Late Night Pizza

One of my favourite pastimes is to disregard all of the self-imposed dietary restrictions I place on myself during the day, and indulge in a late night pizza snack following a debaucherous night of drinking. My favourite city to do this in is Montreal , as that city boasts a plethora of extremely cheap ($1 or less!) pizza joints that satisfy those late night desires. My favourite jaunt was definitely 1+1 (or what I referred to as Une plus Une) on St. Laurent just south of Avenue des Pins which served up a tasty slice for $1 plus tax.

Toronto has it’s own calibre of late night pizza joints that offer a far greater variety than their Montreal counterparts if not nearly as reasonably priced. Let me say upfront ,so you understand my tastes, that for these late night ventures my ultimate slice of pizza consists simply of pepperoni and cheese with my own generous additional sprinkling of hot red pepper flakes:

Amato’s

For a little while I was on a big Amato’s kick. With several locations around the city (St. Clair West, Yonge just south of College, Queen West and College West) Amato’s really caters to the downtown crowd. With a huge variety of slices Amatos definitely covers the gambit as far as tastes are concerned. And the pizza is pretty tasty too. However at $3+ a slice this “snack” turns more into the second dinner I shouldn’t be eating at 2 a.m. just before bed.

Cora

Located at Harbord and Spadina, Cora Pizza was one of the first “underground” restaurants I was exposed to as a teenager. University of Toronto students would boast about being the only ones in the city to know about this fabulous spot. That feeling holds as you enter and notice the display of photos of seemingly regular customers adorning the wall. The pizza itself is ok but too doughy for my liking. Haven’t been here much lately as it is too far north for my post-drinking downtown crawls.

Pizza Pizza

Isn’t this the McDonald’s of pizza? Why even review this generic, ghastly decorated joint? Well, I admit it. Pizza Pizza is one of my guilty pleasures of an already guilty pleasure! Like I said, my favourite slice is the simple pepperoni with tons of hot pepper flakes and in-store Pizza Pizza is still one of the best for it. Though I enjoy the slice, the garlic dipping sauce is one of the most nauseating things I have ever smelled or eaten.

John’s Classic

Located at the corner of College and Clinton, John’s is the closest to what I’ve been looking for since returning from University in Montreal. It also helps that it is a 3 minute walk from my apartment (much like 1+1 was in Montreal). With a limited variety of slices, John’s serves up a nice thin crusted pizza with all the right trimmings. I have twice been here where I was offered a second slice absolutely free. The pizza itself is quite tasty and is the perfect size to fill your aching belly before drifting off into sweet, sweet, drunken sleep.

Reviewed by Aaron