Tried out Coalfire yesterday on the way to the Blackhawks game. Let me preface this because I compare all Neopolitan-style pizza to my favorite thin crust ever, Settebello in The District in Henderson, NV. (informative threads in 'Beyond Chicagoland')
The house salad for six bucks was a little pricey but came with a very nice viniagrette that offset the slivered onions & other veggies. A slightly-chilled glass of an '07 Chianti hit the spot too. A nice start. Their Margherita pizza's crust was right, that unmistakable combination of crunch and chew that an 800-degree oven will produce. But the tomato sauce was pedestrian, and for a pizza of that style, there was too much mozzarella, although it was good. Large fresh basil leaves looked as if they were added after cooking. All in all, a fine-tasting pizza, but nothing remarkable.
The sausage pizza was another story. Small nuggets peppered the top, and while they were plentiful, the sausage taste was not bold in any way, and was devoid of that fennel taste that I love. Not a great pie. And the cheese calzone was bland, not even close to 'Steinbrenner quality', for those Seinfeld fans amongst you.
For a Napoli pizza that is supposed to be #2 in Chicago next to Spacca, I wasn't overly impressed. My litmus test, again, is Settebello in Vegas, which is so unreal that it makes the diner want to roll up the piece and ram the whole thing in his mouth, for that sensory overload.