Two Pizza Querys.

1) I'm looking for a good pan pizza in delivery range from Lincoln Square. Not deep dish, not stuffed, just pan pizza. We tried Pete's on Western, just to give it a shot, and it was pretty bad. Too-sweet sauce, rubbery cheese. Uck.

2) I'm trying to remember the name of a place I used to get the biggest pizza I'd ever seen. Like, big to the point where you had to tilt it on edge just to get it through the door, big. I want to say it was somewhere in the Loyola/Northwestern area because that's where I was when I had it but I never got it/ordered so I'm at a bit of a loss.

Your help, as always, is appreciated beyond measure.

Can't help with query #1, but I'm betting that #2 is JB Alberto's on Morse. Staggering in size and cheap - not bad, not great...

Mhays wrote:Can't help with query #1, but I'm betting that #2 is JB Alberto's on Morse. Staggering in size and cheap - not bad, not great...

Possibly John's, good, if not great thin crust, home of the football pizza. If nothing else John's has a don't miss old school verging on dive ambiance with a secluded second bar area in the rear.

Pompei has sheet pizza and delivers.

Enjoy,
Gary

John's Pizza & Lounge
2104 N Western
Chicago
773-384-1755

Pompei
2955 North Sheffield Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657
773-325-1900

Not really sure which pizza place you're thinking of in Loyola/Northwestern area. Carmen's comes to mind, but that's deep dish.

I too live in Lincoln Square and raised a similar issue in this thread a little more than a year ago. Since then, I have found decent enough deep dish (Malnati's for pick up, Giordano's and Delisi's for delivery). I also think Ranalli's offers a decent pizza which is somewhat in between pan and thin crust. And of course Pizza D.O.C. and Spacca Napoli are very close.

But I'm really looking forward to the opening of O'Fame at Bertau and Western. Here's a link to their website http://www.ofame.com/ which indicates that they will be opening up the new location this month. I have always been a big fan of their pan pizza and I used to eat their quite a bit when I lived in the DePaul area. I haven't been there in some time and I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted.

Manzo's delivers, and I'll bet they make it up to Lincoln Square (you'll need to check that). They're now on GrubHub, and I recently ordered a deep-dish from them that was surprisingly good - primarily because I ordered pan pizza by accident and don't usually like it. Just to be clear on what type of pizza we're talking about here, Manzo's has a very thick crust (almost an inch of dough), with a relatively light (for deep dish) layer of cheese, sauce and other toppings. It's not a Giordano's-style goo-fest, not even as cheesy as Malnati's. But actually quite good. Plus, they'll make one up to 18 inches in diameter, which would probably meet your "biggest pizza I'd ever seen" desire, or at least "heaviest pizza I ever lifted."

I've had the same dilemma, and usually just curb my desire for pan, and get from Apart Pizza which has good, thin crust with fresh ingredients (and isn't super expensive)

We tried Pete's for the first time the other night, but got thin crust. It wasn't bad. Calo's is also ok (but I wouldn't run for for either)

Art of Pizza should deliver to Lincoln Square, and Pizza Art cafe is on Rockwell in the neighborhood, but they don't deliver.

Also fyi - I tried to get Pequods to deliver to me the other day, but they only go up to Montrose. I explained that I am like 3 doors north of Montrose, and could they make an exception, but whoever was manning the phones seemed to be on auto-reply and kept saying "only up to Montrose"
So if you are south of there give it a shot.

You might see where Pequod's Morton Grove location will deliver. I know they deliver to Evanston.

Pequod's
(847) 470 - 9161
8520 Fernald Ave.
Morton Grove, IL 60053

Just as an aside, I know where Northwestern is and I know where Loyola is. I've never heard of an area in Chicago described as "Loyola/Northwestern". The only area I can think of that is close to both locations is downtown, close to the Loyola's Water Tower campus and the NU Medical School. But from the discussion above, it seems people are referring to the main Loyola campus.

Possibly John's, good, if not great thin crust, home of the football pizza. If nothing else John's has a don't miss old school verging on dive ambiance with a secluded second bar area in the rear.

...

Enjoy,
Gary

John's Pizza & Lounge
2104 N Western
Chicago
773-384-1755

I have never been to John's, though I have heard much about it. I recall Erik M commenting their pizza is best eaten at John's location. Their pizza suffers in quality from pick-up to home, thus loosing the beauty of the experience.

Regards,

Darren72 wrote:
Just as an aside, I know where Northwestern is and I know where Loyola is. I've never heard of an area in Chicago described as "Loyola/Northwestern". The only area I can think of that is close to both locations is downtown, close to the Loyola's Water Tower campus and the NU Medical School. But from the discussion above, it seems people are referring to the main Loyola campus.

The main Loyola campus is in Roger's Park, fairly close to Northwestern's main campus in Evanston. Perhaps you were thinking of DePaul's main campus rather than Loyola's?

ksbeck wrote:The main Loyola campus is in Roger's Park, fairly close to Northwestern's main campus in Evanston. Perhaps you were thinking of DePaul's main campus rather than Loyola's?

Yeah, I took Northwestern/Loyola to mean Rogers Park/Evanston. Even though I'm very familiar with both areas, having lived there for years, I kinda lump them into one myself. It's just shorthand for "way up north in Chicago or so."

Binko wrote:

ksbeck wrote:The main Loyola campus is in Roger's Park, fairly close to Northwestern's main campus in Evanston. Perhaps you were thinking of DePaul's main campus rather than Loyola's?

Yeah, I took Northwestern/Loyola to mean Rogers Park/Evanston. Even though I'm very familiar with both areas, having lived there for years, I kinda lump them into one myself. It's just shorthand for "way up north in Chicago or so."

Ah, see, I grew up in Evanston and never considered Loyola's Roger's Park area to be part of the Evanston neighborhood (although in any reasonable sense of the term, of course, they are very close).

Like I said, from the discussion I presumed the OP was referring to something in Roger's Park, not downtown. But it can't hurt to check.

DePaul is of course in Lincoln Park, not particularly close to either NU or Loyola. Not that it really matters.

I agree with mhays. The giant pizza likely came from JB Alberto's. Their largest current size is 24" , but I seem to remember they used to make an oval pizza that was much larger (36"x24"?) (it had to be oval shaped to fit in the oven). There is nothing much good I can say about JB's pizza except that they deliver it quickly and they are open late. If I have to order from there, I usually stick to the chicken.

Darren72 wrote:DePaul is of course in Lincoln Park, not particularly close to either NU or Loyola. Not that it really matters.

Sorry - I didn't mean to imply any lack of geographical knowledge on your part. I only mentioned the possibility because without a little thought, I often get the locations of DePaul and Loyola confused myself. Just another mental block that I have, like the pronunciation of "Elgin" or the spelling of "Wednesday."

As for the original question: I too am a Lincoln Square/Ravenswood resident, but not much of a pan pizza eater. We've usually had good luck with Art of Pizza, though.

Cathy2 wrote:
I have never been to John's, though I have heard much about it. I recall Erik M commenting their pizza is best eaten at John's location. Their pizza suffers in quality from pick-up to home, thus loosing the beauty of the experience.

Regards,

I am not sure how, but when we get delivery from John's it is usually still hot enough to burn my mouth. So I do think they do a good job of limiting the difference between eat in and eat at home. Of course it will be best to eat it there, but even delivered it is better than 95% of the places that will deliver to me. Try the roman, it is a pleaser....
Jamie

I've never heard of an area in Chicago described as "Loyola/Northwestern".

Yeah, I suppose I would have been better off putting "Rogers Park/Evanston."

Art of Pizza on Ashland is our go-to for thin crust, I should give it a shot for pan pizza. Pizza Art, on the other hand, is the polar opposite from pan pizza. Although I really like it (and I'm glad to see that their business keeps ticking up, maybe that Save This Restaurant piece made a difference, Hammond) sometimes we want something with a little more heft. Completely forgot about Pequod's Morton Grove location, but I'm not holding my breath for that one.

Good thoughts on the gargantua-pizza as well. I'll look into that. Thanks.

whiskeybent wrote:Art of Pizza on Ashland is our go-to for thin crust, I should give it a shot for pan pizza.

That's funny - Art of Pizza (and Pequod's) is our go-to place for deep dish. I'm not sure if I've had their thin!

rlguffman wrote:I tried to get Pequods to deliver to me the other day, but they only go up to Montrose. I explained that I am like 3 doors north of Montrose, and could they make an exception, but whoever was manning the phones seemed to be on auto-reply and kept saying "only up to Montrose"

Next time try saying "I'll pay you extra"

whiskeybent wrote:Not deep dish, not stuffed, just pan pizza.

I'm confused by this statement. I always thought "deep dish" referred to pizza that's, well, baked in a deep dish, i.e. a pan with vertical walls around the edges. And this includes double-crust "stuffed" pizza such as at Giordano's, as well as single-crust pizza such as what Lou Malnati's and Gino's East menus call "deep dish pizza" (as distinguished from their "thin crust pizza") and what Pequod's calls "pan pizza" (as distinguished from their "thin crust pizza"). IOW, I always thought that "pan pizza" is simply one type of deep-dish pizza, the type served at Malnati's, Pizano's, Uno's, Gino's East, Pequod's, Burt's, etc. Note that I am not claiming that these pizzas all taste the same (and am not trying to get into that hornet's nest); however, all are baked in a deep dish pan and all use a single crust.

So isn't pan pizza one type of deep-dish pizza?

nsxtasy wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:Not deep dish, not stuffed, just pan pizza.

I'm confused by this statement. I always thought "deep dish" referred to pizza that's, well, baked in a deep dish, i.e. a pan with vertical walls around the edges. And this includes double-crust "stuffed" pizza such as at Giordano's, as well as single-crust pizza such as what Lou Malnati's and Gino's East menus call "deep dish pizza" (as distinguished from their "thin crust pizza") and what Pequod's calls "pan pizza" (as distinguished from their "thin crust pizza"). IOW, I always thought that "pan pizza" is simply one type of deep-dish pizza, the type served at Malnati's, Pizano's, Uno's, Gino's East, Pequod's, Burt's, etc. Note that I am not claiming that these pizzas all taste the same (and am not trying to get into that hornet's nest); however, all are baked in a deep dish pan and all use a single crust.

So isn't pan pizza one type of deep-dish pizza?

When in doubt, Google!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago-style_pizza

I always think of "pan" pizza as something like what Pizza Hut makes. It's made in a pan, with a thicker, breadier crust. Apparently a secret ingredient is milk, which may be what makes it tender.

Yes, there are lots of pizza styles that are made in pans, but we don't generally call what is made by Giordano's or Edwardo's (for example) "pan" pizza.

leek wrote:I always think of "pan" pizza as something like what Pizza Hut makes. It's made in a pan, with a thicker, breadier crust. Apparently a secret ingredient is milk, which may be what makes it tender.

That description, and the one in Wikipedia, both make it sound like pan pizza is a bready pizza, such as pizza they call "Sicilian" pizza in New York City.

However, both descriptions would seem to exclude the pizza served at leading Chicago deep-dish places such as Malnati's, Gino's, and Pequod's (the latter labels itself "pan pizza"), which are not particularly bready and have a nice crunch to the crust.

leek wrote:Yes, there are lots of pizza styles that are made in pans, but we don't generally call what is made by Giordano's or Edwardo's (for example) "pan" pizza.

Right. As I previously noted, the Giordano's and Edwardo's variety, with their double-crust, we call "stuffed" pizza, and we also call them "deep dish" pizza as they are one variety of deep dish. Single-crust "pan" pizza being the other leading variety of deep dish pizza.

Art of Pizza definitely delivers to Lincoln Square. I know everyone raves about their deep dish, but it has been pretty hit or miss the last few times I have ordered from them. Calo in Andersonville is another option. My pizza experiences from Calo have been pretty positive, but nothing mind blowing.

Calo
5343 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640 773-271-7725

Art of Pizza
3033 N. Ashland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657 773-327-5600

leek wrote:I always think of "pan" pizza as something like what Pizza Hut makes. It's made in a pan, with a thicker, breadier crust. Apparently a secret ingredient is milk, which may be what makes it tender..

An apt description for what Manzo's serves as "pan" pizza, although made better than Pizza Hut. Given the soft texture of Manzo's crust, I wouldn't be surprised if they used milk.

Villa May (in Uptown) has a very good, super cheesy (3 cheese blend) pan pizza. When I say "pan" I mean pan and not stuffed. Frankly, I've been in this city for 6 years and have outgrown the novelty of "stuffed" pizza. I'll take NY style any day, among other variations.

Speaking of which, there's an interesting variation of pizza - apparently an authentic Italian or Sicilian style (not Roma, or Napoli though) - that's served at a place on N. Broadway just north of Diversey. The name of the place and the style of pizza always escapes me but it's worth a visit for unique style. It's cut in large rectangle slices and is known for it's light but flaky crust (the rectangle shape makes me think it's Sicilian). Do yourself a favor and buy a pie.

Pequod's, at mentioned, is another favorite of mine and I've never really come across anything else offering the carmalized cheese burnt crust. I hate crust and yet at Pequod's it's the first thing I eat.

Since this thread is about "pan" pizza I won't got on a tirade about my love of thin, greasy pizza like that of Piece. Perhaps another thread...

Kramerica wrote:Pequod's, at mentioned, is another favorite of mine and I've never really come across anything else offering the carmalized cheese burnt crust. I hate crust and yet at Pequod's it's the first thing I eat.

Kramerica-

If you like Pequod's, you would like Burt's Place. More details and conversation here. In short, open Wednesday through Sunday evenings and it is recommended that you call ahead to order your pizza. Someone is usually there after 3 PM.

-Mary

I always liked Villa May for a solid go-to pie - not life-changing, but always decent, and always delivered really hot (not unusual, considering that it was on the corner of Wolcott & Montrose, and I lived on the corner of Wolcott & Cullom, approximately five yards away. OK, a little bit farther, but not much!). I noted that they'd moved the last time I was on Montrose, just a couple of weeks ago; where are they now located?

sundevilpeg wrote:I always liked Villa May for a solid go-to pie . . . where are they now located?

Viila May
1509 W. Lawrence
773-878-0882

a friend of mine told me about a sicilian style place near the Sheridan el stop: Pizza Rustica. I haven't tried it yet, but my friend loves it, so it might be worth a try.

Pizza Rustica Inc
3913 N Sheridan Rd
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 404-8955