Ottawa has lots of pizza joints and I mean a lot, right from the suburbs to Little Italy and to the downtown core. But one thing these pizza joints don’t really have is customized pizza that's until Score Pizza came sliding right into O-town.
Score is located in the CF Rideau Centre by the Rideau Street entrance. It opened up to satisfy both those who love pineapple and don’t love pineapple on their Hawaiian Pizza. Just kidding but seriously, if you want pineapple on your pizza, they have that option. It’s honestly like Subway, only instead of picking the toppings for your sandwiches, you pick all the toppings for your pizzas.
With that in mind, Carleigh and I found time amidst our busy schedule to visit Score Pizza for a little taste.
Right smack at the front counter, you’re introduced to the rules to score – it’s simple to follow and quick. You first pick the size of your pizza – the mini is 6 inches ($8.25) while the regular is 12 inches ($12.25) in diameter. Then you build on your toppings or you can choose of their 6 signature pizzas. Once you’re done, you pay and watch your pizza baby come out the stone-fired oven super-fast.
Just a quick note, an amazing thing about this place is the preparation time and the price. Your pizza gets done within 10 minutes of paying and watching your pizza enter the stone-fired oven. Whether you pick a mini or a regular size, you get to put as many and as much toppings as you like – so pile on as much as you want.
Carleigh
Carleigh went up ahead of me and ordered one of their signature pizzas, “Veggie Fresh.” This is what she had to say.
When I went up to order, I asked a few questions about the menu. They claimed that their best seller was the BBQ Chicken pizza and that their wildest creation was the Great White North (because it has a garlic cream sauce instead of the traditional red sauce). Both options had meat, and I personally prefer my pizzas without. So I went with the vegetarian signature pizza, the “Veggie Fresh”.
They took down my name so they could call it out when my personal, stone-fired, 12-inch pizza was done. So in that way, it was kind of like Starbucks. Then, I watched them quickly assemble my pizza in front of me. They were so fast that my pizza was being placed into the oven before I even took my wallet out to pay for it.
Did I mention that they also serve booze?
The pizza itself was full of colours and textures. The Veggie Fresh came topped with red sauce, goat cheese, mozzarella, green peppers, spinach, mushrooms. olives, red onions, tomatoes, and pesto. So I can pretty much tell everyone that I ate a salad. The thin crust was crispy and nicely charred while the toppings were a lovely, cheesy amalgam of flavours.
The place also made for great photoshoot material.
Lui Xia
I personally went into with no expectations, just curiosity and lots of questions running through my mind. Thankfully, the servers and pizza artists were helpful. They said the recommended amount for toppings would be 5 to 6 but I’m extra so I went for 11.
I was very happy with the outcome and the unlimited choices. I chose everything from the sauces, veggies, cheeses, meats and even finishes. It felt liberating to not worry about the price. My mini pizza had spicy red sauce, spinach, mozzarella, red onions, pepperoni, grilled chicken, gorgonzola cheese, pesto, arugula, and my favourite – pineapples. I’m kidding, my favourite topping was crushed garlic, but yes, I did get pineapples on my pizza.
I really liked how my pizza turned out. My choice for crushed garlic really add a punch of flavour. The spicy red sauce also actually had some heat, I was pleasantly surprised. Another notable kick of flavour was the gorgonzola cheese (a veined Italian blue cheese), which had a strong pungent cheese flavour.
I can 10/10 tell you that my pizza was 100% not-snog friendly.
One of my only qualms was the type of crust they offered. I am personally am a fan of thicker or fluffier crust. But I’ll let it slide considering the unlimited options for pizza toppings.
The experience was overall pretty cool. It’s definitely great for those tired of conventional pizzas. It’s also a great place to catch a sports game or two because they have big TV screens set up. Just like Carleigh said, the interior's pretty neat. I felt like it'd do good as another study spot.
Besides pizzas, they provide a selection of sandwiches and salads. There are up to four sandwich choices but if you're looking to get a salad, you can either try their Score Caesar or make your own.
So if you’re looking for a little bespoke pizza experience, definitely check Score out. You might just score some new pizza topping combinations.