bellaroma and Michael's are on my to do list going forward. Do you have any specific recommendations at either?
Cheers and thanks,
Darell
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 8:04pm Report Abuse
bohunk wrote:
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 8:18pm Report Abuse
st.jane wrote:
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 9:58pm Report Abuse
st.jane wrote:
PS. I enjoy your love of food Darrell, keep it up regardless of the dissent!!
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 11:06pm Report Abuse
Harju1 wrote:
on Jul 30th, 2011 at 9:02pm Report Abuse
st.jane wrote:
...but give me a break, Boston Pizza does not an interesting column make. You should have stopped at "column a glance".
on Jul 30th, 2011 at 10:19pm Report Abuse
clouie wrote:
on Aug 3rd, 2011 at 9:57am Report Abuse
mattmasters wrote:
on Aug 8th, 2011 at 6:03pm Report Abuse
SchulzJoel wrote:
I live one block from Crown and if you ask Iftikar, the owner, to make it traditionally, light cheese, all the toppings on top and not to excess, you will get a fabulous pizza. If you order it Calgary style, everything slopped on, then expect the worst because that is not pizza.
Boston Pizza, Pizza Hut, Wicked Wedge, and just about every other venue do not have a clue. Crust that falls over and is not crisp is disgusting. Deep dish is Yankee pizza.
on Aug 11th, 2011 at 11:51pm Report Abuse
st.jane wrote:
Boston Pizza is disgusting, even the name is ridiculous. If you need gluten free, don't eat pizza when you are travelling in small town Canada. Why not hit a family owned restaurant instead?
on Aug 14th, 2011 at 12:34am Report Abuse
clouie wrote:
on Aug 19th, 2011 at 3:01pm Report Abuse
st.jane wrote:
on Aug 20th, 2011 at 1:36am Report Abuse
Post comment: (Login or Register)