Meet the man on a quest to review every pizzeria in Windsor-Essex
CBC
Do you remember exactly when you last had great Windsor-Essex pizza?
LaSalle's Mike Zakoor does. For the past year, he's been posting detailed reviews of locally-made pies on his Instagram account titled Shredded Pep.
It's his record of his ongoing — some would say impossible — quest to review every pizzeria in Windsor-Essex.
"This project could easily take me five to 10 years. Even more, honestly," said Zakoor, 29.
"So yes, this is a daunting task."
Zakoor's project began in December 2023, with Armando's LaSalle as his inaugural review.
"For my first post, I wanted to do a chain that is synonymous with Windsor-style pizza," Zakoor wrote, giving good marks to Armando's LaSalle for crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings — for a final score of 8 out of 10.
"Ultimately, these reviews are my opinion," Zakoor stated in a disclaimer. "Please keep in mind that each person has different tastes."
Zakoor says his passion for eating pizza began in his childhood, and he feels blessed to live in a place with a great pizza reputation. But his desire to document and review pizzas began in earnest around 2019, when he started organizing his assessments in an Excel spreadsheet.
"I like to consider myself in the loop when it comes to Windsor pizza," he said.
Feedback from friends and family inspired him to review pizza more publicly and more in-depth on Instagram.
The Shredded Pep account has posted 18 reviews so far, with each containing multiple close-up photos of the ordered pizza.
For Zakoor, it's not enough to opine randomly about pizza — rules need to be followed.
Every review involves an order of a 12-slice 'meat lovers' pizza. Windsor-style is preferred, but not a prerequisite. If that's not an option, Zakoor selects a regular pepperoni.
Saskatchewan's Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) says an RCMP officer who struck a teen with a police truck during a high-speed chase on Kawacatoose First Nation last year should not be charged.
Finance Minister Jim Reiter unveiled his footwear for Wednesday's provincial budget: The same black shoes as last year.
A new report by the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters highlights the importance of investing in transportation in rural parts of the province in order to save lives.
B.C. Premier David Eby has signalled he won't support the federal government's move to temporarily increase rural employers' allowances for temporary foreign workers, saying there should be a pathway to permanent residency instead.
P.E.I. Progressive Conservative MLA and cabinet minister Mark McLane has died, with Premier Rob Lantz paying tribute to his colleague as someone who could always be counted upon.
Whitehorse city council is considering a proposal to study 14 lots throughout the city for housing development.
In the closing days of the NDP leadership race, Avi Lewis's past activism has resurfaced. But the front-runner's campaign is standing by his past work and a decade-old vision that's been both criticized within the New Democrats' ranks and weaponized by their opponents.
Some rural municipalities want the province to know ambulance response times and basic care in their communities are not meeting the mark.
The sighting of a sniper on Saturday during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Waterloo was met with fear and shock by some partygoers, but one policing expert says this was a proactive measure designed to keep the crowd safe.
A 25-year old Prince Edward Island man has been sentenced to six months in jail for firearms offences.
Closing schools, stalled housing starts — not common headlines in Alberta's booming cities.
Two MLAs and the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation chief say they welcome the territory’s new trespassing legislation because they believe it will help address concerns about uninvited guests intruding in people’s homes and refusing to leave.
U.S. President Donald Trump is struggling to persuade other nations to help protect commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a development that analysts say is partly the result of treating allies with contempt since returning to the White House last year.