Incendio West Pizzeria

I am sad to hear that this place has closed and that the reviews are low. I was planning on returning here. I haven’t been there in a year so maybe the management had changed? I used to order the pasta dishes and they were consistently yummy. I found the service to be friendly on each occasion.

Went here for an anniversary dinner — pretty quick, in and out, bada bing bada boom. The pizza was good — but for a place that espouses gourmet Italian I’ve definately had better.
The service was okay, the pizza was okay, the ambiance was okay — that was my overall experience of the place — just okay. Not enough to tempt me back unfortunately.
So basically, good in a pinch, but if you’re looking for an experience in a meal maybe keep looking.

We went there on a Friday night and were seated right away. Throughout the meal the service was fast and friendly. We opted for the pre-​fixe menu of a green salad and a 12 inch pizza for $ 18. The salad was fine, crisp lettuce and a few tomatoes in a light vinaigrette. The pizza (Montréal — pepperoni, mushrooms & green peppers) was very tasty. Thin crust, little tomato sauce and fresh toppings. Overall a pleasant experience and good value.

I go here for lunch because it’s close. It’s never been busy at lunchtime, which is what I like. Quiet. It has new ownership. There pastas are good, especially clam vongole. The tomato sauce is perhaps more spicy than you’d expect. Calzone was a filler! They are going to close sometime in January 2011 for two weeks to do a little reno. It should then be even better.

First time I got gourmet delivery from a restaurant. I ordered pasta along with a salad and tiramisu at Incendio. The person who took my order was friendly, informative and appreciated my business. He assured me that my order who arrive within a certain time and it was the case this time. However given the timely service, the food wasn’t all that great. A little breakdown of what my bf and I ate:
1)Spagetti Pollo-​basically it was spagetti with chicken in a tomato sauce. The portion was descent. Was quite pricey but tasted like pasta from unathentic places like Spagetti Factory.
2)Spagetti Vongole-​had high hopes for this dish because know how to make it and had really good versions at authentic Italian restaurants. For starters, didn’t like the fact the pasta was overcooked so it was mushy. The sauce wasn’t very flavourful, could have a kick of flavour with some chilli pepper flakes.
3)Frizee Salad-​quite awful. They said the dressing was strawberry and ginger vinigrette. When I saw it, the colour and consistency reminded me of Pepto Bismol. We couldn’t taste any strawberry and ginger in it. My bf said it reminded him of his mom’s holiday sherbet punch (not a good thing). I ate the salad without the dressing.
4)Tiramisu-nothing memorable about it nor anything like their description. Basically it was sponge cake with cream and heavily scented with some coffee liqueur.
Based on this meal, I wouldn’t go for another gourmet takeout from them. Totally not worth the money. I’ll take a pass on it.

Hard to pick which was more ordinary, the Pizza or the service!
Was in the hood and decided to pop in for a quick lunch. We ordered the minestrone soup — wow this was horrible. It was probably sitting around for a few days and was flavorless.
The pizza we ordered was a vegetarian one — and although not bad it was very basic with nothing to write home about.
The service, although friendly, was somewhat spotty.
Returning to Incendio — No than you.

This refreshingly unpretentious pizza joint is ideally situated to supply the first half of the classic dinner-​and-​a-​movie date (the second being supplied by the small cinema next door).
As it happens, they also serve really good pizza — and, dare I say, reasonably priced drinks, a rarity anywhere within sight of downtown Vancouver.
We had the Kitsilano pizza (hey, when in Rome), as well as a salty and so-​so antipasti spread to start. They also threw in some deliciously oily foccacia bread, which was a nice (if overly filling) bonus.
Now, if only they could do something about the movie selection …

Went here a couple of years ago and enjoyed myself so we decided since we were in the mood for Italian we’d give it a shot (although we were a bit unsure after reading some of the other reviews).
Other than the slightly wobbly table (which the waitress offered to fix without us even mentioning) the dinner went great. The staff gave us excellent, prompt service.
Super happy to see that they had pilsner urquell on tap (a rarity in Vancouver where it seems like every restaurant seems to have the same Granville island brew that they have attached some clever name to).
I can see with the movie theater next door that they likely have some very very busy times right before or after shows (when we arrived it was packed with moviegoers and it was pretty empty by the time we left… scheduling staff must be a fun task here!).
We shared a beet, goat cheese and spinach salad which was delicious (this type of salad is becoming one of my favourites); a small pizza (which was actually quite big) that had really really good crust, crisp, thin, not too doughy; and a duck sausage pasta, which to me didn’t take much like duck and wasnt as spicy as i had hoped but was still extremely good.
I would definitely go back here and would encourage those that had one bad experience here to give it a second chance :).

1) The server really didn’t have much of a clue. It’s fine if you can’t do separate checks (I guess). At least she split them into groups of four. Still, she clearly didn’t know how to number her order pad so when other people came out with our food they had to interrupt us to ask who had what. Not professional service especially when you’re adding an auto grat.
2) The food was not good. My carrot, ginger, coconut soup was so thick it was more like baby food. My Caesar salad was incredibly bland and the croutons were stale. I asked around our group and nobody had a very good meal.
3) My $ 8 cocktail took a long time to arrive and though it wasn’t bad it wasn’t worth the money.
I think a dinner of popcorn at the Fifth Ave would have been a better option.

1 star and that is being very generous! A friend of mine made reservations here on Friday night for 15 of us for dinner. It was a nice gathering of girls to have dinner and a pre-​drink before Sex and the City2 at Fifth Ave Theatres next door. I was expecting my dinner to be as awesome as it was at the Gastown location a month ago.
However, I was beyond disappointed. I realize that there was a big group of us, and when we made reservations they let us know there was a set menu available for big groups which included an appy, dinner and dessert for $ 22. Most of us didn’t really want an appy and a dessert with our dinner, we just wanted a drink or two with dinner, so we passed on that idea. The staff were willing to let us order from the regular menu as long as we had no problem with the dishes not all arriving to our table at the same time. Sure, no problem, we had given ourselves two hours, that should be plenty of time!
Most of the dinners managed to arrive at the same time, and we never had to wait for our waitresses, they were very prompt, hence the 1 star, however, my dinner was disgusting. I started with a bellini, which should have been a red flag. I have posted a picture of it. That is NOT a bellini. That is a glass with peach schnapps in it. There is no happy slushyness to this drink, and it should NOT be listed on the menu as a bellini. My second drink was called «the fuzzy memory» which seemed kind of silly because it wasn’t nearly strong enough to make my memory hazy and make me forget how nasty my dinner was, maybe then it would have been worth the $ 8. And really, who wants to pay to have a fuzzy memory when they can get it for free with old age? Basically this drink tasted the same as the «bellini» only it was served in a martini glass.
My margherita pizza arrived, and I was so looking forward to the cheesy goodness, since I had ordered this exact same thing at the other location, and even just looking at the pizza I was disappointed. (I have also posted a picture of this, which you can compare with the photo of the one from the Gastown location to see what I am talking about without even having to taste them.) This pizza tasted like it had been made yesterday and reheated and overcooked. It was so dry that I almost wanted to order another «bellini» to wash it down. That is NOT good! I choked down most of it, but I am super unimpressed with how shitty it was.
The bills were split up by table, so four of us had to do the math for our bill, which sure beat the hell out of calculating it for all 15 of us. There was a 15% auto grat added to the bill, which it stated on the menu for groups over 8, which was totally fine, had it been 20% I would have complained, especially since I already felt ripped off from dinner. So basically I spent about $ 40 total on the most disgusting dinner of my life. Thank you Incendio, I hope we never meet again.

Saw this thread, and needed to add my 2 cents. Ordered from these jokers a couple months ago. Got their flyer in my apartment’s mail, looked good so gave them a shout. Pizza took forever to arrive, was cold by the time I got it. Delivery guy pocketed change, under the assumption that I was going to tip. I would have let him keep change, that’s not the issue. I didn’t appreciate him making this decision for me. I called to complain, the girl I spoke to on the phone identified herself as a manager. Let her know my displeasure of both the delivery guy and quality of food. Was only offered a discount on a future order as compensation, told her to forget it as she didn’t seem too concerned about the whole thing. Perhaps dining in offers a better experience, but I’m not willing to find out.

Like most others, you have great anticipation at this place because it is so cozy looking. Its not a huge let down, but I’d rather stay home and cook my own bowl of pasta and open a nice bottle of wine.
The service was quite good, very prompt and friendly. We shared a bottle of Pinot Noir and each had a pasta entrée. It has one of those menus that is just too large for anything to be really that good. Plus, it takes forever to make a decision on what to have. The portions are a good size, but the food was just okay. This place is perfect for what it is; grab a bite to eat after a movie. It is located right next to Fifth Ave Cinema.

I am stunned by the number of mediocre reviews here on Unilocal for Indcendio. This place has probably the best pizza in Vancouver. Definitely the best pizza on the West Side. I know, not much competition in Vancouver where most pizza is abysmal, but this really is fantastic. Really fresh toppings, great sauce and cheese and a fantastic crust all cooked in a wood burning oven. It is so good and I’m a fussy pizza eater.
Ignore the other reviews. Go for the amazing pizza. The pastas are also very good. Great Caesar salad. The other salads are so so, but that is really the only criticism.

So convenient that I wish this review could be different. How many times have I walked by (like Nadine N) thinking, «I should really give this place a go.» Everything looks good, terrace like patio on the side with climbing vines, pizza doughs being tossed in the kitchen, families and friends crowded in and looking happy, healthy and well fed. It’s like a fricking Olive Garden commercial!
But that’s where the yum ends for me. The menu is overwhelming with pizzas and pastas listed line by line on the back. You place your pasta order by choosing a sauce and then picking a pasta: cheese filled tortellini is how we rolled. Pizzas are big! A medium had 8 pieces, if I’m not mistaken.
All signals looked like a go – looked good, smelled yummy… but then the oceans of salt started flooding, first with the huge capers that looked genetically modified and then came the horror when I couldn’t save my tortellini from drowning in a sea of «butter Parmesan sauce.»
I should have known from the start (I’ll be heard saying later as I beg for water): They sat us at a wobbly table right next to the door, when other, more appealing tables were just as easy to sit us at, gave us the chewiest, greasiest bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar that I have ever had, and had Parmesan cheese in one of those shakers like at Boston Pizza.
Next time I’ll just do what I always do when I go to a movie… I skip dinner and go straight for the popcorn!

Fireworks + Pizza + Lightning storm = A perfect night in
One dilemma: Where can we order pizza from?
We called Nat’s first, but he was closing up early. We tried a couple of other pizzerias, but none were picking up their phones. Lazy fools!
Finally, Incendio picks up and takes our order. 20 minutes later, we’ve got large margherita and kitsilano (chicken, spinach, pinenuts) pizzas in our grubby little hands.
I thought the pizzas had really great flavors. The pizza crusts were super thin and chewy and pretty good!
We ended up having a really relaxing and wonderful night at home, eating our pizzas over a few glasses of red wine, and watching the fireworks from our condo.
Overall, yay for pizza! And an A-​ok for Incendio!

I’ve had my eye on Incendio for a while. Every time I walk out of Fifth Avenue Cinemas, I think, «I need to try this place.» The sandwich board outside proclaims that they serve «Italian Soul Food» and the place looks so cozy from the outside, especially on a rainy night.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long for a table. You know when you go to a busy restaurant and they don’t have a table available they sometimes suggest that you sit in the bar area and just order from there? Well, that’s what the whole restaurant looked like to me.
I ordered the pesto and I can honestly say that I have had better. I was really unimpressed by it. The focaccia was really good though and I did enjoy my glass of gewurztraminer.
Would I come back? Maybe if I came to Fifth Avenue Cinemas for a movie and it was sold out and I had an hour or two to kill until the next available show. Otherwise, no.