You can create your own experience at Score Pizza, Guelph's newest downtown pizza shop.
A growing Canadian chain, with its 10th location now open at 33 Wyndham St. N, offers pizza lovers the opportunity to watch their very own personalized pizza come out of a stone fired oven in just minutes.
"We serve healthy fresh ingredients and we make our dough in-house every day. We then cook your customized pizza in our stone fired oven and it's ready in just 3-5 minutes," said store supervisor, Chloe Zicaro.
"It really is fast."
With 43 unlimited toppings to choose from, the Score Pizza 'build your own' concept is the most popular option.
"It's a customizable experience It's part of our brand. The build your own is definitely the most popular option on our menu because people do really enjoy creating their own experience," says Gabrielle Arvanitis, director of operations at Score Pizza Canada.
"We target the lunch and dinner crowd. We are a family oriented brand and we want to stay true to that."
Founded by Joel Braunstein and Paul Hineman, Score Pizza sets out to create a 'fast-casual style' and the build-your-own concept allows for a fun and inclusive dining experience.
"You can come in and get anything you want on you pizza, all for one price. The pizza is made right in front of you which is really great. And we also take consideration for allergies and any food restrictions. That's a big part of our concept," Arvanitis said.
"One of the Score Pizza founders, he and his daughter suffer from allergies so, they are really conscientious of what it takes to service that community."
There are also seven signature pizza options to choose from along with a variety of sandwiches, salads, cookies, brownies, and in-store made lemonade.
"Our Great White North pizza, you can't really get anywhere else. We do have a couple signature toppings as well that are cooked in house in our stone fired oven. Our veggie fresh pizza is also something people seem to gravitate to," Arvanitis said.
Arvanitis says Score Pizza's fast casual concept bridges the gap between typical fast food and dine-in.
"Come in, have a seat and a glass of wine or beer. Or you can take your pizza to go, or have it delivered," she said.
"We offer a more upscale service and style product but in that short fast food time frame. People can build their own and the most it will take is 10 minutes, start to finish, no matter how many people are in line. It's about having a gourmet level experience, but quickly, That's our claim to fame," she said.
Much of the Score Pizza taste stands out in the crust.
"I think when people think stone fire, they might think of that Neopolitan airy crust. We are the opposite of that. We make a thin crusty crust which you really can't find anywhere else. And that's why it does hold up to the unlimited toppings. That's what makes our crust different from the others," Arvanitis said.
The Guelph location, Arvanitis says, is locally owned with three friends who came together out of a want to stay embedded in their community, keep in touch with the students and locals, and take in all that downtown has to offer.
Zicaro says she enjoys working with her new team since opening earlier this month.
"I'm from Oakville originally but I have been here for school for the last five years. I didn't have Score Pizza before this. For me, it was a new thing and a new experience getting hired here," Zicaro said.
Staff member, Genevieve Andre, says the build your own option is the best.
"You can put whatever you want on it. And make it your own. With so many toppings, there's such a big selection and lots of fresh veggies too. That's pretty awesome," she said.
Andre moved to Guelph from northern Ontario last September.
"The team here amazing. Because we all trained together, and learned together, we have became close. We are all getting better at the same time," she said.
With 12 team members on board, Zicaro says its been a fun experience so far especially with university students starting to make their way back to Guelph for a new school year.
Other Score Pizza locations include Kingston, Barrie, St. Catharines, Kitchener and Waterloo.
"We started with our first location four years ago and I thought we need to be downtown Guelph because I just love the vibe down here, and then, we found this location," Arvanitis said.
"We are excited to be in the Guelph community finally."
