Mr Mozzarella ~ Ottawa, ON

Overdue Post Alert!

It was weeks ago that I was passing by Mr Mozzarella and decided to check them out. I had seen a flyer some time ago and remembered a section called the "Wing Shoppe" and a number of flavours. So while I was on my own and feeling like take-out rather than eating in, I decided to try this mini-franchise.

Stopping in was a challenge. As the above screen capture from Google maps street view show, the parking lot was incredible small. 4 spots for 3 businesses. Only two stores were open (the Chinese take-out and Mr M) and at night I didn't see that there was parking around back. But there were only two spaces available, and one would require me to scrape up against the propped open door. Suffice it to say that this is delivery joint, not dine in.


Not to say you couldn't dine in. Not only were there tables and chairs, but also a couch, with an old TV, and get this, a SEGA GENESIS to play while you wait. Very cool. I think there was a pinball machine too. The walls are covered in Mr M murals and bright fluorescent lights made for a very unusual atmosphere.


The staff were all young looking (probably all students from nearby Algonquin College) but friendly and seemingly invested in their jobs (something you don't always see with young people in service jobs). They were able to answer my wing questions and in no time I had my take-out order and was on my way home.

It was later at night and I was really hungry, so I went with a big order.



You have the choice of getting the wings "Breaded, Boneless or Original" and fried or baked. I went with original and deep fried, although in my head I had planned to order one of them breaded, but that tid bit seemed to not come out of my mouth.***

I was very impressed with the size of the wings. They were mostly large (with a few stragglers) and pretty meaty. You don't find that with a lot of pizza parlor wings. The skin was nice and crisp, and the wings were wet and swimming in a kiddie pool of extra sauce.

There were 30 different flavour to choose from (some just mixes of each other) so I found it a little hard to narrow it down to two, but I managed:

SUICIDE

I forwent my usual hot and went straight to the suicide wings. I really wanted my lips to burn and suicide from pizza joints are rarely homemade, which means less chance of it being a kitchen sink mess.

In fact, it was 3rd Degree sauce, once again. Individually the heat was a little bit biting, but if you ate 2 or 3 in a row, the sting got stronger.

CACTUS KICK

When ordering from the young pizza dude at the counter, I asked him about Cactus Kick, described on the menu as "Our Secret Recipe." He had a hard time but put it as kind of like a, well a, well - it was hard to describe. I describe it as a honey-mustard mixed with . . . something. It could have been any number of combinations. What I do know, is that it was good. Not a spicy flavour, but very savoury.

FINAL SCORE: The wings were crispy and there are lots of combinations to choose from. The Wing Shoppe delivered surprisingly big wings for a take-out pizza joint and enough sauces to give many pubs a run for their money. Cactus Kick was a unique flavour that I might try again (I hesitate only because I would want to sample other flavours). Suicide was standard sauce and no surprises. They weren't the cheapest wings going, but having a Sega Genesis at this location was just awesome. 6/9


PS: I didn't try the pizza, and I didn't actually see any. I will have to try sometime.

Mr Mozzarella
1433 Woodroffe Ave, Ottawa ON (and other locations)
mrmozzarella.com




*** (this is a frequent problem of mine. When I was out the other night at a non-wing eatery, I couldn't wait to drink a root beer. When the waitress came, I ordered a cola. WTF)