Ottawa's pizza culture has two layers: the long-established local institutions that Ottawans have eaten at their whole lives, and a newer wave of serious pizza makers who have brought Neapolitan technique and creative topping programs to the city. Both are worth knowing.
Colonnade Pizza
Ottawa's most legendary pizza institution, operating on Bank Street since 1962. Colonnade does a thick-crust pizza unlike anything else in the city — a specific, deeply local style that has its own devoted following. This is the pizza Ottawans grew up with, and visiting it is an act of cultural participation as much as eating. Come on a weeknight; weekend lines can be significant.
DiRienzo's ByWard Market Pizza
Not primarily a pizza restaurant, but DiRienzo's in the ByWard Market does a by-the-slice Roman-style pizza that is among Ottawa's best casual eating experiences. The slices change daily and are sold by weight — show up and take what looks good.
Vittoria Trattoria
In the ByWard Market, Vittoria does wood-fired pizza in a more formal Italian restaurant context. The dough is properly made, the toppings are restrained and quality-focused, and the overall experience feels like a genuine Italian trattoria rather than a pizza chain.
Thé à la Menthe (North African-Influenced)
An interesting outlier: this restaurant's pizza represents Ottawa's multicultural food scene at its most creative — toppings and flavour profiles drawn from North African cooking applied to pizza. Not traditional, but excellent.
Pizza by Farina
A newer Neapolitan-focused operation with serious dough credentials — the kind of pizza where the crust is the main event, blistered from a hot wood-fired oven and tender in a way that only comes from proper fermentation. Minimal toppings, quality ingredients. The pizza for someone who cares about pizza.
Pressed (Flatbread/Wood-Fired)
Pressed in Centretown does wood-fired flatbreads rather than conventional pizza — thinner, crispier, and with a creative topping program that treats the format as a canvas. The combination of excellent toppings and a thoughtful drinks list makes it a good full-evening destination.
Tips
- Ottawa's dominant local pizza style (Colonnade et al.) is thick-crust and different from both Neapolitan and New York styles — try it before dismissing it
- For late-night pizza, the ByWard Market area has the most consistent options after 11pm
- Home delivery quality varies significantly in Ottawa; for the best pizza, it's worth going in person
