Moccio's Pizzeria - Highland Park

The other night I tried Moccio's, which just opened in Highland Park. It's a carry-out/delivery only type joint in the old Pizza Hut/Domino's location next to Petco, Toy's R Us, and Jewel.

They're selling thin cheese, sausage, and pepperoni slices for $1.00 each through the end of July. I asked them what their specialty was as the have four styles of crust, including two that are mislabeled. They inidicated they really didn't have any one specialty. They list Deep Dish and Chicago Stlye (plus Stuffed and Thin). It turns out that the Deep Dish is actually nore of a Connie's type of pizza (thick and bready, cheese on top of sauce) while the Chicago Style is what we consider a true deep dish.

I had two slices (1 sausage and 1 cheese) while waiting for a personal Chicago Style. They were fair at best. Absolutely nothing unique or special about them. The Chicago style pizza was a bit better. The crust was crisp (coming straight out of the oven - my friend and I ate in the lobby there on a couple of waiting chairs) and had a decent flavor. I'd say it was pretty good and for $4.95 it was a decent value. I'll probably get that again, but it won't be high on the list.

The manager was a nice guy, though they were having some new restaurant jitters with the service for the hour or so we were in there with us and other people. They will be opening the second location in Naperville soon.

Moccio's Pizzeria
1620 Deerfield Rd
Highland Park IL 60035
847-831-6900

I would like to add my girlfriend had their chopped salad (I think) on a different occasion and said it was excellent.

Thanks for the comprehensive report! I see no reason to bother going there- I give 'em 6 months before the place is vacant, based on what you've related. Too many good pizza places around to waste time and money at this one.

This place is owned by Bart Moccio, who also owns Smokin M's

Since Moccio's is located between my office and my house, I've had their food a few times now with widely varying results.

First time: I stopped in for a slice and it was pretty good. It had been reheated to order and the crust was crispy. Sausage was tasty and I liked the sauce, which was not sweet at all.

Second time: Ordered a thin-crust sausage pizza (delivered) and it was very good. Perfectly cooked, very tasty.

Third time: Ordered a thin-crust pizza with sausage and gardiniera. Wasn't very good. Really disliked the gardiniera, which had an upappetizing 'off' note. Crust was gummy.

Fourth time: Ordered lunch, delivered, for our office. Really lousy. Flavorless pepperoni, extremely undercooked and soggy pies. Middle pieces on all 3 pies were literally wet. One pizza was smaller than what was ordered. A salad with chicken came without chicken -- kindly, they re-delivered it. Sadly, the chicken looked like it was nothing more than foodservice-grade, pre-cooked chunks out of a package. It was very salty, completely dry and had those tell-tale perfect grill marks that gave the feeling it came from a factory, not a kitchen. A turkey panino looked like it had been slapped together in 20 seconds and was comprised of low-end ingredients. The bread was soggy, bland and underbaked. The turkey was awful. The lettuce and tomato were afterthoughts. The cheese was flavorless. I was really stunned by the drop off in quality between my first 2 experiences and this one. I don't think it's going downhill but instead, geared toward the lower end ingredient-wise, as pricing seems to be a priority. And it's extremely inconsistent. My plan for now is to only order pizzas with staple ingredients at peak hours and reduce the frequency of my orders down to maybe once a month, for the time being. At first I was optimistic but reality has set in.

=R=

I recently went back for another individual Chicago style pizza. No good. The sauce was literally red water! It hardly stuck to the cheese and had almost no substance. I find it hard to believe this place will last. I feel bad for them if they don't make it, but seriously? What were they thinking with this? There is nothing special about this place, they are bringing nothing unique to the table, and what they are bringing is not very good. It wouldn't hurt to have some seating inside (maybe a few stools) and outside.

Hey Moccio's - start over before it's too late. Number one priority - fix your sauce!

Ram4 wrote:I feel bad for them if they don't make it, but seriously? What were they thinking with this? There is nothing special about this place, they are bringing nothing unique to the table, and what they are bringing is not very good.

When has this stopped a restaurant--especially one from Highland Park--before?

Oy, making fun of my hometown: I never tire of it.

Hi,

From the up and down reports. it almosts seems like the A-team who set things up have left the building.

Regards,

chezbrad wrote:

Ram4 wrote:I feel bad for them if they don't make it, but seriously? What were they thinking with this? There is nothing special about this place, they are bringing nothing unique to the table, and what they are bringing is not very good.

When has this stopped a restaurant--especially one from Highland Park--before?

You got that right!

Moccio's is closed. Phone is disconnected. Space has been cleared out.

it's been stated on Yelp that Bobby is looking for another location. Sure hope that's the case- there's no update or news on his Facebook page, and not a word stating that on any of the windows of the space. You'd think he'd let customers know what's going on. Either way, I'm bummed.