All hail the Greeks: Regina pizza is in a (world) class of its own

This piece was originally published on May 23, 2020. It has since been updated.

Canadian Twitter was recently overtaken by a debate over the merits of pies dished out by Pizza Pizza, in the way only people stuck at home without social interaction and with a high-reliance on takeout food can fuel. The discussion prompted a heated localized conversation around "Regina-style" pizza.

I was tapped on the shoulder for my expertise and down the familiar rabbit hole I went.

I was born and raised in Regina, and I'm proud of what our city has brought to the global pizza landscape. Fully acknowledging my bias, I truly believe Regina pizza is the best pizza in the world. I've had New York-style. I've had Chicago deep-dish. And I've had authentic Neapolitan-style pizza in Italy. Those are all delicious, but nothing tastes like home.

Regina-style pizza, though, is largely a mystery outside of our prairie city borders.

Let me enlighten you.

What makes a Regina-style pizza

What is Regina-style pizza?

4 years ago

Duration 1:46

Thick crust, stacked meat and cut into squares: Regina owes its distinctive take on pizza to the Greeks.

It is thick and loaded with toppings.

The crust is crispy on the outside, chewy and tender on the inside, and a touch sweet. It has a bite similar to a bagel. 

Homemade pizza sauce is generously applied, meat is stacked high and there is an obscene amount of cheese on top, baked at high heat and browned like the top of a crème brûlée. 

Because the pizza is so substantial – an all-dressed can be over an inch thick in the middle – the slices are cut into squares on the large or extra-large pies.

The origin story

We have the local Greeks to thank for it.

I had the pleasure of getting a fascinating history lesson from the scions of two Regina pizza dynasties, Jim Kolitsas of Houston Pizza and Spiro Bonis of Western Pizza, who turned out to be related. My entire life I assumed they were rival pizza chains. Turns out, one gave birth to another. Darth Vader is Luke's father.

Kolitsas's dad, John, founded the original Houston Pizza on Hill Avenue in 1970 with his three brothers. Bonis's father, Jim, and the Kolitsas brothers were first cousins. In fact, he moved to Regina from Montreal to work with them at Houston Pizza. He learned the methods and eventually founded Western Pizza on Grant Road in 1976, putting his own twist on the sauce.

Bonis remembers the night before Western Pizza first opened, sitting in a car with his parents and two siblings. 

"It was raining that night. Dad drove us to the parking lot of that strip mall and told us, 'This is going to be our new restaurant.' I was six years old."

Kolitsas also has childhood memories set in Houston Pizza. 

"I remember making dough with my grandfather. We were panning the dough. He would throw me empty pans like frisbees and I would stack them on the counter. I remember asking why we put a wet cloth on the dough. I thought that was strange as a kid. I was seven."

Kolitsas said that, at the time, existing local joints didn't make pies the way we've come to recognize Regina pizza. So, they wanted to offer something different. 

"They came to Canada for a better life. They were just trying to make a living. When someone asked Paul McCartney how The Beatles wrote so many songs, he just said they were trying to make a living. Same with my dad and my uncles. Like The Beatles, they found something the people liked. And like the Beatles, other people started making songs [and pizzas] the same way."

A nationwide reputation

Both restaurateurs express great pride in the reputation Regina pizza has developed. 

People across Canada routinely call to have a pizza shipped to them in Vancouver, Toronto, Alaska — even as far as Florida. Typically, they are Regina transplants ordering a pizza for an event like the Grey Cup, Super Bowl or a loved one's birthday. 

"I had a lady call from just outside of Toronto. She wanted to surprise her husband for his birthday. She wanted 12 extra-large pizzas, frozen: one for each month of the year," said Bonis. "The shipping cost was just insane compared to the cost of the pizzas. We had to FedEx them. I was scared to tell her the cost, but she didn't care."

Once in a while, they get callers who have heard tell of Regina pizza and need to try a bite. 

One such call came into Houston Pizza in 2000. It was a TV producer calling CBC's The Great Canadian Food Show in Toronto, Kolitsas recalls. 

"She told me they were working on a show featuring places where locals eat and they hadn't even identified Regina as a possible filming location but they noticed people everywhere were talking about a restaurant called Houston Pizza." 

They ended up  filming an episode at the original Hill Avenue location and declared Houston Pizza "The Best Pizza in Canada." 

"It was a big honour," said Kolitsas.

The pizza boom

The spinoffs are many. 

Tumblers was founded by Jim Baiton, a former Hill Avenue Houston Pizza employee and also a former Western Pizza franchisee. 

Regent Family Restaurant used to be the site of a Western Pizza opened in 1979 by Bonis.

Sparky's was founded by a former Tumblers employee.

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All of the storied pizza joints in town – Juliana Pizza in Rosemont, Copper Kettle downtown, Trifon's at various locations – were founded by local Greek families.

Fifty years after Houston Pizza made its debut, the Greek Regina pizza legacy lives on. The people have spoken.