62 replies to this topic

[HB]

Was there not a Pizza Pieman at the corner of Cedar Hill and Mckenzie where JJ Morgas is? I used to remember going in there as a kid watching the cooks through a viewing window tossing pizza dough into the air.....

That was not a pizza Pieman it was called Pizza Patio . they had 2 locations and you could watch the COOKS in the window at both. The other one was on Gorge previous to Lantern House Moving in when Pizza Patio Closed. Pizza Patio has a Birthday Party package for kids where they could dress in a chefs hat and apron and go into the kitchen to make their own Pizza while the rest of the family stood at the window watching and taking "cheesy : photos of the kids special day


Pizza Pieman Had only 4 Locations in the Victoria area

[Holden West]

Wow, I had forgotten about Pizza Patio. And I do vaguely remember the cooks in the window. Yes, cooks. If it had been anything else in the window I would have remembered, believe me.

[Jill]

I remember a fifth Pizza Pieman location, in Fairfield Plaza in the 80s, in the spot that later became a White Spot and is now the pub.

[Bob Fugger]

There was a Brownie's on Shelbourne near Feltham way back when in the 80's as I recall. We used to get chicken and take it to Mt. Doug park to eat it in the summer.

Lantern House was exceptional, Il Greco does a great job of carrying on the tradition!

Matt.

Are you sure there was one there? That's down the street from where I grew up (as you may recall, heh). Perhaps you are mistaking it for the one that was on the corner of Quadra & McKenzie, where the De Douche is?

[VicHockeyFan]

Are you sure there was one there? That's down the street from where I grew up (as you may recall, heh). Perhaps you are mistaking it for the one that was on the corner of Quadra & McKenzie, where the De Douche is?

I concur with Fugger. That was my 'hood 1967-87 and I don't recall it.

[Matt R.]

It was my hood, too, but I wasn't doing much of the driving back then so maybe the memory is fuzzy! I am picturing in my head the strip mall next to the 7-11 on Shelbourne, there's probably a starbucks there now.

Matt.

[HB]

324 Cook St

90 Gorge Rd West

1205 Esquimalt Rd

1881 Fort St

310 Goldstream Ave

4011 Quadra

7103 West Saanich

[glenalan54]

I remember 3 Pizza Pieman Stores (but not in the 00' or 90s It was an institution from the early 70s )one at Colwood Corners where the Construction is now it used to be next to Shop Easy which later became Fairway Market

There was another one in the Old A&W building next to the Halfway in Esquimalt Now it is a bottle return centre and the 3rd one I remember is was on Oak Bay Ave

Only remember one Brownies which was again at Colwood Corners on Goldstream in the complex next to Thriftys think there is a chocolate store there now.


Brownies was OK but my favorite is still LEEs famous recipe which by the way will be opening in a new location at the Duncan Mall next to Tims .
The building they are constructing looks like a retro place

There was a place years ago that tried competing with the 2 for 1 crowd by offeing 3 for 1 pizza . Someone I knew actually ordered from them and the only description they gave was that the cheese was only similar in Name. It was like a piece of round plastic layed over the canned mushrooms etc and melted in place with a blow dryer



Favorite Pizza joint which is long gone was Lantern House on Tillicum. They used to put topping on top of cheese and kids (big kids too) could watch the cocks at the big window making the pizza

The main office and place where the pizza toppings and dough for all the Pizza Pieman stores came from the Esquimalt store - the building that is beside the Cambie (old Esquimalt Inn) The A & W was on the other side (Esquimalt side) of the Pizza Pieman as Pieman did not occupy the old A & W. It was a Drive-Inn until it was renovated along with all the others.

There were more than four Victoria Pizza Pieman stores: additions included the James Bay Pizza Pieman Restaurant as well as the Town & Country take-out/deliver, Oak Bay take-out/delivery which I managed in 1974-75, Colwood take-out/delivery and Esquimalt, the latter one could buy coffee at 9 am.
There was also one in Nanaimo in the 1970's. The others, namely the one on Tillicum Road near Obed came along after I left and I'm not sure it was part of Bob Darnels original Company. They may have purchased the name.

I also worked at the Lantern House when they first opened as a Pizza Patio I believe. The owners had no clue how to run a pizza restaurant and from the original staff of about 20 all were eventually replaced except one person. The year was 1976.

I think Bob told me he opened his first store in 1966 at the corner of Head & Esquimalt but it may have been as late as 1969. It was a very good product and we sold a hell of alot of pizza in the early to mid 1970's.

[VicHockeyFan]

It was my hood, too, but I wasn't doing much of the driving back then so maybe the memory is fuzzy! I am picturing in my head the strip mall next to the 7-11 on Shelbourne, there's probably a starbucks there now.

Matt.

I think you're just mixing up in your mind the strip malls Quadra/McK and Feltham/Shelbourne.

[Just plain dan]

Remember it quite well, worked there from April 1968 to February 1976. The locations when I first started were Town & Country in an old sporting goods shop, Nanaimo in the shopping plaza by the old bus depot, Esquimalt next to Lums Polynesian. Then the Oak Bay store where Cobbs is now, then Colwood near Colwood corners. Thers was one on Robson street in Vancouver, then North Vancouver, also another one in Nanaimo in the building with the big Z on top. There was one in Kelowna also James Bay and Fairfield Plaza. The other locations you spoke of, Tillicum for instance were all after Bob was out of the business. Basically the demise was due to the public going for quantity and not quality. A shame , we were good.

[aastra]

I remember a Pizza Pieman in the Shelbourne Plaza. I can actually picture it. Am I mixing it up with Town & Country?

[Rob Randall]

I remember a Pizza Pieman in the Shelbourne Plaza. I can actually picture it. Am I mixing it up with Town & Country?

 

Or are you mixing it up with another pizza joint--the one that had a logo of square, circle and triangle arranged to resemble a chef throwing a pizza? Can't remember the name.

[Bingo]

Bob Darnell was the pie man.

 

[Miracle Max]

Here is a Picture from the Pizza Pieman in Esquimalt showing the Staff having a great time. I recall going the James Bay location when I was quite young and it was a proper sit down dining location that served Pitchers of Beer and played old Silent Black And White Charlie Chaplin Films on a movie Screen.

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[Mike K.]

Thanks for the photos. I don't know why I can't recall any of them but I'm hearing now that at least one was open until just about 2010.

[G-Man]

I think in name only. I worked at Pizza Pieman in 2002 and it was strictly a to go business.

[Sparky]

^^^ Welcome to vibrantvictoria Miracle Max.

[Star Dust]

While The Lantern House had the best thin crust pizza this city has ever seen,

 

I think Pizza Piemam took the prize for best deep dish pizza.

 

As a kid I used to frequent the one in James Bay. It always played Black & White Charlie Chaplin movies on a big screen and they were a full serve sit down restaurant where you could order pitchers of beer.

 

I frequented the Pizza Pieman on Tillicum until it finally closed it's doors several years ago.

 

Boy those toppings were THICK! Loved it.

Edited by Star Dust, 23 January 2018 - 12:53 PM.

[mbjj]

I remember the James Bay one too. My parents used to get a pizza there most Saturdays and my dad and I would watch Hockey Night in Canada, which came on at 5 pm back then.

[Star Dust]

Thanks for the photos. I don't know why I can't recall any of them but I'm hearing now that at least one was open until just about 2010.

 

Yes the last one that operated in Victoria  was on Tillicum Rd. Where the Dry Cleaner's now operates.

 

My guess is that it closed around 2007 or 2008. it was run by a Chinese Family that lived upstairs and ran the Pizza Pieman downstairs.

 

When I moved into that neighbourhood in the Summer of 2008 it was already gone.  But I used to order from it pretty much every week back in those days.

 

Some have stated that the location in Oak Bay was the last to close down, but I can't confirm that.

 

First photo is the owner of BOB displaying one of their Famous Deep Dish pizza pies.

 

The Second photo is of a little girl on her birthday. If a child held their birthday there, they got to go into the back and help make their own pizza.

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Edited by Star Dust, 23 January 2018 - 02:28 PM.