Ottawa Foodies

Ordered take-out "Colonnade Special" from the Merivale location to see what the buzz was about. Was at first surprised at the decor, very over-the-top for a pizza place.

It smelled delicious, but the taste? Nothing special, or even that good about it. Not near enough sauce or toppings, you could barely taste either. Incredibly bland, as it was nearly all bread and cheese. Definitely not worth the price.

LOVE Colonnade Pizza - best pizza in the city if your craving really thick delicious crust...it is really greasy, I must say! but it's well worth it. I love the Mediterranean! My favorite location is on Merivale for sure...i found the other locations to be really out of date and the staff to be a little snotty. This is the best location! :)

For me, I can do without the pizza from the Colonnade (downtown). While I usually prefer thin crust pies, I do have an appreciation for doughy - or regular - or thick crusts. I have been to the Colonnade on average of 2 times/year for the past three years. After the first few times - when I went to test out the food, the other visits were because of pre-arranged dining location with groups of people where I didn't have much say. So: I don't consider the pizza bad, just not my kind of thing - and I also don't think it is the great doughy crust pizza of the city. The other menu items are poor - for me, the only reason someone would go to the Colonnade is because of the pizza. Oh, I also wouldn't chose the place because of the service. The waitresses in at least 3 or 4 of my visits have made the experience not so comfy - I consider them to have been rude[ish] and I have noted that they treat clients differently - depending on how the servers think they look.

I LOVE the pizza here! I am not given to superlatives, but to me, it is the best pizza I have ever eaten. And I know whereof I speak - I've been coming here for 25 years (yes, almost my entire life). This pizza never disappoints. My family's favourite pizza is the large mushroom - no other toppings necessary, thank you very much. I don't know quite what it is about the flavours here - the sauce is thick with just the right seasonings, the cheese is thick and chewy, and the mushrooms cooked just right.

It was only recently that I actually ate one of these pizzas in the restaurant - growing up we would just take it to go (to save on tips!) It was tasty when fresh, but I have to say it tastes even better cold, the next morning, for breakfast.

The service is mediocre and the decor tired, so it is not my favourite place to eat in. But ah, the pizza is sublime!

Finally made it to Colonnade on Merivale to satisfy my pizza craving.

My order was Zuchinni sticks and a small mushroom pizza.

The zuchinni sticks were meh- A Sysco product no doubt- They also didn't include any dipping sauce which made them even less interesting.

The pizza on the other hand was great.Definately worth while and not unreasonably priced.

I always order tHe Mediterranean special - LOADED with cheese, which I love. Don't go here unless you have a healthy appetite and a high tolerance for greasy-deliciousness.

We ate here the other day and made the mistake of ordering pasta over pizza. It just goes to show that just because a place gets one thing right and does it really well, doesn't mean they are competent with other foods.

This was the first time we've eaten in, usually we just pick up, and the place was packed. I should have taken it as a sign that about 75% of the patrons were eating pizza. Oh well. Live and learn.

Check out the pasta review below for why it was so bad.

After years of hearing about how great this pizza is supposed to be, I finally had my chance to try it for myself.

I am happy to say that the pizza lives up to the hype.

I tried a small "Mediterranean Special" which I thought might be too much to eat, at first. The crust, in particular, is quite amazing. The pizza, while rich and full of taste, was not heavy or greasy. Before I realized it, my plate was empty.

I dare say this was one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten. Service was also friendly and prompt, considering the restaurant was very busy when we arrived.

We've order twice from the new one in Nepean. The first time it was just Pepperoni and Cheese, it was very good, and some areas had many many layers of pepperoni stacked under the cheese. The crust is perfect for someone who doesn't like thick crust, it is not too thin, not too thick.

The second time we added bacon, and it seemed to be real pieces of bacon (not the stuff that looks like someone chewed it up and spit it out on your pizza)... and it was consistantly good as the last time.

They seem to avoid the huge crust area at the edges which seems to over fill you anyways if you try to eat it, and usually has no toppings...this one has the edges of pizza go thinner and thinner which makes for a nice thin (thinner than rest of pizza), crunchy crust, and topping to the edge.

We will try for more adventurous toppings next time.

The pizza is great, good even for those who normally go in for a different style of pizza.

Generous toppings, including the cheese.

The lasagna and salads are a bit boring, though. Not bad, but not up to the standard of the pizza.

Split a takeout vegetarian with the misses this evening from the newest location on Merivale. It was consistent with the quality of the other locations in the city. If you've never tried this pizza they're very generous with the cheese (brick/mozz) and the crust is not too thick (but not quite thin). My only gripe is it could be just a little crispier, but that's just my personal preference.

Definitely one of the best places for 'za in the city.

1/2 of a small vegetarian pizza from Colonnade.

It does, I think, a better job of maintaining its structural integrity than most fat pies like this do. I'm not sure why they're so big on burying most of the toppings, but I don't have many complaints about it.

SandyG: I really like the pizza at Maxwell's. It's similar to Johnny Farina's but maybe different enough for your wife to enjoy as well.

Also, if you odn't see toppings you like on their menu, they will add whatever you want (as long as it's in their kitchen).

I cannot for the life of me understand why people love this Pizza so much. For my part, toppings,(especially meat), belong on top of the cheese. I also prefer pizza that maintains its structural integrity. If anyone can recomend another place, I'd be grateful. So far, Johny Farinas, is my go to. Of course, my wife is not a big fan. I guess that's pizza.

I really do enjoy this stuff. There's very little to complain about -- 'more generous toppings' comes to mind, but then, it's one of the only places around that doesn't mess up stuff like 'double mushrooms.' We're usually double-cheese people here, but that turned out to be a mistake at the Colonnade; they put quite enough on in the first place.

It's one of my favourite places to take people -- it's universally appreciated pizza.

Most of the other dishes can be given a pass, though.

Colonnade is indeed great pizza -- lots of cheese, but not greasy, a good thickness, and very tasty.

Ultimately, so far I've preferred pizza from Carlo's Pizzeria, but it's close.

It is definitely one of the better all around pizze in Ottawa. It was very good and I'd get it from there again. If I remember correctly, Colonnade is generous on cheese, not too thick or thin, crispy and chewy crust and tasty on toppings. There are better crusts and better cheese out there, but they aren't found on the same pie!

I've had many lifer Ottawans tell me this is THE place for 'zza in the city. Anyone care to confirm/deny?

Wifey had heard that Colonnade is known for its coconut cream pie. Since that is one of my favourites we went to the new Merivale location to try it out (next to One Fish Two Fish). Their dessert menu has quite a selection of pies but we confirmed with the server that the only ones they make in-house are the coconut cream and the banana cream. I ordered the former and wifey ordered the latter.

It turned out they are exactly the same pie with different toppings. This means that it's a vanilla cream pie with toasted coconut or banana slices on top. That's just fine but I prefer to have a bit of coconut inside the pie for extra flavour. All in all a surprisingly good cream pie for a pizza joint!

I had a tea and wifey had a hot chocolate. Mine was just tea bag tea and hers was a tall glass topped with whipped cream. The funny thing is that mine cost more! ($1.75 vs. $1.50) That's a highish price for tea and a bargain for garnished hot chocolate!

The noodles were overcooked, the sauce was thin and the chicken parmigiana tasted oddly like funnel cake (maybe it was the oil?). This place needs to stick with the pizza.