Slice of life: Oregano’s owner picks top 10 pizza places in Greater Victoria

Over the last decade, Oregano’s Pizza has become home to some of the South island’s most popular thick-crust pizza.

Located in the Shelbourne Plaza, Oregano’s is known for its meaty pies like the Brooklyn’s Finest, featuring two types of pepperoni, and the Cheeseburger Pizza, which has mustard and ketchup instead of pizza sauce and is topped with mounds of ground beef and cheese.

These delicious creations are from the mind of pizza connoisseur and Oregano’s Owner Jason Venkaya who recently joined the MicCHEK Podcast to lay out 10 of his most popular local pizza restaurants.

“There is no order to this list,” Venkaya says. “It is simply the ramblings of a foodie who decided to consolidate some local places in Greater Victoria that are accessible to everybody and all share something unique.”

Here are the 10 local pizza places that cracked his list:

Pizzeria Prima Strada – locations in Cobble Hill, on Cook Street, and on Fort Street

“The gold standard for Neapolitan pizza in Victoria. They have a traditional Italian menu so you’re not going to expect a bacon double cheeseburger [pizza] or anything. I think they’ve set the trend and a lot of places have come after them that have tried to clone that style. It shows that they have staying power and are one of the top places in Victoria.”

Virtuous Pie – 530 Pandora Ave.

“This one is one that I hear a lot about obviously being in this sector. They do their own in-house made nut cheese and they also have ice cream which is vegan. The things they are able to do while staying plant based is incredible so I have to give them a mention. I think the extra care and attention that they’re able to give to vegan products is really cool and I wish them well.”

My Chosen Pizza – 4492 Happy Valley Rd.

“They’ve been around a really long time obviously with the café, and then My-Chosen Pizza and then the Sugar Shack. So you have this trifecta of café with wonderful food, pizza place with great pizza and then the Sugar Shack with ice cream and baked goods, so I like that you can get multiple things from that one company. If we’re talking specifically about the pizza, it’s just genuinely good pizza.”

Peninsula Pizza – 7816 East Saanich Rd.

“I love their creativity and I think their menu is really awesome, it reminds me of the early days of Oregano’s and I say that not as a slight but we had all this creative energy and we were always wondering what can we put on pizza. They’re making pizza that just sounds fun. It might not be traditional but who cares, if it tastes good I have nothing but respect for it.”

Willows Pizza – 2571 Cadboro Bay Rd.

“They’re in Cadboro Bay right next to Slater’s Meats. What drew me to this pick a lot was that they actually use Slater Meats for some of their meats. That’s really cool to turn to your neighbour and be like hey I need x,y, and z and be able to put that on pizza and create something with and sell that out your front door. I like that, it’s a very local vibe.”

MOD – 3022 Merchant Way

“They kind of do this pick your own pizza, Subway style where you can create your pizza based on the toppings in front of you. What separates them is they literally let you put on as much as you want.”

Standard Pizza – 1515 Cook St.

“They’re kind of the Neapolitan style but as far as I’m concerned they kind of go more with western flavours. So you can get a margherita but you can also get a meaty one. I like the ones they have with their house-made sausage. It’s good product and the pizza tastes great. It’s wood-fired so you should expect some char and it’s going to be more on the traditional side so you’re going to have less topping density and more quality of product.”

Il Terrazzo – 555 Johnson St.

“My wife and I went there for a date night and it was a nice appetizer before dinner. I was happy, impressed, and satiated. I’m mentioning this because they’re such a staple for pasta and Italian food.”

Sushi Pizza

“This is going to be controversial because this isn’t a spot but more an ideology. If you go to Fudo, Shizen and many other places, you can get a sushi pizza. It’s a packed sushi rice base that gets deep fried, topped with salmon, tuna, crab, with some spicy mayo drizzle and cucumber and it’s really different. I could say a host of other pizza places but a unique pizza experience is sushi pizza. You have to look for it on menus. I’ve had the one at Shizen multiple times and I have nothing but love for something that is outside the box.”

Oregano’s Pizza – 3615 Shelbourne Street

“We’re locally owned and operated, just a couple of guys who have been doing it since 2008. I feel like the longevity and the attention to detail and quality of the product has flown with us over the years. At one point my business partner and I were the ones making every pizza that was going out the door. We were working ridiculous stretches. I think I worked 360 days in a row without a day off in the early years, and did that for multiple years. We put in all that effort and now we’re seeing the fruits of our labour with 25 plus staff, it’s just awesome to see that we were able to translate our vision down to our staff and create a recurring experience for people.”

Listen to this episode of MicCHEK here.

MicCHEK Roundtables are released every Friday and are available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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