Pizza Fest (on 18th Street)

After hearing all of the bad news about pizza fest
on Fullerton this weekend FIGmolly & I decided to
make our own pizza fest, right in our neighborhood
of Pilsen. We usually have pizza delivered from
Falco's Pizza or travel to Spaccanapoli, Coalfire,
Pequads Ext. This time we decided to try out all of
the places on 18th street that offer pizza by the slice.

We started at Pizza Tango located at 1013 W. 18th.
I have been here for a slice before, it was pretty good
and like last time the place is spotlessly clean. This
time we were able to speak with the owner who was
working behind the counter with his wife (I think it was
his wife anyway). Really friendly guy and he loves
pizza. He informed us that Pizza Tango will be moving
to Cermak & Damen in the near future. Anyway we
picked up our slice of Sausage ($1.50) which was packed
in a styrofoam container and we moved west to our
next destination.



Next we stopped by Caires Pizza located at 1165 w.
18th, a real hole in the wall joint with a cramped
ordering area. It was hot and things seemed to be a bit
chaotic. I ordered a slice of sausage ($1.50) and it was
wrapped in parchment and then in a brown paper bag,
continue westward.



Benny's Pizza was next along our route at 1244 w. 18th.
I have been here as well and had some quality pizza.
The don't advertise pizza by the slice so I popped in
and asked the guy behind the counter, we were in luck.
Benny's is a well lit and very yellow and very clean
pizzeria. I ordered a slice of sausage ($1.75) as I had
done with the last two places and it was wrapped in
parchment and placed in a brown paper bag just like
Caires. And we were off.



Our final stop along our pizza journey was Chubby's
Pizza located at1429 w. 18th. Figmolly went here alone
as I had to close up our store and grab a bottle of wine.
Molly showed up to a sliceless display, but was told that
a slice of sausage was but 8 minutes away. As she
waited she was able to catch a bit of the soccer which
was good because her 8 minutes had turned into 15 and
the score was still the same in a tie game. Molly grabbed
the slice if sausage ($1.75) and headed home to share
her story.



We lined them all up and gave them a visual test. Benny's
looked good, but it was the newest. I also had a second
crust, due to them only making a half pizza and needing
a barrier to keep the cheese and sauce from seeping onto
the oven. Pizza Tango also looked great and it was the
oldest, so it won best looking by default. Next, the most
crucial of the tests, Taste. Pizza Tango was by far the
tastiest, good crust, good sauce, big chunks of sausage and
the cheese was great. Benny's and Chubby's were tied for
second, both good and worth the dollar and change but
couldn't touch Tango. And then we have Caires, hard crust
microscopic bits of sausage and an overall sad look and taste.
It was the only slice not worth enjoyment. I hope Oscar the
Grouch likes pizza.

No Pizza Nova??
IMHO that's def the best pizza in Pilsen, and it was only a few blocks down 18th, in front of harrison park!
There is also really good cheese pizza at Guerrero's around 26th and California

Thanks justin. I've sampled Pizza Tango, Benny's and Chubby's before, but only full pizzas. Chubby's entire pizza, the one time I had it, was so unbelievably awful that I'm still not sure I'll give them another shot.

Benny's has always been reliably decent. It's been a long time since I've had Pizza Tango, so I should give them another shot, too.

No Pizza Nova in the test, though?

Earlier in the day Figmolly and I had walked downtown and decided to do the taste of 18 on our way back home. I broke my ankle in February and my foot was starting to realy hurt by the time we reached 18th, so I decided to stop a little short. I was planning to go to Damen. As soon as I am in the mood for pizza I will head up to Pizza Nova to taste it and include it in this post. Thanks for the info.

Figmolly and I stopped by Pizza Nova on the fourth. The pizza was good, but I think that Pizza Tango still wins. We are planning on stopping by one more Pizzeria Milan, wich is next door to Mundial. We will also give it a try. I must mention in closing slices do not always make the pizzeria, but it gives you a good look at what is going on.