Shokas Pizza Co.

A Shokago deep dish is built upside down. The deep crust gets a layer of mozzarella on the bottom, the toppings stack through the middle, the house pizza sauce goes over the top, and parmesan finishes it — the reverse of the order a thin-crust pie expects. It is the dish Shokas Pizza Co. is built to be known for, and the one that separates this Sherwood Village kitchen from the rest of Sarnia's pizza counters. Everything else on the menu reads as an argument that the inversion was not a gimmick.

The signature pizzas make the case for the rest of it. Chicken Mediterranean layers chicken, feta, red onion, garlic tomatoes, black olives, balsamic glaze, and oregano over a light tomato base — the brightest order on a menu that otherwise leans rich. Sweet Chili Chicken piles on mushrooms, red peppers, broccoli, and grated carrot; Sweet BBQ comes with chicken or steak, caramelized onion, and red peppers; the Margherita stays spare with bocconcini, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil. For tables that would rather drive the order themselves, build-your-own pies run from nine to eighteen inches, with stuffed-crust add-ons and a long topping list. The sauces are made in house, which is the detail that keeps a build-your-own program from tasting like everyone else's.