Antonino’s honours a family legacy and celebrates fiery Canadian pride with their New Angry Canadian™ pizza.
Contributors A Note
PAUL ST-PIERRE Publisher
BREANNE MCGINTY................. Managing Editor, Director of Sales
GREG EDWARDS Graphic Designer
SABINE MAIN...................................................... Creative Director
MARNIE ROBILLARD Art Director
MEL MONCZAK ...................................... Senior Account Manager
CONTRIBUTORS
LAYAN BARAKAT ................................................................. Writer
JEN BRIGNALL-STRONG Writer
SYX LANGEMANN .................................................... Photographer
TREVOR BOOTH Photographer
ANTHONY SHEARDOWN ........................................... Photographer
ANNA STANLEY Copy Editor
MACKENZIE COJOCAR .................................. Publication Assistant
Inside this issue
We’re back with our second tumbler, and we couldn’t be more excited to keep the momentum going.
Slice of a Legacy
Antonino’s Original Pizza
The region’s patios and where to find them 16 14 08 18 19
Pour Decisions
The resurgence of the mocktail
Buy Canadian, By Local Canadians
5 Places to find your favourite Windsor-made eats and treats
EPIC Wine Route Map
The region’s wineries and where to find them
Windsor-Essex Patio Map
Welcome to the Food & Drink side of our second Tumbler Issue!
This time, we’re raising a glass, and a fork, to the culinary creators, brewers, bakers, growers, and innovators who are redefining the food and drink scene across WindsorEssex. From farm to table, vineyard to taproom, these pages spotlight the people and places feeding our community.
The Drive celebrates those who are crafting bold flavors and unforgettable experiences. These tastemakers remind us that food is never just food - it’s culture, connection, and creativity on a plate (or in a glass).
Our goal remains the same: to inspire, connect, and empower. This issue is more than a menu of local talent; it’s a celebration of how food and drink bring us together. Whether it’s over a shared meal, a craft beer flight, or a cup of locally roasted coffee, these are stories that nourish our sense of place and pride.
We hope you discover something delicious within these pages—and that it inspires your next bite, sip, or culinary adventure. Let’s keep celebrating the people who are serving up something special in Windsor-Essex.
Cheers,
Breanne McGinty
Breanne McGinty Managing Editor
Legacy SLICE OF A Legacy
Consistency Key to the Perfect Pie at Antonino’s Original Pizza
Written by Jen Brignall-Strong
Before there was Windsor-style pizza’s famous shredded pepperoni, there were hand-cut pepperoni strips.
That’s how Joe Ciaravino’s foray into the family pizza business began, and a cherished memory that always makes him chuckle.
“When I was a kid—and I remember this vividly because it was my job—each pepperoni stick was sliced lengthwise on a deli slicer. The long slices were meticulously stacked and then these perfect pepperoni stacks were cut into little strips—all by hand. I can’t believe we did that,” he laughs, “but that’s how we did it back then, and that’s how my mom wanted us to do it when we first started here.”
While the manual labour didn’t last long (“I had to fight my mom tooth and nail to use the shredder,” jokes Ciaravino), the importance of meticulous preparation and a commitment to consistency are standards he has carried with him over the past twenty-six years since founding his own slice of Windsor’s storied pizza history, Antonino’s Original Pizza.
As the son of Windsor-style pizza pioneers reminisces about his childhood growing up in a pizzeria and the last three decades of carrying on his parents’ legacy, he reflects on what makes
Antonino Ciaravino (left) and his Zio Alfio (Circa 1972)
Photo by Antonino’s Original Pizza Inc
Antonino and Vita Ciaravino in front of their original diner/pizzeria in Windsor, ON (Circa 1959)
Photo by Antonino’s Original Pizza Inc
Photos by Antonino's Original Inc., Mediaduo, and Trevor Booth
the city’s style of pizza so special and, in particular, what has garnered Antonino’s such a strong following in a region with more pizzerias per capita than anywhere else in Canada.
From a small South Windsor takeout spot to now five locations across Essex County, Ciaravino says it’s been a combination of establishing exacting standards, relentless quality control, and authentic marketing rooted in real personal stories that has led to Antonino’s becoming a household name. That, and perfecting his father’s original recipes for the quintessential Windsor-style pie.
“Before my father (Antonino) fell ill, he had the recipes all in his head,” shares Ciaravino. “When he got sick, my mom (Vita) wrote them down.”
It was finding that decades old, hand scribbled note, haphazardly written in Italian on a weathered piece of three-hole punched paper, and encouragement from family and friends that pushed Joe to finally open his own place in 1999 as a tribute to his late father, Antonino “Tony” Ciaravino.
“Without my mom’s help I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” he shares. “She worked side-by-side with my dad all those years and so she was able to help
me recreate everything, even as her own health was declining.”
Ciaravino recalls the sauce recipe indicating a spoon of something and asking his mother if it was a teaspoon or a tablespoon.
“She goes, no, it’s the round green soup spoons that we used to give out with takeout orders,” he laughs. “And the cups referred to in the recipes were actually the old red and white striped takeout soda fountain cups. Thank God she never threw anything away—we found them in an old suitcase she had stored
in the basement for over 35-years—otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to replicate the recipes.”
Ciaravino has shared many of these endearing moments in some of Antonino’s marketing campaigns throughout the years, which he credits for helping propel the pizza chain to success. After all, who can’t relate to cherished family recipes that include steps like “enough flour as needed” and “add to taste”?
Despite the recipes’ very informal origins, Ciaravino says he was able to get it down to an almost exact science,
Antonino’s Original Pizza Inc. President, Joe Ciaravino working in the family pizzeria at age 13 (1978)
Photo by Antonino’s Original Pizza Inc
Joe and his mother Vita at the first Antonino’s (2003)
Photo by Antonino’s Original Pizza Inc
thanks in part to rigorous testing and well, actual science.
“I went to a lot of seminars on food chemistry and talked to food chemists,” he recalls. “I was fascinated by the Lallemand’s yeast presentation on the chemistry of yeast and the flour industry chemist’s explanation of how gluten structure develops in dough. I learned a lot.”
He says all the education and testing has helped his team deliver a more consistent product, which has made it easier to replicate across locations.
“Something as simple as the temperature of the water coming out of the tap can affect the finished temperature of the dough.”
Time and temperature aren’t the only details that are monitored. It’s everything from the quality of spices to the weight of a 20 kilogram bag of flour used to make one full batch of dough.
“A 20 kilogram bag of flour very seldom weighs exactly 20 kilograms,” states Ciaravino, matter-of-factly.
Also, the right sauce to cheese to topping ratios are vital to maintaining that familiar Antonino’s taste, and it’s something that is tested often.
“We have exact specs for our pizzas,” he says. “We periodically test our pizza makers by having them make a pizza on a scale just to recalibrate, so they know if they’re going too heavy or too light.”
“Frankly, our pizza tastes best when the ratio of sauce to cheese to pepperoni and other toppings are in the right proportion,” he adds. “If anything is off, it’s a different product.”
They also sample pizzas from each of their locations side by side in blind taste tests.
“I think we do a better job of consistency than anyone else. We work very hard at it. That’s what’s important to me.”
Ciaravino says it is also important to him to use local, and if they are bestin-market, Canadian-made ingredients, which is evident in Antonino’s latest creation, The Angry Canadian™.
Photo by Trevor Booth
Antonino’s Original Pizza Inc.
President Joe Ciaravino in front of his flagship Antonino’s Original Pizza location.
Photo by Antonino’s Original Pizza Inc
A response to the recent cross-border tariff talks and a spin on their ultra-popular Angry Hawaiian™, The Angry Canadian™ features locally made Uniondale Mozzarella from Galati Cheese, Olymel smoked bacon (Brampton, ON), pepperoni made by Salamina Foods (Laval, QC), fresh mushrooms from Highline Mushrooms in Kingsville, and hot peppers from Lakeside Packing in Harrow.
The idea came from an out-of-town friend of Ciaravino’s while the two of them caught up over an Angry Hawaiian™ and Sicilian Cannoli.
“We were talking about what’s going on with the tariffs and about how Canadians were angry and how we’re starting to see this surge of national pride,” he recounts. “And while Richard’s eating a slice of Angry Hawaiian™, he says, ‘Hey, when are you going to come up with an Angry Canadian?’”
“It was genius!” Ciaravino exclaims, raising his hands in the air. “Within
a week and a half, we had it launched, and it’s been a tremendous hit for us. We sold approximately 250 in the first two weeks.”
And those Angry Canadian™ toppings? All carefully tested and measured, of course. For Ciaravino, there’s no other way to do things.
“It’s really hard to standardize excellence,” says Ciaravino. “We try and we may not always succeed, but I think we get it right more often than not.” As we finish our interview, Ciaravino gets up to greet a family sitting down to enjoy their supper in the dining room of Antonino’s South Windsor flagship store. As it turns out, the former Windsor residents are visiting from Niagara Falls and had to make time to stop in for their favourite Windsor pizza.
“Is it as good as you remember?” he smiles.
Of course it is. He knows it is…right down to the shredded (no longer hand cut) pepperoni. W.E.
Photo by Trevor Booth
Photo by Trevor Booth
DECISIONSPour
The resurgence of the mocktail
Written by Layan Barakat
“Can I get a water?” I’d shout over the music, hovering awkwardly over a sticky bar while my friends twirled and twostepped through the night. As the eternal designated driver of the group, I quickly learned that my options were… limited, to say the least. If you weren’t sipping syrupy soda or plain old water (although we love a hydrated queen), there wasn’t much left to hold in your hand—let alone enjoy.
But the idea of a mocktail isn’t new. These booze-free libations have deeper roots than you might expect. The first “mocktail”—then called a temperance drink—dates back to 1895, when the movement to reduce alcohol consumption began picking up steam. Temperance drinks gained even more traction during the Prohibition era (1920–1933) when the U.S. banned alcohol entirely.
Windsor-Essex played a starring role in that era, earning its nickname as “The Rumrunning Capital of Canada.” With Detroit just a stone’s throw away, Windsor became a key smuggling hub, ferrying liquor across the river under the cover of darkness and clever disguises. But while bootleggers were busy dodging the law, others embraced temperance culture. Soda fountains, tea rooms, and underground speakeasies began experimenting with alcohol-free drinks that still felt celebratory. In a way, the mocktail was born in rebellion.
Fast forward to today, and mocktails are no longer a Plan B. Once a novelty or afterthought, they’re now proudly featured on menus as alcohol-free alternatives to your favourite boozy classics.
We can thank the “sober-curious” movement for the comeback. What began as hashtag challenges like #SoberOctober and #DryJanuary has turned into a broader cultural shift. People are re-evaluating their relationship with alcohol—not necessarily swearing it off forever but questioning why drinking is the default. And let’s be honest: some of us just need something to do with our hands at parties. Cue the no-jito, the nada colada, and my personal favourite—the nein-quiri. (Okay, I might’ve made that one up.)
Beyond health and wellness, mocktails are also about inclusivity. Not everyone drinks—for religious, medical, personal, or “nah, I’m good” reasons. Offering a thoughtful lineup of zero-proof drinks means everyone can join the toast without compromise. It’s about creating space at the table for everyone—without settling for soda.
And the industry’s catching on. Bartenders are crafting complex, Instagram-worthy mocktails with fresh herbs, artisanal syrups, and botanical infusions. Entire bars and brands are dedicated to zero-proof experiences, and global beverage companies are pouring serious investment into the space.
Mocktails aren’t about missing out. They’re about showing up on your terms. Whether it’s a Friday night out or a solo Tuesday treat, there’s a mocktail with your name on it.
Craving a fancy sip this weekend? Check out the mocktail menus at Gladstone Commons, Mezzo, WindsorEats, Maiden Lane Wine & Spirits, Funky Chow Kitchen, Erie Street Gastropub, and The Windsor Speakeasy—just to name a few. These spots prove you don’t need alcohol to raise the bar. W.E.
Buy Canadian, By Canadians
Places to find your favourite Windsor-made eats and treats
By Jen Brignall-Strong
Amid tariff talks and a surge in national pride, there’s a renewed commitment to keeping our dollars in our own backyard.
Across Windsor and Essex County, more and more people are making a conscious effort to buy Canadian by supporting the local farmers, food makers, and small businesses that help our region thrive.
“There are so many benefits to shopping local,” says Steve Green, Manager of the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market. “Not only are you getting higher quality, nutri ent-dense fruits and vegetables that have been picked fresh, you’re also meeting the person who is growing (or making) your food. You’re con necting city and county and build ing community.”
Thankfully, there’s never been a better time to shop, and snack, lo cally. Beyond our bountiful county harvests, there are also countless locally made treats, condiments, and meal solutions: everything from small-batch hot sauces, dressings, and dips to freshly baked breads, hand pies, chips, pickles… even award-winning libations.
Looking for local this summer? Here are five must-visit spots where you can stock up on Windsor-Essex made snacks, treats, and pantry staples.
1. Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market
Open Saturdays from spring through fall, this vibrant market is a hub for many local farms, as well as favourites like Zuleeats, What’s Poppin’ Popcorn Factory, Steve Green Foods, Dancing Swallows Vineyard, and more. With over 70 vendors, it’s the perfect place to fill your reusable bag while meeting the makers behind your favourite foods.
2. Little Foot Foods
Famous for their handmade pierogi with creative fillings like apple pie and chicken enchiladas, Little Foot Foods is a YQG treasure. Their storefront in Oldcastle also carries a wide variety of other renowned local eats including Robbie’s Gourmet Sausage Co., Soda Pop Bros, Cedar Valley pita chips, and Bubi’s Sauce.
3. The Farmhouse Market
Located in Amherstburg, this boutique market showcases the best of Essex County. You’ll find locally sourced meats, produce, preserves, and items from The Iron Kettle, Nuccelli’s Frozen Yogurt, Pretzel Central, and Hawksview Honey.
4. Lee & Maria’s
What began as a family farm has grown into a local food destination in Kingsville. Lee & Maria’s offers in-store shopping as well as home delivery, with a strong focus on regional products including Cara Pasta, Red Lantern Coffee, Lakeside Packing Co., and Daryl’s Bars.
5. Tecumseh Farmers’ Market
New on the scene this year and sure to grow in popularity, this market takes place the third Sunday of every month at Lacasse Park and brings together farmers and food artisans from across the region. Expect seasonal fruits, veggies, and more from vendors like Lisa’s Everything Sauce, Raymont’s Berries, Kranicz Orchards, and Nuts 4 Dates.
This list is by no means exhaustive. Windsor-Essex is brimming with locally owned shops, roadside stands, wineries, and breweries ready to be explored. So skip the big-box stores this season, take the scenic route, and discover the people and places serving up the tastiest eats our region has to offer. W.E.
Wineries
Explore the EPIC Wine Route—a scenic trail of award-winning wineries across Essex County. Start planning your perfect wine country escape!
Patios
Looking for the perfect spot to sip, snack, and soak up the sun? Scan the QR code to explore our curated map of Windsor Essex patios—your guide to good eats, cold drinks, and unbeatable outdoor vibes.
June 6 | Friday Night Lights
7pm–10pm WindsorEats Food Hall
June 7 | ICHA Fishing Derby 9am–2pm Assumption Park
June 7–8 | Art in the Park 10am–7pm Willistead Park
June 8 | Spring Fun on Wheels Car Show 8am Canadian Transportation Museum
June 9 | Mack Flash Trivia 7pm–9pm The Fort
June 11 | Kingsville Painter’s Guild 6:30pm–9pm Grovedale Arts Centre
June 12 | Brews and Board Games 5pm–9pm Walkerville Brewery
June 13–14 | Taste of Tecumseh 5pm–1am Lakewood Park
Events music
CALENDAR
June 21 | Kingsville Block Party 5pm–10pm Cottam Centre
June 22 | Summer Kick-Off Market 10am–3pm Sauve’s Country Market
June 23 | Ford Fireworks 9:45pm Windsor Riverfront
June 24 | Loose Goose Trivia 7pm–10pm The Loose Goose (Walkerville)
June 25 | A Day for a Life Golf Tournament 9am–10pm Kingsville Golf Club
June 27 | Walkerville Night Market 5pm–11pm Walkerville Brewery
June 28 | Amherstburg Open Air Weekends 3pm–8pm Downtown Amherstburg
June 29 | Slow Jam Sunday 2pm WindsorEats Food Hall
June 13–15 | Carrousel of the Nations (Week 1) TBD
June 14 | Windsor-Essex Adventure Market 11am–5pm LaSalle Event Centre
June 15 | Tecumseh Farmers Market 9am–12pm Lacasse Park
June 16 | Windsor Jewish Film Festival TBD Capitol Theatre
June 17 | Hearing Clinic Grand Opening 10am Windsor Family Hearing
June 18 | Mack Flash Trivia 7pm–9pm Eastwood’s Grill & Lounge
June 19 | Thirsty Thursday 3pm–11:45pm Erie St GastroPub
June 20–22 | Amherstburg Ribfest 11am–10pm Ramsay Street
July 1 | Canada Day Parade 6pm–11pm Wyandotte Street East
July 2 | Charity Pasta Night 4pm–7pm Caboto Club
July 3–6 | Essex Fun Fest 5pm–11pm 60 Fairview Ave W
July 5 | Classic Car Show 10am–3pm Farrow Riverside Miracle Park
July 6 | Militaria Show 8am–2pm Canadian Transportation Museum
July 18 | WSO Brass Quintet 7pm Sculpture Garden
July 19 | Drop-In Tinsmithing Classes 5pm–7pm Park House Museum
LIVE
June 6 | Jake Van Danger 6pm-9pm Walkerville Brewery
June 7 | Chris McLean 7pm Banded Goose Brewing
June 8 | Phil Charette 1pm Banded Goose Brewing
June 8 | Open Mic Night 5pm–8pm Walkerville Brewery
June 12 | Dad Jokes Comedy Show 6:30pm Wolfhead Distillery
June 13 | DJ Matrixx 10pm–2am Shooters Roadhouse
June 14 | Velvet Groove Live 9:30pm Villains Beastro
June 19 | Forever Came Calling /All Captains 8pm Meteor
June 26 | Chris Murphy 7pm Meteor
June 29 | Jazz Night 6pm–9pm Walkerville Brewery
July 4 | Rob Mailloux Comedy TBD Tipsy Toucan
July 20 | WSO Brass Quintet 3pm King’s Navy Yard Park
July 26 | WSO & Maestro Franz 7:30pm SUNSET Amphitheatre
*Event details are subject to change. We recommend verifying dates, times and availability with the event organizers before attending. The Drive Magazine is not responsible for any changes, cancellations or inaccuracies.
