Panther in the Den wrote:I always figured it was a fast and filling meal for students but with it appearing at Salerno's it's appeal is spreading.

I always assumed this was designed for stumbling drunks needing something to soak up booze at 3am (at least that's the only time I've eaten the $5 giant slice/pop combo)

-Dan

The Bacci slice as big as your head, like the burritos of similar stature, is the lowest common denominator of pizza and should not be raised in a discussion that includes D'Amato's sausage slice (sausage from Bari next door, BTW). The giant slice is not without hoary precedent however. Places such as Lorenzo & Son's in Philly have been selling huge slices of mediocre pizza (good crust and tomato, super-low-quality cheese) to drunk college kids for many years.

JeffB wrote:The Bacci slice as big as your head, like the burritos of similar stature, is the lowest common denominator of pizza and should not be raised in a discussion that includes D'Amato's sausage slice (sausage from Bari next door, BTW). The giant slice is not without hoary precedent however. Places such as Lorenzo & Son's in Philly have been selling huge slices of mediocre pizza (good crust and tomato, super-low-quality cheese) to drunk college kids for many years.

I am quite sorry sir but I had no intent to offend as I was drawing a comparison only to the temperature at which the pizza is served and perhaps the style and not to the quality of the pizza.

I am sure the quality of D'Amato's is leagues ahead of the other offerings mentioned and is high on my list to try.

So I finally managed to squeeze off a couple of mediocre cell phone pics of the last Palermo's pizza I had. Half cheese, half sausage and green peppers--the latter being the less well-done side. I prefer pepperoni or cheese to sausage for this reason--better caramelization of the cheese. Be sure to ask for it a little well-done. This is their regular crust: perhaps about Salerno's thickness, but much tastier and better executed.

My life's a bit busy over the next couple weeks, but I'll get around to organizing a South Side Pizza Crawl soon enough--look out for a PM, you people, as I haven't even attended, let alone organized, an LTH event, and might ask those who expressed interest what they'd suggest in terms of structuring such an event.

I've been in Korea for over ten months and I haven't really missed the food back home. I am enjoying Korean food very much and have been able to find a few western items to tide me over but reading this thread and seeing pictures of pizza have suddenly made me homesick. We have one decent pizza place here (near North Korea) and I have fooled myself into thinking it's ok and passable but when I read the list and saw Burt's Place on the list I couldn't fool myself anymore. I will probably never eat another pizza while in Korea. My wife and I went to Burt's for the first time the night before we left Chicago and it was fantastic. I went eight months without eating another pizza but a friend took me to a pizza place called, "Chicago Pizza" and I think the sheer fact that I hadn't had a pizza in so long, I would've liked anything.

I check LTH once in a while and even though I can't eat the food, I still enjoy reading your opinions about it.

Thanks.

jesteinf wrote:I'm just happy that someone else had the courage to come out and say they liked something at Crust. I feel so validated.

I also love the pizza @ Crust!! Also a big fan of their cocktails!

mtgl wrote:So I finally managed to squeeze off a couple of mediocre cell phone pics of the last Palermo's pizza I had. Half cheese, half sausage and green peppers--the latter being the less well-done side. I prefer pepperoni or cheese to sausage for this reason--better caramelization of the cheese. Be sure to ask for it a little well-done. This is their regular crust: perhaps about Salerno's thickness, but much tastier and better executed.

My life's a bit busy over the next couple weeks, but I'll get around to organizing a South Side Pizza Crawl soon enough--look out for a PM, you people, as I haven't even attended, let alone organized, an LTH event, and might ask those who expressed interest what they'd suggest in terms of structuring such an event.

mtgl-

I recommend perusing this thread about event planning. Thanks for your willingness to organize something. Clearly there's interest!

-Mary

dropkickjeffy wrote:Hey LTHers. You raised a lot of good points—and took some good shots—in your discussion here of my top 25 pizza list, and I respect you folks enough that I thought I’d weigh in here. Not content to shut up, I also weighed in on chicagomag.com’s message boards, and even released a pizza song/video (go to http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magaz ... n-Chicago/ and scroll down) because I could not let go of this topic, which is near and dear to my heart. In the meantime:

1. Trendy? Me?
Ram4 wrote, “Obviously the trendy people are making these lists.” You can blame Chicago magazine all you want for its upscale leanings, and imagine a cabal of well-heeled journalists plotting around a conference table in the Trib Tower,

Hehehehe - I'm still laughing at this one (emphasis added by me).

Panther in the Den wrote:What about the popular Giant Slice and a Pop for $5? I first saw this on Taylor Street at Bacci Pizzeria and the slice was so huge that I requested it to be cut into squares for My Bride and I to share. They even had a special wedge shaped cardboard box to house the slice. Since then I have seen it near the junior high in Oak Park at Nick's Pizza and Beef and most recently at Salerno's on Roosevelt.

Fans of the jumbo slice may want to circle July 31 on their calendars. On that day Bacci's will sell their generous pizza cuts for a mere $2. True fans can enter a jumbo slice eating contest with sizable cash prizes.



I don't count myself a fan of Bacci's but I don't hate them either. You can do a lot worse for "utility pizza" in Chicago. Along the same lines, but a cut above, is Damenzo's, a pizza I have to admit I like. I'd never rank it among my favorites or recommend it to everyone. It recalls some pizzas of my youth, undoubtedly explaining my fondness for it. Some may like it, others surely won't, but few will complain about portion size. Here's a slice (sausage, $4) exactly as served, utensils at the ready (also note the hand-knotted baggie of red pepper). It's a heavy slice.





Damenzo's
2322 W Taylor St
Chicago
312-421-1142

Panther in the Den wrote:What about the popular Giant Slice and a Pop for $5? I first saw this on Taylor Street at Bacci Pizzeria and the slice was so huge that I requested it to be cut into squares for My Bride and I to share. They even had a special wedge shaped cardboard box to house the slice.

Speaking of pizza boxes, I just learned via the web design magazine Woohome about the Green Box (incidentally, out of NYC):

happy_stomach wrote:Speaking of pizza boxes, I just learned via the web design magazine Woohome about the Green Box

Interesting, but taking it apart when it's full of pizza grease and melted cheese doesn't seem appealing. And those box tops would never hold up to a slice of stuffed pizza.

LAZ wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:Speaking of pizza boxes, I just learned via the web design magazine Woohome about the Green Box

Interesting, but taking it apart when it's full of pizza grease and melted cheese doesn't seem appealing. And those box tops would never hold up to a slice of stuffed pizza.

I don't really have an opinion about the Green Box besides finding it somewhat of a novelty, but you don't really have to take it apart while it's full of pizza, right? You just rip the lid off which seems to require negligibly more effort than the common tucking of the lid under the side of the box with the pizza on it. I agree about the sturdiness of the box-top plates.

Steve Dolinsky has come out with his list of overrated pizza joints, and his list includes board fave Vito & Nick's (which I've never tried so I can't comment) and Spacca Napoli (his criticism of the crust might relate to problems encountered more recently), plus honorable mention Art of Pizza. Let the arguments begin anew.

BR wrote:Steve Dolinsky has come out with his list of overrated pizza joints, and his list includes board fave Vito & Nick's (which I've never tried so I can't comment) and Spacca Napoli (his criticism of the crust might relate to problems encountered more recently), plus honorable mention Art of Pizza. Let the arguments begin anew.

I, too, have noticed inconsistencies with Spacca Napoli. I haven't been to V&N, but I get the impression that it is only favored by those who really love Chicago thin crust - it's appeal would probably be lost on me. I never thought much of Pizza D.O.C.

Since I work out in the western suburbs in Hinsdale, I figured I could at least try Parker's Restaurant (#24 on the Chicago list of best pizzas) and see how their pizza fares in my own personal pizza contest.

I ordered the margherita, since that was what was picked by Jeff Ruby, although I was tempted to go with the special of Morel and Asparagus pizza. It came as expected: slightly puffy outer crust, light tomato sauce, and with a few sprinklings of "buffalo" mozzarella and basil leaves. The center crust was fairly limp, as is usual in this type of pie. Overall I would say it was a good pizza, although not something I would go out of my way for. The components just did not meld together the way I expect in an excellent pizza, and the crust did not have enough flavor. But then again, I ate the whole damn thing by myself, and felt like I had eaten a cannon ball a few hours later.

borborigmy wrote:Since I work out in the western suburbs in Hinsdale, I figured I could at least try Parker's Restaurant (#24 on the Chicago list of best pizzas) and see how their pizza fares in my own personal pizza contest.

I ordered the margherita, since that was what was picked by Jeff Ruby, although I was tempted to go with the special of Morel and Asparagus pizza. It came as expected: slightly puffy outer crust, light tomato sauce, and with a few sprinklings of "buffalo" mozzarella and basil leaves. The center crust was fairly limp, as is usual in this type of pie. Overall I would say it was a good pizza, although not something I would go out of my way for. The components just did not meld together the way I expect in an excellent pizza, and the crust did not have enough flavor. But then again, I ate the whole damn thing by myself, and felt like I had eaten a cannon ball a few hours later.

Morels and asparagus in July. Don't go back

Art of Pizza makes one sublime pizza: the deep dish spinach.

The other forms (pan, thin) are too bready, not bad, just ordinary. The meats on the deep dish, which is as thick as thick gets, are too heavy. You want a thickish sausage pizza, call Burt's unlisted number.

But the spinach is just right-- a big block of baked stuff, but full of flavor, and topped with their great fresh-tasting tomatoes and herbs. It's pretty much the only thick-thick I ever order.

Morels and asparagus in July. Don't go back

Actually, I ate there several weeks ago, so although it was very late in the season, it wasn't as awful as a mid-July serving would have been.

Mike G wrote:Art of Pizza makes one sublime pizza: the deep dish spinach.

The other forms (pan, thin) are too bready, not bad, just ordinary. The meats on the deep dish, which is as thick as thick gets, are too heavy. You want a thickish sausage pizza, call Burt's unlisted number.

But the spinach is just right-- a big block of baked stuff, but full of flavor, and topped with their great fresh-tasting tomatoes and herbs. It's pretty much the only thick-thick I ever order.

I LOVE Art's Vegetarian Stuffed Pizza. It is the only pizza that I get delivered. I look forward to the leftovers tonight!