At 1402 Queen St East just across from the TTC Streetcar yard sits Queen Margherita Pizza. Word has been spreading amongst Toronto’s pizza pie fans over the past few months that this place is IT. East Enders immediately rave (passionate and patriotic) for the new Best Naples style pies in Toronto. It seems like a fight has erupted between these east enders and their west end counterparts who adamantly defend their great love for Pizzeria Libretto at Ossington and Dundas.
Now that I have been to both it’s rather enjoyable to finally quietly deliberate with both experiences and come to my own conclusions. The staff hired at both restaurants are friendly and borderline illegal attractive (10 points). Libtretto is famous for not taking reservations and having a notoriously long que outside its doors. The restaurant is smaller than QMP and a hell of a lot louder. Both pizzerias have beautiful ovens made in Naples and constructed in their kitchens. The pie crusts blister and can roll up in your hands from crust to tip. Ozzing cheese and the slip of tomato sauce onto your forearm.
I dined with Meaghan at Queen Margherita Pizza and we both opted to order the price fix menu. We started off with some lovely bread and a beautiful 1st press olive oil. I asked for Balsamic Vinegar and was informed by the waitress that their olive oil was so good that I didn’t need any. I appreciated her advice but informed her that I once worked on a Balsamic Vinegar Farm in Modena Italy and could drink the stuff like Sherry.
We ordered the following:
Italian Mac’n’Cheese with asiago, fontina, parmeggiano
Antipasto with cured meats, garlic cucumbers covered in olive oil, sweet peppers and olives
Pizza Romolo with tomato sauce, fior di latte, proscuitto, cotto and mushrooms.
Pizza Quattro Fromaggi with fior di latte, bocconcini, gorgonzola and grana padano
Noughat Gelato
Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse
So the question is: Libretto in the West VS QMP in the East. I would visit both restaurants again but now have an affinity for QMP. The restaurant is doing a good thing by accepting reservations. It gives the restaurant credibility and shows they want to make the dining experience a little more enjoyable for their hungry patrons. I also like the dining room set up in QMP and it appears to fit a lot more patrons (including their bar seating by the entrance). Both create a great pizza product but if I am going to be eating with friends after a long day of work, I want to actually be able to hear what people are acutally saying rather than stressing out while trying to enjoy the perfect pie.
