If, like me, you are partial to a tomato sauce that is sweet and thick, the best pizza that I've had recently is from Palermo's on 95th St. (west of Cicero) in Oak Lawn. Their thin-crust and regular crust are both good, but the pan pizza is outstanding. We order more than we need, just so we can have left-overs. It's worth a trip, although the dining room wait can be long on weekends.

By the way, there are several different Palermo's out south (such as 63d St. and Orland Park.) Although I think there is a family connection, their food varies significantly.

I had heard about Lou Malnati's Lawndale location serving both pizza and mexican food so I brought the family over, dreaming about having a torta milanesa and a sausage and pepperoni pizza.

After not seeing it on the menu and asking the waitress, I was told they no longer had the bi-ethnic menu.

The pizza was good. We had ordered the sausage patty instead of the loose sausage and I am not sure I would go that route again.

Lou Malnati's - Lawndale
3859 W. Ogden Avenue
Chicago, IL 60623
Phone 773.762.0800

One of my favorite pizza places is Phil's Pizza at 3551 S. Halsted. They are a carry-out only pizza place so there isn't any seating. Also, they only open after 4 pm so if you want it for lunch you are out of luck. I like their pizza because the sauce is spicy and tangy and the crust is crisp.

Panther in the Den wrote:I godda throw in my 2 cents.

Born and bred in Chicago I love the pizza. All types.

I love the pan pizza that can be got at Uno's, Due and Lou Malnati's as they do make a great pizza but when I think of ordering a pizza I think more of places like Home Run Inn, Albano's or Grand Slam.

The pan pizza ia almost too filling, what joy is there when you eat just one piece (and with a knife and a fork at that) and you are full, or not hungry enough to tackle another piece.

The regular crust at the other places allows you to really dig in and have a feast. 5 pieces, 10... That is fun!

If you are on the west side please do give some of my favorite spots a try (Albano's or Grand Slam) as they are trying really hard to make a great pizza.

Be sure to try the 'Pizza Puff' (IE: Calzone) at Albano's too. It is a 14" pizza, folded in half and deep fried. A good deal at 8 dollars or so,

Salerno's is great and somewhere inbetween pan and thin...

Pizzeria Uno
29 East Ohio
Chicago, IL 60611
312-321-1000

Pizzeria Due
619 North Wabash Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
312-943-2400

Lou Malnati's
439 North Wells Street
Chicago, IL 60610
Phone 312.828.9800

Home Run Inn
4254 W. 31st Street
Chicago, IL 60623
phone: 773-247-9696

Salerno's Pizza
3250 Grove Ave
Berwyn, IL 60402

The above chains have many location. Check the website.

Albano's Pizzeria
5913 W. Roosevelt Rd.
Cicero 60804-1140
708-863-0060

Grand Slam Pizza
6856 W. North Ave.
Elmwood Park 60707-4412
773-637-8375

Vito has recently sold Grand Slam but the new owners have committed to keep the same recipes. I have ordered delivery once since and it is still quite good.

I cannot recommend Grand Slam anymore...

It has been a family favorite since they opened (30 years ago!) and I did have a good pie a few weeks ago (I talked to the owner and Vito was back on weekends making pizza) but the pie I had last week was poor.

Crust with too much edge without ingredients, the sausage about the size of a dime (maybe one per piece) and too thin of a layer of cheese.

Maybe if I knew the nights that Vito was in the kitchen...

Try Medici on 57th St. in Hyde Park. My favorite pizza in town, and the place has a college dive atmosphere thst is fun.

I can't really believe it hasn't come up in this thread yet but my favorite by a wide margin in the greater Chicago area is Burt's. If I can't get out to the burbs (which is rare given my current work location in Wilmette) I do like the Pequod's in the city. Outside of that it's a pretty long haul to my favorite thin crust joints of Pepe's for white clam or Saly's for red pie in New Haven, CT (I am a CT native originally and have spent a few summers in the New Haven area). Both places are imperfect and can have off nights but when firing on all cylinders I have never had anything that comes close in NYC, Chicago, or anywhere else. Still, given the impracticality of driving 13 hours when I want thin crust, Coalfire does in a pinch.

lou malnati's for me, the one with the whole sausage piece

Panther in the Den wrote:I cannot recommend Grand Slam anymore...

It has been a family favorite since they opened (30 years ago!) and I did have a good pie a few weeks ago (I talked to the owner and Vito was back on weekends making pizza) but the pie I had last week was poor.

Crust with too much edge without ingredients, the sausage about the size of a dime (maybe one per piece) and too thin of a layer of cheese.

Maybe if I knew the nights that Vito was in the kitchen...

This really sucks. I grew up on the grand slam butter crust pan pizza, and was seriously thinking of grabbing one this wknd since I haven't had one in probably 10 yrs.

lou malnati's for me, the one with the whole sausage piece

If you're talking about Lou's low-carb pizza, I think that's one of the greatest inventions of man. My unwelcome dietary restrictions have changed my pizza consumption; it's now either the thinnest crust I can find OR Lou's crustless masterpiece when I'm jonesing for a Chicago-style taste.
>>Brent

Panther in the Den wrote:Vito has recently sold Grand Slam but the new owners have committed to keep the same recipes. I have ordered delivery once since and it is still quite good.

I cannot recommend Grand Slam anymore... [/quote]
Your post shows GS with an EP address. Isn't that address considered Chicago?

Cogito wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:Vito has recently sold Grand Slam but the new owners have committed to keep the same recipes. I have ordered delivery once since and it is still quite good.

Panther in the Den wrote:I cannot recommend Grand Slam anymore...

Your post shows GS with an EP address. Isn't that address considered Chicago?

Yes! I never noticed that. Google Earth must of addressed it wrong.

Elmwood Park doesn't start until 7200.

Thanks!

My favorites, after extensive research (in my area) in the Chicago thin category:


John's Pizza & Lounge - 2104 N Western

My Pie- 2010 N. Damen

ab wrote:John's Pizza & Lounge - 2104 N Western

My Pie- 2010 N. Damen

Yes, these are definitely my faves in the area. I prefer My Pie over John's, but it depends on what you are looking for.

John's is one of my all time favorites, especially a Sicilian, but be warned, they only take cash.

Just read Mike Nagrant's paean to Detroit pizza in New City -- I grew up in Niagara Falls which has a significant sicilian population -- Di Camillo's bakery there sells squares of pan pizza -- their dough is light, airy, which compensates that the pizza is generally room temperature. They sell dandelion green pizza -- no cheese -- really a pizza bread -- that's angelic

Sammy's on Hyde Park Boulevard -- where my high school class reunes -- has been known to serve a respectable pie -- a sausage pizza with giardiniera on it --

As for Chicago, Apart P just moved in around the corner on B'way -- the 4-cheese got an excellent recommendation from a neighbor.

The bakery sheet pizza you describe is pretty easy to find here in Chicago, and on LTH. D'Amato's is the obvious and very good example, but there are several others. I'd like to see a pie with rabe or other bitter greens around here, but haven't.

SGFoxe wrote:ve a respectable pie -- a sausage pizza with giardiniera on it --

As for Chicago, Apart P just moved in around the corner on B'way -- the 4-cheese got an excellent recommendation from a neighbor.

Where exactly did Apart move to? Given that most of the Neapolitan places don't deliver, they're my go-to place for pizza.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:Where exactly did Apart move to? Given that most of the Neapolitan places don't deliver, they're my go-to place for pizza.

They didn't move, they opened a second location. Details in this thread.

OH! Forgot, I love Pompeii too, but I guess it's not really pizza, is it?

Since we are updating this thread, I thought I would mention that CitySearch's Best of Chicago Pizza 2007 has the following ranking for the best pizzas in the Chicago area:

No. 1 -- Ed & Joe's, Tinley Park, IL. (audience choice). They've never been written up much on these boards, but when I lived in the south suburbs, I always thought they were the best around. Good, old-fashioned thin crust pizza and I'm very happy that they've gotten the much deserved recognition.

No. 2 -- Home Run Inn. Always has been one of my favorites from back in the days when they were just a small, one store front, little tavern. Some say they've "grown too big for their britches." I've even heard one report that they no longer make the pizza dough in their restaurants but have some suburban "factory" make them and ship to each restaurant. That would be distressing, if true.

No. 3 -- Lou Malnati's. While they have some consistency problems, their deep dish and thin crust pizzas are usually excellent.

No. 4 -- Pat's. I have not tried them, but many others have raved about their pizzas.

No. 5 -- Gino's East. I've had some recently and continue to be unimpressed with their brand of deep dish pizza. The original Gino's on Rush St. is far superior IMO. But they do have a lot of fans, I'll admit.

No. 6 -- Pete's. Similar to Pat's, I have not tried but heard alot of good things about them.

No. 7 -- Caponies Trattoria. I have not tried either and haven't heard much about them.

No. 8 -- Vito and Nick's. Great "sou'd side" very thin crust pizza that deserves an even higher ranking in my book.

No. 9 -- Aurelio's. Great south suburban pizza place started by Joe Aurelio who used to personally make the pizzas for me at their original location on 175th Street in Homewood, IL when all their sit down tables were just park benches. I'm sure Joe is now looking down at us from above and is very proud of the pizza empire he built.

No. 10 -- Pizzeria Uno (the original on Wabash, not the disreputed national chain). I most often frequented their sister restaurant, Pizzeria Due, and they were the greatest deep dish pizza back in the "olden days." Some say they've changed their recipe for the worse, but the version I've tried recently was almost as good as that in their heyday.

Others that are very high on my list (that didn't make the CitySearch list for some reason) are Marie's on Lawrence, Pizano's on State, Joe's in Wheeling, Fox's in Oak Lawn, and Villa Nova in the western suburbs. You can see the CitySearch results at http://chicago.citysearch.com/bestof/winners/pizza. These surveys, while not perfect, give you some idea of just some of the great pizza places in the Chicagoland area. There are many others that unfortunately go unrecognized.

If you look at the magazines, tourist guides or even when da mayor makes a bet it is always deep dish pizza from Uno's or Gino's.

Any self respecting, long time Chicagoan knows that it is pizza like that is served at places likes Pat's, Home Run Inn and my beloved Grand Slam of the past. Pan pizza is pretty much the same except with a thicker crust.

I remember in the 70's when Godfather's Pizza opened on North Ave in Elmwood Park introducing stuffed pizza. What a novelity! It was better eaten with a fork.

After that the deluxe pizza's started hitting the scene which were more of a pie with all of the ingredents they had.

Don't get me wrong as I love them all but in my mind true Chicago Style pizza is a lot thinner and can be eaten by hand.

i say take people to burt's or lou's for a good one

[quote="
Don't get me wrong as I love them all but in my mind true Chicago Style pizza is a lot thinner and can be eaten by hand.[/quote]

You really don't want to go there!

Panther in the Den wrote:

Don't get me wrong as I love them all but in my mind true Chicago Style pizza is a lot thinner and can be eaten by hand.

Marshall K responded:

You really don't want to go there!

I'm not sure what is meant there, but I do agree with Panther, if I get the drift of what he's saying, that typical Chicago pizza is grossly misrepresented across the country. I been all over from coast to coast and when the subject of Chicago style pizza comes up, I usually hear something like, "oh, your pizza in Chicago is that deep dish, thick kind of pizza." And my response is usually something like, "no, that's only one style of pizza made in Chicago. But about 95% of the pizzas made and sold in Chicago pizzerias are thin crust style pizzas, not the deep dish, thick pizzas you may have heard about."

I love Lou Malnati's, Due's, Pequod's, Louisa's and other deep dish style pizzas. But they are definitely in the minority of the typical type or style of pizzas made in Chicago. But for better or worse, the "Chicago Style" pizza myth continues to suggest that most of the pizzas made, sold and consumed in Chicago are deep dish or even stuffed pizzas.

I would put Salerno's of Berwyn and Lou Malnati's on my list, but I will add a couple of selections I haven't seen yet.

Bertolli's in River Forest makes a good pizza, though not anything unusual, just good.

DaLuciano's in River Grove is a hidden gem to me. They make a thin and extra thin crust that is very good and like others have mentioned is good for those with dietary restrictions (no crust at Malnati's). I just happen to like a very thin crust pizza, and I would recommend this location (Thatcher and Grand). It is a small mom and pop joint, but they have a regular menu as well.

Daisy11 wrote:

Ralph Wiggum wrote:Where exactly did Apart move to? Given that most of the Neapolitan places don't deliver, they're my go-to place for pizza.

They didn't move, they opened a second location. Details in this thread.

i'm enjoying this new addition to the edgewater neighborhood and am thankful they're here!one of the owners named torsten delivered my pizza himself.delicious!

Many customer service nightmares are recounted here, so it seems fair to give Apart kudos for doing the right thing. About a month ago we ordered several pies for a large group from the new Apart. The driver clearly took a circuitous, possibly off-road route, as the pizza took forever and arrived both cold and smashed. I mean crumpled into a ball on one side of the box smashed, most of the cheese off of the bread smashed. I called. Apart gave us an approximately 300% credit, which was quite a lot of money considering the initial order size.

JeffB recognizes customer service day