Panago Pizza
Location:
44 Gerrard Street, Unit E, Toronto
Cost: $32 (incl. tip) for 2 small pizzas
www.panago.com
Everyone has a favourite pizza place, right? And the first time we tried Panago Pizza we swore we wouldn't ever order anything else. Unlike Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut, Mama's and even Pizzaiolo's pizza, Panago's is truly bursting with flavours and crisp, fresh toppings. I can't remember which pizza we ordered that first time, but I remember it being the. best. thing. ever. (Note: The Magic Oven at 6 Wellesley St West is the only other place competing for number one spot on our favourite list....review to follow soon).
Last night we ordered from Panago's again. Unable to decide how much pizza we wanted we opted for 2 smalls after learning that one small proffered six slices. We got the 'garden veggie' with extra jalapenos and the 'tropical chicken', again, with extra jalapenos. For dips, the chipotle cilantro sounded swell and the 3-chlili shaker seemed appropriate 'cause we like it hot.
45 minutes later our pizzas arrived.
I think part of the appeal is the packaging.
Admittedly, the 'small' really was quite small, but we ended up with enough left over for work the next day. And even though the pizza looks home-made (and we actually do make pizza that looks like this), maybe that's what makes it so great because it's not like extra-large, greasy, pepperoni-filled corner shop pizza.
The garden veggie was brimming with black olives, sauteed mushroms, roasted garlic, pineapple, green peppers, fire-roasted tomatoes, red onions, jalapenos and mozarella. We got the THICK multigrain crust for the veggie and it was quite good - not very flavourful as far as crusts go, but we really enjoyed the thick as opposed to the thin crust which we got on our other pizza.
The meaty one had a sweet and smoky "tropical" sauce, grilled chicken, pineapple, green peppers, caramelized onions, cheddar and mozarella with jalapenos to top it all off. The THIN multigrain crust is new at Panago's and didn't really do much for us. It wasn't terrible by any means, but next time I'd go with the thick for sure.
Not as good as the first time, but still very good (and great the next day!), but at $15 per small pizza, it's a tad bit too pricey. It's not something we'll be ordering all the time. Oh, and don't get the chipotle cilantro dipping sauce, as delicious as it sounds, it was quite revolting.
5 Comments | Share Article | tagged Panago, Panago Pizza, Pizza, Toronto | in Dinner, Lunch, Pizza, Toronto | Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 10:46AM
Reader Comments (5)
I've been eyeing the same Panago on Gerrard Street for some time! My family used to get pizza from Panago (Panagopolous, at the time!) when we lived in Vancouver so I was delighted to see it on Gerrard St! The garden veggie one looks really good.
There are so many complaints regarding the "new" thin crust, I was not at all surprised at what you wrote.
But it's neat to Panago in your blog. I enjoy your reviews
Oh really? I live down in Edmonton and the Pizza There is FANTASTIC. Panago pizza is actually the opposite of expensive. It costs $8 for a medium whole pizza so I'll consider myself lucky
however i didn't see as much variety in my local Panago pizzeria
Just had panago for the first time....over 30 bucks for two mediums....and they tasted just like the rising crust pizza you get from the store...tasted like mass produced box pizza. i could have spent half and went to pizza 73 {which is also crap}. Not impressed. and never getting pizza from there.
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