Tony's Pizza Palace

Tony’s Pizza Palace is one of those long time beloved Edmonton pizza joints; an institution. We arrived on a Friday after work to find the place quickly filling up with families. While there weren’t a lot of babies, the 3 to 8 year old crowd seemed to have the place bumping. This was surprising to me because the interior/exterior doesn’t exude ‘family friendly’. It has always been more of an ‘intimate restaurant for grownups on a Friday night in 1979’ vibe to me. From the sight of our menu, you can tell that families don’t hold a monopoly on this place.

Apparently a local sports team frequents this place!

We started with an order of bruschetta and, while it isn’t my favorite (see Nello's) in the city, it’s still pretty decent at keeping the hangries at bay while we wait for the pizza to cook. 

Bruschetta. Toy that did not work as a distraction.

While places like Famoso are famous for their 90 second cook times, Tony’s works in the opposite way. They apparently bake their ‘zas for 15-20 minutes. This results in a crispy, crunchy crust that sometimes is almost akin to a cracker. Since I love crunchy textures, this is super appealing to me, even though I get that it may not be everybody’s slice of pizza. See what I did there.

Some excellent beverages 

Probably the most popular pizza on their menu (according to the internet and my Facebook feed) is Sal’s. It’s a deceptively simple combination of prosciutto, capicollo, marinated tomatoes and bocconcini cheese. The simplicity of this arrangement really lets each ingredient shine. It’s a true classic. 

Sal's

And as you can see, the pizza really holds it shape. Firm and sharp. Some people like to fold their pizza in more of a “New York” style but that’s never been my bag.

See how it stays horizontal? Magic!

Our server was a young guy and it seemed like it was his first night on the job. Nice, but a bit shy, and not sure what to do with a baby trying to grab the pen from his hand. There is a glass partition where you can watch the chef throw the pizza dough high in the air and that was entertaining for the baby. I think he was hoping that maybe they could toss him up in the air and go for a little spin too.

All in all we would rate it:

Did they have a highchair?             Yes (5/5)

Did it look like it had been wiped down this calendar year? Yes, but somehow the baby managed to escape it even though he was buckled in (4/5)

Baby Houdini escaped to play his new favorite hiding game

Change tables: none in the ladies room (0), and none in the men’s room L (0) For a place crawling with families, this seems like a no brainer. I sent them a FB message but to date no response = 0/5

Did the wait staff give us stink eye? They were kind and polite. Could have used more compliments about how cute he is or how great his hair is (4/5)

Was the food awesome? Yes (5/5)

Total: 18/25

Our recommendation: If you have older kids go for it, but if you’ve got a baby, it will be less stressful to save this place for a (rare) date night.