Pizza in Illinois

I'm a little surprised to find I have the LTH drop on this topic, but I know it's because so many are distracted by the Michelin stars announcement.

Following on Daniel Zemans' excellent summary of the many types of pizza to be found in Chicagoland, the write-up on pizza in Illinois beyond Chicagoland has just been released. Unlike the Chicago pizza summary, however, the Illinois summary is organized not by pizza style but by location. Furthermore, it depends heavily on third-party recommendations and lengthy quotations. To me, that makes it a useful reference but not nearly the definitive resource that the Chicago summary was. There is work on Illinois pizza anthropology that remains to be done.

Hi,

I saw pictures credited to da beef and razbry.

This is a useful list when beyond the Chicago region.

Regards,

A lot of those pizzas look over-cheesed or over-doughed (is that a word?) to me. Only a few look like any place I'd consider visiting.

Cathy2 wrote:I saw pictures credited to da beef and razbry.

And JimtheBeerGuy and BuddyRoadhouse were consulted as well.

Shucks, it weren't nuthin'.

Seriously, nice article Daniel. Thanks for including my comments. Hope the information will be useful to someone as they pass through Springfield.

Buddy

stevez wrote:A lot of those pizzas look over-cheesed or over-doughed (is that a word?) to me. Only a few look like any place I'd consider visiting.

Well like I said in the post they quoted me on (they left this part out of that page though), the problem with pizza downstate in my experience is that the crusts are universally terrible. Even the pizza I recommended had a pretty bad crust, though on the Gem City Pizzeria & Mexican website, it looks better than I remember it being.

Bad crust and too much crust I can understand, but for me personally there can never be such a thing as too much cheese

I saw pictures credited to da beef and razbry.

Wow! That makes me stupidly happy!

I have a new hometown favorite pizza. It is called Moscato's Pizza. They have two locations, one in Kirkland and one in Genoa. But are located on Rt. 72. Carry out only. My taste is for a thin, crispy crust (that does not shatter), with moderate amounts of sauce and cheese. My inside tip is that when you order the thin crust pizza; order it baked "golden brown". What a difference! I've tried the cheese and sausage (my son's favorite), but I usually get a custom veg. pizza (green pepper, onion and mushrooms). I think I've eaten a small pizza like this (by myself) at least once a week for the last month. I just like it. So if you are traveling through on Rt. 72, and need a little pick me up.check out Moscato's. I'd love to hear what others think about the place.

Moscatos' Pizza
532 E. Main
Genoa, IL.
815 784-2929

Is there a Genoa Pizza in Genoa? There is one in Sugar Grove that we used to get pizza from all the time when I was working for the college, seems they are in a number of the small rural towns west of Route 47. It is very good, thin crust with generous toppings. They had a good deal where you could get 2 slices, a small salad and a pop for $5 for lunch. Since I worked in a department that was mostly male, we got food from there a LOT. The new food service doesn't allow any outside food on campus.

Genoa Pizza originated in Genoa. There were at least 3 locations in the area that I know of. However, the locations in Genoa and Kirkland closed. It was good pizza. Heavy....heavy on the cheese.