Ottawa Foodies

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Colonnade on Bank street (Blue Heron Mall)
It's not really traditional or artisan, but I like Colonnade when I feel like a "Canadian Style" pizza.

i.e. A little greasy with lots of cheese (on top of everything else), simple tomato sauce, and a slightly bready crust.

The crust does tend to burn on the very edge however.

Reminds me of Small Town Hockey Arena Pizza, in a good way.

Indeed Ken V, I knew I would get snagged on that.. I agree with you that deep dish like Lou Mantrana's in Chicago has an incredibly rich, thick and fatty crust with a buttery - oily base.

I ran out of room in my comment, but I should have clarified that the deep dish pizzas I enjoy are the ones with a more standard New York pizza dough - or at least somewhere in the middle between a classic deep dish (flaky) crust and a crispier one: a hybrid.

Thank you for clarifying this! I Did not want anyone to be mislead, I prefer New York and Neapolitan style pizzas. Never would I go to pizza hut.

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Hey Ottawa Food Guys Chicago pizza is usually deep dish and the crust as you state it "While it was not doughy on the inside like a thick Chicago crust" is not doughy at all but rather flaky formed into a dish and filled like a pie. You might be thinking of Pizza Hut deep dish not Chigago pizza.

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A few weeks ago marked a very important gathering for my family. There were approximately 60 of us crammed in the back of the modest downtown location at 280 Metcalfe and Gilmour. Many things were good about this restaurant, while MANY others could make you cringe.I will ever return.

My thoughts are as follows:

To start it all off, the taste of the food we ate was average, it could not suit all types of pizza lovers. It is not light at all.

Our first course was a large Caesar salad, which seemed pretty average. The crisp romaine seemed somewhat fresh. I appreciated their use of non-Kraft Parmesan - it seemed like "the real stuff". They used crunchy croutons, and crispy bacon crumble, not the meatless cheap bacon bits you always find in fast-food joints with croutons were not cheap flakey rocks.

What I did not appreciate was abig piece of plastic in the salad! It seemed like the corner or bottom of a bag, or even a sausage casing. It was all shrivelled up and beyond unappetizing! In my mind, this could be seen as an accident of the negligent kitchen staff while unpacking the lettuce, or even shaking it to distribute dressing evenly in a bag. On the other end of the spectrum, it could be a careless accident or even a food mix up. Never the less, this really grossed me out!

The servers were nice, but due to the restaurants noisy atmosphere, were seeminglydeaf. They also took some gentle reminding.. Mild short term memory loss, maybe? "Excuse me sir can I get some napkins - for the tenth time!" I must admit though, they did handle the salad situation quite diplomatically by offering us a complimentary salad. It was the right thing to do, although, this kind of grossed us out and ruined the whole experience.

-This wasn't the worst part!

We had zucchini sticks, which as flandroid mentioned very well, were far from homemade. They were breaded and hardly filled. As if a really cheap hollowed out chicken nugget and a really wimpy zucchini had a baby, and this was the end result. Their baby was unappetizing and cheap.

We also had an order of garlic bread with the salad, which was great - for someone who enjoys very crisp and ultra-toasted bread slices soaked in garlic butter. They were alright, and surprisingly not out-of-the-box like the zucchini.

We then ordered two pizzas for the four of us at the table. The first was a large Meat Lover's which had an enormous quantity of sausage, pepperoni, bacon crumble and cheese. We added some supplementary smoked meat to make it a carnivore’s feast!

Both were good, but scorchingly hot! I agree with monty as well as Food Gypsy that the pie does need some rest time as it is very thick and greasy with it's toppings, but I really do disagree with Food Gypsy in the sense that the pizza is not thick in crust – it’s approximately in between normal and thin crust. While it was not doughy on the inside like a thick Chicago crust, it was not flat like the true Neapolitan pizza that I think smartcookie was looking for. The crust could hardly hold all the toppings; it was very hard to eat without everything spilling off. It could be a little crispier like monty suggested.

Now the thing that really turned me off about this place was that when I went to the washroom in the back I was physically run into by one of the kitchen staff that had no idea where he was going. The best part was he was puffing away at a cigarette coming out from the kitchen. He exhaled smoke all over me in the attempt for a nonchalant "sorry". Great way to scare me off, along with the other customers in the dining room and the others who were walking to and from the washroom.

All in all, I was a little disappointed by my experience here! The food was pretty basic and questionable staff mistakes made me really wonder about the health and safety of the kitchen. If you’re up for a greasy, hearty, meaty pizza with the boys, then this is the place for you.Perfect for sloppy and careless fratboys.

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Way too greasy for my liking. I left with a stomach ache. Overpriced for what you pay for.

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@Food Gypsy The cheese grating wouldn't be much of an experience -- they use 5kg slabs of Brick cheese (also a hallmark of Ottawa's Lebanese pizza joints) and they grate it by machine. Although it's definitely interesting to see dolly after dolly loaded with boxes of these slabs delivered every week.

Not griping; I'm fond of their pizza (once in a blue moon. it takes a while to get over the post-grease lethargy), and the pasta is all right, but it's best to stick to those. If you've ever made a wrong turn into the side exit you'll see an awful lot of empty boxes for prepared frozen items (like the zucchini sticks).

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@Ken V I stand corrected; thank you. The better description might be "American" or "Greek" style.

Or, as you said in a message: "Ottawa Mid East Style".

More toppings & more cheese than a traditional Italian style pizza.

Some people like Colonnade, some don't. I agree with @blubarry, pizza is very personal taste.

I'm an equal opportunity pizza lover... thin, thick, Italian, Kosher, New York, Greek, Lebanese, or square doughy slabs straight out of Nona's oven, but I still have my likes and dislikes.

I like Colonnade. Not too thick, not too thin. Depending on the pizza and how much moisture the toppings have, I ask for it to be over-baked or well done.

I've always had friendly service at Colonnade - full stop. (maybe I looked so pathetic, all by myself *sniff* with my books *sniff*) Thought one night they might put me to work. (I'm just dieing to grate cheese!)

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The original family is a Lebanese family. They run the Metcalfe location, but I don't know about the other locations.

flexie, there is another location on Merivale south of Baseline next to Tutti Frutti. When they first opened I ordered a pizza for pickup (they do not deliver) and when I asked what style of pizza they make, (thick crust, thin crust etc.) I was haughtily informed that they make only one kind of pizza and it is "correct". Incidentally when I drove over in half an hour to pick it up, it was not ready, they had lost the order and they apologized and asked if I could wait another half hour and they would make me one. I declined.

I have only been there once since, and the pizza was fine, but not exceptional. There are literally dozens of places to get pizza around here, and they all deliver. Lately we have been ordering from a place called "COLONNADE road" pizza. I think they may be trading a bit on the name, but it is as good or better than Colonnade, less expensive and they will deliver.

Pizza is a very personal thing. If I feel like driving somewhere for pizza to dine in, I tend to choose the Newport, even though the Merivale Branch of Colonnade is 5 minutes from home. To each his own.

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In reading Food Gypsy’s review of the Colonnade, something about the ending didn’t seem quite right. My impression isn’t quite the same. I will never forget a comment made by a former colleague, she was describing her meal at the Bank Street (in Blue Heron Mall, Alta Vista) location, it was new at the time; she said “yup, they serve the same great pizza as the downtown location - the customer service hasn’t changed one bit --- they are still as rude as ever ! Food Gyspy implies in her review that the staff is friendly.

On another note, does anyone have any insight into the number of new locations that have popped up in the last few years?

Also, someone mentioned that rather than Chicago style pizza it is more like Lebanese style. Just wanted to ask if anyone knew anything about the restaurant’s ownership? I have a Greek friend who said the place was opened by someone of Greek origin. They may have sold the business.

Any comments?

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Only one Colonnade Pizza exists for me in this town, the original on Gilmour.

The ones on Merivale Road and Hazeldean do a great disservice to the Colonnade Pizza brand. Somehow their attempts fail miserably on taste, as I have had better from chains and take-out. The service experiences have also been terribly bad at the Merivale location, rude and condescending.

We actually spend the extra driving time it takes to visit the Gilmour location as it has always been consistently great in flavour and the staff are always friendly and attentive.

Great pizza and service at Colonnade Pizza, but only available at the Gilmour location.

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First time at any Colonnade Pizza on a cold rainy Sunday. We visited the Kanata location. We ordered a medium Combination with bacon. When trying new pizza places, we tend to order the same pizza - base comparison.

The pizza arrived, I took a bite and had a flashback to pizzas I've had when I was a kid. We were truly impressed with the delicious crust, the generous cheese, we really liked having the bacon 'under' the cheese. I think they've won best pizza in Ottawa (or Kanata at least) a couple of times. Our server was very seasoned and knew how to treat the customer right. We did have to wait a while to get a menu, but the cheerful smile made it all better.

To some it may not have been a spectacular pizza, but it had all the things that we love about pizza, so for us, it was spectacular - worthy of a mention here.

I think we've found a new take-out place for pizza. When you live in the outskirts, good pizza can be hard to find!

Top 3 Pizza Joints in Ottawa, if you like your pizza "upside down" as they say (cheese on top) which I do, and in no particular order:
- Colonnade
- Lorenzo's (in the Byward Market, NOT Vanier - it just changed names recently but when you call, they still say "Lorenzo's"
- Carlos

Colonnade's crust is smaller. Lorenzo's is big. Carlos only does west end delivery and refers east-enders to Lorenzo's. Flavour for all three is very similar: yummy, yummy, yummy.

And people...just WAIT a bit and let the cheese cool down before digging in; your pizza will "maintain its integrity".

Split a takeout vegetarian with the misses this evening from the newest location on Merivale. It was consistent with the quality of the other locations in the city. If you've never tried this pizza they're very generous with the cheese (brick/mozz) and the crust is not too thick (but not quite thin). My only gripe is it could be just a little crispier, but that's just my personal preference.

Definitely one of the best places for 'za in the city.

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1/2 of a small vegetarian pizza from Colonnade.

It does, I think, a better job of maintaining its structural integrity than most fat pies like this do. I'm not sure why they're so big on burying most of the toppings, but I don't have many complaints about it.

SandyG: I really like the pizza at Maxwell's. It's similar to Johnny Farina's but maybe different enough for your wife to enjoy as well.

Also, if you odn't see toppings you like on their menu, they will add whatever you want (as long as it's in their kitchen).

I cannot for the life of me understand why people love this Pizza so much. For my part, toppings,(especially meat), belong on top of the cheese. I also prefer pizza that maintains its structural integrity. If anyone can recomend another place, I'd be grateful. So far, Johny Farinas, is my go to. Of course, my wife is not a big fan. I guess that's pizza.

I really do enjoy this stuff. There's very little to complain about -- 'more generous toppings' comes to mind, but then, it's one of the only places around that doesn't mess up stuff like 'double mushrooms.' We're usually double-cheese people here, but that turned out to be a mistake at the Colonnade; they put quite enough on in the first place.

It's one of my favourite places to take people -- it's universally appreciated pizza.

Most of the other dishes can be given a pass, though.

Colonnade is indeed great pizza -- lots of cheese, but not greasy, a good thickness, and very tasty.

Ultimately, so far I've preferred pizza from Carlo's Pizzeria, but it's close.

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It is definitely one of the better all around pizze in Ottawa. It was very good and I'd get it from there again. If I remember correctly, Colonnade is generous on cheese, not too thick or thin, crispy and chewy crust and tasty on toppings. There are better crusts and better cheese out there, but they aren't found on the same pie!

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Wifey had heard that Colonnade is known for its coconut cream pie. Since that is one of my favourites we went to the new Merivale location to try it out (next to One Fish Two Fish). Their dessert menu has quite a selection of pies but we confirmed with the server that the only ones they make in-house are the coconut cream and the banana cream. I ordered the former and wifey ordered the latter.

It turned out they are exactly the same pie with different toppings. This means that it's a vanilla cream pie with toasted coconut or banana slices on top. That's just fine but I prefer to have a bit of coconut inside the pie for extra flavour. All in all a surprisingly good cream pie for a pizza joint!

I had a tea and wifey had a hot chocolate. Mine was just tea bag tea and hers was a tall glass topped with whipped cream. The funny thing is that mine cost more! ($1.75 vs. $1.50) That's a highish price for tea and a bargain for garnished hot chocolate!

The noodles were overcooked, the sauce was thin and the chicken parmigiana tasted oddly like funnel cake (maybe it was the oil?). This place needs to stick with the pizza.