Joe's Italian Kitchen

I’m cramming in as many pizzas as I can before the end of the summer! I’ve wanted to try Joe’s Italian Kitchen for a while now, after seeing the killer waterfront patio on their Almonte location. They’ve since opened up a restaurant in Westboro which is far closer and easier for a nice Saturday lunch.

Joe’s serves a unique style of pizza called pinsa - pronounced “peensa” which if you say quickly enough, sounds just like pizza. Unlike the pizza we are used to, Joe’s pinsa uses a blend of soy, rice, and wheat flour for their dough. It’s also fermented for 72 hours and the result is a highly hydrated dough with 80% water. Joe’s is so legit, they’re actually a certified pinsaria, Canada’s very first. This certification means they import very specific ingredients including their flour and San Marzano tomatoes.

This is the Joe Clark (four cheese) pinsa

I was excited to try this new type of pizza I had not even heard of. While they do have 15 pizzas on the menu, only three are vegetarian. I contemplated asking for a different pizza with pepperoni removed, but ultimately settled on Joe Clark - a four cheese pizza - paired with a beet salad, both of which I split with my dining partner.

Bonus pic of the veggie loaded pinsa

The pizzas came out without our bomba aioli so we dug into the salad first while we awaited the dip. It took a while but the pizza was still warm when I took my first bites to find the dough really is something special. It’s thick, but not uncomfortably so, and has a lovely softness to it, while at the same time having crispy bits. Not at all a cracker crust which I don’t care for, it had a really great texture but was lacking a bit of salt. The cheese blend and sauce were perfectly salty and packed a flavourful punch. 

The first beef I had with this pizza was the huge crust, especially on the four corner pieces. The picture below shows one of my corner pieces which had just a bite of cheese and sauce. Yes the crust was nice, as was the bomba aioli dipping sauce, but I’d prefer to have more toppings instead. The middle pieces were better for this.

Their pizzas ranged from $18 for the basic cheese to about $22 for a loaded pizza. Although this is pretty similar to some others, like Ridge Rock and Pizza Nerds, I found Joe’s to be smaller and less filling. This is actually something they boast about on their menu; their pizzas are lower calorie and easier to digest. Some people might want that, and I felt half a pinsa was nice for lunch, but don’t expect leftovers for the next day. Paired with the fact that their topping coverage was minimal, it felt expensive for what you get. 

I’ve rated Joe’s Italian Kitchen six out of eight slices.

What do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts or ideas for my next spot.