Tony’s stands TEST OF TIME

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2015 (4024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tony’s Master of Pizza at 1110 Pembina Hwy. delivers to most parts of Winnipeg. Its drivers have even been known to meet customers halfway to exchange pizzas and dough at a predetermined location if the person placing the order lives outside the restaurant’s delivery zone.

But if you’re craving an extra-large Zorba or carnivore pizza and call merry ol’ England home, well, you’re probably going to have to make alternate arrangements.

A couple of months ago, a person popped into the venerable takeout/delivery spot on his way to the airport. The man was from Winnipeg originally, he told managing partner Jamie Cinq-Mars, and was hoping to take a couple of pies back with him to London, where he currently lives.

Cinq-Mars, an Internet marketer who was brought aboard 14 months ago to help modernize the decades-old biz, asked the fellow how he planned to get his pizzas on the plane.

“Don’t worry, that’s my problem,” came the reply.

Before he started working there, Cinq-Mars already had an inkling Tony’s Master of Pizza had a faithful following. After all, when he was growing up in St. Boniface, his parents made a point of ordering from Tony’s whenever someone in their family was celebrating a special occasion.

What Cinq-Mars hadn’t realized, however, was how many people habitually travel from all four corners of the city — and from as far away as Starbuck and Morris — to pick up a pie at the Pembina Highway institution.

“Every week, we get people coming in and telling us their stories — how they’ve been coming here forever. A lot of times, whoever answers the phone doesn’t even have to ask what somebody wants. We just look at the phone number on display and know what the order is going to be.”

‘A lot of times, whoever answers the phone doesn’t even have to ask what somebody wants. We just look at the phone number on display and know what the order is going to be’

Founding owner Tony Rampone established his namesake pizza place in 1972. The original location was tucked inside Garry Billiards, which, before it burned down about 20 years ago, was situated on the same block as Tony’s current digs. By the time Rampone sold the business in 1982, he had opened three other locations, including a licensed, dine-in restaurant on St. Mary’s Road.

A subsequent owner — Cinq-Mars isn’t certain if it was proprietor No. 2 or 3 — sold franchises to the point that by 1990, there were more than a dozen Tony’s Master of Pizza outlets spread around town.

“It’s true there were more locations at one time, but the only one that has stood the test of time is the Fort Garry (location), due to its loyal fans,” Cinq-Mars says.

Like most of the cooks at Tony’s, Carl (Bubbles) Down has been there for more than a decade. Down is no longer surprised by what types of pizzas people are in the mood for, or how fussy they can be about how they are prepared.

“There was one guy recently who spent 15 minutes telling us the specific order he wanted his toppings put on,” Down says. “He was like, ‘I want a layer of (pepperoni), then a layer of cheese, then another layer of pep, then some mushrooms,’ and it went on and on. Then, after he was done, he made us repeat it back to him, to make sure we had it straight.”

(They probably did. Tony’s has a gaudy 91 per cent approval rating from foodies who post reviews on the restaurant website/app Urbanspoon.)

Rob Pearsons, the owner’s son, says whenever a particularly tough order such as the one Down alluded to comes in, everybody in the kitchen defers to a longtime cook whose nickname is Moto.

“Moto doesn’t make pizzas, he tells us, he makes works of art,” Pearsons says, adding Moto’s specialty is half-and-half pies, where somebody requests ham and pineapple on one side, for example, and sausage and onion on the other.

“And he doesn’t let any of his half-and-halves go out the door without showing them off to the customer, first,” Down adds. “He takes it up to the counter himself, opens the box and asks if that’s what they wanted, exactly.”

While it may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, one of the signature touches at Tony’s is a golfball-sized piece of dough cooks plunk in the centre of every pizza coming out of the oven.

Last summer, Cinq-Mars asked Rampone, who still drops in from time to time, to explain the origin of the dough balls. Rampone told him the reason he began doing it was to prevent the tops of boxes from pressing down on the pizzas when they were piled four- or five-high in a delivery driver’s back seat.

“I’ve seen places that use those little plastic doohickeys, which accomplish the same thing,” Cinq-Mars says. “But I’m pretty sure there would be a revolt if we ever stopped with the dough balls. People who have large families even ask us to throw in a couple of extra (dough balls) because their kids fight over who’s going to get it if there’s just one.”

Every so often, Cinq-Mars fields calls from people who ask if they can reserve a table for two.

“I tell them, ‘Well, we have a freezer in the lobby and a little bench right next to it, so if that’s what you’re looking for… ‘ ” he says, chuckling.

There are those who have taken Cinq-Mars up on his offer.

“Sometimes a person will come in to pick up a pizza in between periods of a Jets game. We have a TV up front, and when the action starts up again they’re not always in a hurry to leave. So they ask us, ‘Do you mind if I just eat here?’ and plunk themselves down with their pizza.”

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca