Eyes on the pies: A slice of pizzeria history in St. John's

To say St. John's loves pizza is an understatement — just ask one of the 32,000 members of the Facebook group For Da Love of Zaa.

The Newfoundland-based social community is filled with pictures, conversations — and arguments — about the best place to get a deal, homemade pizza recipes and pies devoured around the world.

It's all about the 'za.

You can get pizza in any part of the city — from a slice and a pop at Pennywell Convenience to a VPN-certified margherita pizza at Piatto Pizzeria, but it's so engrained in the city's dining landscape many don't recognize it's a somewhat new phenomenon in Newfoundland, and in Canada.

While Italian immigrants brought along their recipes in the early 20th century, it wasn't until after World War Two and anti-Italian sentiment in Canada declined that restaurants started serving pasta and pizza across the country.

The pioneering pies in St. John's were served in restaurants for the first time in the 1950s — but not where people might think — and from that pie forward it was a downright pizza-palooza. Here, served on a metal pedestal with a little candle underneath, is a slice of pizzeria history in St. John's.

Pizza arrives on the St. John's dining scene

On Oct. 7, 1957, the Daily News published a feature article about Monty's latest opening in the newly built Churchill Square apartments.

Restaurateur Larry (Monty) Montgomery was already known in the city for his delicatessens, but this Monty's was different with a new concept, and a new dish — pizza.

In addition to the promised "no less than 51 kinds of sandwiches" and the breakfast service "appreciated by the bachelors in the apartments upstairs" there was pizza on offer, to eat in or take away.

Advertisements for Monty's pizza in the Daily News throughout the fall of 1957 offered pepperoni pies for 95 cents or deluxe with pepperoni, anchovy and mushrooms for $1.25.

1st pizzerias of the 1960s

The first generation of pizzerias in St. John's were founded in the 1960s. The decade saw a rise in pizzerias across the city, and by 1969 there were many options in the phonebook, including Tally Ho Pizza at 91 Gower St. and the Kosey Korner on Topsail Road. 

But the first pizzeria was Tower of Pizza on Duckworth Street.

Ads for their pizza started appearing in the Muse, Memorial University's newspaper, in the fall of 1965, offering up "delicious Italian foods" and "home delivery from 6 p.m. to midnight."

Owned by Norman and Esther Feldman, Tower of Pizza was beloved by many as it was the first taste of pizza for many residents of the city.

Greek-owned pizzerias arrive, and thrive, in the 1970s

The golden age of pizzerias was the 1970s. Many of those are still open today, and most of them are owned by Greek families.

Chain migration through the second half of the 20th century meant that pizza shops were being opened by Greek immigrants across Canada. A Greek family founded Boston Pizza, and another invented Hawaiian pizza. In St. John's, it was no different.

Venice Pizzeria at 81 Military Rd. was opened by Spiro Angelopoulos of Greece in the early 1970s while his brother Jim was running a dry-cleaning empire that is still operational to this day, though it has left the family.

The Peter's Pizza empire is also a Greek endeavour. Peter Mathioudakis opened his first shop on the corner of Patrick and Pleasant street in 1975 and today there are nine locations across the province.

Mr. Jim's was opened in the 1970s by Demetrios (Jim) Kourtis, a prominent member of the Greek community in the city. At least five locations were operated at one point.

The chain restaurant cometh — and so does the all-you-can-eat salad bar

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, pizza options multiplied tenfold and so did the chain restaurant options.

Pizza Delight, a chain from Shediac, N.B., that had been dipping its toes into the market throughout the '70s on Kenmount Road, was now firmly cemented on the scene, along with its salad bar and garlic bread grill.

Pizza Hut and the Old Spaghetti Factory opened their doors, and Pizza Experts got its salad bar underway in the mid-1980s with five locations across the city, while Greco's party pizzas flew out of their Empire Avenue kitchen and were at every kid's birthday party.

The VIP VPNs arrive in the 2000s

By the early 2000s, there were many different jingles to choose from. You probably didn't even need that phone book anymore, but if you picked it up there would be dozens of pizzas on offer.

But the 2000s and 2010s saw a rise in the variety of pies, a departure from the jumbo with the works and a side of garlic fingers the city had known and loved for decades now.

Pi Gourmet Pizza opened in the 2000s at 10 King's Rd. and in 2014 won the top prize at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas for its creative mint and lemon pesto-based pizza with lamb, water chestnuts, goat cheese and jalapenos.

Piatto Pizzeria, opened by the Vallis family in 2010, is the only pizzeria in the province serving up Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) style pizzas certified by the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana. Piatto now has six locations in three provinces.

The future is cheesy… and deep

Today's pizza-eating landscape in St. John's is rich and diverse. From Yellowbelly's Caesar salad pizza to the butter chicken pizza at Indian Pizza House, there is no shortage of options and more are opening every day.

Former pop-up Black Cat Pizzeria just opened its first bricks-and-mortar location at 13 LeMarchant Rd. serving up its Detroit-style pizza made with sourdough.

Who knows where St. John's pizza will go next? One thing is for sure, it will be cheesy (perhaps made with vegan cheese).

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