Best Pizza Place in City that Will Take Reservations?

We're looking to go for pizza with another couple and our daughter in a couple of weeks. One of the people is a vegetarian, so I thought we could go to a pizza place and order at least one vegetarian pie. I'm wondering if any stand-out pizza places in the city take reservations? Thanks!

Deep-dish pizza (at places like Lou Malnati's and Pizano's) takes 30-45 minutes to bake. Those places are happy to take your pizza order over the phone, and to have it ready to serve at the time specified. They will make sure to seat you when the pizza is ready, so it's just like having a reservation.

Marie's accepts reservations - http://www.mariespizzachicago.com/Marie ... lcome.html

I think Pequod's takes reservations, although I'm not sure if there's a minimum party size.

Pequod's Pizza
2207 North Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 327-1512

GNR Burt's Place not only takes reservations, but you order your pizza(s) in advance and it's waiting for you at the appointed time.

Burt's Place
8541 Ferris Ave
Morton Grove, IL 60053
(847) 965-7997

Pizano's takes reservations and their Vegetarian Special Pizza ( deep dish or thin crust ) comes with cheese, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers served on thier famous buttercrust. It is truly outstanding pizza. World class. You can never go wrong with the Malnati's, whether you go to Lou Malnati's or Pizano's. Get the buttercrust at both places. Lou Malnati's serves a chunkier tomato sauce, whereas Pizano's sauce is more sauce than chunks. Pizano's sauce is also spread very sparingly across the pizza. It does not cover the entire pizza, which is why I always order extra sauce. However, for the people in your group who like sausage, I think the Anichini Brothers sausage served at Pizano's is better than Lou Malnati's sausage. The cheese is also more rich over at Pizano's compared to their sibling at Lou Malnati's.

Heck, try them both. It will be a truly wonderful Chicago pizza dining experience at both places.

If you live on the south side of Chicago, Vito & Nick's 83rd & Pulaski, will be fine if you can get there by 5:30, 6:00 at the latesl.
Cash only.
Best thin crust anywhere.
Wally Wade

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

My favorite traditional Chicago-style deep dish pizza in the "city" is the Silo in Lake Bluff. It's a hike to get up there, but the pizza is fantastic IMO. Inexpensive but higher quality, it's a great pie. Pequod's is OK and acceptable if you insist on staying in the city limits.

The rest of the well known pizza places in the city...Gino's , Unos/Due, Giordano's, etc... are really not great at all and are overpriced tourist traps.

Or try going early to Great Lake and tasting a real pizza

P. Channon wrote:My favorite traditional Chicago-style deep dish pizza in the "city" is the Silo in Lake Bluff.

Well that's certainly stretching the definition of "the city".

jesteinf wrote:

P. Channon wrote:My favorite traditional Chicago-style deep dish pizza in the "city" is the Silo in Lake Bluff.

Well that's certainly stretching the definition of "the city".

LOL! It's definitely not worth the trip, IMO and I live fairly nearby in Lake County. I find their pizza to be a flavorless and soggy mess. I'd only go back if I lost a bet. They also serve a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich that's so dry it's a choking hazard. I used to go there as a kid and while the nostalgia value is high, for my money, that's about all the place has to offer.

As has been posted, many places that serve deep dish, including Malnati's and Burt's, allow you to pre-order (actually, Burt's requires it), so that essentially constitutes making a reservation.

=R=

jesteinf wrote:I think Pequod's takes reservations, although I'm not sure if there's a minimum party size.

Pequod's Pizza
2207 North Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 327-1512

I don't think they do take reservation but as long as you look at the movie time for webster place you shouldn't have a hard time getting a table. They just won Pizza Wars for their pizza so you know it must be good.

Not sure about Pizza Wars, but I was just there a couple of weeks ago and I'm pretty sure people were walking in with reservations. Now, maybe they just called a little in advance or maybe they just take reservations for large parties, but it's certainly worth calling and checking.

P. Channon wrote:The rest of the well known pizza places in the city...Gino's , Unos/Due, Giordano's, etc... are really not great at all

I totally disagree. I've tried them and most of the others and for me these are the best pizza in town, along with Lou Malnati's and Pizano's. Of course, opinions differ, but I think they're great.

P. Channon wrote:and are overpriced tourist traps.

That's simply not true. The prices are the same downtown as their locations in outlying city neighborhoods and in the suburbs, where the customer base is predominantly locals. With one exception (Uno and Due), the only significant difference is that the ones in the area of the hotels downtown have more visitors from out of town as customers than those away from downtown, which should come as no surprise. (Uno and Due are an exception because the pizza is different elsewhere. Only the original locations in River North still use the original recipe, which was due to a promise made when Ike Sewell's widow sold the rights to the company that went on to franchise them across the country as Uno's Chicago Grill.)

I agree about the quality & taste of Uno & Due's in River North. Uno's in the burbs are not even close. They start with a different crust and go down hill from there.
Malnati's deep dish from a outlet in my area is very good, Thin crust has no taste.
Wally Wade

As to the original question, " Where did they select" ??????????
Was it OK??????????

OP here -- Haven't been yet... and still sorting out plans with the other couple -- let's hope everyone agrees to pizza! Regardless, my family WILL be making the trek in the first part of 2011 (and hopefully even in the first quarter) to Burt's!!!

rehorn wrote:OP here -- Haven't been yet... and still sorting out plans with the other couple -- let's hope everyone agrees to pizza! Regardless, my family WILL be making the trek in the first part of 2011 (and hopefully even in the first quarter) to Burt's!!!

Had a friend in town the other day from Philly.. he's a Chi-town-pizza fan, and we had another joining us. We went with Lou Malnati's - half veggie (for the friend), half meat-oriented. We went with sausage-and-giardenara on the meat-half, and it was quite spectacular. Veggie Philly Friend had green-peppers-and-giard on his half, and was quite thrilled with it too.

Deep-dish doesnt get much love on LTH, with neapolitan and thin-crust etc dominating.. but really, if you have a visitor in town, the original Chicago-style Deep Dish at Lou Malnati's is IMHO the best way to go. Its a terrific pizza, and has the additional bonus of being one that is really only available (at that quality) in our fair city. And they take reservations too, I believe

c8w