Midnight Poutine certainly likes its pizza. Most of the time, we bring you stories of thick crust pizza, loaded with toppings and heavy with cheese. This time though, to be fair to the ongoing debate between the American-style pizza lovers and the Italian-style pizza lovers, I bring you Pizzeria Napoletana.

Located on Dante in Little Italy, Napoletana has been praised by many for its true Italian-style pizza. However, it has also often been faulted for its long lines, rude service and more recently, declining food quality. My weekend trip to Napoletana definitely is on the supporters’ side, finding the pizza absolutely delicious and a reminder of why thick-crust pizza isn’t always the way to go.

We headed over for a late lunch, a bottle of red wine in hand (yes, it’s BYOB), arriving at around 4:30pm. I’ve heard rumours that this place packs up at dinner time, often with a long waiting line – I believe this, because the place was already half full when we got there. It was a cute feel to it, with red and white checkered tables and a tree decked out with white lights “growing” in the middle of the resto.

The menu is simple, yet extensive, with almost thirty different pizzas and thirty pasta dishes. While the gnocchi looked fantastically delicious (I really do wish it was appropriate to ask people at the table next to you for a sample of their food), we skipped the pasta and the appetizers, wanting to save room for the pizza.
I believe that was the right choice. We ended up ordering from the two sides of the pizza spectrum. There was a special pizza being offered that day, a simple pie made with buffalo mozzarella imported directly from Italy, a lightly spiced tomato sauce and a few leaves of basil. It was an extremely delicate-tasting pizza; with each bite, a different ingredient stood out subtly. The leaves of basil added a valuable tang to some bites, and the cheese was remarkable – an excellent texture and a light, slightly milky and salty taste.
The other pizza ordered was exactly the opposite, a pie sprinkled with parmesan on top of whole anchovies and mushrooms. It was a powerful, salty, fishy pie, popping with flavour. It did overpower all further bites of the first though.
The crusts on both pizzas were expertly done, thin with crispy edges and a soft, but not gooey, centre. On the table sits your own parmesan and hot pepper shakers, and if you ask, a bottle of olive oil (spicy or not) comes your way, perfect for dipping your crusts in.
The long list of available pizzas is startling, and I’ll definitely head back to sample the pesto/turkey pizza, along with the one with fresh tomatoes, prosciutto crudo and arugula.

Pizzeria Napoletana
189 Dante
514-276-8226