Welldun Pizza — Local services in Montreal

Oh my goodness, I honestly did not think I’d survive the hellish furnace that is Welldun Pizza on a sweltering Verdun evening. I waited for over 45 minutes (with my baby in tow), can you believe it, for just 4 pizza slices, that for all intents and purposes should’ve been ready to just shove in a box and send me out the door with.

The working (and waiting) conditions in the restaurant were quite close to unbearable. I would be surprised if the temperature and lack of ventilation were actually legal for the staff working there. While the pizza ovens themselves were vented, the rest of the restaurant did not appear to be, so every time the ovens were opened, the room filled with smoke that just hung in the air. There were two paltry fans for the staff themselves, but nothing at all for the people waiting well over half an hour to even be greeted. I understand from reading other reviews that the family establishment did not expect the heat and ventilation to have been as much of an issue when setting up (are they new to Montreal?), and I respect that making any major changes takes time and money that may well not be available at the moment, but at the very least, could they not have bought a few utilitarian-but-effective fans in the meantime?

While the staff were clearly working themselves to the bone, and I will say nothing against anyone doing their best to meet the demand, the actual ordering process and general organisation was poorer than I even thought possible for a pizza slice place. When you finally get to the front of the queue after goodness knows how long, all the pizza you had mentally earmarked to order on your way in had disappeared, and the woman of the front shrugs unapologetically and says “that’s just how it goes… if you want to wait another 10 minutes, we may have some more”. And bear in mind that these were the only veggie pizzas available - ordering from one of the other multitude of pork-topped slices just wasn’t an option.

The pizza itself was, thankfully, fantastic. Hence the 2 star review, and not 1. And I hope that the restaurant can iron out these operational challenges. Montreal deserves this great pizza, but I am concerned, seeing the beleaguered looks on the queuing customers’ faces, that far fewer will get to try it...

There are two categories of pizzeria's in town. Welldun falls under the latter: Expensive, High End with a spin (in this case, two) on pizza's. Marguerita Pizza (the true choice to test the 3 main ingredients). Dough spot on, thin, light, crispy. Sauce nice, like one step below fresh tomatoes (not possible season round) but good, right flavour. Cheese was mozzarella, it was okay and helped out by the pecorino grated cheese. 4 out of 5. Spicy Sausage Pizza. Ah yes, this one could of been great like other pizzerias. Dough, Sauce, Mozzarella like a Margarita. By spicy sausage, we thought the sausage was spicy (spicy peppers used for hot and spicy flavour). Way too little sausage (maybe 10 fingernail size pieces of sausage) and Way too many peppers (they got quantities mixed up imho). 2.5 out of 5. Sicilian Style Pepperoni Pizza. Well, I am not a fan of this spin on a pan type pizza. Tomato sauce stlii good, but the dough is a little too greasy imho (not sure if Sicilian Pizza is supposed to be this greasy). Ah, the pepperoni, sorry guys but it is one of the low end ingredients you use on your pizza's. It is bland, super small, and gets "dog ears" when cooked as it curls up. Only saving grace, it's not oily on top. Flavour less. 3.5 out of 5. This place hits a homerun for that walk in slice and go customer. They sell alot, it's fast and fresh. Hard pass if you're doing takeout for a family and friends gathering. 3 pizza's ran me a $100 and at best they are like a Domino's Medium in size. They were not bad, but with 6 people and kids there...

Yes! A new(ish) restaurant on Wellington that does its own original thing, and not a terrible chain restaurant like KFC! At this point, it's a duty to spread the word about good places like these, so that Verdun isn't taken over by big corporations.

Duty aside, this place is really damn good anyway. I was a mix of concerned and curious before their opening about what they could possibly do to stand out in a scene that already isn't lacking in excellent pizza. I have to admit I did not expect Detroit-style pizza, and that I'm very surprised and pleased by that answer to my questioning!

And what amazing pizza it is too. A ton of delicious toppings (best bacon I've ever had on pizza by far), fresh sauce that bursts with flavors in generous quantity, and since each pizza is cooked at a size of 6 servings, a dough always fresh enough so that the parts that should be soft aren't dry, and the parts that should be crunchy aren't soggy.

Staff is friendly and mindful of the cleanliness of the place. Price are more than reasonable (you can easily get a piece of pizza and a can of soda for around 10$ after taxes). Topping options are varied and creative, and 4 different styles of pizza are usually available (Brooklyn, Detroit, Sicilian and one they call Grand-mère), all delicious.

Right by Métro De L'Église, so there really is no reason not to try it if you're in the area and are hungry for a bite. There's no way...