Brick Oven Pizzeria

shut down by the health dept
Unsanitary conditions & Pest infestation

This place has been around for awhile, and I think it is still fantastic. The owners are really nice, and they make delicious, real, wood-​fired pizza. It is definitely worth checking out!

I remember going here almost thirty years ago. The Pizzas are thin crust and baked in real firewood inside a brick oven. They are good: I had Anchovies and Garlic and my guest had Ham and Pineapple. The crust is perfect, as good as the best in NYC. The pizza sauce is mild and not salty, which we liked. The décor needs a bit of updating. Not much of a beer list. Overall, a positive experience. I much prefer this place than the average Take Out/​Delivery Pizza joints. There is a coupon which gets you half price on a second pizza bringing the cost to a reasonable level.

Service was pleasant but the pizza really wasn’t good. It saddens me to say that as the host/​owner seemed lovely and authentic but we didn’t even eat half of it and didn’t get it to go. Toppings were very average, but the sauce and crust were not enjoyable. Will not go back again, and makes me never want to just roll the dice and try a place again.

I was excited to try this pizza, because I wanted real wood-​fired brick oven pizza. I had it delivered, so no comments on the actual place, or paying to sit down. It was pretty expensive, so I hoped it would also be good. Crust was good, sauce was good, toppings were so-​so, and seemed like they had been plopped on after the pizza was already done cooking, the were completely raw. and hardly any cheese. Very very fast free delivery. Probably won’t order here again.

I will preface this review by saying that unlike most of the reviewers beneath me I am not a complete doofus. Brick Oven Pizzeria sucks big time, and if anyone tells you otherwise their opinion is to be taken with a grain of iodized salt.
A good pizza excels when there is a symbiotic relationship between the three main components: crust, cheese, and sauce. Even the smallest deviation from this equation can turn a housewife into a ho.
Brick Oven Pizzeria has an almost-​great crust, passable sauce, but the cheese is truly disgusting. Considering how good the other components are it is pretty incredible that my wife considered this one of the worst pizzas she’d ever had. The cheese was akin to American, but with less substance; I wouldn’t have been surprised if it came out of a spray can.
Owner is jovial albeit totally oblivious that people realize his pizza blows. I think he knows the cheese is shit, but arrogantly believes that non-​Italians wouldn’t have a clue.
If I were him I’d expand my business and make fresh baguettes and bread in the wood-​oven and spend a bit of his profits on better cheese.

After a hopeful searching, I almost gave up the search for ANYTHING that closely resembles an NYC pizza… thank you, Unilocalers and my fiancé (for making me go), for directing me here! Although it will never replace my favorite joints from back home, I can now kiss good-​bye pizza chains and doughy and greasy pizzas from other establishments. I literally, had been pizza starved and stopped believing in recommendations. Thankfully, my fiancé threw me in the car and drove me out to BOP. The pizza come out quickly, toppings are fresh, dough thin and crisp… YUM. The only downside is that it can get pricey for pizza – but it beats buying a plane ticket to NY.

I made my way to Brick Oven Pizzeria expecting an ok pizza place.
All the reviews below rave about it.
Yes, the oven where they cook their pizzas is made of brick. The crust is thin and well done. That’s where the good things stop.
It is cold inside the store, they have a minimum of $ 10 if you want to sit down, a medium pizza with standard toppings came up to $ 18.
The pizza is below mediocre. After the first bite I could describe the cheese and toppings as only one thing. Cheap.
Left disappointed with the quality. Service was non-​existent, but it wasn’t rude.

I will never go back there. The owner came to our table, and we had a coupon for 50% off the entire meal. We were kind to mention it at the beginning before ordering so we would know if it was accepted or not. He said, «Sure I’ll take it, but you’ll need to order more stuff than just a pizza…» I said, «Well i was going to order a salad and a beer too, will that work?» «Sounds great,» he said. The food came and tasted great for the most part… but to be honest, the crust tasted a bit like ash (duh, right? Brick oven.)
The problem came when we went to pay, of course. The owner, while drinking his Pellegrino says, «Ok your bill is $ 28.00.» «Huh?» I thought. «The coupon is only for the pizza,» he claimed. «Oh,» I muttered. «Well, here’s my CIBC card.» He took my card and ran it through his card reader 2 or 3 times with no success. The machine spit out a receipt that read, «Unauthorized» or something, not «Rejected» as if we had no money. Then he turned and said, «There’s cash across the street. Please pay with cash.» So, I turned to my wife, who was as confused as I, and she said, «I’ll be right back.» Off she went to CIBC for cash, while i stood at the counter and watched a couple with kids also try to pay. The customer hands the owner his bank card, and he says in his accent, «Look, cash only. I can’t let you pay with your card, because I get charged %4…Plus, with coupons, I make even less. Please cash.»
Sir, why put coupons out there if you’re not going to honor them?! This is the second time in Vancouver that I’ve brought a coupon to a manager/​owner and they’ve looked at it with disgust. The point here is to get customers by luring them with coupons, right? Well, by not honoring them, you look stupid first of all, and second of all, you’re going to lose more customers. Listen I’m an upstanding guy. I even tipped you that day because of the nice chick in the back by the oven who sweats all day. But seriously, why did you pretend like my debit card wasn’t accepted? And why did you make me buy more food in order to accept my coupon, only to tell me it was only good for pizzas? The coupon did not say «pizza only.»
You know what, anyone reading this should go down the street to Dominos. It’s ½ the price and tastes better. There’s no ash on the bottom of your pizza. And you won’t get screwed by the owner. Have a nice day.

* Real wood-​fired brick oven pizza *
For some reason there are very few spots around town that keep a real wood-​fired brick oven going for their pizzas. Perhaps fire codes?
This unexpected spot on a small commercial strip in a fairly residential area of Dunbar does. Apparently they have been doing it for almost 30 years. Not sure why I never found out about it before — perhaps because of the rather non-​central location?
In any case, I had the «Alla salsiccia» pizza which had Italian sausage, onions, garlic, and fresh basil. The crust was a blend of unbleached white and whole wheat and got a nice char from the wood-​fired oven. The pizza was prepared fresh after ordering it and due to the high heat of the oven was ready quickly. The sausage could have used more seasoning, it was just those little sausage balls that seemed rather commercial. The fresh basil was placed on top after baking so it was just slightly wilted from the heat of the pizza (a good thing).
So I’m a fan of the crust, not such a fan of the sausage, and likely would get different toppings next time around. But a very nice Italian style pizza overall!

Very quick and excellent local pizza. It’s not super cheap, and you can find better offerings in other cities, but for Vancouver it’s a good option. The Quattro Staggione is my pizza of choice there and while it’s a bit heavy on the ham, you get lots of toppings. Local business, very tasty pizza, decent prices, brick oven quality.

Okay, I just arrived back from my first ever trip to Italy. I loved the brick oven pizza there! The crust was light and fluffy and the sauce was so tasty — how real pizza is supposed to taste. Unfortunately, Vancouver doesn’t have pizza like that except when by accident I tried 2 day old pizza at my sister’s place. the crust was stunning and light and mmmmm; the sauce was so tasty and unlike boring Vancouver pizza sauce. The pizza was from Brick Oven… I’m happy that I’ll always relive my Roma experience every time I bight into a slice of Brick Oven pizza… so tasy, fresh, and authentic.

New in town, and I trusted Unilocal to find us a good pizzeria in the Southlands neighborhood. It worked!
The service was friendly and the pizzas were good with a draft Okanagan Spring Pale Ale. Pizzas came out SUPER fast– that brick oven must be blazing!
Recommended. Good stuff.

By far the best pizza I have ever tasted in the lower mainland! The family owned business put in a lot of time to perfected their pizza. The crust is hand tossed and I find that is the best part of their pizzas. It’s thin, not doughy and not drenched in oil. I grabbed my very first slice & noticed that there was no oil on my hand! I instantly fell in love with this pizzeria! All their pizza are cooked in a wood burning oven. I think that’s what the difference is from making a pizza ok from great! The pizza sauce taste like authentic pizza sauce, not spaghetti sauce, and the toppings are different. They have different types of pizza and as well as the usual favourites (Hawaiian, pepperoni). My friend Jeremy loves roasted garlic so we ordered a pizza with garlic, I only had one clove and picked the rest off. I had garlic breath for 2 days from that one clove.
I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s a must try! For those who are watching their weight or health conscious, you will love the pizza & you won’t feel guilty about eating it.
PS: the cheese is melted to perfection. :)

Good pizza bad manager. He was not very pleasant when we pointed out the garlic and onion pizza was not what my kids 7 and 9 ordered. He was quite rude and even went back to get the order sheet to prove he was right. He may have made what he wrote down but it was not what I ordered Not going back. Ever.
If you do decide to go there read the signs near the kitchen and washroom that he writes to his own staff. A definite turn off.

CRAZY GOOD pizza — by Vancouver standards. Not in the same league as Totonnos in NYC and Brooklyn but a welcome pizza joint for our west coast city. Take out is best; not much ambiance — but the pie is damn good.

Great great great spot.
As any snarky American will tell you, pizza in Vancouver is generally nothing to write home about. But Brick Oven totally holds its own. The sauce is tomato-​y and flavorful. The cheese is high quality, and the other ingredients all seem fresh and are totally delicious. (Try the crumbled sausage, onion, and fresh basil!) They have a nice range of pizza concoctions and the brick oven toasts everything nicely in a minute or two.
The clincher though is the people. The owner is a sweet man who clearly connects with the neighborhood, and everyone else there gives the place a very warm friendly feel. This is my new spot when it comes to pizza.

Seems like all the pizza places along Dunbar have a similar problem so far: the sauce. Brick Oven seems to take the SPS (Standard Pizza Sauce) and throw some fennel in it. The application of sauce was inconsistent, which isn’t really a bad thing, but certainly proves that it was hand made. The cheese was good with plenty of it and decent quality.
The crust was a little thinner than most pizzas to be found in Vancouver, but I’m not sure I would characterize it as thin crust exactly. It lacks the cracker-​like quality that I usually associate with thin crust. Pretty good, but like most things about this pizza not excellent. True to the name they do bake their pizzas in a wood fired brick oven, with all the delicious imperfections that come along with that. It’s mostly this fact and the friendly atmosphere the gains Brick Oven the extra star above average.

Pizza is pizza is pizza is pizza? Not so! Some slices seriously outdo others, and one of my personal favourite places to get a delicious pie is Dunbar Pizza and Grill.
Thin, flavourful crusts and all the toppings you can image. Prices are reasonable, too, and you can watch the pizza maker bake your pie in the restaurant’s original brick oven.
Complete with red-​and-​white checkered tablecloths and a family-​owned feel, this is a great place to take a date.