Our team at work does a summer team-building experience each year. I pulled myself out of…read moreorganizing it. That task went to two other colleagues. However, I got pulled into the planning details as a consultant, especially when it came down to finding a place to eat.
I'm glad that they consulted me. I really should charge a fee... haha!
My manager originally said that we should go to The Keg. I immediately shot that suggestion down because our vegetarians on our team would be miserable eating salad and bread. We needed a more inclusive eatery for lunch.
We were doing pottery painting at Crock a Doodle. While one of my peers was setting things up with this store, the staffer suggested dining at 850 Degrees Pizzeria, which was across the street.
I looked at the menu. The wood-fired pizzas looked incredible. It also had gluten-free and vegetarian options. Perfect!
My friend and I had parked on a side street. Our manager parked behind us. We walked over to this eatery together. It's free parking on a side street. You can park on Lake Shore Boulevard, but it's paid parking until 6 pm.
We were the first folks to arrive at noon. We had a reservation and got a long table for the ten of us.
I had looked at the menu before coming here. I knew what pizza I'd be ordering. I also ordered an appetizer to share with others.
I got the following items:
- Shiny peach cider
- Meatballs with garlic bread
- Oh, Canada pizza
My Shiny peach cider came out. I got a glass with ice. I poured my drink into the glass. The peach flavour was subtle. It tasted watered down.
My friend to my right got the Shiny apple cider. She let me have a sip. It was yummy. I should have got that flavour instead.
My meatballs with garlic bread came out next. OMG! This appetizer was incredible. The meatballs were beef. They were juicy. It was effortless cutting through them. You can also get vegan meatballs that are a mixture of chickpeas and mushrooms. The sauce was bright and fresh. The garlic bread was really pizza bread with garlic and butter on it. It was excellent dipping it into the sauce and eating it with the meatballs.
I shared them with my manager and friend across from me. They loved them, too.
Whenever I see a cracked egg on a pizza, I have to order it. So, I got the Oh, Canada. I love that each pizza has a Canadian-related backstory to its name. As a hockey fan, it was nice seeing Lord Stanley as a pizza.
Oh, Canada had maple bacon, egg, fior di latte cheese, and tomato sauce. This pizza was excellent. The maple bacon was wonderful. It has a smokiness with the maple flavour. My egg was runny when I sliced through it. It was excellent with the tomato sauce. I highly recommend getting it if you love maple bacon and a runny egg. It felt like breakfast on a pizza.
The crust had pillowy, chewy edges and was crispy underneath. Depending on the type of pizza, the base can be soggy because it's thin. I had a slice of my friend's Group of Seven pizza, which was a bit soggy. My Oh, Canada was fine.
The Group of Seven pizza had goat cheese, tomatoes, spinach, roasted red peppers, olives, parmesan cheese, and fior di latte cheese. Maybe it got soggy because it had more cheese and toppings than my pizza.
My manager got the Grand River pizza. It's essentially a wild, fancy version of a meat lover's pizza. It had spicy Calabrese salami, local ham, wild boar sausage, Niagara prosciutto, fior di latte cheese, and tomato sauce. I got to enjoy a slice. It had a spicy kick to it from the salami that was delightful. I loved the sausage that didn't taste gamey. The prosciutto looked like pretty ribbons on the pizza that were delicious, with a smokey subtle taste to them. Yum!
You can get dairy-free cheese on request.
Some of my colleagues opted for pasta. The beef ravioli and pappadelle di funghi looked fantastic. I need to return to get one or both of these dishes. They loved their food.
I used the washroom before we left this eatery to do pottery painting. The women's washroom was clean. The downside was that the mirror was mounted rather low. I saw my midsection only through the mirror. If you're shorter, you'll be fine seeing your reflection without doing a squat.
I thanked the man making all these pizzas in the kitchen. The pizzas were delicious. He appreciated the kind words. He worked so hard to get our pizzas to us in a timely manner and did it seamlessly.
I had an excellent experience. You can order online and do takeout. I will need to remember to do that next time I'm in the office. I'll swing by and grab dinner here.
(348)
