Q's Pizza in Hillside

Q's Pizza is mentioned in many threads on the forum. It has yet to have its own thread. The wife is out of town and I have had a meal there each of the past 3 days.

[img]]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/2716290193_2687efca31.jpg?v=0[/img]
The pepper and egg sandwich is served year round. It has a very good seasoned thin pork chop sandwich, italian sub, and meatball sandwich. The pizza is thin crust rivaling Vito and nicks, Frank's Pizza in Appleton, WI, and Fricano's in Grand Haven, MI (I have had each in the past 3 weeks.). I love the crust of the pizza recipes from 60 years.

The home made pepper bread is served with every meal. They even make the butter pickle slices which are served as garnish - an old school taste I thought disappeared when my grandmother died.

The entree's are old school, massive, and red sauce italian. I think they are the weakest part of their offerings.

I hope someone with better writing and photo skills will be able to expand this post

Q'S RESTAURANT & PIZZERIA
4841 Butterfield Rd
Hillside, IL
708.449.7488
630.833.2402

http://www.qsrestaurant.com/Menu.htm

I'm surprised not to find a Q's thread (or posts) as well, on a cursory search, though that could be just that the restaurant name is hard to search for. Good place. I've been going there with my folks for pizza for over 20 years (was always a stop after the movies or Hillside Bowl).

I had never heard of Q's until the this thread popped up and I'm all about the old-school pizza taverns ala Vito & Nicks, Rosangela's, Marie's, Zaffiro's etc... so it rose to the top of my list for the next time I had a pizza hankering and the time to make the trip which came last night.


One hell of an old school sign is a good sign for a place that's been doing it the same forever.

Deep Dish? no, way too much cheese for me. Pan ala Burt's? ya its great when you want some veggies and chunks of tomato and an actual pie you eat with a knife and fork but that's not my style. Wood Burning oven? again its good but it doesn't satisfy my crave like a cracker crisp thin. Pizza Pot Pie? ummm I'm from Chicago, hell born and raised in Lincoln Park and I did it once as a kid around 9 or 10 and haven't been back since, I knew it wasn't real then. I'm not big on any other pizza other than the tavern style cracker thin cut in squares with real chunks of good Italian Sausage and a load of red pepper flakes sprinkled on. I grew up on Pat's pizza at home and when we would hang with my moms side of the family on the south side as kids we always ate at Vito & nicks so that's where it comes from. When I want pizza, Chicago style thin is what I need.


Q's thin with sausage

I can pretty much tell upon sight if a place is good or not. I'm all about the old school family owned spots that are fading fast. I feel like my generation ( born in '81, growing up in the 80's and 90s) got to see the last of alot of Chicago classics as kids that have recently closed and I always liked this style from the get go. By the time I tun 50 the oldest places will have been around since nineteen eighty something. The lighted sign was the first sign that Q's was serious. Then we entered it had everything going for it. The bar had a bunch or regulars watching basketball who watched us as we entered knowing they had never seen us before. It was a nice sized place that could fit a good amount of people and it was about half full with parties of people from 2-15. Some people were dressed in nice suits, some jeans and shorts and lots of high school kids in their basketball stuff still that came straight from a game. Part of what makes a Chicago pizza tavern so good to me is the old school atmosphere and it was great at Q's.

It had a great locals feel. There was lots going on and about 75% of the tables had thin crust pizzas letting off a very pleasant aroma. When we sat down they had the old school paper place mat with the boxed ad's of local businesses, school and churches. Everything about it reminded me of an old school Chicago pizza tavern and Italian restaurant ala Vito & Nicks and Biasetti's. They even brought us the basket with different pieces of bread and the crackers and breadsticks and butter. The 80 something old man decked out in a GQ suit next to us was talking to a waitress about coming to America from Sicily as a kid. The only thing that was missing was the dim lighting. It was pretty well lit but that's no biggie for me. How was the pizza? well I must say it was just up my alley. I loved everything about this pie and it had some good crispness to it and was cracker thin which is becoming less and less available in my experiences. I thought the crust and dough was some of the best of the best as far as this style. Maybe someone with better tastebuds could tell me why, I just know when something tastes good and this pizza was great. There wasn't too much sauce to make it soggy and the sausage was good but also the weakest link. It didn't have quite as much flavor and fennel in it as I like. In the end Vito & Nicks is still my favorite pizza tavern in Chicago, Zaffiro's has the best most crisp crust and is my favorite outside of the state and Pat's still has the best sausage by far. Q's might be the best Chicago style thin outside the city limits. I really enjoyed and will be back plenty this summer to watch some Cubs games with the locals and have a beer or three. The same people who stared us down upon entrance were the first to greet us and make conversation as we left asking how it was as. They were curious why I was taking pictures and I told them they need not worry and that I'm not FBI but just a food junkie. They insisted they buy us a beer and we chatted on about old school Lincoln Park in the 20's and up, Italian beef, pizza, the Cubs and Sox and more beef for about 45 minutes after we were supposed to be leaving and the old timers insisted we back soon and I assured that I will be. Very soon. Thanks again for the tip.


Chicago style thin slice


When the pie came it looked as though it wasnt exactly cracker thin from the crust but it turned out being as thin as any in Chicago.

Q'S RESTAURANT & PIZZERIA
4841 Butterfield Rd
Hillside, IL
708.449.7488
630.833.2402
Menu

Da Beef wrote:Q's might be the best Chicago style thin outside the city limits.

Great review, DB, and one that just might have a few folks checking this old place out. I'll still go Aurelio's in Villa Park for favorite suburban Chicago thin, but they haven't been the same since moving to the north side of the street, and they're just slightly thick for cracker-crust, with that unusually sweet sauce. Q's is cut from the same cloth as Marie's and V&N, and does what it does very well.

Deep Dish? no, way too much cheese for me. Pan ala Burt's? ya its great when you want some veggies and chunks of tomato and an actual pie you eat with a knife and fork but that's not my style. Wood Burning oven? again its good but it doesn't satisfy my crave like a cracker crisp thin. Pizza Pot Pie? ummm I'm from Chicago, hell born and raised in Lincoln Park and I did it once as a kid around 9 or 10 and haven't been back since, I knew it wasn't real then. I'm not big on any other pizza other than the tavern style cracker thin cut in squares with real chunks of good Italian Sausage and a load of red pepper flakes sprinkled on. I grew up on Pat's pizza at home and when we would hang with my moms side of the family on the south side as kids we always ate at Vito & nicks so that's where it comes from. When I want pizza, Chicago style thin is what I need.

Hell yes. I want this stitched into a sampler so I can hang it on my wall.

Nice writeup, DB. I recently introduced my wife to the glories of Maries, perhaps Q's is next. Looks great.

Da Beef - Thanks for the great review. In the past few weeks I have had a lot of Midwest classic pizza's - Fricano's in Grand Haven, Mi, Rocco's in South Bend, Vito and Nicks, Franks in Appleton, WI and Q's. Q's holds their own with all of them. All were founded in the late 40's or early 50's and are true to their pizza heritage. I am sure we could start a thin crust great circle tour of the Great Lakes.

I hope you had some of the home made pepper bread. The pepper and egg sandwich is one of my favorites. They serve it year round - an ever present salve for my pepper and jones. Thanks for telling the tale of Q's with such eloquence.

Santander wrote:I'll still go Aurelio's in Villa Park for favorite suburban Chicago thin, but they haven't been the same since moving to the north side of the street, and they're just slightly thick for cracker-crust, with that unusually sweet sauce.

You're talking about the Aurelio's on Roos Rd in OBT, right? I didn't know they had moved. Where are they located now?

Cogito wrote:

Santander wrote:I'll still go Aurelio's in Villa Park for favorite suburban Chicago thin, but they haven't been the same since moving to the north side of the street, and they're just slightly thick for cracker-crust, with that unusually sweet sauce.

You're talking about the Aurelio's on Roos Rd in OBT, right? I didn't know they had moved. Where are they located now?

You got it - Villa Park lays claim to Oakbrook Terrace (at least in the mind of Villa Parkers).

They moved across the street from the old strip mall with the flags on top of it to a shiny new(er) facility near where the Honeybaked Ham store used to be. This is actually how the corporate website lists the new location:

Oakbrook
100 E. Roosevelt Road
Villa Park, IL, 60681

Little identity crisis.

They tell me they're using the old ovens, but I swear it's not the same crust or familiar scorching on the chewy cheese. Sauce is the same, but something is missing.

I have a memory from my youth of a restaurant called Q's in another location--perhaps on west North Avenue. Does anyone know if this is the same Q's?

I work pretty close to Hillside, so I am definitely going to try Q's soon. I am a big fan of Marie's, and I recently had Zaffiro's (Milwaukee) and Frank's (Appleton) which were out of the same school as you know. If Q's is in the same league, I can't wait. From the old school sign to the menu, it sure looks like a winner. Funkyfrank, seems like we've been on a similar tour. Rocco's in South Bend? I'll have to check that one out too.

Great review Da Beef and thanks for the pictures (although I love deep dish and other varieties, it's this style of pizza that I grew up with as well).

One place that I have had on my radar to try is Wells Brothers in Racine. Another old school pizza place with critical acclaim (USA Today Top 10 in the country) from the 1940's.

Rocco's Restaurant
537 N Saint Louis Blvd
South Bend, IN 46617
(574) 233-2464‎

Born in Italy's Reggio di Calabria province, the toe of southern
Italy,Rocco was a soldier in the Italian army when he was
captured by the British in Libya during World War II. Thinking he
would get better treatment from Americans, he finagled his way to the
U.S. side and was shipped to a prison camp in Utah, his daughter said.

Julia Simeri, a young woman from his hometown who had immigrated with
her family to South Bend, was encouraged to write her POW countryman
to keep his spirits up. The correspondence heated up, and in 1946 the
couple were married in Italy.

Mr. Ameduri wasn't able to join his wife in South Bend until 1948. He
took a job as a cook for a Notre Dame residence hall, using skills
learned in the POW kitchen. In 1951, he and his wife, a waitress,
opened a pizzeria adjacent to her father's store.

In truth, Mr. Ameduri and his wife weren't all that familiar with
pizza, his daughter said. "But they knew how to make bread" and the
red sauces of southern Italy, she said. In Italian tradition, they
pressed a cross into every dough they rolled out.

With a ready clientele from campus and in a town where pizza was
relatively new, Rocco's quickly took off.

Ram4 wrote:One place that I have had on my radar to try is Wells Brothers in Racine. Another old school pizza place with critical acclaim (USA Today Top 10 in the country) from the 1940's.

It's now on my radar and I think I have driven past it a few times. I remember reading on here somewhere that there was a spot in the mold of Zaffiro's and V&N in that area. Thanks for the heads up.

funkyfrank wrote:Da Beef - Thanks for the great review. In the past few weeks I have had a lot of Midwest classic pizza's - Fricano's in Grand Haven, Mi, Rocco's in South Bend, Vito and Nicks, Franks in Appleton, WI and Q's. Q's holds their own with all of them. All were founded in the late 40's or early 50's and are true to their pizza heritage. I am sure we could start a thin crust great circle tour of the Great Lakes.

Thanks again for the heads up. Its interesting that this does seem to be the signature pizza of the Lake Michigan region. Whenever I'm driving around Harbor Country and other areas in Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin along and near the lake I see many old school Italian places that have been around since the '50's. I haven't been to Frank's or Rocco's but have both on my list and I'm always spending time in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana over summer so its nice to know some spots ahead of time. Ill be checking them out. thanks.

I've never had a Q's pie, but it's going to be my pizza after next. I've heard many ppl say that Villa Nova in Stickney is one of the greatest (old school cracker crust) in the area. Can anyone speak on which they prefer?

Something has changed at Villa Nova in Stickney. I don't know whether it's the sausage or the cheese, but the pizza is noticeably greasier. Villa Nova used to be our thin crust go to, but lately we've been making the trek to Vito & Nick's. I've had Q's many times, it is not as cracker thin as either Villa Nova or Vito & Nick's. Very good stuff though. The pasta dishes at Q's are also very good, old school Italian.

I have found that I need to order the pizza "crisp" or "well done" in order to get the necessary crunch at Vito and Nicks, Q's, and Frank's. It appears they want to err on the side of underdone. The weekend carryout rush seems to exacerbate the problem at "cracker crust" pizza emporiums. Most of these places allow you to order them par cooked so that they can be frozenand cooked at a later date. I find a preheated pizza stone in a 500 - 525 degree oven does a great job.

dukesdad wrote:I've had Q's many times, it is not as cracker thin as either Villa Nova or Vito & Nick's.

What do you think of Al's on Cermak?

Have only had Al's once. It is my neighbor's pizza of choice, had it at their house semi-cold. It was OK, but it did not motivate me to waver from Villa Nova as my delivery option.

I've had Al's four or five times, and I don't consider it to be cracker crust. That's not to say I don't like it. I actually just bought a clearanced restaurant.com gift cert for them, and I'm pretty excited to use it. It's just not that Chicago Old Skool Cracker Crust that so few places do anymore. I'd call Al's the new Standard Chicago Thin style of pizza.

seebee wrote:I've had Al's four or five times, and I don't consider it to be cracker crust. That's not to say I don't like it. I actually just bought a clearanced restaurant.com gift cert for them, and I'm pretty excited to use it. It's just not that Chicago Old Skool Cracker Crust that so few places do anymore. I'd call Al's the new Standard Chicago Thin style of pizza.

I LOVE Al's, but not for their pizza. They have great old school red sauce dishes. They make one of my favorite versions of veal parmigiana, and they are home to the salad gondola, included with every meal.

Veal Parm. Check.

I'll be sure to get that when I go!

seebee wrote:Veal Parm. Check.

I'll be sure to get that when I go!

He's right. I had it about 2 months ago and it was great.

Stopped by a week ago for a pair of carryout pizza's. We had a cheese pizza and a Q's Special (cheese, sausage, ground beef, mushroom, green pepper, and onion).


Q's Special Pizza

The cheese pizza (for the kids) was... Well, cheese pizza but the special was really special. The tasty and thin crust was nicely browned and the weight of the toppings prevented it from standing up on it's own. The toppings being exposed to the heat of the oven allowed them to brown a bit and release some of the moisture giving them a nice crunch.



A nice amount of toppings with a lot of meat. Great as leftovers either cold or with a light trip thru the microwave. Sauce not too tangy (like Vito and Nick's).

Not destination pizza but a very good pizza in the Chicago thin crust tradition.

I am a big fan of veal parmesan and will have to give that a go next time and I will have to try the simple cheese and sausage too.

Years ago (about 50) there was a pizza place called Johnny Q's on North Avenue and about Spaulding. I went to school with the two sons of the owners and they eventually went to work at the restaurant. It was my introduction to pizza and even today I judge any pizza to theirs. A few years later they moved west on North Avenue (about Central) and changed their name to Q's. I lost track of them but wonder if Q's is a descendent of the original Johnny Q's

Ginkgo wrote:Years ago (about 50) there was a pizza place called Johnny Q's on North Avenue and about Spaulding. I went to school with the two sons of the owners and they eventually went to work at the restaurant. It was my introduction to pizza and even today I judge any pizza to theirs. A few years later they moved west on North Avenue (about Central) and changed their name to Q's. I lost track of them but wonder if Q's is a descendent of the original Johnny Q's

Q's was actually the first Pizza I ever ate which was around 1960. It had already been there a while. It is still owned by the original family and is the same now as it was then. The only exception was the addition of the bar which facilitaed the move of the Restrooms from the back of the original space. It remains in my top 3 which include Vito & Nick's and Marie's (which I have only discovered in the last few years via the forum). My other favorites were, The Round Up "unique extra thin crust cooked and served on a rectangular cookie sheet) which was on Roosivelt near where Priscilla's is now, Villa Marie (Pops Pizza) which was on Hillside Ave near Harrison and County INN which relocated to its current location from the intersection of Rte 83 and Roosivelt rd across from the Ski HI drive.

Marshall K wrote:

Ginkgo wrote:Years ago (about 50) there was a pizza place called Johnny Q's on North Avenue and about Spaulding. I went to school with the two sons of the owners and they eventually went to work at the restaurant. It was my introduction to pizza and even today I judge any pizza to theirs. A few years later they moved west on North Avenue (about Central) and changed their name to Q's. I lost track of them but wonder if Q's is a descendent of the original Johnny Q's

Q's was actually the first Pizza I ever ate which was around 1960. It had already been there a while. It is still owned by the original family and is the same now as it was then. The only exception was the addition of the bar which facilitaed the move of the Restrooms from the back of the original space. It remains in my top 3 which include Vito & Nick's and Marie's (which I have only discovered in the last few years via the forum). My other favorites were, The Round Up "unique extra thin crust cooked and served on a rectangular cookie sheet) which was on Roosivelt near where Priscilla's is now, Villa Marie (Pops Pizza) which was on Hillside Ave near Harrison and County INN which relocated to its current location from the intersection of Rte 83 and Roosivelt rd across from the Ski HI drive.

Holy crap - never thought I'd see the Round Up on LTH. My mom and dad grew up on Q's and agreed on its merits, but Round Up was closer to my dad's heart, and he's drag us there once every two years or so. It was as dive-y as it gets, and my mom HATED it. The pizza was indeed cooked and presented at the table on an old dented cookie sheet and was a weird hybrid between St. Louis style (weird mix of melty cheeses with a processed flavor) and a half-distance cracker crust.

The recipe lived on at the Brauerhouse for several years, but that place burned to the ground last summer:

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008 ... -web-jul30

I'm going to Q's next week, hopefully. I'll post it as an event once I settle on a date.

I haven't had it in years, but I used to live across the tracks from Antonino's in LaGrange (on Hillgrove, the street that runs alongside the north side of the BN tracks, just east of Brainard/4-5 blocks west of LaGrange Road) and remember very crisp, thin crust and spicy pepperoni and sausage. It's tiny--has only a dozen tables, if that. In the summer you can sit outside. I'm going to have to go back. Ever since Lucca's opened in LaGrange and bombarded me with garlic, I've been a one-track pizza buyer. Little tired of Lucca's, though, because I miss that old-fashioned crisp pizza of my youth.
Olaf

Ah, the Round Up. I miss that place. We had their last sausage pizza on the night they were closing down. I believe the owners took all their stuff and opened a restaurant somewhere in northern Wisconsin. Loved their cool bar and delicious thin crust pizzas.

Torn down to facilitate George Ryan's move of the Hillside Strangler (on I290) to Broadview a little farther east.

Took my first trip to Q's pizza on Monday.

We had a cheese sausage and onion pizza with a delicious thin and crispy crust. The boyfriend thought the pizza needed more cheese and sauce but I believe that this would ruin the integrity of the crust. The bread basket is truly a great touch. Loved the spicy meat filled bread and it also contained my favorite guilty pleasure garlic bread stick and pat of butter.

Q's reminds me of my favorite pizza place from my youth, Ed&Joe's on Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park. I haven't been there in about 10 years so I cannot attest to the quality as of late but god it was one heck of a pizza during the 80's and 90's. Beautiful thin crispy crust nice cheese to sauce to ingredient ratio.

smcmahon wrote:Took my first trip to Q's pizza on Monday.

We had a cheese sausage and onion pizza with a delicious thin and crispy crust. The boyfriend thought the pizza needed more cheese and sauce but I believe that this would ruin the integrity of the crust. The bread basket is truly a great touch. Loved the spicy meat filled bread and it also contained my favorite guilty pleasure garlic bread stick and pat of butter.

Q's reminds me of my favorite pizza place from my youth, Ed&Joe's on Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park. I haven't been there in about 10 years so I cannot attest to the quality as of late but god it was one heck of a pizza during the 80's and 90's. Beautiful thin crispy crust nice cheese to sauce to ingredient ratio.

After trying Q's a while ago and happening to be visiting a friend in Tinley Park for lunch I thought about this thread. My friend has been talking about Ed & Joe's Pizza for a while now.


Nicely restored historic building


Comfortable dining room with a nice tin ceiling


Very good pie! Similar to Q's. Mild sauce, good cheese and a lot of mild sausage. Crust nice and thin but not as crispy as Q's.



Another table had a taco pizza that might of been over an inch thick and looked pretty good. The place was busy but not packed. Parking in the back.

Good pizza on that edge of the city!

Ed & Joe's Pizza
17332 Oak Park Ave, Tinley Park
(708) 532-3051

I have been going to Q's in Hillside since I was a toddler, (I am 46). But never had the pizza. My family always ordered the Gnocchi. These are very close to the kind my grandmother used to make. We are Siclian and our gnocchi is made with ricotta not potatoes, much lighter. Not too many restaurants make these. Q's are very close to Grandma's, plus you always got the 50-60' style cup of soup, Minestrone or Scarole and bean, and the salad served in little plastic bowls, they also have the best creamy garlic dressing, and love the slice black olives on top.
I have also ordered in the past linguine with white clam sauce (on of my favorite Italian restaurant dishes) Q's is ok but not the best i have had. They used too have a great breaded steak entree, but my last visit in was no longer on the menu. But 90% of the times it has been the Gnocchi for me. Love the old school places.