Leslieville gets Toronto’s first taste of Detroit-style pizza
No need to cross the border to get your hands on authentic deep-dish pizza from the Rust Belt: Descendant, a new 20-seat spot in Leslieville, cranks out cheese-heavy Detroit pies from brick-lined Montague Hearthbake gas ovens. Like Chicago-style pies, these pizzas are fodder for nutritionists’ nightmares. A thick layer of dough is pressed into a well-oiled square pan before being loaded with toppings and smothered in tomato sauce. The resulting pies taste like they’ve been deep fried. Descendant’s menu includes by-the-book combos (classic cheese with tomato sauce), but there are some experimental ones, too. The Soppressata Marmalade, for example, includes mozzarella with smoked caciocavallo (a stretched-curd cheese), Calabrian chilies, basil, Mike’s Hot Honey and, of course, soppressata.
1168 Queen St. E., 647-347-1168, @DescendantPizza
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/descendant-pizza-detroit-style-leslieville/&title=Leslieville gets Toronto’s first taste of Detroit-style pizza&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/toronto-restaurants-descendant-pizza-leslieville.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_321779" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Image: Rebecca Fleming)[/caption]
No need to cross the border to get your hands on authentic deep-dish pizza from the Rust Belt: Descendant, a new 20-seat spot in Leslieville, cranks out cheese-heavy Detroit pies from brick-lined Montague Hearthbake gas ovens. Like Chicago-style pies, these pizzas are fodder for nutritionists' nightmares. A thick layer of dough is pressed into a well-oiled square pan before being loaded with toppings and smothered in tomato sauce. The resulting pies taste like they’ve been deep fried. Descendant’s menu includes by-the-book combos (classic cheese with tomato sauce), but there are some experimental ones, too. The Soppressata Marmalade, for example, includes mozzarella with smoked caciocavallo (a stretched-curd cheese), Calabrian chilies, basil, Mike's Hot Honey and, of course, soppressata.
1168 Queen St. E., 647-347-1168, @DescendantPizza){kind=link}
I went here on the second day after opening and it was absolutely delicious! I’ve been waiting months for this place to open, and was very happy when I saw on their Instagram feed they were ready.
I had the Soppressata Marmalade and my mouth was salivating after eating! I would definitely recommend it. For those who aren’t familiar with Detroit style, it’s THICK crust pizza (not as THICK as Chicago, but more like that) but very light and airy dough. The closest example we have is Pizza Hut pizza, but way better!
For those who want to go, go early. I went at 7pm and they had run out of small pizzas, and were completely sold out by 8pm. A large is meant for 2-3 people, (8 total slices), but because it’s so delicious it should be meant for 2 hungry people. It was a bit on the expensive side ($29 for a large) but is competitive with the more expensive style pizza (QMP).
Hey Darren! Oh boo hoo…
West: 128
East: 11!!!!!
think crust, but not as think as Chicago? lol
hahaha…wow. it’s my new hybrid of thin/thick crust! haha.
THICK :)
your inattention to proofreading detail deeply offends me on a highly personal level. I don’t even know what to believe now.
you complain about him posting it yet you pick up the ball at every opportunity yourself. so which is it: you hate it when someone else does it but you like taking someone else’s idea for your own? or you want him to do it so you can complain about it, for lack of anything else to say on these boards (of which you don’t)? please enlighten us on what you actually want.
no one cares
The first two times I tried to buy their pizza, they were SOLD OUT. I was hoping that the third time would be the charm today. When I went there, they weren’t sold out, BUT… they ended up giving my pizza to someone else, who only ordered 1 pizza to begin, but somehow the staff thought they were owed two. It probably weighed on said customer’s conscience that they were stealing someone else’s pizza, so they came back to the restaurant after a few minutes and surrendered the extra pizza to the Descendant staff, who then proceeded to hand the pizza over to me. Needless to say, I was slightly irritated by what had transpired. I had seriously considered demanding a new pizza be made because it was within my rights as a customer – who knows what happened to the pizza while it was in the hands of the other customer – they could’ve spat in it, put poison in it – who knows, really? But, at the urging of my friend, I decided to let it go and accept the pizza anyway. Nevertheless, I don’t think I’ll come back to that place. I only give new businesses three chances to impress me, and Descendant Pizza struck out, unfortunately.
With regard to the pizza itself, I would say that it’s comparable in taste (and greasiness) to Pizza Hut, so if I should ever find myself craving it, I would just call Pizza Hut for a delivery. I know I could count on Pizza Hut to always have pizza in stock, and, more important, to deliver my pizza exactly the way I ordered it (and not give it to someone else).
Best of luck to Descendant Pizza!
mozo, you’re confusing yourself with everyone else.
Why do you check in constantly then?
Hoping for relevant comments. I realize this will never happen.
If the pizza served there can be compared to Pizza Hut, I’ll take a pass.
If you think i’m picking up this ‘ball’ at every opportunity, then i’m going to go for an own goal on that one. I’m going to sink this ship! If you think i’m stealing his idea (HEY!) you must literally be a wood post with hands who can type. If you thought I’d help him out then you missed the point by a nautical mile. And if you think say nothing but point out East VS West counts, you may want to use the scroll button on your sticky mouse.
Laaaater.
There are 13 comments on here. You choose to ignore all of the others and focus on THIS one. Plus nobody is stopping you from making your own original comments. But that’s not as much fun as pretending to be bothered about a couple of numbers that you obsess about. Which is the same reason you don’t simply ignore it. It’s nice that you have this hobby but don’t pretend that it’s a burden.