Pizza Il Focolaio

Great tasting, reasonably priced food ready only minutes after we ordered. When we arrived there was a standing line and the joint was packed so it’s apparently no secret how good this place is. We decided we would rather order takeout and eat back at our hotel than wait for a table so we took a look at the menu while waiting in line, ordered at the bar, and were on our way only minutes later. If you like Italian style pizza cooked in a tradition pizza oven give this place a try.

Ordered for an office lunch. Amazing. The order 3 get one pizza free lunch special makes this a no Brainer.

Pizza was very good for being in Canada. The delivery man Peter was very friendly and delivered faster then the predicted time.

Peter made us *four* different custom vegan pizzas, and every single one of them was nothing short of magical. A+ would def go again

short review, the best, they is absolutely no better pizza in Montréal, don’t misunderstand me there is a lot of places in montreal serve great pizza, but this guys are something else.

Best Pizza in Montréal.
This is a must to go when I’m visiting Montréal.

75 pizzas to choose from it’s like taking forever, any way we finally ordered. But my expectations were away higher for such a busy place with lots of positive reviews. The most important element of pizza is it’s dough and their dough was doughy not crispy at all! And pizzas we ordered were heavy with oily artichokes on top. Won’t try this place again

I ordered the pesto chicken pizza and it was really good. You could just tell that the ingredients were fresh unlike the cheap 10 dollar large pizzas you would normally order. The cheese was really soft and stringy, the tomato sauce was real and the chicken was tender as well! If you want some authentic italian pizza with good ingredients order here! It’s slightly more pricey but its worth it if you’re tired of normal fast food pizzas. They also have a lot of variety to choose from and deliver super fast!

Great pizza and nice place! I was delighted with the smoked meat pizza they have an amazing selection for all tastes. That being said I would not claim it is the best pizza I ever had.

Still the best pizza joint in Montréal
I have been eating at Il Focolaio for the past 20 years and am still amazed at how consistently good the service and quality are. They offer over 70 combinations of pizzas an offer a number of items made with either dough or salad. The pizza is made in a wood burning oven.
This places get very busy at noon and people start showing up at 11:45am. By 12:30pm, its difficult to get a seat. They also have a patio in front during the summer. During lunch they also allow a pizza/​salad combination to share for two people.
While I still think they need to spend some resources on cleaning up the bathroom it seems that people get in and out quickly and many will never see the bathroom.

Euh, wow?
Une pizza au top de la pyramide de la bonne pizza?
Un service rapide et courtois?
Une grande sélection de vins provenant de toutes les régions d’Italie?
Avec les images qui roulent en boucle sur les écrans, j’ai même réussi à m’ennuyer de mon ex, à cette époque où je faisais Montréal-​Bologne aux 6 mois. Mais ça, c’est un secret, ok?
On s’en sort à bon prix… et si vous y allez à deux avec un appétit standard, vous pouvez partager une pizza sans problème: c’est immense. Quoique j’ai réussi à tout manger moi-​même. MAIS C’ÉTAIT SI BON!
Vive le four à bois, vive l’Italie, vive Il Focolaio!

La meilleure pizza à Montréal, la pâte sur feu de bois excellente !!! près du centre des spectacles.

I stopped by here to grab a pizza to go. I ordered number 18 without the garlic. I love how many vegetarian options they have for pizza. It was hard to pick just one! The service was very friendly. The waitress brought me a glass of water while I waited for my pizza. Only took about ten minutes. This is definitely a gourmet pizza restaurant. The ingredients were fresh, the pizza was thin crust and it was baked perfectly. Absolutely loved it. Would definitely come back!

Délicieuses pizza et Calzone cuit au four à bois. Très achalandé, prix raisonnable. Je né suis pas très pizza mais quand j’en ai envie, ça a intérêt à être délicieux et c’est le meilleur endroit pour ça.

The pizza here is just WOW… love love love this restaurant… I had the salmon pizza and it was delicious… the crust is perfectly cooked in a brick oven… service is fast our waiter was very friendly, helpful and attentive… highly recommended

Not the cheapest but the best pizza I have had in Mtl. Simply the best. Been here twice with a group of friends — the ambiance is good, and it’s not too loud for conversation. Huge selection of pizzas, with a large variety for both meat lovers, pescaterians, and vegetarians. Their system to mark this on the menu is helpful (but there may be a few too many categories?).
Definitely a place to go back to!

75 choices of pizza… seriously?!?
Although I was skeptical, the pizzas were really good! This place has been in business since 1984.

Let me explain. This place is 5 stars for people watching, 3.5 stars for the food and 3 stars for the service.
We opted to sit outside on a beautiful evening. Outdoor real estate is hard to find in any big city and here you get crammed into a sardine-​box of outdoor seating. The table is bolted to the floor and there was a pregnant woman sitting behind me so I couldn’t exactly ask her to scoot her chair in. The night we were here there was also an epidemic of bees and rather than target one of the floral frocks around us the bee stung my husband.
We kept it simple. Italian salad and a sausage, mushroom and green pepper pizza. Kudos to them for spitting both and bringing them on separate plates sparing us the hassle.
The salad was plain, but tasty in its own simple way. The pizza crust was thin, but the toppings a little heavy making it almost necessary to use a fork and knife. Also simple and good.
Service was slow. I like cozy but this was a little too cozy. Especially when people treated it like an international airport bringing all their luggage in tow causing a spectacle as they try to drag their backpacks, huge purses, and shopping bags in and out.
People watching was excellent and because we were so close we also had the treat of the audio to go along with it.

Mon chum avait été manger à ce resto lors d’un de ses passages à Montréal. Il tenait absolument à m’y emmener lors de notre récent sejour dans la Métropole.
Nous étions à proximité vers 11h30 pour attendre un ami. Nous avons pu constater que le restaurant se remplissait à une vitesse folle, alors nous avons été nous asseoir pour être sûrs d’avoir une table.
Et heureusement, car le restaurant etait PLEIN seulement 30 minutes après l’ouverture!
Nous avons eu du temps pour faire notre choix parmis les quelques 70 pizze proposées. Quel enfer, autant de choix possible, très dur de se decider quand on veut toutes les goûter! Nous avons finalement arrêté notre choix sur la Campagnola (#23).
Notre ami nous a rejoint et nous avons passé notre commande. 30 minutes d’attente nous a t-​on dit avant d’être servis (délai très raisonnable compte tenu de l’achalandage).
Nous étions situés juste à côté du four. On voyait donc les cuisiniers s’affairer comme des fourmis pour préparer les nombreuses pizze commandées.
Notre commande est arrivée plus vite que prévu je pense car je n’ai pas vu le temps passer.
C’est à mon sens la meilleure expérience en matière de pizza depuis notre arrivée au Québec il y a plus de 7 ans. Une vraie merveille! La pâte est fine et cuite à la perfection. Les ingredients sont frais et goûteux, du bonheur à chaque bouchée!
Le service est très efficace aussi. Notre ami et nous avons commandé à quelques minutes d’intervalle mais nous avons tous les 3 été servis en même temps. On nous a débarrassé rapidement et nous avons pu régler très rapidement aussi.
Alors oui la place est très bruyante et on est un peu les uns sur les autres, mais si vous pouvez faire abstraction, vous dégusterez assurément une des meilleures pizze en ville!

If you want to know what pizza taste like in Italy then this is your place! The place is super casual & busy! I wanted to sit on the patio but Montréal still allows smokers to smoke on the patios– I’m allergic so we dined inside-​I could still smell the smoke because the «garage window» was open. So I ordered a bottle of wine (going to get a headache my way). Waiter we had was friendly, service was great! We ordered 2 pizzas & a full salad. We had #28 — basic pepperoni pizza $ 14.25 & #? It had black olives, artichokes, ham and #s1 salad. All EXCELLENT! I almost felt like I was in the Mediterranean. The pizza dough is a delisioso thin crust with hint of salt & flavour. I’m going to go back before I leave Montréal and gain a few more worth it pounds. They offer takeout as well.

So, being from Connecticut and the home of New Haven-​style pizza, I have high expectations for a pizza place.
This places comes closer than a bunch. The amount of pizza combos is terrific, if a little overwhelming. But with an English menu, the servers were friendly and efficient.
Indeed, our pizzas came out super quick!
We tried one with prosciuto and another one with zucchini. Both were much more filling than you would think. Two pizzas is probably enough for three people to share as a guide.
As you might expect from a pizza cooked quickly, the middles of the pizza were a little sloppy and cheese tends to congregate there in a bit of a goopy mess. The sauce was fine but I did enjoy the crust.
Overall, it was a great little stop right near our hotel and all in need for some good pizza. Not touristy at all.
Just don’t compare it to the pizza we have back home. Because it’s not as good. :)

The pizzawas great a little soggy perhaps but otherwise delicious. The restaurant and its service was friendly and warming. The only complaint where is the AC in mid summer? Either way I am coming back for more.

I was already sold when I saw the paper menu listing over 70 pizza choices with varied toppings and saw the tasty looking pizzas waft by on the packed terrace!
Pizza was delicious with a great light crust. I had the Renaissance; spinach, mozzarella, tomato sauce and crispy spicy pancetta. The pancetta was fresh, tasty and plentiful and I devoured the entire thing!
Wine menu had standard bottles at very reasonable prices.
I can’t wait to eat my way through the menu!

Bonne adresse dans le centre de Montréal. Excellent service. Pizza généreuse et de bonne taille. Salade gargantuesque. Impossible de finir. La sangria légère se boit comme du petit lait… agréable en terrasse même si les places sont étroites. A conseiller sans modération en cas de très grosse faim. Gentillesse et amabilité des serveurs.

The restaurant has over 70 types of pizzas to choose from! Have you ever had that many choices before?
The restaurant has enough tables for everyone, with some booths, and a large brick oven at the very back.
The size of the pizzas are all one size — roughly a medium size. It is enough for one person (I think). It wasn’t too small, since we were both full by the end of our meal.
My pizza was GREAT. All the ingredients were fresh, and the dough was so chewy! I’m not a fan of pizza crusts, but I loved finishing them as well. Halfway through, I didn’t eat the crusts, solely because I wouldn’t have had enough space for the rest of my pizza. I’m not sure if I’ll order the same one again next time I’m in Il Focolaio, but that’s not because I didn’t like the pizza! There are just too many that I want to try. Next up on my list is their arugula pizza.
If you’re looking for some new styles of pizzas to try, this would be the right place! Having been in the business since 1984, they really know what they’re doing! They also deliver, so if you’re not in the mood to go out in the cold, give them a call.

#1: Napoletana: Sauce tomate, mozzarella, anchois, olives kalamata, câpres
SUPER salée!!! Je né sais pas à quoi je m’attendais, considérant les olives, câpres et anchois, mais j’ai eu l’impression que c’était littéralement souproudré de sel!
Pour la première pizza sur le menu (chut, né dite à personne à quel point j’ai eu du mal à faire mon choix compte tenu des 75 choix et que finalement j’ai pris par défaut la numéro 1 en pensant qu’elle serait surement leur pizza signature) je m’attendais à vraiment mieux. La croûte était parfaite par contre!
#40: Al Prosciutto: Sauce tomate, prosciutto, mozzarella, champignons
Super bonne! La croûte semblait différente, peut-​être plus épaisse pour supporter la plus grosse quantité de légumes qui laisse beaucoup d’eau à la cuisson.
Malgré leur petit coût, qui est un excellent rapport-​qualité prix, né vous laissez pas berner! Les portions sont gigantesques alors en groupe, peut-​être mieux de commander plusieurs pizzas pour partager et non une chaque!
Dommage qu’il y a toujours une longue file le midi, sinon je viendrais plus souvent.

Ce soir c’était pizza, et le moins que l’on puisse dire c’est que c’est l’endroit pour! Une quantité impressionnante de pizza proposée et y’en a pour tout les goûts!
Personnellement j’ai pris la quatre fromages avec supplément de saucisses italiennes. La pizza est vraiment de bonne taille et très bonne, de plus le supplément est vraiment en quantité!
Pas d’attente pour moi, et un service très bien!
Par contre seulement 4 étoiles parce que 20 $ sans les frais je trouve cela un peu chère malgré les points positifs!
J’y retournerais très certainement!

Un service excellent avec un soucis du détail élevé ! Pizzas délicieuses et une très belle terrasse ! Je conseille vivement !

LA pizza de Montréal, petit resto ou manger de superbe pizza au feu du bois bien arrosée avec un pichet de rousse
Une carte avec plus de 50 pizza a choisir, la mienne un veggie avec courgette, champignones, tomate et oignons mmmmmm trop bonne! et avec un prix plus que raisonnable

Nous y sommes allés en groupe pour le lunch. La place est quand meme très bruyante ! Mais les pizzas sont très bonnes ! Ni trop grosses ni trop petites, bien garnies. Je me suis régalée. Vous trouverez sans aucun doute votre bonheur parmi les 75 possibilités :) et tout ça pour un prix très raisonnable (environ 14dollars).

Large variété de pizzas cuites au feu de bois. Pizza un peu petite mais correcte. Possibilité d’emporter.

Si vous recherchez un pizzeria — ou juste un bon resto — à bon marché dans le coin du centre-​ville, je vous conseille. Une place qui fait ses preuves depuis 1984, Il Focolaio offre un menu avec plus de 75 pizzas différentes!
Il y a meilleure pizza en ville, mais jusqu’à date, j’ai apprécié chaque visite au restaurant et les repas ont été bien dégustés. Cependant, en été, je vous averti tout de suite: alerte aux abeilles en sur la terrasse et les tables sont extrêmements rapprochés! Cet été, mon amie et moi avons eu droit à une crise d’apiphobe à la table d’à côté. Pas comique.
Mais bon, la prochaine fois que vous êtes dans le coin et que vous êtes à la recherché d’un restaurant abordable, laissez faire les «fast foods» et optez pour la pizzeria du Square-​Phillips!

Un choix assez incroyable de pizza au four à bois. Bön service et rapport qualité prix.
Seul bémol, c’est un resto très bruyant à l’heure du lunch.

C’est un des meilleurs endroit pour manger une excellent pizza cuite sur le charbon de bois. Plus de 70 variétés de pizza sur le menu et quelques Calzoni (de l’autre côté du menu!).
Très bonne croute et les aliments sembles très frais.
Si vous voulez essayer autre chose que les pizzerias comerciales comme Donnini etc. Essayer ce resto ! J’ai commandé la pizza #21 avec brocolli et olives et c’était excellent ! Ça va vous coutez environ 15 $ par pizza.
L’endroit est cependant très petit et attendez-​vous à un restaurant très simple.
English: One of the best Pizzeria in Montréal with pizza cooked on charcoal. More than 70 choices of pizza and a few calzoni (on the other side of the menu !).
Very good crust and the food seems very fresh (have to check that freshness in winter!) .
If you want to try something else than Donnini etc…
It’s the best place to eat a very good pizza cooked on charcoal in Montréal. I ate the #21 with broccoli and olives and it was delicious ! It cost around 15 $ per pizza.
The place is small and very simple so don’t ask for a fancy pizzeria.
I come back to this restaurant and it was a good as it’s really a must in Montréal and my girlfriend tried the calzoni and it was excellent !

La meilleur pizza du centre ville de Montréal et les prix sont résonable.