Pizza 21st Century & Fresh Pasta Store

I think the place was sold to a new owner. Not the same. It’s a shame. Would not return.

The pizza dough was terrible. Tough and overworked. It was also under baked. I should have known something was suspicious when I noticed that there were two options for mushrooms toppings on the menu. For the same price you could get canned or fresh. What self respecting pizza place puts canned mushrooms on their pizza. We definitely will not be ordering from them again.

We have come here quite a few times to buy pasta and sauce, despite it being far away from where we live. The owners are always there and incredibly friendly and helpful, even cutting fettucine noodles from lasagna when they didn’t have any.
The pasta is always amazing and freezes very well and their sauces (alfredo and tomato) are exceptional, although we often use them as a base to add some extra garlic or parmesan and meat respectively.
We have only had their pizza once, it was quite good even though it travelled 25 minutes home but we would definitely get it again.
This is an excellent little shop and is highly recommended.

I really wanted to like the pizza but it just failed for me. In fairness let me say that it was my first ever try of 21^st Century and I’ve only had two of their pizzas.
The Mexicana was really plain tasting. Maybe taco seasoned beef would have made the difference.
The 21^st Century was also very plain tasting. Surprising too given the amount of ingredients on it.
Both pies were very weighty with ingredients almost to the point of excess. I actually give them credit for producing fully loaded it’s just that the favour profiles are lacking. The crust was definitely the worst. I wouldn’t call it this crust so much as flat… flat and uncomfortably chewy.
The old timer delivery guy forgot my pops but to his credit he was prepared to go back. I couldn’t let him for two pops but did appreciate the effort to make it right… and am not penalizing them with any stars for service.
Bottom line for me… is that I can’t recommend them for pizza.

I don’t give out 5 stars that often but this place is truly the best pizza and pasta that I’ve had in a long time. I love it when owners are passionate about their business like the owner here at Pizza 21^st Century on Academy (a 2^nd location that recently opened — originally one is on Watt St). He was telling me about how they make and sell their own fresh and dry pasta (all different types) with no preservatives or additives. All real stuff! And they sell refrigerated and frozen portions of cannelloni, lasagna and pizza. I picked up a pre-​made 3 cheese cannelloni (ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella) from their fridge, it was $ 9.50 for 3 large cannelloni, serves 2 – 3 people. I don’t normally eat pastas but this one was sooooo good. It took about 10 mins in the oven and out came the most luscious cheese filling encased in the most perfect pasta. The cheese filling was velvety smooth. It was simply made with probably only about 7 ingredients in the whole dish but it’s what true Italian cooking is all about — letting simple fresh ingredients shine! It was perfectly seasoned, not salty at all. The pasta had the perfect consistency and flavour. Amazing. Great place to buy a few dinners like this and keep it frozen for nights you don’t want to cook. Also tried their homemade gnocchi which were absolutely outstanding — fluffy and light, they melted in my mouth after just a few minutes in boiling water (ready when they float). They even sell marinara sauce to go with their fresh pastas.
The 12″ medium «21^st Century Supreme» for $ 19.50 — extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, Vlado’s secret blend of herbs and spices, mozzarella cheese, topped with fresh arugula, sliced prosciutto and parmesan cheese. There’s no tomato sauce on this one but I didn’t miss it at all. If you like garlic, this is a great pizza to get. This pizza is a fave as I love how the arugula and prosciutto add such great flavour. The crust is perfect — more like a medium style but had a good crispness. Vlado’s secret blend of herbs and spices really creates a unique flavour and makes for a memorable pizza experience. The 12″ medium Mediterranean is a thin crust pizza with bacon, onions, mushrooms, peppers and green olives. The toppings don’t screen Mediterranean to me but that doesn’t matter as it was delicious. Not greasy at all, great tomato sauce, perfect crust and great fresh toppings.
Medium 12″ pizzas are about $ 20 and large 14″ are about $ 24. The prices for the pizza sounds steep if you compare it to Pizza Hotline but I would put this place more in line with the more gourmet style pizzerias even though this place is a take-​out place. The cheaper pizza places don’t give you a lot of toppings and the cheese is a bit questionable as well. Just by the look and taste of the pizza and pastas here, you can tell that they use good quality ingredients so to me, that justifies a slightly higher price point.
Service was absolutely great — very friendly and passionate about his product! This place is located at the corner of Academy and Centennial Street, in a small strip mall with parking in the back.
Menu link:
Hours:
M-​F: 11:30am-1:30 pm.
Mon — Thu: 4:30 pm — 9:30 pm
Fri — Sat: 4:30 pm — 11:00 pm
Sun: 4:30 pm — 9:30 pm