The Pizza That Turned Vancouver Into a Global Headline
Can you image a pizza so enormous it won’t fit through your front door?
A pie so massive that ordering it requires calling ahead a full day in advance.
A slice so gigantic it could double as a coffee table.
Welcome to Vancouver’s newest food obsession.
Big Mama’s and Papa’s Pizzeria just cracked open its doors on Arbutus Street, and they’re not messing around.
This LA born pizza shop holds an actual Guinness World Record, and now Vancouver gets to claim it as their own.
When “Extra Large” Doesn’t Even Come Close
Forget everything you thought you knew about big pizzas. The Giant Sicilian isn’t playing in the same league as those party size pies you order for game night.
This thing measures 54 inches by 54 inches. That’s four and a half feet in every direction.
It cuts into over 200 slices and can easily feed more than 50 hungry humans.
The price tag? A cool $350 to $400, depending on what you load it with. And here’s the kicker: you can’t just impulse order this monster.
The kitchen needs 24 hours to prepare it, which makes sense when you think about the logistics of actually cooking something that size.
It’s the kind of pizza you’d order for a wedding reception, a company party, or maybe just because you really, really want to blow people’s minds.
Two Brothers and a Wild Idea
Back in 1992, brothers Aro and Allen Agakhanyan opened their first shop in Los Angeles with a simple philosophy: make pizzas big enough that nobody leaves hungry, and create a spot where people actually want to hang out.
They kicked things off with a 28 inch pizza. Pretty big, right? Then they pushed it to 36 inches with the Big Papa. But somewhere along the way, they asked themselves: why stop there?
The Giant Sicilian was born, and with it came a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest deliverable pizza. Not the largest pizza ever made (that honor goes to some Italian town square where they probably needed a crane). This is the biggest one that’ll actually show up at your house.
Now they’ve got locations scattered across the US and Canada. Vancouver is their first stop in BC, and judging by the buzz, it won’t be their last Canadian expansion.
Yes, There’s a Single Slice Option (And It’s Still Ridiculous)
Let’s say you don’t have 50 friends to feed. Maybe you’ve got, I don’t know, six or seven people you can tolerate. Big Mama’s thought of you too.
Enter the “World’s Biggest Pizza Slice,” and yes, they’re serious about that title.
This single slice stretches 26 inches by 36 inches. To be clear, that’s bigger than most actual pizzas. It serves up to seven people and costs $54.99.
And you do have a smaller Big Mama Slice that will be around $11.99.
It’s the kind of thing you order when you want the bragging rights without renting a U Haul to transport your dinner.
But Wait: It’s Actually Affordable?
Here’s the plot twist nobody saw coming: this place isn’t just about Instagram worthy gimmicks and world records. Big Mama’s and Papa’s is actually gunning for your regular Tuesday night dinner business.
Their daily deals are legitimately aggressive. Wings for 99 cents each. A large 14 inch pizza with two toppings for $17.99 (they literally call it the “Best Deal in Town,” and honestly, they might not be wrong).
Dine in and you can grab a Philly cheesesteak, spaghetti, or something called the One Egg Gondola for under ten bucks.
So yeah, come for the world record, stay for the fact that you can actually afford to eat here more than once.
Vancouver’s Got Pizza History
This isn’t the first time Vancouver has made international headlines for pizza. Cast your mind back to 2014, when Steveston Pizza set a completely different kind of record: the world’s most expensive pizza.
That beauty cost $450 and came loaded with lobster, caviar, prawns, Alaskan cod, and (because why not) actual gold leaf. It was luxury taken to an absurd extreme, the kind of thing you’d order to propose or celebrate a lottery win.
Big Mama’s takes the opposite approach. Their record is about scale and shareability, not exclusivity. It’s democratic pizza: anyone with enough friends (or enemies to impress) can order it.
The Arbutus Street Food Boom
Timing is everything, and Big Mama’s landed in a neighborhood that’s suddenly exploding with new spots. Caravanserai, Glass House, Crave Cheesesteaks… they’re all setting up shop in the same area, turning this stretch of Arbutus into a genuine food destination.
It’s the kind of development that turns casual dinner plans into an actual decision making process. Which is exactly what any food obsessed city wants.
So, Should You Order the Giant Sicilian?
Look, you probably don’t need 200 slices of pizza. But need and want are two different things.
Maybe you’re throwing the party of the year. Maybe your office just crushed a huge project. Maybe you’re tired of being the person who brings regular chips to the Super Bowl party. Whatever your reason, Vancouver now has access to something genuinely special: a pizza so absurdly large it makes international news.
Big Mama’s and Papa’s Pizzeria is open now at 2655 Arbutus Street. The boxes are massive, the slices are legendary, and for the first time ever, Vancouverites can order a world record to their door.
Just remember to call ahead.
