For a pizza-and-pasta kitchen, The Twisted Pig sources unusually close to home. The wildflower honey finishing its Gnocchi Gorgonzola is made at a winery up the Niagara escarpment; the mushrooms in the Rigatoni Funghi come from a grower a short drive away; the steelhead is pulled from local water. That habit — cooking familiar Italian comforts out of the peninsula around it — is what sets this Port Dalhousie dining room apart from most of its peers. It sits on Lock Street, in the waterfront village rather than a roadside plaza, and works for a Niagara table planning a dinner worth a reservation. The menu is broad enough that a group rarely struggles to agree on an order.
The pizzas make the clearest case for that habit. A Prosciutto + Burrata pie layers prosciutto di Parma and torn burrata over tomato and basil; the Soppressata carries asiago, pickled fennel and a thread of hot honey; the Funghi stacks truffle three ways — mushroom paste, pecorino and honey — over oyster mushroom and baby arugula. When a feature runs it tends to push the same direction, house-cured steelhead trout with crème fraîche, pickled shallot and crispy caper turning a pizza into something closer to a smoked-fish plate. The base stays familiar; the toppings rarely do.
House-made gnocchi, burrata pizza, veal parmigiano and seafood pastas give the menu a concrete Italian comfort core rather than a generic casual-dining spread.
The restaurant works as a relaxed lakeside-area dinner stop, with enough polish for date night and enough familiar ordering paths for groups.
The bottle list, pizza section and pasta range make it easy to build either a shared social meal or a more composed dinner around one or two standout dishes.
Gnocchi Gorgonzola gives the kitchen a clear signature pasta: house-made potato gnocchi, gorgonzola cream and Rosewood Estates wildflower honey. It reads richer and more specific than a standard red-sauce order.
The pizza set has range beyond a simple margherita, with Prosciutto + Burrata Pizza, Soppressata and a house feature built around cured steelhead. That gives pizza-first diners several credible routes into the meal.
Twisted Gnocchi 2.0, Veal Parmigiano, Meatballs and Steak Frites lean into generous Italian comfort without making the menu feel one-note. The best picks are hearty but still ingredient-specific.
The separate bottle list makes wine a real part of the plan, especially with creamy pasta, seafood pasta and burrata-topped pizza. Diners can build the meal around a bottle instead of treating drinks as an afterthought.
Port Dalhousie gives the address a lakeside dinner setting, and the menu has patio-friendly starts like Caesar Salad, PEI Mussels and pizza. It works for a relaxed outdoor meal without relying only on the view.
Share the nuances of your visit to The Twisted Pig in St. Catharines — the standout dishes, the room, the service.
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