Tele Pizza Granada, Nicaragua

Location: Calle El Arsenal No. 205, Granada 000000, Nicaragua

I never would have guessed that I’d have some of the best pizza in my life in Granada, Nicaragua. There are three places where we’ve had pizza so far, Tele Pizza being one of them. Now I must preface this with a caveat. There is no better pizza on the face of this planet than The Sampler from Mr. Gatti’s. Period. Is New York pizza good? Sure. Is Chicago pizza good? Absolutely. But they are both dog food compared to The Sampler from Mr. Gatti’s. Old, nasty, cheap dog food.

Sadly, there is no Mr. Gatti’s in Granada, but there is Tele Pizza. For the sake of this review, let’s just level the playing field and pretend Mr. Gatti’s doesn’t exist. Tele Pizza offers a wide variety of a-la-carte toppings covering all the standards like pepperoni, ham, olives, etc., but they also haves some unique options like salmon, crab, artichoke, and asparagus.

Is there better pizza out there? Oh sure, there’s even better pizza in Granada, but what Tele Pizza does a good job of is bridging the gap between a really high-end specialty pizza place, and the corner pizza joint where you can pop in for a slice. They are somewhere in between. Their service and atmosphere is very casual and relaxed (and, yes, you can grab just a slice to go) but the quality of their pizza is bit elevated beyond it’s laid back decor which is accented with posters of The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, and Guns N Roses. It’s as if they closed their eyes and reached into the mystery poster box a few times.

If you stop in for a bite be prepared to wait for your food. Their service is good and friendly, but it takes a while to get your food. At first I would have counted this against the place, but this seems to be the norm in many restaurants. I think that, as is the custom in Europe (I’ve been told), the expectation is that if you are coming in to sit down and dine – especially with friends or family – then you are wanting to kick back a while and have a relaxing, un-rushed meal. That the experience is more social and less culinary. This theory is somewhat backed up by the fact that the one time we ordered pizza delivered from Tele Pizza it was delivered VERY quickly, fulfilling the much different expectation of wanting to get food delivered quickly.