WoodFire Gourmet Pizza (CLOSED)

After working all day yesterday (and thoroughly bored with Crystal Lake), I headed south on Randall Rd. largely to see it Golden Corral had opened yet. GC may not have the highest quality of steak but they serve a good variety of vegetables and a good salad bar. However, they are not open until July 10.

While driving around, I found a place called WoodFire Gourmet Pizza. Personally, it sits back off of Randall near the Village offices.

They offer a wide variety of 12 inch gourmet pizzas priced between $12-14. And like most of these trendy places, they have unusual ingredients and combinations. I had the Rajun' Cajun Pizza which is a wood fired pizza on a hand thrown crust with blackened crawfish and andouille sausage. Sounded great. The ingredients were great. However, there was a layer of grease on top of the pizza. It looked like a field after three days of rain where the grease is high but you see a layer of water. Personally, I was trying to drain each piece but doing to would separate the crust from the toppings. It was rather disappointing.

The salad was pretty good and very fresh. However, the dressing, which was supposed to be the house vinegrette looked more like carmelized onion sludge and had a similar taste.

The service was pretty good, although they were really annoying at times.


WoodFire Gourmet Pizza
777 Randall Rd. South
Algonquin, IL 60102
Phone: (847) 658-WOOD
http://www.woodfirepizzeria.com/menu.php

When I lived in the Minneapolis area, there was a place called 'Punch' which had a couple of locations and did the most wonderful nepolitan wood fired grilled pizza. When I moved to Chicago, I was amazed that his concept did not exist all over. Punch would be an amazing hit anywhere they chose to locate in this area.

jlawrence, and you'll find the service to be more hovering than not if you return. We've had a kind of hit or miss, mostly hit though. We've been about 5 times, never seen the same server, but like to support the local independents. They got a great write up in the Daily Herald a few months back. I can highly recommend the Woodfire Steakhouse Pizza and the Pizza Palato, but the inferno Flame, not so much. The calamari was a bit off, but the pizza was extremely good (after yanking the calamari). I appreciate the attention to details, like the big thick napkins, though

lougord99 wrote: When I moved to Chicago, I was amazed that his concept did not exist all over. Punch would be an amazing hit anywhere they chose to locate in this area.

Welcome. Chicago has all sorts of Neapolitan pizza these days, mostly discussed on this Board. You should try Spacca Napoli or Coalfire. I think both stack up pretty well to Punch.

I personally have been to Woodfire many times and LOVE it! The food is unique and made of the most fresh ingredients. The owner is very clever and always adding different specials to keep the menu fresh and new. I think the service is wonderful. If they are hovering over you, as one person noted, it is most likely because it is a small place. But personally I prefer that to a larger place where you don't matter. I can't believe the comment about the grease because I had the same pizza and loved it! The food is unique and not your ordinary pizza. One must be open minded when eating here. If not, you are better off just going to pizza hut. If you like places such as CPK, you will like this place

ptilove wrote:I personally have been to Woodfire many times and LOVE it! The food is unique and made of the most fresh ingredients. The owner is very clever and always adding different specials to keep the menu fresh and new. I think the service is wonderful. If they are hovering over you, as one person noted, it is most likely because it is a small place. But personally I prefer that to a larger place where you don't matter. I can't believe the comment about the grease because I had the same pizza and loved it! The food is unique and not your ordinary pizza. One must be open minded when eating here. If not, you are better off just going to pizza hut. If you like places such as CPK, you will like this place

Very Clever indeed,.......

third coast foodie wrote:Very Clever indeed,.......

I had the same thought until I got to.....

ptilove wrote: If you like places such as CPK, you will like this place

Talk about damning with faint praise.

(CPK = California Pizza Kitchen)

The service was pretty good, although they were really annoying at times.

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