A Tasty Trail Through Wingham

 

There’s always been a lot of good reasons to talk a walk up Josephine St in Wingham. You could be looking for landmarks mentioned in the short stories of Nobel Prize Winner Alice Munro, or retracing the steps of W.T. Cruickshanks on the day he made his very first radio transistor. You could be examining the architectural achievements of the town’s remaining heritage buildings, or reliving the musical heyday of CKNX Barn Dance. Yes, there’s always been a lot of reasons to take a tour of Josephine St, but here’s one you may not have thought of - pizza! A mere 10 minute stroll up the street will take you past not one, not four, but FIVE different pizzerias - that must be the Huron County record! 

Any Wingham Pizza walking tour worth its salt begins at 115 Josephine St - the Pizza Pizza. This ubiquitous Ontario staple can be found sharing space with a Mr. Sub at the Pioneer Gas Station. The first ever Pizza Pizza was opened by Michael Overs in Toronto in 1967. 

We’ll have to cross the street for our next stop - 132 Josephine St. Noah’s Pizza is a relative newcomer to town, having recently moved into the building that was previously occupied by Godfather’s Pizza. This locally owned establishment has a great selection of slices at student-friendly prices, and an excellent chicken shawarma pizza. This is the second Noah’s Pizza - the first one is in Linwood, Ontario. 

Moving right along, we come to 176 Josephine St - Cornerstone Pizza and Subs. This address was previously the home of beloved Wingham institution, Bell’s Pizza. The town was sad to see its favourite local pizza place shut down, but hope returned with the opening of Cornerstone Pizza and Subs - even more so when it was learned that they had retained all of the old Bell’s recipes!

A bit of a hike and a cross back to the other side of the street brings us to 317 Josephine St - New Orleans Pizza. It’s easy to miss Wingham’s branch of this Canadian pizza franchise - it’s tucked into a plaza dominated by the bright lights and wafting bread-smell of a Subway. It’s well worth taking a second look - New Orleans makes a tasty pie!

The last stop on our tour is a bit of an outlier in Wingham’s pizza landscape - the Pizza Hut at 355 Josephine St. This is the only pizzeria in town that isn’t Canadian - Pizza Hut was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1958. While not Canadian by birth, Pizza Hut was long ago accepted as one of our own. It’s also a bit of a different kind of pizza - thicker than average, with a distinctive crust that’s never been replicated. A fitting end to a great tour.