Volcano Pizzeria

Last updated
Volcano Pizzeria
Volcano Pizzeria
Restaurant information
Established1957 [1]
Closed1986 [1] [2]
Street address157 Wyandotte Street West [3]
CityWindsor
CountryCanada
Coordinates 42°18′48″N83°02′18″W / 42.313403°N 83.038231°W / 42.313403; -83.038231

Volcano Pizzeria, [4] also known as Volcano Restaurant, [2] was a pizzeria operating in Windsor, Ontario, from 1957 until it was sold to the Downtown Mission Centre in 1986. [1] [2] It was one of Windsor's best-known pizzerias [5] and is the likely originator of Windsor-style pizza, with other pizzerias in Windsor having credited Volcano for their recipes.

History

The restaurant was founded in 1957 by cousins Frank Gualtieri and Gino Manza. [1] The Gualtieri family states the restaurant was named after the volcano Mount Vesuvius located near Naples, a known pizza city. [5] According to the Windsor Star , Manza originally learned how to cook in Boston, and modified the recipe he learned there for Volcano. [6] Gualteri's family states he learned how to make pizza dough from his cousin's pizzeria in Detroit. [5] They also noted Volcano was originally a diner serving Italian food but later became a pizzeria instead, either in 1957 [7] or the early 1960s. [5] When it opened, the restaurant could seat up to 60 guests and was the first Italian restaurant in downtown Windsor. [1]

The restaurant was likely the first to use cornmeal in their crust, shred their pepperoni, and top their pizzas with canned mushrooms, which would become hallmarks of Windsor-style pizza. [8] They used canned mushrooms because they did not burn in their ovens and shredded pepperoni as it was easier to top. [5] As a result, Volcano has been called the "granddaddy" of the style, and most other pizzerias in Windsor can trace their recipes to the original Volcano recipe, with some confirming it. [5] [6] [8] Volcano was the first pizzeria in Windsor offering delivery by a fleet of Jeeps and Volkswagen Beetles. [8] The restaurant expanded in the early 1960s with new four-deck pizza ovens and an expanded seat capacity for 400 guests. [1] [5]

In 1985, a Windsor Star article noted that business at Volcano had declined in recent years. [6] Gino Manza sold the location to the Downtown Mission Centre in 1986, permanently closing the restaurant. [1] [2] In 2016, a Gualtieri family member shared the original recipe in a CBC article. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Windsor Public Library; Windsor's Community Museum; Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County; Italian Community Committee; Windsor Mosaic Group. "Volcano Restaurant and Pizzeria". Windsor Mosaic. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Burnside, Scott (May 16, 1986). "Mission Takes Over New Home". Windsor Star . p. A5.
  3. ↑ "Season's Greetings". Windsor Star . December 24, 1985. p. C4.
  4. ↑ "Re-Opening Tuesday, August 27". Windsor Star . August 24, 1963. p. 15.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pinto, Jonathan (June 10, 2016). "Volcano Pizzeria: A look into one of Windsor's most famous pizza palaces". CBC News . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Doelen, Chris Vander (April 6, 1985). "Pizza". The Saturday Windsor Star . p. E4.
  7. ↑ Windsor Public Library. "History of "Windsor Style'" Pizza". Archived from the original on April 20, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 Kalivas, George (25 December 2024). "The Pizza City You've Never Heard Of". YouTube. CBC Docs. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
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