Il Castello Pizzeria

The customer service here is unreliable and extremely disappointing. Twice I have gone to pick up a pizza order and both times they claim there is no record of it. So, not only are they refusing to claim any responsibility for their incompetence, but they make very little effort to make amends for their mistake.

A fantastic little restaurant in every way. Conveniently tucked away off Lower Lonsdale, the restaurant boasts a casual, relaxed, charming vibe, with seating spaced well apart, a large window, and an open kitchen featuring an authentic wood-​fired oven. The menu is small, but the dishes that they serve, they do fantastically, especially the pizzas. Tasty and large (12″) they boast a super thin crust that’s both crunchy and chewy. At about $ 15 on average for one pizza, they’re quite satisfying, even for larger appetites, making them good value, especially given the quality ingredients used. Added to that, the staff is super friendly and attentive.

I ordered two pizzas for pick up: a Prosciutto pizza and a Bianca with additional Italian Fennel Sausage. I was so disappointed. They were the most boring, tasteless pizzas I have ever eaten. The Prosciutto pizza had MAYBE two slices of prosciutto. The Bianca had a scattering of crumbled sausage. Neither had any tomato sauce, just some bland white sauce. Both had hardly any toppings and the photo on the landing page above is false advertising — totally misleading. They are skimpy with ingredients. Lots of crust, no ingredients. I was extremely disappointed and I would say it was a huge rip-​off.

They serve the best pizza on the north shore. The restaurant is great inside, casual, open, modern with good music, and good beer on tap.

We had a very nice meal at Il Castello Pizzeria. We were a big group — 4 adults, 5 children under the age of 9 — and they seated us graciously at a nice big table. We wanted to order a cheese pizza for the kids, and they recommended ordering the Margherita and leaving the basil off as it’s a better value than the smaller kids cheese pizza. We also ordered the Piccante and the Funghi pizzas for the adults, as well as a dandelion greens salad and a deep fried polenta appetizer.
The pizzas were classic neapolitan style — thin crust with tomato sauce and slices of mozzarella. Both the Piccante and the Funghi were quite good, with the Piccante being my favorite of the two. The dandelion greens salad and the polenta appetizer were also very tasty.
My only complaints were:
— The pizzas were quite hot at first, but cooled off rapidly, so you had to eat them quickly.
— The salad was served on a wooden cutting board, which is kind of a ridiculous way to serve it, as it’s not convenient to dish it onto your plate
— The Funghi pizza had too many mushrooms, and they were too big — about as big as a small button mushroom, uncut. I’d prefer to have a sliced mushroom and have there be fewer of them so they wouldn’t overpower the pizza.
But overall, it’s a good place to get some classic Neapolitan pizza!

We got takeout one night. We ordered the zucca which has the butternut squash and adds a nice sweetness to the pizza. We live a few blocks away and the crust had stayed crispy as we walked home. A bit pricey but I’d like to try a couple more varieties in the future.

Another solid winner in North Vancouver, other than Colosseum nearby.
Been meaning to try this place for awhile and it’s a nicer place than it looks from the outside. A chick atmosphere yet casual and pretty open layout with a rustic look.
Called ahead to do a pickup for their signature tomato-​based pizza, the Piccante, the spicy salami is mild at best. Good portions, with 2 olives per slice. Crust definitely top 5 of what I’ve eaten.
Any place that serves Pellegrino in the cans is a bonus too.

Awesome Pizza! Ingredients are really fresh — everything tasted great!

Heard of this place on Unilocal and to my surprise my husband took me here tonight. He’d been here one night for a company dinner and really liked it.
The menu has just enough items on it and you pay before seating yourself. The staff is very friendly and the food is fresh. The price is a little high but with the fresh ingredients it’s well worth it.
They do bring the order to your table, however, there are no waiters so if you need flatware or water, you have to get up yourself and get them.
They give you a bowl of popcorn we didn’t get but that’s alright.
Overall it’s a great little pizzeria.

So glad I found this place on Unilocal.It’s right near my house and its so freaking good.
We had the prosciutto with roasted tomatoes, ricotta, arugula, and basil, the salsicca with pickled peppers, smoked provolone and kale, and the mushroom with celeriac purée and truffles. They were all amazing, especially the prosciutto. Picked up with a bottle of shiraz and the best company it was a fine night.
Well be back.

This place is probably a Vancouver 8, so if you’ve lived in Vancouver your entire life, you may very well enjoy the pizza here. It’s a Los Angeles 3 for sure, so if you’re a tourist, you may just want to spend your time in Vancouver eating sushi. The pizza was super doughy and burnt at the same time. I love some char on my pizza, but I also like it to be cooked. Wasn’t the best, but maybe for Vancouver local, you’ll enjoy it. I haven’t had 1 slice of pizza since I moved here that even slightly compares to the pizza back home in LA or in NY.
Also, you order and pay before you get your pizza and you’re expected to serve yourself water and get your own napkins and silverware. It took me a while to leave since no one came our table in the almost empty restaurant to offer me a box for the rest and the only other people working were literally in the middle of making other pizzas and I didn’t want to bother the kitchen.

Very good quality compared to other pizza places in the area. The use of fresh herbs really make the difference. I had the number 4 and number 7 and they were both excellent. Not too heavy on the cheese, excellent crust and sauce and I didn’t feel gross afterward which can’t be said for many other places that I have been to.

Il Castello definitely deserves the 5-​Stars! I love that I can get a really fabulous pizza now in North Vancouver without crossing a bridge and/​or enduring long line-​ups at those trendy (read: expensive) places downtown. FINALLY, people can come out to our neck of the woods for something amazing. What I love about the place is that it provides such a casual experience. You walk in, order, pay, take a number, then seat yourself and help yourself to water/​cutlery/​napkins. I have no problem doing this at all. There are servers around who bring you some pre-​meal popcorn, and they certainly make themselves available in case you need anything throughout your meal. I don’t think the place warrants some reviewers complaining that there’s no service. If you want fancy service then you can go pay for it somewhere else.
I have been 3 times already since it opened and pretty much tried every single one of their offerings and my favourites include the prociutto (always a classic with an arugula topping), napoletana (if you love anchovies), and the zucca (for some reason the pine nuts and butternut squash purée just make the flavour so unique on a pizza). What I am most impressed with is the crust. I have been to a few wood oven pizza places where the crust is so chewy it hurts my jaw to chew it but Il Castello’s crust is done to perfection every time– just the right amount of crunch on top and chewy when you bite down… just HEAVEN. I never leave any crust behind at Il Castello.
I highly recommend this place, it is my new go to place for pizza and it’s a huge bonus that North Van folks now have a pizzeria to call their own!

Il Castello didn’t disappoint.
Very accommodating (with advanced notice), as we ordered the whole assortment of pizza offerings for a party. (20 pizza in total)
Everyone enjoyed the pizza. (And that’s saying something with the majority of this crew being Sicilian)
Highlights were the Prosciutto, Funghi and Salsiccia. The Zucca was different in a good way, with the sweetness of the squash coming through.
Will definitely go again (prefer to eat in this time, fresh out of the forno)
So nice to have a place like this local!

Ok– the pizzas were very good. You can tell the quality and ingredients are top notch. The wood burning oven is beautiful.
Where I felt this place missed the mark is with the none existent service. There are no servers and you need to get up to get yourself another beer.
Now HungerMan likes the food here very much but he also goes out to restaurants and pays top dollar for good service.
The restaurant would benefit in liquor sales with proper servers in place.
The cafeteria style seating is unoriginal also and follows the more modern clean and quick look but lacks the appeal and character of an authentic pizzeria.
I mention these points only because I really like the food and I want this place to thrive.
Service is important and this restaurant is not on the cheaper side of things by any means.
Some people may like this style of dining however it’s feels like dining at the food court at Park Royal rather then a trendy restaurant.
Again let me say with emphasis– Bravo to the pies! Good work.

Fantastic pizza! Best pizza I’ve ever had on the north shore. Funghi and the butternut squash ones are the ones I’ve tried, I’m vegan and they are phenomenal even without cheese. I can’t believe this little gem isn’t busy. If this was downtown, there would be a lineup. Delicious! Go!

Outstanding, authentic, Neapolitan pizza. Superior chewy crust, cooked high temp in a brick oven so you get that wonderful slightly charred taste. We had a Zucca (purée of squash with pancetta pine nuts and frizzled sage leaves) and a Funghi (tons of mushrooms, celeriac purée, truffle oil). Both were divine.
SO happy to have handy access to gourmet italian pizza nearby.

Update! New lighting changes everything! Place is now very warm and inviting! Kale Caesar is delicious. House red wine very decent. Served us a free appy of rosemary garlic popcorn — yummy surprise! And the best authentic wood fire Italian style pizza around. As good as it gets — and now with great atmosphere.
⁵⁄₅! Awesome.

My first impressions were great. A pizzeria two blocks from my apartment on Lower Lonsdale. I walked in and the place was packed. A good sign. I placed my order, barely sat down before my to-​go order was ready. AMAZING! Until I got home. The pizza had been mislabeled, cold, and quite frankly, pathetic looking.
I called them to complain. There was an instant satisfaction of «ok so THAT’S what happened» in their end. As I lived nearby, I didn’t mind going back. I receive the pizza i originally ordered (which was amazing — the one I got, pretty sure the person had allergies as it was so basic as weak) along with a genuine apology and a gift card to come back.
I was originally so annoyed on a Friday night but was so impressed with the honest «oops» attitude these guys owned.
Aside from the hiccup this evening, I couldn’t rave more about the extreme level of customer service and the fine quality of food!
I’ll for sure be back! (I just might check the name on the pizza box before i leave) :)

The best pizza I have had in a long time. We will be regulars for sure. We tried two but they all seems amazing. Pizzas are a decent size and I could only finish half.
Very quick service. We got take out.
Definately recommend checking them out. It is woth it.