Pizza payback

Even bombs can't stop Tasty Food Pizza from coming back

by SPANKY HOROWITZ

Everybody loves a comeback. We all cheered when Rocky returned to the ring (except that last time) and the world of funk was creaming its leather chinos when James Brown got out of jail. Well now one of Montreal's greatest culinary legends has returned to triumphant fanfare and watering mouths. Long live Tasty Food Pizza!

I've only been eating there since the mid-'70s, but only because they didn't have baby food on the menu. At Tasty Food, pizza was just about the only thing on the menu. The crust was thin and crunchy, the tomato sauce was tangy with a bit of spicy this 'n' that (my palate remembers anise), and then there was the pepperoni. The pepperoni was in poker-chip-sized rounds, baked on top of the cheese, so if ordered well-done--which it almost always was--the edges of each paper-thin slice would curl up until they were just a little crunchy. Every time I think about it I drool.

Tasty Food Pizza opened in 1958 as a Tastee-Freeze franchise but got the boot for serving pizza, which was not on the official menu. It changed from "Tastee-Freeze" to "Tasty Food" in 1961 and then burned down in 1976.

In 1993, Tasty Food closed its doors to a teary-eyed and bewildered Montreal. A few years later, rumours were flying about a comeback, and sho'nuff, the sign went up on Décarie in the dead of winter '99. Tasty Food was back--except for the firebomb in January and then three months of repairs, and then the second firebomb in April and three more months of repairs. June 2000 saw the official reopening of Tasty Food Pizza and, lucky for us and them, the only fires to be lit on the premises were those in the pizza ovens.

I anxiously waited a couple of months before going near the place and sure enough, when I walked in, the place was jumpin' and jivin'. I ask a couple of questions and am immediately ushered into the kitchen where owner Jimmy Loukas is elbow-deep in cheese and vegetables. This is what makes Tasty Food a great restaurant. Instead of sitting behind a desk counting money, this resto owner is on the front lines, making the food himself.

I order a pepperoni pizza, well done. It arrives promptly, and looks like the Real McCoy. I bite in and yessiree-Bob it is just as good as I had remembered. The crust is thin and crispy, the pepperoni is cooked just enough to curl up around the edges and the tomato sauce is as tangy as ever (and yes--it is anise). The pineapple pizza is sweet enough to be dessert, but filling enough to be a meal, a perfect remedy for the munchies. The Tasty Food Special is a little out of hand: pepperoni, bacon, smoked meat, hamburger, green pepper, onions and mushrooms. My blood slows down just thinking about it.

On my way out, I pass by the kitchen to thank Jimmy and ask a few more questions. He tells me about their overnight security to discourage any would-be bombers. He doesn't know (or won't tell) who bombed his restaurant, but the phone number is the same as it was before and, yes, he has employed the same drivers, cooks and wait staff that he used at his previous location over five years ago. "We only strive to recreate what we had then, not to improve or change it, just to give people what they came for," Jimmy explains.

I got what I came for.

Comments: foodspanky@hotmail.com

Tasty Food Pizza

Address: 6660 Décarie

Phone: 739-1721

Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 4-11pm

Best features: great meal-sized pizza, the well-done pepperoni

Alcohol: not yet

Vegetarian friendly: yes

Credit cards: yes

Wheelchair access: four steep steps up

Price: a pizza costs $6-10

Rating: HHH out of HHHH