Mama Nitti's Pizza

Ok, it's actually Gigio's Pizzeria, but I think it's best not to associate it with the other Gigio's I know of.

Mama Nitti's right now is probably my favorite thin crust pizza. Their crust isn't cracker thin, but it is cracker crisp. It's a marriage of the two Chicago thin crusts: the soft, doughy crust and the super thin cracker crust.


Strong crust


Yesterday some friends and I got two pies, spinach and ricotta and a sausage and onion. Mama Nitti uses real ingredients, spinach and ricotta means fresh spinach and fresh ricotta. I've only been to Mama's three times, and have gotten the spinach/ricotta twice. It's fantastic. The sausage is decent. It's not mindblowing but it's decent Italian sausage.


Spinach and ricotta

Sausage and onion

In case you were wondering; yes, there is a real Mama Nitti. You'll find her at the register most days, and I'm pretty sure some of the other employees are relatives since they all call her 'Mama.' They might have had a location in Niles a while back but moved to DP a few years ago or so, I'm not sure about this though.

Gigio's Pizzeria
1603 E Oakton St
Des Plaines, IL 60018
(847) 298-5700
http://www.gigiospizza.com/

The food looks great. I'm actually in that area quite a bit. I'm going to check it out!

Went back to Mama's today and tried some of their sandwiches. Sadly, I wasn't expecting to go here and didn't have the camera with me.

Got a meatball sandwich, a pepper and egg and a panzerotti. The meatball sandwich was good, though I think it suffers a little because the meatballs aren't fried so they get lost in the bread a little and have a somewhat subtle flavor. The actual meatball on it's own is amazing and about as lovingly homemade as they get. The bread used is pretty crusty and holds up really well to the sauce. The panzerotti is really good. When you order it the guy rolls out the dough, fills it with sauce, cheese and whatever else you want... then crimps the edges and it goes in the fryer. This process takes about 30 seconds from start to fryer. The roof of my mouth right now is a testament to how hard it is to wait for this too cool down.

The pepper and egg was, by far, the best pepper and egg sandwich I and the girlfriend have ever had. Freshly scrambled egg with fresh green pepper slices, and I think there might have been a little bit of parmesan cooked on the egg. All that on Gonnella-like bread slathered in garlic oil (.65 extra). This is one of the best pepper and egg sandwiches in Chicago, if not the best. Seriously.

This meal, with two large drinks, cost 23 even with tax. Not an amazing deal but definitely worth it.