It’s a two-fisted, square-shaped, greasy-cheesy piece of goodness that has become an official symbol of Saskatchewan’s capital city.
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that → ’ → city
It’s Regina-style pizza.
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It → ’ → ?
It’s Greek, it’s good and, as a bonus, it gets under the crust of the CFL team that Saskatchewan fans love to hate.
The pie has been a staple in Regina dating back about a half century when, in 1970, Greek immigrant brothers George, Gus, John and Tony Kolitsas opened their first Houston Pizza restaurant on Hill Avenue.
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brothers → ’ → Avenue
It’s known by its thickness: a base of fluffy dough heaped with a healthy portion of tomato sauce, vegetables and deli meat before being topped with a pile of cheese.
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It → know → cheese
Jim Baiton, owner of Tumblers Pizza, says the pies should be baked until golden brown and served in square pieces to keep the filling from falling out.
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pies → say → filling
It’s not as thick as Chicago deep-dish, nor is it wide and pliable as the pies in New York City.
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it → ’ → City
Baiton’s employees crank out hundreds each week to be shipped frozen to various grocery stores in the province.
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employees → crank → province
They’re also baked fresh for pick up and local delivery.
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They → bake → pick
“(This style of pizza) started in Regina,” Baiton said in a recent interview.
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Baiton → start → interview
Baiton said the Kolitsas brothers created the signature pie to go against the grain.
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brothers → say → grain
“Everyone was doing (thinner crust) pizzas at the time,” Baiton said.
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Baiton → do → time
He got his start in the industry when he was 14.
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he → get → industry
He skipped church one day with his brothers to go work for Houston Pizza.
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He → skip → Pizza
It’s where he learned how to make pies the Regina way.
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he → ’ → pies
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Baiton later left Houston Pizza and became a franchisee of Western Pizza — another restaurant chain that has made Regina-style pizza for decades — before opening his own shop, Tumblers Pizza, in 1979.
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that → get → 1979
He said the Regina pie has its detractors, those who think it’s too cumbersome, too soggy.
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it → say → detractors
“A lot of people, when they first see it, they go, ‘Oh, I don’t know,'” Baiton said.
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Baiton → see → it
“You need two hands to bring it up to your mouth and bite it.”
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You → need → it
Over at Western Pizza, Regina-style runs in the family.
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style → run → family
Spiro Bonis, company’s president, said his father is a first cousin of the Kolitsas brothers.
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father → say → brothers
He said the pizza’s thickness may have to do with Greek culture, with grandmothers and mothers making sure families are well fed.
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families → say → culture
Saskatchewan’s roots in agriculture, along with its cold winters, may also be part of it, he added.
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he → add → it
“You need hearty meals, you need to keep everybody warm and fed,” Bonis said.
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Bonis → need → everybody
Regina’s best kept secret is now scaling up.
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secret → keep → ?
Tourism Regina, the city’s booster agency, recently launched new merchandise, including key chains and T-shirts, displaying the four-sided pizza slice.
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Regina → launch → slice
Teale Orban, the agency’s director of destination stewardship, said the pizza is a natural fit.
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pizza → say → stewardship
“If you’re from Regina, you just know it.
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you → ’re → it
It’s kind of like it’s born and bred into you,” Orban said.
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Orban → ’ → you
“We were really just brainstorming ideas.
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We → brainstorm → ideas
And in one conversation, it came up that, ‘Hey, we should really get behind Regina-style pizza.'”
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we → come → pizza
One group not getting behind Regina pizza is Winnipeg’s CFL team.
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group → get → pizza
On Sunday in Regina, the two teams start their annual Labour Day weekend back-to-back clash, culminating in next week’s so-called Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg.
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teams → start → Winnipeg
The Bombers recently went on social media to trash talk Regina’s signature dish.
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Bombers → go → dish
“It’s like someone took a three-week old lasagna and slapped it on a piece of dough,” the team said.
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team → ’ → dough
Asked about the comment this week, Riders head coach Corey Mace shook his head.
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Mace → ask → head
“I don’t know how you hate a pizza,” he said.
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he → know → pizza
Baiton, meanwhile, said from where he sits, Regina pizza is the great cheesy goodwill ambassador.
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pizza → say → ?
“I served five people from Manitoba yesterday.”
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I → serve → Manitoba
The Aporia
