John's Pizzeria-athon - [Past Event]

Several years ago, the legendary John's Pizzeria of Calumet City, IL closed. John's Pizza had a unique cut down the middle with lateral cuts making each slice a crust as well as a center slice.

What made John's pizza distinctive was their use of crumbly, spicy sausage that they cooked each day.

Even before John's in Calumet City closed, there were franchises and family members opening John's Pizzerias just over the border in Indiana. All claim to carry the mantle and traditions of the John's Pizzeria of Calumet City. There is speculation who really has nailed this and who has taken off with name and slicing style with a pizza tasting unfamiliar to a Calumet City John's Pizzeria veteran.

What is known: John's in Dyer and Griffith are franchises of John's Pizzeria in Calumet City, IL where there was a falling out. John's son Phil owns and operates John's Pizzeria take-out in Munster who franchised John's Pizzeria in Whiting. The John's Pizzeria in Merrillville, Crown Point and Cedar Lake are owned and operated by Mike and Joanie Bacino. Unclear if this operation is yet another franchise or a family member. What is clear is that they all claim they are the original!

This Sunday (January 11) we are going to eat a pizza from each of the major players using sausage and cheese pizza as the measuring stick. We will begin at 1 pm at John's Pizzeria in Munster owned by John's son Phil. Rather than specify times and places for the next stops, we will plan it on the run with those who are present. If you think you may want to join us later, then PM either Rene G or I to give us your cellphone number and we will give you ours. Otherwise post below your intentions to meet us at John's on Ridge in Munster at 1 PM. The John's-athon will conclude at Three Floyds Brewery and Pub.

(The time posted is when these establishment's open, not an indication of when we will arrive)

MEETING HERE AT 1 PM:
John's Pizzeria
247 Ridge Rd
Munster IN
219-836-8536
http://www.theoriginaljohns.com/
Sunday: 11 am – 9 pm

John's Pizzeria
1209 Sheffield
Dyer IN
219-322-0225
http://johnspizzerias.com/
Sunday: 2 - 10 pm

John's Pizzeria
4941 E. 81st Ave
Merrillville IN
219-942-2102
http://localbizblogs.com/johnspizzeria/tag/pizza
Sunday: 3 - 9 pm

John's Restaurant
2356 Schrage (and Indianapolis Blvd)
Whiting IN
219-659-1046
http://www.theoriginaljohns.com/
Sunday: 3 pm

Three Floyds Brewpub
9750 Indiana Pkwy
Munster IN
219-922-3565
http://www.threefloydspub.com/
Sunday: Noon

Thanks for the invite but won't be able to head to Indaina on Sunday.(live in Chi.) Looking forward to the results and please keep me posted of other events.

FYI, the John's in Munster is carry-out only. You might want to call them to let them know about this event -- maybe they would be willing to set up a small table indoors.

MincyBits and I are in for the long haul.

Thanks for the thought.

[quote="llama"]MincyBits and I are in for the long haul.[/quote]
It will be a pleasure!

Regards,

Handy Map for anyone coming along tomorrow.

Hi,

I was just making point to point maps just now via RandMcNally.com. It didn't recognize Hobart for that address, though it did see Merrillville, IN.

I have also printed coupons from the various websites. The only location where no coupon was specifically offered was Whiting, IN.

See you in a while!

Regards,
CAthy

Cathy2 wrote:This Sunday (January 11) we are going to eat a pizza from each of the major players using sausage and cheese pizza as the measuring stick.

C2,

Sounds a terrific time, wish I was able to join you.

Have a slice on me, bring tums.

Enjoy,
Gary

From : 247 Ridge Rd Munster , IN 46321-1531
To : 1209 Sheffield Ave Dyer , IN 46311-1054

1. You are at 247 Ridge Rd, Munster, IN 46321-1531

2. Go East on Ridge Rd 0.6 miles

3. Turn right onto Calumet Av 1.9 miles

4. Turn right onto Columbia Av (Sheffield Av) 0.9 miles

5. Continue onto Sheffield Av 1.1 miles

6. You are at 1209 Sheffield Ave, Dyer, IN 46311-1054

EST. DRIVE TIME: 10 minutes EST. DISTANCE: 4 miles

***

FROM: 1209 Sheffield Ave Dyer, IN 46311-1054
TO: 4941 E 81st Ave Merrillville, IN 46410-5841

STEPS: 6 EST. DRIVE TIME: 26 minutes EST. DISTANCE: 14 miles

STEP DIRECTIONS DISTANCE

1 You are at 1209 Sheffield Ave, Dyer, IN 46311-1054

2 Go South on Sheffield Av

3 Turn onto Matteson St

4 Turn onto Hart St

5 Turn onto US-30

6 You are at 4941 E 81st Ave, Merrillville, IN 46410-5841

At this point, this would be three pizzas in a row. We may want to consider a Three Floyds Break here before finishing at John's PIzzeria in Whitiing, IN.

From : 4941 E 81st Ave Merrillville , IN 46410-5841
To : 9750 Indiana Pkwy Munster , IN 46321-4004

1. You are at 4941 E 81st Ave, Merrillville, IN 46410-5841

2. Go East on US-30 E (E Lincoln Hwy) < 0.1 miles

3. Make a U-turn onto US-30 W (E Lincoln Hwy) 3.1 miles

4. Continue onto I-65 N (Casimir Pulaski Memorial Hwy) 5.3 miles

5. Take Exit 259A (I-80 W, I-94 W, US-6 W, Chicago) on right 10.8 miles

6. Take Exit 1 (US-41 N, Calumet Av) on right 0.5 miles

7. Continue onto US-41 (Calumet Av) < 0.1 miles

8. Continue onto Calumet Av 2.5 miles

9. Turn right onto Superior Av 0.3 miles

10. Turn left onto Indiana Pkwy < 0.1 miles

11. You are at 9750 Indiana Pkwy, Munster, IN 46321-4004

EST. DRIVE TIME: 34 minutes EST. DISTANCE: 23 miles

***

From : 9750 Indiana Pkwy Munster , IN 46321-4004
To : 2356 Schrage Ave Whiting , IN 46394-2221

1. You are at 9750 Indiana Pkwy, Munster, IN 46321-4004

2. Go North on Indiana Pkwy < 0.1 miles

3. Turn right onto Superior Av 0.3 miles

4. Turn left onto Calumet Av 2.6 miles

5. Bear right onto I-80 E (I-94 E, US-6 E, US-41 S, Borman Expwy, Tri State Expwy, Tri State Hwy) 1.6 miles

6. Continue onto US-41 N (Indianapolis Blvd) 6.8 miles

7. Bear right onto Schrage Av < 0.1 miles

8. You are at 2356 Schrage Ave, Whiting, IN 46394-2221

EST. DRIVE TIME: 32 minutes EST. DISTANCE: 11 miles

Cathy2 wrote:At this point, this would be three pizzas in a row. We may want to consider a Three Floyds Break here before finishing at John's PIzzeria in Whitiing, IN.

And, don't forget you're dangerously close to Gayety for an ice cream chaser. I know how much C2 likes real whipped cream, and theirs is the best I have found in the area.

Gayety Ice Cream & Chocolate
3306 Ridge Road
Lansing, IL 60438
800-491-0755
Sunday 12:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M.

P.S. I'm going to try to make at least the first couple of stops.

Hi,

Maybe a divide and conquer? Some got to Floyds and others to Gayety? Different strokes for different folks? Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker!

Plus sdritz has hinted she could be coaxed for ice cream.

Regards,
Cathy

Cathy2 wrote:Plus sdritz has hinted she could be coaxed for ice cream.

Not being a drinkin' man, ice cream is more my style.

Thanks for the fun yesterday. MincyBits and I had a blast!

To all the people who left before Whiting: you missed out. Big time.

I'll let the people with the pictures make a more comprehensive post before I chime in further.

Quit teasing us!

stevez wrote:Not being a drinkin' man, ice cream is more my style.

One of the menu specials at Three Floyds was a float made with Black Sun stout and coffee-caramel ice cream (untried by us). Not to mention a housemade boudin blanc on a bed of French green lentils (which we did try).

I had the good fortune to tag along for the first two stops of the John's Pizza-athon last Sunday. I had never had John's pizza before, but had long heard of its legendary status among south siders and people from Indiana, so I was really looking forward to finally trying it. John's is a unique style of pizza. It is neither thin crust nor thick; coming out somewhere in the middle. It's a tad on the doughy side to my taste. Although John's makes their own sausage, they pre-cook it before putting it on the pizza, resulting in a more crumbly, burger-like sausage than I am used to. I can certainly see the charm of John's, but I think if you grew up with it, it probably resonates more than if you are a casual customer of Johns like myself.

First stop was John's Munster outpost, run by the son of "The Original John". This store had an interesting Fish oven; a brand I had not seen before.

John's Munster Oven


One of the hallmarks of a John's pizza is the way it is cut; a single cut down the middle, then multi cuts at at a 90 degree angle to the first cut resulting in long strips of pizza that have both crust and soft middle in every piece (they also do a traditional Chicago square cut, which they call "party cut" and even wedges on request).

John's Special Cut



Here are some pictures of the pizzas we got at the first two stops. I'm sure there are more pictures of the rest of the John's Pizza-thon with detailed explanations to come.

John's Pizza Munster



John's Pizza Dyer



The main differences between the two pizzas that I tried were that the Dyer pizza was cooked crisper, but the sausage was better in Munster. It was very apparent that both pizzas had common lineage. Both were made the same way and, of course, cut in that unique John's style. Thanks for allowing this city boy to accompany you on your Indiana pizza quest! I'm very curious to hear about the rest of the pizzas, in particular the one served in Whiting.

llama wrote:To all the people who left before Whiting: you missed out. Big time

If nobody else going to post about the rest of the places, will someone PM me with their impressons of the lot?

Cogito,

Please put on your patience hat. I hope to respond this evening. Only so much time in the day.

Regards,

Fine, hat is in place. Public flogging may now cease.

Sorry for not responding sooner. I tagged along for three of the John's stops but did not make it to the final stop in Whiting. I will say upfront that, although tasty, John's has never been among my favorite pizza places in NW Indiana and the immediate south suburbs in Illinois (which combined comprise the Calumet Region). But I approached this with an open mind and an empty stomach.

The pizza in Munster would have benefitted from an extra minute or two in the oven. Someone commented that several people standing around waiting for the pizza may have caused Phil to take it out of the oven too early. The sausage was the best I tasted all day, the sauce and cheese were good, but the crust was a bit doughy. I plan to get a pizza here soon and ask them to cook it about a minute longer than they normally do.

The pizza in Dyer had a very good crust and a similar flavor to the one in Munster. However, it was a bit dry, perhaps from the sausage being cooked too much prior to being crumbled, perhaps from needing more cheese. It would have benefitted from a little more cheese, or perhaps a little more sauce. I will try a pizza from here as well in the future, but will ask for extra cheese.

The pizza in Merrillville was, well, um...the salad and garlic bread were excellent. I will refrain from saying anything more until pictures of the pizza are posted. I will not order a pizza from this location in the future, but if I am in the area I would definitely stop in for the salad and garlic bread.

Our final stop before my departure was at the Albanese candy factory, which was just down the road from the John's in Merrillville. I bought some dark chocolate malted milk balls...great stuff!

Cathy2 wrote:Cogito,

Please put on your patience hat. I hope to respond this evening. Only so much time in the day.

Regards,

I can't find my hat!

Wish I'd have found this site sooner! I sat around the house that day and made a crockpot of beef stew, pizza would have been better. I grew up a couple blocks from the original Stateline Pizza and have always had place in my heart (and stomach for them). There are a few locations now, but I haven't tried them yet. Another old favorite is Langels in downtown Highland, a couple doors down from Lincoln's.

Chasing the holy grail: who best succeeds in making John's Pizzeria classic pre-cooked and crumbled sausage and cheese pizza in the style once offered at their shuttered Calumet City location. Of course, John's unique cutting style of one cut up the middle and lateral slices is the simplest element to imitate. It is the craftmanship, sausage and sauce recipes that separate each location visited:



There would be practically nothing to talk about if the family and franchise locations had got along better and made a product consistent to what people enjoyed and remembered at Calumet City. From all the Northwest Indiana people present, they all had other pizza places they liked better, though they recognized John's was a regional style and generally well liked.

We began at the Munster location owned by Phil Bacino, whose brother is the namesake John and his father who founded this pizza empire also named Phil. Phil has this one carry-out location and is the source of the franchise operation in Whiting operated by a friend. We had a lovely coupon that allowed us to buy a family sized pizza with a single topping and a free small cheese. As our pizzas were baking, people began assembling in the waiting area for the pizzas to emerge.

John's Family sized pizza with sausage and cheese from Munster, Indiana:


Small cheese cut party style:


Perhaps we should have stated we planned to eat in their waiting area. If they had known, maybe they would have baked it slightly longer and let it rest few minutes before we ate it. The cheese finished first and was held, waiting for the sausage pizza that was presented almost immediately from the oven. The sausage pizza fresh from the oven hot had the consequence of sauce creating a slippery surface for the cheese and sausage to almost slide off. This is especially ackward when your pizza slice might be 8-9 inches long. Whereas the cheese comfortably held together with the primary difference of having rested a few minutes more. Talking to Phil, he said the sausage they made in-house as well as the pizza sauce and dough. There is also the option of purchasing a jar of sauce for home. Of all the pizzas tried, the Munster location had the most flavorful sausage. The dough was maybe a tad too thick for this style and sort of fluffy, though the sauce, sausage and cheese topping were complimentary and very flavorful.

John's Pizzeria
247 Ridge Rd
Munster IN
219-836-8536
http://www.theoriginaljohns.com/

We made a minor detour to the original Schoop's down the street. Mark H had worked at Schoops at this very location. His friend told us the guys who grilled the burgers were very popular with the girls. Steve Z purchased a burger that he cut John's style down the middle and several lateral cuts. That was one spectacular burger with the nice crisp edges. After this palette cleansing, we moved to Dyer.

John's Pizzeria's Dyer restaurant and Griffith carry-out location seems to be considered a rogue business by the other Johns. Calumet City John's was the source of the Dyer franchise, who later opened Griffith apparently without permission. NW Indiana poster Trudie forged ahead, as we sampled Schoops, to order another family sized pizza with a free cheese pizza per their website's coupon.

This pizza didn't arrive to the table molten hot, it seemed to have rested a bit before coming to the table. While this pizza clearly shared the heritage of John's Pizzeria, there were some subtle departures. This pizza was thinner than the Munster and Whiting John's with the sausage, cheese and sauce toppings much closer to the edge than the others. As noted by Mark H, the sausage was drier, perhaps they drained it more thoroughly before applying to the pizzas. It was a solid pizza with many commenting they would return for it.

John's Pizzeria sausage and cheese pizza from Dyer


When we were almost wrapped up, a rather edgy manager came forward commenting we had been taking pictures of the pizza and wanting to know how we liked it. It may be her personality, it could be defensiveness related to this known friction between the Johns. She did confirm they made their sausage, sauce and dough in-house. When we left Dyer, we said good-bye to Steve Z, Trudie and his son.

John's Pizzeria
1209 Sheffield
Dyer IN
219-322-0225
http://johnspizzerias.com/

The Merrillville location is situated in a corner stall of a new strip mall. This John's Pizzeria is owned and operated by Mike and Joanie Bacino, who are members of founding family. Our committee already full from the first two John's, we opted to use their coupon for a medium John's sausage and cheese pizza with pitcher of pop and garlic bread for $15. plus an optional bowl of salad for $5.

Garlic bread


Salad bowl with Italian dressing, selected because it was the only dressing made on the premises:


John's Pizzeria Sausage and cheese medium pizza from Merrillville, Indiana:


While they may be family, they didn't capture the John's Pizzeria spirit beyond the cutting style. While we were told the crust was made on the premises, Mark H thought the crust may have been frozen because of how it baked with some discoloration in the center. The sauce, also made in house, was by far the sweetest eaten that day. The sausage had little seasoning with a not very pleasant porky taste. This sausage the waitress said was made elsewhere to their recipe: "A loaf of pork with all the seasonings on top are taken someplace to be ground and mixed." I can't help wondering if the loaf might be a pork butt or is it something else? The best element to this stop was the salad, which was a welcome relief to our steady diet of pizza.

John's Pizzeria
4941 E. 81st Ave (Lincoln Highway)
Merrillville IN
219-942-2102
http://localbizblogs.com/johnspizzeria/tag/pizza

Less than a mile east of John's Pizzeria in Merriville is Albanese candy factory. There is a large gray factory with a retail store latched onto a corned with a fantasy Victorian facade. They have a tube of melting chocolate descending from the ceiling into a vat, though in the past they had a chocolate waterfall according to Mark H's friend. The bright colors with candy in all shapes and forms gave this showroom a very Willy Wonka feel. Most confections they offered are available to sample. It is conceiveable to have your fill of chocolate and not pay a dime. I bought two naked turtles: jumbo sized caramel and pecan turles with chocolate not entirely covering them. They reminded me of turtles my family regularly bought at Carl's Deli in Washington, D.C. in the late 1960's. My Dad and I ate these several days after my visit, the caramel was still supple.

Albanese Confectionary
5441 E Lincoln Hwy
Merrillville, IN 46410
(219) 947-3070
http://www.albaneseconfectionery.com
Self-guided and guided tours available.

This location is their outlet store with better prices:

Albanese Candy Outlet Store
1910 West U.S. 30
Merrillville, IN 46410
(219)738-2333
No tours.

Mark H and his friend left after Albanese Confectionary. The snow was just beginning and they warned we could get caught up in NW Indiana's legendary lake effect snows.

MincyBits, Llama, Rene G and I made a detour to Three Floyds for beer. They were somewhat disappointed by the relatively small draft offerings. The waiter advised there was more beer consumed over the holidays than expected. We shared an appetizer of Boudin with tiny french lentils that was fabulous.

Garlic bread made from leftover knobs of pizza dough, which I am sure Mark H would have liked better than Merrillville


Fried zucchini with ranch dressing ordered for some variety


John's Pizzeria sausage and cheese pizza from Whiting, Indiana:


This pizza was the favorite and would have ranked a bit higher if the sausage was as well seasoned as Munsters. While they make their pizza dough and sauce in-house, they have their sausage made to order off-site. Unlike the Munster location, this pizza was cooked considerably more with a nice crispness despite the thicker dough. It was also a less puffy dough than what we experienced at Munster. It simply came closest to the pizza experienced at Calumet City.

Zeppole with cinnamon and sugar:


Despite a rather full day of eating pizza, there is always room for dessert principally shared by MincyBits and I. I found I liked this much better once I rolled the Zeppole in the cinnamon-butter accumulating in the basket's bottom and rolled in sugar from a food service packet.

John's Restaurant
2356 Schrage (and Indianapolis Blvd)
Whiting IN
219-659-1046
http://www.theoriginaljohns.com/

The ranks of all the John's sampled were:

1. Whiting (Superlative if their sausage was seasoned like Munster's)
2. Munster (plus for the spicy sausage though crust needed more baking and a rest before consuming, which are easily remedied with ordering)
3. Dyer (Solid pizza, though somewhat diluted of the Original John's Pizzeria influence)
4. Merrillville (John's Pizzeria, who? They went in a very different direction with only the slicing style as the only remaining touch point)

The best result from all of this was meeting true Northwest Indiana natives who were bubbling over with information on their favorite NWI finds at a very rapid pace. I hope they will consider getting together in the future, a la Evanston lunch group, to collectively go to these places and report back here. From all that I heard, I certainly hope there will be more NW Indiana posts in our future. Just driving from Three Floyds to Whiting, Rene G and I saw several of the highlighted places that we had overlooked.

Thanks again for a marvelous day!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:We made a minor detour to the original Schoop's down the street. Mark H had worked at Schoops at this very location. His friend told us the guys who grilled the burgers were very popular with the girls. Steve Z purchased a burger that he cut John's style down the middle and several lateral cuts. That was one spectacular burger with the nice crisp edges.

Cathy,

That was a nice recap. For the sake of completeness, here is a picture of the Mickey I ordered at Schoops.

Schoop's Mickey


Also, it turns out that the Schoop's location we visited was not the first, but the second Schoop's location.

Schoop's Website wrote:From a modest site in Hammond, Ind., Schoop sold the first burgers for 15 cents apiece, taking in $2000 in the first month. The original menu had burgers, French fries, chili, soup, and pie. Although there have been additions since, these simple items are still the mainstays of the Schoop’s menu.

In 1959, Schoop’s opened a second restaurant in Munster, Ind. Mostly through word of mouth, customers found out about the burger and formed lines along Ridge Road for a chance at one of the 36 seats.

My son and I had such a great time last Sunday with the "gang".John's was our family's go to pizza since we lived so close to the mother ship.However pizza at that time was a different well I guess you could say event.Pizza now at home is like I don't feel like cooking lets get a pizza.At the time I was a kid it was more like a special event.
It was fun catching up about all the old employees I knew back in the day.Phil at the Munster location was very forthcoming.I didn't get a lot of warmth from the Dyer owner but like stated in other posts maybe she is wary of people asking a lot of questions and taking pictures of the food.Maybe in Chicago or north side locations the owners are more used to people scrutinizing the food in such a manner.I only stayed for the Munster and Dyer legs as my mom is in a nearby nursing facility and I wanted to see her.I had previously eaten at the Whiting location and liked that very much before.As an aside I took my mom a sample of the Munster and Dyer and she felt Munster was more like she remembered from Calumet City.She felt Dyer was too salty but that could be her age kicking in also.
Anyway those that I tasted were all good.Nothing is ever like you remember.I voted for Whiting then Dyer then Munster.
The big question I didnt ask anyone else there was did they enjoy the John's style.The discussion was which we like better but the question not asked was would they make an effort if they lived in the area to eat from a John's .
Anyway it was a great time and fun meeting everyone.If anyone wants to do another NWIndiana,South suburbs extravaganza let me know.If anyone wants to do a Michigan City through South Bend and southwest Michigan I am all over it.

Trudie,

I have to tell you I vascilated between Munster and Dyer, I even thought of putting them just about on par. Whiting and Merrillville was easy as pie to decide who was top and bottom. I finally settled with Munster second because the cause of the day was who emulated John's Pizzeria in Calumet City. Dyer evolved into a different and quite acceptable style.

Now I wouldn't mind trying the pizza parlors everyone thought they liked better. Maybe that could be an excursion someday.

Regards,

FWIW, I'm pretty sure the restaurant in Munster was the first with the Schoop's name on it and the first completely owned by Allen Schoop. He was a part-owner of the place on Calumet Ave. in Hammond where "Schoopburgers" were first sold. I have been trying to think of it, but for the life of me I can't remember the name of that place (long since gone)...

The Munster Schoop's is considered the second, it is on their website and I have also talked to some of the owners.

The Merrilville John's is no more.

Wow, what a crazy story! I hope everything works out for them.