Urbano Pizza Co. might be a new addition to Edmonton’s pizza landscape but owners Christian Mena and Lino Oliveira are hardly new faces to the city’s restaurant scene. The duo behind the wildly successful Sabor Restaurant and Bodega Tapas and Wine Bar have opened up their first pizza shop.
For several years, the pair discussed opening a pizzeria but finding the right location downtown proved difficult. Meanwhile Mena’s wife and daughters researched pizza concepts around the globe. By serendipity, Sabor’s neighbouring business Herbal Magic closed its doors at the end of 2014, and the jewel of a space became available. Unlike many fast-casual pizza joints in central Edmonton, Urbano Pizza is an modern upmarket space. Washed brick and concrete walls are a nod to the warehouse district.
The menu combinations are irresistible — pork and pineapple, or piri chicken with chorizo, shoestring potatoes and roasted red peppers. For those feeling a bit more creative or confident in their food prowess, you can craft your own pie with toppings that range from prosciutto to roasted eggplants. Gasp, there are even dairy-free options for vegans to delight in.
On my first visit, I shared a DIY pizza loaded with pesto sauce, roasted eggplant, pickled vegetables and portobello mushrooms. In about 90 seconds, Urbano’s space-age looking pizza oven baked a thin char-kissed crust pizza.
My second visit was to taste the bacon and egg pizza, a twist on breakfast, that I had been dreaming off since I saw it on the menu options. Simply, it’s a egg nestled in the centre of a pie topped with back bacon, Caciocavello cheese, onion jam and fire-roasted tomato sauce. The baked egg whites were firm, but the yolks were runny like a poached, yielding a perfect silky, runny yolk that perfectly complemented the sweet onion. It tasted so authentic I ditched my utensils and folded up my pizza in one hand the Italian way. That’s amore!
Urbano opens seven days a week which will certainly please downtown residents who crave Sunday dining.
Urbano Pizza Co., 10220 103 St NW, Edmonton
Tracy Hyatt 