Daniel B.
Yelp
I had high hopes for Il Focolaio considering the restaurant's prevalence and history in Montreal (since 1984). Plus, it had a great rating and large number of reviews on Yelp. We ordered delivery. Service was good, but the pizzas, unfortunately, were just not that good. They also got one of our orders wrong.
Don't get me wrong. The pizzas weren't bad. I was just expecting better.
Our group, which was staying in some apartments near McGill University, wanted pizza to be delivered for dinner. I searched Yelp and Il Focolaio seemed like the best choice. They had a clean, professional-looking website with a detailed, up-to-date menu. My friends and I could easily choose what we wanted before I called in the order.
Il Focolaio had nearly 80 different kinds of pizza to choose from, most priced in the $15-17 range, each (Canadian dollars). All of Il Focolaio's pizzas are "individual" size at 10-11 inches each. They have pizzas to fit various taste preferences, allergies, and dietary restrictions including ingredients like omega-3 (vegan) whole wheat pizza dough, gluten-free vegan crust, and organic lactose-free cheese. In addition, they sell calzones, salads, subs, sausage plates, and desserts. They also offer a full bar with beer, wine, and cocktails.
We took advantage of their "order 3 and get the 4th one free" delivery special. For every 4 pizzas you order, the cheapest pizza of the 4 is free. We ordered on a Saturday night and there were no weekend restrictions for this special.
Here's what we got (with menu numbers):
5. Sicilienne ($15.75) - sauce, ham, mushrooms, mozzarella, green peppers; this one had no mushrooms at our request
28. Peperonata (free from the buy 3, get one 1 free deal; regularly $15.50) - sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella
34. Hawaiian ($17.75, includes $2 addition for vegan cheese) - sauce, ham, pineapple, mozzarella, black olives, sub in vegan cheese; we requested no olives
68. A La Griglia ($16.50) - fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, grilled vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, onions, artichokes, mushrooms, green and red peppers), fresh garlic, Italian herbs, olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano
74. Tartufo ($16.50) - mozzarella, goat cheese, black truffles (mixed with anchovies, olives, fresh garlic, wine, corn oil), cherry tomatoes (with fresh garlic, oregano, basil, olive oil), Parmigiano-Reggiano
These fives pizzas sufficed for the seven of us. My favorites were the Peperonata and Sicilienne in that order. The other pizzas were disappointing. I specifically requested no olives on the Hawaiian and our receipt confirmed this. However, they still included lots of olives on the pizza. I understand mistakes happen, but this was a pretty simple request and they messed it up. The pizza was okay otherwise.
The Peperonata was standard and the Sicilienne was okay too. Il Focolaio makes everything from scratch, in house, including their dough and sauce. I liked the crust. Nice and chewy with a little bit of crispiness and a decent amount of char. The pizzas are cooked in wood-fired ovens which gave the crusts an appetizing, subtly smoky flavor.
I was especially looking forward to trying the A La Griglia and Tartufo pizzas, but both let me down. The A La Griglia, which is a veggie pizza, was fine. It was just a little boring and didn't really have me craving more like a good pizza should. I did appreciate the amount and variety of vegetables, however. There were so many veggie toppings, they were falling off, left and right. The veggies were fresh too.
The Tartufo sounded delicious and mouth-watering. I love truffles and anchovies, but this one had a way-too-salty and funky taste to it. The sauce just wasn't what I was expecting and, combined with the goat cheese, was not very pleasant. The Tartufo is definitely designed for certain palates and I do not recommend it for most people.
Delivery was fast. On a Saturday night, I called and placed my order at 9:32pm. I received a call from the restaurant less than 30 minutes later, at 10:01pm, to let me know the driver was outside. The speed was impressive. We were staying in Milton Park (a.k.a. the McGill Ghetto). Il Focolaio is located in downtown Montreal, less than 10 blocks away, almost a straight shot down Aylmer, so it was somewhat nearby.
TPS and TVQ taxes brought our total to $76.46 before tip for the driver. A reasonable price.
I'd be willing to give these guys another try.
Il Focolaio means fireplace in Italian.