Craft Pizza (& Bagels...& Croissants ... & Sparrow Coffee)

Craft Pizza opened several months in Wicker Park. I'll be honest -- I've yet to try the pizza. But I stopped by a week ago for a bagel and a croissant and those were enough to let me know that Craft is pretty damn serious about bread. Hopefully, others will eventually fill in the gaps here with pictures and comments about the pizzas.

As for the bagels, I had a sesame seed bagel with chive cream cheese and it was terrific. The bagel was sufficiently dense and had a nice crust, a good chew and well-developed flavor that ranks up there with the best in the city (I know, not real hard). The slightest knock is that I don't think they use the slightest egg wash to help the seeds adhere to the bagel, and many were lost before chewing. I'll still place New York Bagel & Bialy at the top of my Chicago bagel list, but don't ignore Craft if it's more convenient (of course, this is a small-scale operation so don't go in to pick up a dozen without calling well in advance). Just know that bagels (and other breakfast breads) are only available Saturday and Sunday mornings.

I also had a croissant and it too ranks up there with the best in the city. To me, the gold standards are Cellar Door and Beurrage, but Bad Wolf and Craft Pizza are right up there. In fact, I'm still slightly numb thinking about the amazing croissants finally available in our city. But I digress -- the croissant at Craft was beautifully layered and deliciously rich and buttery. The only thing keeping it from being at the very top of a best croissants list was the slightly too crisp exterior -- really a very minor issue because it was still plenty flaky and buttery. While I forgot to take a picture of the bagel, here is a picture of the croissant:





Again, do not visit on weekdays hoping to find bagels, croissants or Sparrow Coffee (hopefully, one day), but add Craft Pizza to the list of artisan bread bakers doing big things in Chicago. Now, I need to make it there for pizza.

Craft Pizza
1252 N. Damen, Chicago
773.442.7238

https://twitter.com/CraftPizzaChi
https://www.facebook.com/CraftPizzaChicago

Hours: closed Monday
Tuesday-Thursday 5:00 – 10:00pm
Friday 5:00 – 11:00pm
Saturday 8:00am – 11:00pm
Sunday 8:00am – 9:00pm