Let’s be honest: Pizza by the slice joints usually suck. Outside of being a quick option after a late night out and needing some grease to sober up, the quality of pizza in these establishments generally leaves to be desired which is too bad because the concept is a worthy and useful one. Being able to grab a great quick slice of pizza while walking around is a great addition to one’s neighbourhood. Over the past few months, there was indications that within St-Henri, a pizzeria was coming and bringing by-the-slice with it. On its own, not necessarily that exciting but when I heard that Tony Campanelli, owner of the wonderful cafe/store of the same name, was doing it…. well now you have my attention. Adamo opened up a couple of weeks ago so I passed by a couple of times to see how the pizza stacks up.
Adamo is a pretty simple place – a walk-up counter with drinks and pizzas ready to grab, a little bar to eat at there if you wish and the open kitchen behind for all to see the magic at work. The boxes of tomatoes and bags of flour add a nice rustic touch in the front of the room and the addition of the TV and the foosball table make the space have a more communal feel despite the lack of seating space. The pizzeria already feels like part of the St-Henri community after only a few weeks. Part of that is Tony’s presence. Every time I have been, the place is busy and people are chatting with Tony and the rest of his friendly staff. You always get a nice hello and small talk from the staff. You don’t feel like you just need to order and get out as fast as possible. That is greatly appreciated.
Pizza-wise, Adamo does what you would call New York-style pizza – as thin as possible and not too overloaded with ingredients. The individual slices are huge – the kind of slices that you fold in half to properly eat with one hand. The key there however is that despite being folded in half, the pizza holds up on its own, no limp crust here. Adamo nails that perfectly so far. The crust isn’t too tight either which is nice. At the moment, there are 3 options – Mozzarella, Pepperoni and Basil – with one Pesto special available at times. Having tried all four, they are all solid. The base tomato sauce has a nice tang to it, the pepperoni has a nice kick, the cheeses are all gooey and plentiful and the pesto was very fresh. My one complaint would be that the basil pizza didn’t really have enough basil on it.
Adamo is the best by-the-slice joint you can find in Montreal right now. Tony and company do it right all the way around so far and add to what is a great strip of Notre-Dame in St-Henri just by the Park. I needed a good pizza place not too far away from my new place…. and Adamo will do very nicely thank you.
Cheers!
Adamo
4629 Notre Dame Ouest
Ramblings from the Complex Mind of a 30 Something 