By Charlie Pogacar
Windsor, Ontario, is known as the “Automotive Capital of Canada.” Directly across the river from Detroit, perhaps it’s no surprise that Windsor was once home to assembly plants belonging to the “Big Three” automotive manufacturers: Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.
And like Detroit, Windsor has its own pizza style—one that is nothing like the square pies served in the (American) Motor City. According to the Windsor Public Library, Windsor’s signature pizza is a medium-thin-crust pizza with canned—not fresh—mushrooms and shredded pepperoni. Many Windsor-style pizzerias use cheese sourced from Galati, a local manufacturer that makes cheese with a “softer, more malleable texture than mozzarella,” according to Belt Magazine.
But Windsor-style pizza’s calling card is the shredded pepperoni. It’s a feature proponents laud for creating a more even, consistent dining experience: Each bite of the pizza, they say, has some pepperoni in it. The style recently went viral on X, formerly known as Twitter, when a Canadian user posted a photo of a Windsor-style pizza and said, “Fun fact about Ontario (where I live) is that we shred our pepperoni before putting it on pizza.” As of Thursday afternoon, the tweet had racked up over 11 million views. In response to a question whether it tastes better, the user said yes and cited the “pepperoni-in-every-bite” sentiment.
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Though there is no evidence they got the idea from pizzerias in Windsor, Canada, two large American pizza chains recently added shredded pepperoni to the menu. In early September, Papa Murphy’s launched a Value Menu featuring a Shredded Pepperoni Pizza.
“We’re probably the first major pizza chain to offer shredded pepperoni,” Tracey Ayres, vice president of marketing at Papa Murphy’s, told PMQ at the time.
If Papa Murphy’s was, in fact, the first American pizza chain to offer shredded pepperoni, then Marco’s Pizza was a close second. In mid-September, Marco’s launched its Triple Pepperoni Magnifico Pizza ahead of National Pepperoni Pizza Day, observed on September 20. Marco’s—the fifth-largest pizza chain in the U.S.—uses a combination of whole pepperoni and shredded pepperoni on that particular pizza. Marco’s cited the eating experience as a reason for adding shredded pepperoni to the menu.
“Pepperoni fanatics looking to elevate their pizza routine will love the bold taste and crispy texture of shredded pepperoni on our new Triple Pepperoni Magnifico Pizza,” said Denise Lauer, chief marketing officer of Marco’s Franchising.
There is no consensus as to which Windsor pizzeria first put shredded pepperoni and canned mushrooms on a pie. Many point to a now-defunct institution, Volcano Pizzeria, founded in 1957 by a man named Frank Gualteri. Volcano appears to be the first Italian restaurant and pizzeria to have opened in Windsor, and it was very popular as a result. What started as a 60-seat mom-and-pop quickly grew into a 400-seat restaurant that served as one of the city’s major gathering places.
Other business owners caught on to pizza’s popularity in Windsor and added the food item to the menu. Sam’s Pizzeria and Mario’s Restaurant were both serving pizza in downtown Windsor by the 1960’s, and both restaurants may be the first to have added shredded pepperoni and canned mushrooms to a pizza—nobody knows for sure, according to the Windsor Public Library.
What is certain, however, is how much the Canadian city loves its pizzerias, almost all of which serve the city’s most notable pie. And much like Detroit, Windsor has fallen on tough times as automotive plants moved overseas, taking the jobs with them. In 1971, Windsor had about 210,000 residents. As of 2021—some 50 years later—the city’s population had only grown to about 230,000.
Speaking to Belt Magazine, Tara Scott, a Windsorite who moved to Calgary, in Western Canada, said one of the things she missed most about her home city was the pizza. It’s also something a city that has fallen on hard times still looks to as a source of civic pride.
“Windsor’s an interesting place,” Scott told Belt. “It’s had the [crap] kicked out of it by various recessions and the downfall of the North American auto industry. Many people in my generation have left because jobs are short, but pizza is something that’s been consistently excellent there.”
The secret to that consistency may just be its shredded pepperoni. But it’s a secret, it seems, that is slowly getting found out.
