Via Tevere Pizzeria

Vancouver, as compared to American cities like Seattle and Portland, is definitely lacking in the neighbourhood restaurant category. Here, your odds of stumbling on a little gem of a place tucked in an otherwise largely residential area are as slim as the crusts on the city's now-ubitiquitous Neapolitan pizzas. Enter Via Tevere, which seems to have continued the trend of victory against archaic liquor licensing laws!

I drive up Victoria frequently, and I've noticed a queue pouring out of this pizzeria ever since it opened on March 23rd. (Take note, potential restauranteurs...there is a huge demand for neighbourhood joints!) D, E, and I decided to check it out two Friday evenings ago. When we were finally seated, we immediately ordered the litre of house wine ($30!) over which we had been salivating outside for the past hour. I do wish they would accept some reservations, because I can't see myself waiting an hour for a table every time, though I'm beyond pleased that they're so busy.

Our server was friendly, attentive, and apologetic for our long wait. I'm not sure if that's why they gave us a free dessert, but if I were eating sweets this month (which I'm not), I would have been very grateful for it! D and E certainly enjoyed the sweet fried balls of dough.

The vegetarian pizza options are Marinara (no cheese, no thanks), Filetto (not a fan of cherry tomatoes), Margherita (boring), and Quattro Formaggi. I went with the four cheese. It was a little overcooked, but the non-blackened parts were very delicious. I wish there were a more loaded vegetarian option, because even if you start with the $11 Margherita, adding a few vegetable toppings at $3 a pop will quickly make your pizza untenably expensive. I think $3 each for vegetable toppings is a bit unreasonable. Just saying.

At any rate, the charming and convenient location of Via Tevere means it didn't have to knock my socks off to ensure a repeat visit. I'll definitely be back, but I'd love it even more if they tweaked the menu a bit, and pulled the pizzas out of that gorgeous turquoise tile oven just a few moments sooner!