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Better late than never. Almost a year after it was first announced, Westmount's Bacaro Pizzeria has finally opened its second restaurant in NDG, in the former Benedicts on Monkland and Royal. The new outlet of the Neapolitan style "urban pizzeria" from Angelo Mercuri, Tommaso Mulè, Vincenzo Papa, André Pereira, and Benjamin Trimont fired up its first pie last week. A brick wall in the large, bright restaurant emblazoned with the logos of iconic Italian products like Campari, Aperol, illy, Nutella, San Pellegrino, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Mozzarella di Bufala Campana almost doubles as a de facto menu. "We only use the best awesome brands," Bacaro's website trumpets. The name of the restaurant comes from bàcaro, Venetian slang for "a place serving simple food and good, young wines."
Beyond the ten pizzas on offer, Bacaro serves a lineup of snacks, salads, pastas, and desserts. All of the restaurant's wines are Italian, with some domestic and imported beers available. The promise of sangria and a few wines on tap is intriguing. Via À la Carte Express, the restaurant delivers to Westmount, NDG, Snowdon, Hampstead, and beyond. With Bacaro's arrival four blocks away from Melrose, another next-gen pizzeria that opened last summer, it begs the question: which new NDG pizza pusher will reign supreme?
Status: Bacaro Pizzeria, 5950 Monkland, corner Royal, (514) 303-9303. Now open Monday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Photo credit: Bacaro Urban Pizzeria