Congress Pizzeria?

Recently got a under-my-front-gate flyer for Congress Pizzeria-- located on Milwaukee next door to (who woulda thunk it) the Congress Theatre in that not quite Logan Square, not quite Bucktown area of the world, near my humble abode.

Usually I just throw these things away while cursing them for littering my pristine front yard, but they advertised "sicilian style" pizza, which is the pizza of my childhood, made my grandma every year ONLY on Christmas Eve, eaten in large quantities before going to midnight mass where, inevitably, due to large quantities of pizza and the fact that we were in church at midnight, one of us would fall asleep.

So, I have sentimental attachment to this particular pizza variation...and am almost afraid to try Congress for fear that it will suck.

I searched the site to see if there was any previous discussion, and couldn't quite find anything--which further increases my level of suspicion. If it was good, it would have been talked about, right?

Anyways, any and all opinions welcomed before I invest $15 and a ton of childhood nostalgia and possible emotional damage into this...

bananasandwiches wrote:Anyways, any and all opinions welcomed before I invest $15 and a ton of childhood nostalgia and possible emotional damage into this...

As it will only cost me the $15, without any risk of nostalgia or emotional damage, unless somebody else chimes in with a review of the Congress Sicilian, I will take the fall for you. That's right, bananasandwiches, I will order a Congress Sicilian tonight, partake of it, judge and photograph it, and report the results (and picture) on LTH. How's that for building our community and our knowledge base?

Now that's dedication.

Tonight, I will be dining at Sola with my hubby and a friend whose fiance is in Peru at the moment, thus he is in need of feeding and entertaining. I'm looking forward to the meal, haven't been there yet.

Should you need someone to "take the fall" for you, culinarily speaking, in the future, I am at your service!

bananasandwiches wrote:Tonight, I will be dining at Sola with my hubby and a friend whose fiance is in Peru at the moment, thus he is in need of feeding and entertaining. I'm looking forward to the meal, haven't been there yet.

Have the pistachio ice cream for dessert.

riddlemay wrote:

bananasandwiches wrote:Tonight, I will be dining at Sola with my hubby and a friend whose fiance is in Peru at the moment, thus he is in need of feeding and entertaining. I'm looking forward to the meal, haven't been there yet.

Have the pistachio ice cream for dessert.

Sad...our friend is ill, and my husband and I are just too tired to make it out tonight...so we'll be at home eating penne w/eggplant a la Bananasandwiches instead of pistachio ice cream at Sola.

Oh well.

bananasandwiches wrote:

riddlemay wrote:

bananasandwiches wrote:Tonight, I will be dining at Sola with my hubby and a friend whose fiance is in Peru at the moment, thus he is in need of feeding and entertaining. I'm looking forward to the meal, haven't been there yet.

Have the pistachio ice cream for dessert.

Sad...our friend is ill, and my husband and I are just too tired to make it out tonight...so we'll be at home eating penne w/eggplant a la Bananasandwiches instead of pistachio ice cream at Sola.

Oh well.

Why not order a Congress Pizza and compare notes with Jim in this thread?

bananasandwiches wrote:Sad...our friend is ill, and my husband and I are just too tired to make it out tonight...so we'll be at home eating penne w/eggplant a la Bananasandwiches instead of pistachio ice cream at Sola.

Oh well.

Well, at least you aren't eating "Sicilian" pizza from Congress Pizzeria!

In all its glory:



Apparently, "Sicilian" has been translated by the Congress Pizzeria brain trust as "super-thick crust ... everything else just the same!" This absurd premise played out results in a sort of a Doc Martens version of a typical, grade-B Chicago pizza. The crust is, indeed, thick, and therefore undercooked, and flavorless (although sturdy, and probably "Oil Fat Acid Petrol Alkali Resistant"). Lots of cheese, not too bad, not very good, either. The sausage was miserable, underseasoned, mushy and if I didn't know better, I'd say it was turkey sausage. The one element of the pizza that WAS pretty tasty was the sauce; if they had half the seasoning from the sauce in the sausage, it'd be a pretty good result. As it is, this is just one step or two above Pizza Hut. And most certainly NOT a Sicilian pizza. Your Grandma has nothing to worry about!

eatchicago wrote:

bananasandwiches wrote:

riddlemay wrote:

bananasandwiches wrote:Tonight, I will be dining at Sola with my hubby and a friend whose fiance is in Peru at the moment, thus he is in need of feeding and entertaining. I'm looking forward to the meal, haven't been there yet.

Have the pistachio ice cream for dessert.

Sad...our friend is ill, and my husband and I are just too tired to make it out tonight...so we'll be at home eating penne w/eggplant a la Bananasandwiches instead of pistachio ice cream at Sola.

Oh well.

Why not order a Congress Pizza and compare notes with Jim in this thread?

I am saving one slice for Mrs. JiLS, but bananasandwiches is welcome to stop by to pick up the remaining leftovers!

Congress has been around forever. In the 15 years I lived around that area, I ordered pizza from Congress only twice (the second time I had a coupon), and that was maybe 22 years ago. Although, I did go to the restaurant itself a few times (mostly to drink). It was always a time warp place, a 1950s pizza joint that was last redecorated in about 1974. However, from the look of Jim's picture, and his picturesque description, it seems the pizza has not changed. I remember that dense, almost fibrous crust.

For a much better old school pizza/cocktail lounge (that delivers), try John's just around the corner. They specialize in a tangy and saucy thin crust that's a little reminiscent of a NY pizza. A buddy of mine, who currently lives near there, swears by John's "Roman" in a pie-cut (maybe their answer to congress' sicilian) . IMO John's thin crust should be ordered extra crispy. If you are a cracker-pizza fan, you can also order it extra thin.

Johns Pizza & Lounge
2104 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 384-1755

Whenever my friends' band would come through town, they would insist on going to the Congress for some Chicago-style pizza. I suspect this started happening mostly because the Congress is within walking distance from the Fireside Bowl on Fullerton.

The pizza there is, as JiLS stated, not that great. However, the staff there is extremely friendly, and there is one waitress old enough to be my grandmother and treats you like you were her grandkids. One time we went there and everybody got the salad bar option except for one or two people. That waitress said to them, "you're growing boys and need to eat some salad," made them get some salad, and didn't charge them for it - and these were guys with mohawks/piercings/wallet chains/etc!!

Fujisan wrote:these were guys with mohawks/piercings/wallet chains/etc!!

That makes my Doc Martens analogy more apposite than I'd thought! Maybe they really liked this pizza because it reminded them of themselves.

Thanks to Jim for "taking one for the team" on this. I've heard praise of John's in the past, and will try to work it into my repetoire in the next week or so and report back. Hooray for LTH!