Why do people feel they can move furniture around in a restaurant as if it were their own home? I wonder if the outcome would have been different if they'd simply asked to move the chair before actually doing so. They probably would have received a reasonable explanation.

I've seen people move whole tables, not just chairs. I've seen people make circles of barstools that block walkways. I've seen people cry until they got the table they got (no kidding, once four years ago downtown I sat a party of 16 on the 3rd of July and the women actually cried because it was too close to the bar. This was at a restaurant two blocks from Millennium park and we were running a two hour wait. You can bet my laugh wasn't very hospitable.)

I can completely understand him hushing the cell-phone users and taking the chair away. If I had to guess (I've never been to Great Lakes) that their rule is to not have parties sit unless everyone is there. Having twenty seats it's crucial to not let people "save" seats. Madness would break out. As for the cell-phone use, good for him for hushing them. Customers need to learn that they're NOT always right. And I'm sure if they had asked to add a third it wouldn't of been a problem.

In the food world people will put up with rude service, indifferent service, and overly expensive mark-ups if the food is great. Good for these two for putting out such an outstanding product that they can make customers conform to their "rules" and pay a premium for it.

Santander wrote:Remember a few years ago when the economy was "good" and upscale hotel restaurants were offering gold-leaf covered hamburgers with foie gras, truffles, sea salt, and ketchup made from ground alagoas curassows? Could those burgers possibly have tasted any better than a That's-A-Burger? Or the Primehouse recession special? Other than the novelty and chic of having had one, were the diners enriched or satiated in any way?

Vera pizza is a street and tavern food. The best long-rise wood-burning brick oven pizza in the world (Naples) costs the equivalent of $7 for something larger than Great Lakes, and that's with a tourist upcharge. Local sourcing is a fact of life and not a self-martyring labor. I am at a total loss in comprehending the designer pricetag on similar American pizzas at Great Lake, and Totonno's and Lucali (to take two others from Richman's list, though having eaten at the latter and researched the former, those pizzas are larger and less expensive even with the fame premium).

Why does eating post-Neapolitan pizza in America (and specifically, Chicago) have to be the apotheosis of the flatbread experience? All sorts of other street foods, we eat at modest prices with some correlation to their places of origin. What is it about pizza that makes the more substantive neighborhood pies we grew up with cost so much less than the "ethereal" de rigueur European thin crusts? Why do some Chicago foodies so readily accept novelty prices for this category of food and poke fun at all other inflated offerings? If the answer is "art," I'd like some insight on why pizza is an art, and falafel isn't.

I tend to agree here. There are some Pakistani places putting out some truly bad ass nan - blistered crust, light and chewy, ephemeral when paired with the volcanic oil slick that rises to the top of meat curries. Oh yeah, and costing all of $1.

Out of curiosity, I checked the websites of a few local pizza places to see what they charge for a topping on a 14" pie:

Chicago chain pizzerias:
Giordano's - $2.50
Lou Malnati's - $2
Chicago's - $2.15
Gino's - $3

Local shops in the same league:
Coalfire $1.50 (veg*) / $2.50 (meat)
Spacca Napoli - no options for additional toppings listed (oh, the outrage that they know better that you how to top a pizza), not to mention, no online prices

-Dan

* Oddly, anchovies are a vegetable

F-You, Gino's

Habibi wrote: I tend to agree here. There are some Pakistani places putting out some truly bad ass nan - blistered crust, light and chewy, ephemeral when paired with the volcanic oil slick that rises to the top of meat curries. Oh yeah, and costing all of $1.

I will give you that bad-ass Naan is one of the few breads that scratches the itch. It rarely comes with melty cheese, though.

After reading all this, I'm wondering why it's not as packed as it used to be. Aren't other casual hotspots in town still cranking at the same level? (Kumas, Doug's, Hop Leaf, etc.) Maybe apples and oranges, but I would expect a tiny place like this to maintain their peak numbers for quite awhile longer than this.

stewed coot wrote:After reading all this, I'm wondering why it's not as packed as it used to be. Aren't other casual hotspots in town still cranking at the same level? (Kumas, Doug's, Hop Leaf, etc.) Maybe apples and oranges, but I would expect a tiny place like this to maintain their peak numbers for quite awhile longer than this.

Maybe it's so crowded that nobody goes anymore.

Kennyz wrote:F-You to...some tomato guy at the Logan Square Farmer's Market...

Kennyz wrote:F-You, Gino's

If you were to post "Kennyz's F-You's of the Day" on TweetMeister, I would figure out how to use it and subscribe to your channel (substitute with the correct lingo for such a sentiment, assuming I got it all wrong here).

Men's Health gave Great Lake pizza an "Honorable Mention" as best pizza in America in it's list of "America's Greatest Guy Foods". The best pizza was Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. I've been to Bianco - New York Times also called it the best pizza in America - and it sounds very similar. Bianco has very long waits and you have to get there at 4 o'dlock to get a seat when doors open 5. I waited 3 hours for a seat there.

I'll have to try Great Lakes . Maybe this weekend.

stevez wrote:All she did was turn it around to sit at the small table next to where the chair already was.

riddlemay wrote:My first reaction is that no matter how good the pizza is (and I'm willing to stipulate that it is the greatest pizza in the history of mankind), the woman's choosing to stand and remain there is a symptom of scarily low self-esteem.

Are you billing by the hour or insight?

riddlemay wrote:but a place that would treat a customer like that is a place I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot barge pole.

Yes, we should stay away, I am petrified at the possibility they may be meany-pants.

I think the reasoning is to not give any money to meany-pants, rather than being scawared of said meany-pants. But if you have no qualms with financially supporting jerks, well...then I guess that makes you a true American.

oranjuicejones wrote:well...then I guess that makes you a true American.

Thanks, I do my best.

We are all "jerks" at one time or other, even a sweetheart such as myself. I have no doubt Steve accurately represented the story, but, throwing caution to the wind, I still intend to try Great Lake. (I have attempted to go three times, but they were closed for various reasons.)

Friday night in the hood. Called to place a phone order at 5:35. Lydia answered on the first ring. Took the order with no fuss and said come by at 6:20. Walked over a bit early and at 6:10 found no line and even a free table. Came back to pick the pizzas up at 6:25 and still no line. Friday night. Might sanity be returning?

She said she's happy that the regulars are starting to come back. I take the absence of a line on Friday night at anything remotely resembling 6-7 pm to be a wonderful thing. Walked two pizzas home and snarfed to our hearts' content. They are exactly 14 inches, fwiw.

I found the pizza at Great Lake spectacular and the service ... well, serviceable. In that regard, Great Lake reminds me of two other pizza purveyors I've patronized regularly -- Burt's and the now-shuttered Una Pizza Napoletana (NYC). As long as the food is great, I can handle some idiosyncratic behavior.

As for value, crazy prices trigger the f-you response in me too. But it's tough for me to begrudge a business (and especially a mom-n-pop) for charging the highest prices the market will bear. Though I'm more likely to drop my hard-earned coin on killer $1 naan, naan is not a Great Lake pie, no matter how killer. Is a Great Lake pizza worth $24? It is if I want one and am willing to pay the price. I do and I am.

G Wiv wrote:

oranjuicejones wrote:well...then I guess that makes you a true American.

Thanks, I do my best.

We are all "jerks" at one time or other, even a sweetheart such as myself. I have no doubt Steve accurately represented the story, but, throwing caution to the wind, I still intend to try Great Lake. (I have attempted to go three times, but they were closed for various reasons.)

Agreed, for all the F-You's I've launched directly and indirectly in Great Lake's direction, I plan to have that pizza too. It looks and sounds so damned good. In fact, several of the places on my F-You list are places I frequent. A fine line between love and hate, there is.

Kennyz wrote:

G Wiv wrote:

oranjuicejones wrote:well...then I guess that makes you a true American.

Thanks, I do my best.

We are all "jerks" at one time or other, even a sweetheart such as myself. I have no doubt Steve accurately represented the story, but, throwing caution to the wind, I still intend to try Great Lake. (I have attempted to go three times, but they were closed for various reasons.)

Agreed, for all the F-You's I've launched directly and indirectly in Great Lake's direction, I plan to have that pizza too. It looks and sounds so damned good. In fact, several of the places on my F-You list are places I frequent. A fine line between love and hate, there is.

For the record (I did say this in my initial post, but it appears to have been ignored), the pizza is very good and I recommend trying one to anyone who is willing to do what it takes to get one. I only brought up the service issues with the other table because I thought they were odd, but entertaining. That table seemed to be a "special case" because they got picked on so much. Maybe those people have some kind of bad history with Great Lake. I have no way of knowing any back story. I experienced no service issues personally (other than what I observed).

As a point of reference, tonight I got a Marie's pizza. The charge for garlic on that one was $0.60. I'm just sayin'.

stevez wrote:

rickster wrote:

Later, when the friend arrived, Lidia came over to the same table and made one of the women stand up because she had moved a chair over to the table to join her friends.

Does this mean they made one woman stand to eat while her friends were sitting?

Yes. She was made to stand, though by the time I left, she had snuck a seat from somewhere else and had not yet been chastened.

This is a huge turn off for me. I was just beginning to think I may try it in winter 2010, but that's outrageous & does nothing to make me sing their praises or spread the news about them. I will watch this thread for continued updates, but this behavior doesn't sound like a GNR to me.

jesteinf wrote:

stewed coot wrote:After reading all this, I'm wondering why it's not as packed as it used to be. Aren't other casual hotspots in town still cranking at the same level? (Kumas, Doug's, Hop Leaf, etc.) Maybe apples and oranges, but I would expect a tiny place like this to maintain their peak numbers for quite awhile longer than this.

Maybe it's so crowded that nobody goes anymore.

Doug's has actually been markedly less crowded over the last month or so. I think the turning weather is keeping some people away from the lines.

Khaopaat wrote:

Kennyz wrote:F-You to...some tomato guy at the Logan Square Farmer's Market...

Kennyz wrote:F-You, Gino's

If you were to post "Kennyz's F-You's of the Day" on TweetMeister, I would figure out how to use it and subscribe to your channel (substitute with the correct lingo for such a sentiment, assuming I got it all wrong here).

Ditto. That would brighten my mood & after reading the treatment of the patron made to stand like she was in a corner at school I could use one. Of course they always say folks generally know which person to F- with when they do something like that. I don't think they would have tried it with Kennyz.

G Wiv wrote:

stevez wrote:All she did was turn it around to sit at the small table next to where the chair already was.

riddlemay wrote:My first reaction is that no matter how good the pizza is (and I'm willing to stipulate that it is the greatest pizza in the history of mankind), the woman's choosing to stand and remain there is a symptom of scarily low self-esteem.

Are you billing by the hour or insight?

riddlemay wrote:but a place that would treat a customer like that is a place I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot barge pole.

Yes, we should stay away, I am petrified at the possibility they may be meany-pants.

No "we" about it. I just wouldn't stand for it.

riddlemay wrote:No "we" about it. I just wouldn't stand for it.

Pun intended?

Habibi wrote:"mona" on it, WETF that is.

Mona is 50/50 sheep/cow milk cheese. They buy it fresh made from a local vender. It runs about $15 a pound. Dante, which they also use is 100% sheep's milk and runs around $18 a pound.

Khaopaat wrote:

riddlemay wrote:No "we" about it. I just wouldn't stand for it.

Pun intended?

Yes, Khaopaat--thank you for picking up on that. I was quite proud of that one!

I can only say that Great Lake’s pies are the best pizzas I have ever eaten in my entire life. "Quote Peter Meehan"

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/tr ... gewanted=1

Under other circumstances this NYT article may not draw that much attention. But with Peter Meehan crisscrossing the country with David Chang promoting the Momofuku cookbook? Maybe not to the extent of the GQ article but no doubt there will be another spike in demand.

We walked in Friday night at 8:20 and were seated immediately; I would guess the pizzas came out about 40 minutes later.

The base 'margahrita' pizza was a bit oversalted, but our second pie, the chorizo/onion/cream one, was pure genius--can't say for sure if it was the absolute best tasting pizza I've had, but it certainly was the most harmonious. And that crust: complex, paradigm-shattering. Genius.

I was also here on what I believe was Friday. Showed up shortly after six and was quoted a 35 minute wait for a table. Took our phone numbers and headed over to Hopleaf for a round. Quite close by and not a bad way to spend 30 minutes when there's space.

Anyway, Great Lake remains as delicious as ever. It's also about as hospitable as the DMV but with a patina of locavore pride, for better or for worse. There's a process that visitors are supposed to stick to and certainly not much in the way of ebullience. The dining experience is also eeirly quiet. It is also really, really tasty. The pizzas are very generously topped, but the crust has just enough integrity to act as a sturdy, yet not cardboard-y base. The cremini pie we had was, objectively, oversalted--my friends found it overwhelmingly salty--but the umami and salt hit was just so concentrated and intense that I quite inhaled my slices. I wasn't as enamored with the chorizo-onion pie, but it was still extremely good.

I thought the salad was also very good, and the $10ish price tag didn't offend me. It was sizeable enough for three to adequately taste and would make a full appetizer for two. Nice shaved vegetables and a herbed dressing. Was a big fan, a rustic yet light start to the meal.

Brought two bottles of wine and less than a glass into the second bottle. Still charged us the "recycling fee" on the second bottle, even when I inquired about it, even though we were taking the bottle back and had hardly consumed any of it. Rather lame. Oh well, I suppose I shouldn't expect any special treatment.

Market salad


Mushroom


Chorizo-onion

Went to Great Lake over a month ago on a Saturday with three friends. We got there at 5:30 to line up on a rainy Saturday and we were stoked because only 4 people were in front of us in line. We wait, we wait, the rain falls, and then we noticed that people were just stepping right up and by passing the rest of the line and standing by the door. Well, this made me nervous, who are these people and why are they just stepping on up? The first guy in line was a reserver for 10-12 other people and let me tell you how much this pissed off the rest of the people in line. What do you guys think, is this appropriate behavior for a small place like Great Lakes or just in general? I thought it was not and was rather vocal about it. Why should I get there early to wait when others can walk right up and jump in front of you. Okay, yeah maybe if it was one or two people, I understand people get to places at other times, but 10-12 is rediculous. By the time the doors open, there was of course no room for us to sit, so we ordered the pies and were told we would have seats in an hour and a half. We agreed and nicely walked across the street to one of the bars and had several Two Brothers beers that calmed us down a little about the butting in line. By the time we got back, there were still no tables and then a half hour later were told that take out might be our best option. So it's almost 8pm, we get the pies to go and by the time we get home, we were all in such sour moods due to the butting, the time, having to bring things home, etc. So to be honest, I can't give a fair opinion about the pizza's b/c I didn't think they were all that. They were good, but best pizza in Chicago, nope not by far. We got the pizza with butternut squash and the other was the tomato, basil and garlic with added sausage. So the moral of the story, get there at 5 and be the first person in line or your night might be ruined by rudeness.

re: the place in line holders, seems to be a pretty common practice, when I have been to Kuma's and Hot Doug's waiting for them to open, there is always a person holding places for a larger group of folks.

It is what it is.

Either a place has a policy against it, or they don't. I've always found the half your group has to be here to save your spot in line rule to be fair. However, if it's not the explicit policy of the establishment, then fair is in the eye of the beholder.

Yeah, if I was third in line & discovered that the first guy was holding spots for 11 of his closest friends, I'd be wicked pissed.

However, having been both the space holder and the line joinee on multiple occasions in the past, I'd probably bite my tongue and/or grumble under my breath to no one in particular, and settle in for a long wait.