Liesl B.
Yelp
I used to work as a waitress at this restaurant's original incarnation (Amelio's est. 1985) in 2003 when I was at university so I can you that not only is the food DELICIOUS, this is a lovely family restaurant that treats its staff very well.
I thought they'd closed down so I was ecstatic when my boyfriend found out they reopened as Amelia's with the daughter at the helm, how wonderful to see this awesome family business continue past its 30th year! I love supporting local companies and this is the real deal.
Now on to the food! There's a reason that every crop of McGill students learns of Amelia's and quickly sees it as a staple. Not only are the prices reasonable, it's BYO and group-friendly for before a big night out. It was not uncommon when I worked there for groups of 8 to show up with a couple of boxes of wine and have a great time before hitting the night life. Now I happen to prefer a better quality to drink myself, but love that this joint is casual enough to cater to that crowd and nice enough to suit my needs as a young professional as well.
The white pizza (5-cheese) is a MUST. I highly recommend sharing one small, medium or large with your table as it's a little intense to eat alone but absolutely TO DIE FOR. You must try it as nature intended, but a great hack from my waitressing days is to ask them to add tomato slices & garlic for even more flavour. Just adding mushrooms is another fav.
The Florentine pizza with artichoke hearts and spinach is also amazing, and often gets overshadowed by the white but very subtle and delicious flavors. Only available as a small, so bear that in mind! The vegetarian is delicious and has a sauce base that includes eggplant. The Reuben pizza is basically a smoked meat sandwich in a pizza, complete with sauerkraut and mustard on the side - definitely not for the faint of heart but we'll worth it if you love meat and want the adventure. If you're a first-timer I'd definitely suggest splitting that with a more standard pizza, though. Or the White :)
You really can't go wrong with the pizzas, and any small can be done in whole wheat dough which is great if you wanna be a bit healthier. They aren't intended to be Italian-style thin crust pizzas so do be aware of that. The crust is fluffy, buttery, almost pastry-like (I believe they use Crisco shortening in the dough) so expect more of a New York style slice. I almost never eat crusts from pizzas but I always finish theirs, they're so good!!
The little salads that come with each order are lovely and give you that valuable extra greenery before say, eating 5 melted cheese on dough!! And their subs and pastas are great too, but the pizzas really do shine here.
If you get dessert, the cheesecake was always my favourite, and all desserts are made in-house.
Note that it's cash only, so come prepared! One of my fav things to do is get dinner here before catching a rep film at Cinema Du Parc. They stop taking customers at 9 (but you can be seated until 9 and stay until 10) so plan accordingly.
You will have an awesome meal, promise :)