Now that Sausage PIzza is on My Mind...

Thanks to Ronnie_Suburban and Pizzaboy, I'm pretty sure I will perish without sausage pizza. So far I've narrowed it down to Nonna Silvia's in Park Ridge, Mug's on Harlem & Touhy and Chikago Pizzaria on Milwaukee & Devon. Thoughts? I haven't seen much info on these on LTH, but we talked about going to Nonna's for awhile, and Chikago has always intrigued me. However, other suggestions in this area are welcome too.

This is close to the 'hood and sausage is on the short-list of ingredients almost everytime, so I have several favorites nearby:

Recommended:
Phil's Pizza D'Oro
5800 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL
(773) 763-2285
A good regular thin crust (a bit on the thick side, definitely the other direction from cracker thin) with the right balance of ingredients.

Honorable Mention:
Villa Rosa Pizza
5345 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60646
(773) 774-7107
A bit thinner than PPDO, a very serviceable neighborhood pizza. Was surprised to really enjoy an artichoke-topped thin crust pizza there.

Mr. V's Pizza
5285 N Elston Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
(773) 736-9434
A lot like Villa Rosa, maybe even a bit thinner but still not cracker thin. A bit greasier, too, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Village Inn Pizza
8050 Lincoln Ave
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 675-3737
Like their thick crust better than their thin. The thick is in the same ballpark, composition-wise, as Connie's served at United Center, US Cellular, etc., but just an overall better crispness, seasoning, etc.

What about Burt's Place, in Morton Grove?

The sausage at Coalfire (Grand & Ogden) is fantastic. If you ask them to adulterate it in any way it becomes a much lesser pizza, but the plain cheese and sausage has been amazing every time I've had it. I order it "well done," which my wife considers "burnt."

The aforementioned Mr. V's is an insult to pizza. It's the closest pizza place to my house, yet I haven't ordered a pizza from there in well over 6 years. That pretty much says it all. If ever there was an example of everything wrong in a Pizza, Mr. V's is it (premade industrial crust, acidic tomato sauce, poor quality ingredients, way too much fake cheese). Instead, I'd highly recommend GNR Marie's Pizza and Liquor, where we just held the highly successful GNR award Dinner. Marie's puts out one of the top three thin crust tavern style pizzas in Chicagoland. Also, I'm pretty sure Pizza D'Oro has mercifully closed it's doors.

Marie's Pizza and Liquor
4129 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
(773) 725-1853

It's a personal opinion, but Lou Malnati's sausage pizza is top of my stack, if for no other reason than quantity. You can get similar from Gino's East and the Uno mothership (it shouldn't be necessary, but don't even think about going to the Grille franchises), but for accessibility and flavor, I'm a Lou fan. I'd put Burt's close to the top, but the sausage isn't the star in his pie, it's the crust and sauce.

For the other styles of pizza:
Stuffed: If you really like stuffed, it's not about the sausage or other toppings typically. You're there for the cheese.
Thin: Outside of the big chains, I like 'em all, but haven't found one I absolutely have to have.

So how would you know what it tastes like today if you haven't had it in 6 years? I don't know what it tasted like 6 years ago, but I would rate it above Colletti's up the street, which is just a marginal thin crust.

And Phil's is doing a brisk business in its new location on Milwaukee Ave., FYI since you are obviously operating on intelligence at least two or more years old.

Marie's. Overrated. And I have had it again recently. At least less than 6 years ago. .... Pfft.

stevez wrote:The aforementioned Mr. V's is an insult to pizza. It's the closest pizza place to my house, yet I haven't ordered a pizza from there in well over 6 years. That pretty much says it all. If ever there was an example of everything wrong in a Pizza, Mr. V's is it (premade industrial crust, acidic tomato sauce, poor quality ingredients, way too much fake cheese). Instead, I'd highly recommend GNR Marie's Pizza and Liquor, where we just held the highly successful GNR award Dinner. Marie's puts out one of the top three thin crust tavern style pizzas in Chicagoland. Also, I'm pretty sure Pizza D'Oro has mercifully closed it's doors.

Marie's Pizza and Liquor
4129 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
(773) 725-1853

Mugs is pretty good. They are open late, cheap and they have good coupons.

stevez wrote: Instead, I'd highly recommend GNR Marie's Pizza and Liquor, where we just held the highly successful GNR award Dinner. Marie's puts out one of the top three thin crust tavern style pizzas in Chicagoland.

Marie's Pizza and Liquor
4129 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
(773) 725-1853

based on my first visit to Marie's last night, I will be recommending them to everyone I know. Probably one of the best pizzas I have had(that cracker crust is amazing), right up there with Coalfire for my tastes.

kl1191 wrote:The sausage at Coalfire (Grand & Ogden) is fantastic. If you ask them to adulterate it in any way it becomes a much lesser pizza, but the plain cheese and sausage has been amazing every time I've had it. I order it "well done," which my wife considers "burnt."

Aha! I think I like it that way too (that means you get spots of dark brown slightly crispy cheese, yes? MMmmm tasty!) but I only heard one person ever order it that way. I've been afraid to try it myself, thinking the teenager on the other end of the phone won't know what I'm talking about.

jimswside wrote:

stevez wrote: Instead, I'd highly recommend GNR Marie's Pizza and Liquor, where we just held the highly successful GNR award Dinner. Marie's puts out one of the top three thin crust tavern style pizzas in Chicagoland.

Marie's Pizza and Liquor
4129 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
(773) 725-1853

based on my first visit to Marie's last night, I will be recommending them to everyone I know. Probably one of the best pizzas I have had(that cracker crust is amazing), right up there with Coalfire for my tastes.

While I liked (but not loved) Marie's pizza last night, I would advise against ordering cooked items other than the pizza. Chicken and lasagna last night were pretty unimpressive.

ETA - If you can get to Vito & Nick's on a Friday, their sausage and egg pizza is truly a thing of beauty.

My Bride and I were at Jimmy's in Forest Park and saw a pizza come out of the kitchen and delivered to the table behind me.

It caught my eye! Lots of sausage, nicely browned cheese and what appeared to be a crispy crust. Unashamed I turned around and asked what the gent had ordered...

Extra sausage and cooked 'crispy'.

A week or so later we had a need for for a quick dinner and on the way home from picking up My Bride from work I gave them a call for a pickup.

Mmmm... Good!







Jimmy's Place
7411 Madison St, Forest Park
(708) 771-7476

kl1191 wrote:The sausage at Coalfire (Grand & Ogden) is fantastic. If you ask them to adulterate it in any way it becomes a much lesser pizza, but the plain cheese and sausage has been amazing every time I've had it. I order it "well done," which my wife considers "burnt."

"Well done", I had never heard a that term used with a pizza before Friday night when i was picking one up for the wife (and me) and two guys at the place I was getting it from (Pavones at 7547 w Irving Park) both said to another patron iits best there well done. Now I read it here found it funny, but will order mine that way the next time. I like the charred cheese.

Pavones Pizza is good for the area but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it. Maybe well done will make the difference.

in my area of town little franks is the spot for pizza.6355 w 79st burbank,il. 708-598-8660 2nd place would be durbin's burbank,palos hills,evergreen park,tinley park , & midlothian

philw wrote:in my area of town little franks is the spot for pizza.6355 w 79st burbank,il. 708-598-8660 2nd place would be durbin's burbank,palos hills,evergreen park,tinley park , & midlothian

Phil,

How do those compare to Vito & Nick's?

some times better . but both very good

Panther in the Den wrote:My Bride and I were at Jimmy's in Forest Park and saw a pizza come out of the kitchen and delivered to the table behind me.

It caught my eye! Lots of sausage, nicely browned cheese and what appeared to be a crispy crust. Unashamed I turned around and asked what the gent had ordered...

Extra sausage and cooked 'crispy'.

A week or so later we had a need for for a quick dinner and on the way home from picking up My Bride from work I gave them a call for a pickup.

Mmmm... Good!

Good lord, those pictures look fantastic!

I only order my pizza "well done" Its pure heaven. And Jimmy's pizza is FANTASTIC, their Chicken Parm ain't too shabby either

Pie Lady -

Seems that you're looking in my neighborhood. Not a mecca of pizza, despite the large number of places to buy it. I have had a couple of good sausage pizzas from

Joe's Pizza
5747 W Higgins Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
(773) 685-2301

ordered my first one from them because I had a coupon . . . I was very favorably surprised by the quality. Good thin crust, not to cracker-y, very tasty sausage. Second one was not as good because it was over-cheesed.
I think if you order your pizza with extra-crispy crust and light cheese you may have a winner!

Giovanna

[oh, and if you try Nonna Silvia's, let us know what you thought . . . I was so underwhelmed by the place I completely forgot to post on it]

I tend to usually prefer my pizza on the well done side as well, though I would never order it well done at Coalfire. It's already burnt, well done would be scary. And I agree, Coalfire's sausage pizza is easily one of my absolute favorites.

As for a great sausage pizza in your area, I agree (at this point) with Marie's - a pizzeria has always been in my top 5 for classic tavern style thin crust. My brother just moved to Edgebrook, so he'll be in the similar vicinity of the aforementioned. We're going to head over to Villa Rosa later and check that out tonight.

Ram4 wrote:I tend to usually prefer my pizza on the well done side as well, though I would never order it well done at Coalfire. It's already burnt, well done would be scary. And I agree, Coalfire's sausage pizza is easily one of my absolute favorites.

As for a great sausage pizza in your area, I agree (at this point) with Marie's - a pizzeria has always been in my top 5 for classic tavern style thin crust. My brother just moved to Edgebrook, so he'll be in the similar vicinity of the aforementioned. We're going to head over to Villa Rosa later and check that out tonight.

Agreed about Coalfire. That's the only place I can think of off the top of my head that the "well done" is not a required part of a pizza order. Jay cooks his pizzas properly and doesn't need any instructions from me to turn out a perfect product.

Villa Rosa's not too bad, but I find their sauce to be a bit heavy handed with the tomato paste.

For the many of you that like the crispy pizzas (I haven't had enough exposure), what do you think of Lou Malnati's thin. I've only had the sample squares they'll have sitting in the lobby when I go to pick up at the Mt Prospect store, and it's got a nice crunch but not quite a crisp.

JoelF wrote:For the many of you that like the crispy pizzas (I haven't had enough exposure), what do you think of Lou Malnati's thin. I've only had the sample squares they'll have sitting in the lobby when I go to pick up at the Mt Prospect store, and it's got a nice crunch but not quite a crisp.

Lou Malnati's (and his brother Rudy Malnati Jr.'s place - Pizano's) have a thin crust pizza that I consider unique to themselves. They are very similar recipes, with that Malnati family crust, crunchy, even a little dense, but not exactly light and crisp like other typical tavern style thin crust places like Marie's, Q's, Wells Brothers, Maria's, Vito and Nick's, etc.

That being said I prefer a Pizano's thin (well done) over a Lou Malnati's thin, but I think Lou Malnati's deep dish (buttercrust) is much better than Pizano's deep dish.

Another thumbs-up for Lou Malnati's thin crust. Haven't tried Pizano's yet.

We are big fans of Marie's and always make a visit at least once monthly for our fix. I also have to give a shout out to Pat's pizza on Lincoln. The thin crust is super thin but also crispy. I don't get down there that often but when I do go, I REALLY enjoy it. I can't wait to try Jimmy's in Forest Park. That is more in my neck of the woods.

I really like Calo Ristorante's thin crust. It's my go-to for normal pizza that isn't Great Lake.

The pizzas at Coalfire are cooked excellently, but I've found through repeated experimentation that their standard preparation as applied to the plain sausage pizza produces something too wet/sloppy for my taste. I older it well done, which indeed to many I would assume would be burnt, but I personally find it to be the equal in flavor of their normally cooked pizza, and I enjoy being able to pick up a piece without the end flopping over and dropping scalding toppings in my lap.

kl1191 wrote:The pizzas at Coalfire are cooked excellently, but I've found through repeated experimentation that their standard preparation as applied to the plain sausage pizza produces something too wet/sloppy for my taste. I older it well done, which indeed to many I would assume would be burnt, but I personally find it to be the equal in flavor of their normally cooked pizza, and I enjoy being able to pick up a piece without the end flopping over and dropping scalding toppings in my lap.

It seems that Coalfire puts the sauce on top of the cheese for the sausage pizza. However, you can make your own and I wonder what it would be like with the sauce under the cheese? Eh, I don't care. I love it as it is. True, I don't like how soggy it can get, but I've become used to it, and I don't mind. Besides, if I am sharing multiple pizzas there with friends, then the pizza won't be around long enough to get really soggy anyway as we like to take our time and order them one by one.

What about Burt's Place, in Morton Grove?

I enjoy the sausage at burts wth garlic and peppers.

stevez wrote:Also, I'm pretty sure Pizza D'Oro has mercifully closed it's doors.

I don't know about that, I'm pretty sure I saw it open the other day. I'll keep you posted, as we're going in that direction later.

Today's the day for 'za. The winner is: Jimmy's! Those photos and its location (we'll be in Berwyn shortly) beat it out over Marie's. But since I love pizza so, I'll keep this list in mind for next time, since so many of them are close to me. Joe's was a close third; I'm saving it for our next at-home Bad Movie Night (which considering this shitty weather, will be very soon). Ah...Crossroads, Yes, Giorgio, Glitter, and Joe's Pizza.
Updates soon!