Pizza

[tomh009]

We'll have to check La Cucina out. The menu is promising, though, and more traditional than Famoso. And I do like their oven.
https://images.unoapp.com/boxdata/asset7...Menu18.pdf

[JoeKW]

I went today for lunch, it's not as good as Buon Gusto but it's at least as good as Famosos and probably better.

[tomh009]

And much more convenient than Buon Gusto (unless you happen to live or work in Guelph).

What did you try from their menu? Where did they fall short?

[panamaniac]

I notice that it's open until 11pm - nice to have another option for later dining in town.

[JoeKW]

I had the lunch special (salad & a small Margherita pizza) and both were pretty good.  The pizza was great but was missing some of the char that you see at places like Buon Gusto.





Buon Gusto:



You can see the higher heat of their oven chars the crust and even the cheese but the high heat means less cooking time and the basil doesn't burn.

[tomh009]

Thanks!  Will plan check it out for myself soon.  Guelph is too far for me to go to dinner, as I rarely have any other reason to visit there.

P.S. La Cucina's oven should be up to the task. It's possible that they are not heating it up as high as they should -- or not positioning the pizza in the hottest part. Both can potentially improve over time as their staff gets more experience.
https://italiana.ca/collections/fired-ov...fired-oven

[robdrimmie]

Attached is an image taken by a user in a different forum on the evening of April 5 at La Cucina. 

I wonder if the head chef is in during Wednesday lunch service vs Thursday dinner service, or perhaps they bias for speed at lunches, and sacrifice the burnt bits for a couple of minutes. Or they're just inconsistent while they sort out all the details. 

Both pictures look pretty good to me, I'm going to have to give it a try soon. (Though I do hope I get the puffy/burnt bits version)

[neonjoe]

Looks like a new Pizza Chain is opening next to Starbucks in Fairview Park.
http://www.pi-co.ca/ - see coming soon section.

[rangersfan]

Did the Mother's Pizza in Waterloo close? It looked awfully quiet when going by today at around 4:30 pm.

[Elmira Guy]

Did the Mother's Pizza in Waterloo close? It looked awfully quiet when going by today at around 4:30 pm.

Yes. It is apparently going to be a pub ... Weber Public House, or something like that.

As a resident of the area, I have high hopes that the new place is good. I was very much hoping that when the Asian buffet place closed down at Weber and Bridgeport, someone would reopen it as a pub. Sadly, a gym went in, removing the brand new kitchen. Don't know how well the gym is doing but I never see very many vehicles there. So seeing as my hopes were dashed for that location (which is much closer for me than the former Mother's), I am hopeful that maybe the new pub will be worth my regular patronage.

[jeffster]

Did the Mother's Pizza in Waterloo close? It looked awfully quiet when going by today at around 4:30 pm.

Yes. It is apparently going to be a pub ... Weber Public House, or something like that.

As a resident of the area, I have high hopes that the new place is good. I was very much hoping that when the Asian buffet place closed down at Weber and Bridgeport, someone would reopen it as a pub. Sadly, a gym went in, removing the brand new kitchen. Don't know how well the gym is doing but I never see very many vehicles there. So seeing as my hopes were dashed for that location (which is much closer for me than the former Mother's), I am hopeful that maybe the new pub will be worth my regular patronage.

Is that just a poor location for a restaurant? There have been a lot of different places there. Last time I was there was a few years ago, it was a Benny's I think.

How is the Mother's in Kitchener doing? It seems to be busy the two times I went.

Restaurant business is tough business....perhaps I am getting old though, I just notice that food isn't the same as it once was, less pride. It sucks that if I want a good steak I have to go to Costco to buy the meet and pan fry it (or BBQ in the summer). I hate cooking steak because it's a difficult thing that I have never mastered, either cooked too much or too little. I just take issue that my crappy home cooking is better than restaurant, unless I am going for Chinese (Canadian style, obviously) or Indian food, since I can't good either.

[plam]

Yes. It is apparently going to be a pub ... Weber Public House, or something like that.

As a resident of the area, I have high hopes that the new place is good. I was very much hoping that when the Asian buffet place closed down at Weber and Bridgeport, someone would reopen it as a pub. Sadly, a gym went in, removing the brand new kitchen. Don't know how well the gym is doing but I never see very many vehicles there. So seeing as my hopes were dashed for that location (which is much closer for me than the former Mother's), I am hopeful that maybe the new pub will be worth my regular patronage.

Is that just a poor location for a restaurant? There have been a lot of different places there. Last time I was there was a few years ago, it was a Benny's I think.

How is the Mother's in Kitchener doing?  It seems to be busy the two times I went.

Restaurant business is tough business....perhaps I am getting old though, I just notice that food isn't the same as it once was, less pride.  It sucks that if I want a good steak I have to go to Costco to buy the meet and pan fry it (or BBQ in the summer). I hate cooking steak because it's a difficult thing that I have never mastered, either cooked too much or too little.  I just take issue that my crappy home cooking is better than restaurant, unless I am going for Chinese (Canadian style, obviously) or Indian food, since I can't good either.

There was some sort of fire? there a few years ago and I think it was never the same after that. I seem to recall that it was fairly stable before the fire (perhaps not as a Benny's).

Food: that's an issue of economics I think. Pride is one thing, but if you can't pay the bills at the rates that people expect you to charge, pride doesn't help that much. Consider Kenji Lopez-Alt's tips on steak in his book The Food Lab. He tries to understand the principles behind cooking and does experiments to find the best way.

[clasher]

If you're ever need of a vegan (or just dairy-free) pizza option, Panago has a location way out by the dump now. They have daiya for cheese and also they offer veggie pepperoni slices. The crust isn't bad for a chain pizza either... and I prefer it to pizza-pizza when I'm hankering for take-out pizza.

[timc]

It was Benny's before the fire. IIRC, they were closed for about a year after the fire, which is more than enough time to lose your regular customer base.

[Section ThirtyOne]

It was Benny's before the fire. IIRC, they were closed for about a year after the fire, which is more than enough time to lose your regular customer base.

Agreed, and the food was also not very good post-fire either.