Manzo's

As any North Sider would tell you, Manzo's on Irving Park Rd. was well known for its catering, banquets & receptions for many years. And they've been in Des Plaines as well for a long time, but I never gave their adjacent restaurant a thought when deciding where to dine on Italian food.

So I had lunch with a customer last week in their quiet bar area, and found it to be magnificent. Started out with the Italian bread, thin & crusty on the outside, fluffy and piping-hot inside, dipped in olive oil flecked with shaved Reggiano & pepper, while sipping a vibrant Italian merlot. Then we were served a soup I had never heard of, broccoli egg drop. It was an offshoot of stracciatella, the spinach egg drop that I crave at Bruna's in the city. But this had sliced pieces of the broccoli stem in a rich chicken broth, with egg white strands. Just wonderful stuff. The entree was whitefish, prepared Italian-style with lots of garlic and oregano. Isn't it funny that the ones who really know how to cook with garlic can use a ton of it and it still doesn't overpower the entree? That was the case here, with a whitefish fillet that was easily a foot long. It melted in my mouth.

No room for dessert, but had a double espresso for the road, and the thought that I must return soon to try some of the other offerings 'over by Manzo'.


Manzo's Ristorante
1571 S. Elmhurst Rd. (just north of Oakton)
Des Plaines, IL
(847) 593-2233

I haven't been to Manzo's in 15 years.* Now, maybe I have a reason to go back. The fish sounds wonderful. My experience with Manzo's was the Irving Park location, which I remember primarily for the pizza (about which I remember nothing substantive, merely that I ate a lot of it), the atmosphere (Christmas lights, dark wood and naugahyde booths) and the Long Islands so strong that I think my liver is still breaking down the last one. Although I know I dined there many times, I don't really recall much about the food. Sabatino's was my option for a "good" dinner when I lived around there; Manzo's was just the cheaper and less fancy option. Or maybe it was just my ordering that was pedestrian. Anyway, I hope they are turning out as good a meal on Irving as you experienced in Des Plaines; I'll try to check it out soon.

* PIGMON -- Have I broken any posting rules here?

O.K., if I didn't believe in synchronicity before, I do now. After this dialogue, when I came home this evening there was a flier from Manzo's stuck in my front door.

I couldn't believe it, but it was true. What else could I do but order from Manzo's? I did, and what I ordered was a large thin-crust pizza, half sausage, half Italian beef. And it was very good, if not outstanding. And CHEAP. $13.50, with tax and delivery included, for a 16-inch pizza with two ingredients; that's pretty good. The pizza had the following excellent features: traditional Chicago short crust, but tasty and perfectly cooked; sauce a bit salty, but by the same token, not sugary and not over-sauced, either; decent application of cheese and meats, not overloaded (although not applied with a light hand, either).

Had a good time chatting with the hostess/order-taker about my 15-year absence from Manzo's. Was the pizza a revelation? No. But it was good, and I would certainly recommend those in the delivery radius put Manzo's on their pizza rotation lists. I'll try to eat in sometime soon and see how that goes.

Some months ago Manzo's in Des Plaines had an ad in the Sun Times as being owned by the FORMER owners of Manzo's on Irving Park.

ekreider wrote:Some months ago Manzo's in Des Plaines had an ad in the Sun Times as being owned by the FORMER owners of Manzo's on Irving Park.

This may explain why the flier states "Manzo's Fine Italian Cuisine & Gaetano's Catering." I wondered what was going on there. Anybody know anything about Gaetano's? The change in management probably explains the ambitious expansion of the Manzo's Irving Park delivery radius.

Inspired by JimInLoganSquare's positive mention in another threadof the Manzo's pan pizza, I ordered a Spinach and garlic 14 incher for delivery a few days ago. I liked it a lot. The crust is about 2 inches thick, with a crisp bottom and very soft interior. It's a little bland, making me think it could have used a little salt and fat in baking. It tasted just a little too healthy. Cheese is better-than-average quality and used much more sparingly than traditional Chicago pan pizza. Spinach and garlic were both fresh tasting and plentiful. Perhaps the highlight of the experience was the incredibly efficient delivery service. The very friendly driver arrived at my door 25 minutes after I placed my order with the gracious phone-answerer, and the pizza was piping, burn-your-tongue hot.

Note: my post is about the Irving Park location:
3210 W Irving Park Rd
(773) 478-3070

I haven't eaten at Manzo's (Chicago) for a couple of years, but the last time I was there I had the best eggplant parmigiano that I have ever had. I've been wanting to get back for it again, and will soon now that you have reminded me.

Some images of the Manzo's pizza I posted about above, along with (very sadly) my last bottle of Three Floyd's Alpha Klaus:

Based on this thread, I rang up a pie and an order of eggplant parm from Manzo's -- a place I've always wondered about on my way down Irving to the similar-looking Sabatino's.

The pizza was largely as described here. The dough is simply bread dough with little or no shortening. Sauce and other toppings showed modesty and restraint. The person working the oven has a knack for knowing when to take the pie out, as the crust was crisp and crumb fluffy, just cooked through. I think that without a really good and experienced pizza baker, this pie is prone to disaster in the form of either tough, overcooked or gooey, undercooked dough. Kudos for getting this style as right as can be expected. Fans of the NY style of thick pie might enjoy this. In a thick and bready pie, I prefer the short, foccacia-like "bakery pizzas" that have been so well-documented here. But eating that pizza takes some foresight, as bakeries don't tend to be open Sunday nights.

The eggplant. Let's just say my order must have been a one-off mistake. A baba ganouj texture without the smoky flavor, drowning in a syrup-sweet red sauce (that, thank God, was not used on the pie). Portion was large.

To end on a positive note, the free soup, a "straciatella" substituting broccoli for spinach worked well.

I dunno whether to apologize or thank you. The time I ate there it was with a large group of Italians who also shared my opinion, so I only hope you caught them on an off-day.

Had a craving for thin crust sausage pizza last night and decided to skip my usual call to Apart Pizza and go for the greasy greatness of Marie's. At the corner of Lawrence and Kedzie this thread came to mind and I headed south to Manzo's. Good call...this is one very decent pie.Nice thin crunchy crust, well seasoned sauce along with just the right amount of sausage and cheese.
The west of Western Av. rule applies at Manzo's as well, A 16 inch sausage was $12.83 out the door with a quart of RC Cola !!

JeffB wrote:drowning in a syrup-sweet red sauce (that, thank God, was not used on the pie).

JSM wrote:well seasoned sauce [on the pizza]

Yes, there's a definite inconsistency between the quality of the pizza and the pasta and other sauced dishes at Manzo's. The pizza reflects a judiciously seasoned sauce and light hand on toppings noted by several posters above; the pasta and other dishes are pretty well ruined (to my taste) by an extremely sweet "tomato jelly" red sauce. But the pizza was always why anybody I knew went to Manzo's back in the early '90s, when I was first a regular customer. That pizza, plus the extremely potent Long Island Iced Teas were the main draw (and acknowledging that all LI Iced Teas are by nature strong, these were strong "within class"). The low, low "west of Western" prices didn't hurt, either. But an observation on that "west of Western" rule of thumb; keep in mind Manzo's is just around the corner from Arun's, so there are notable exceptions - don't get suckered.

Cogito wrote:I dunno whether to apologize or thank you. The time I ate there it was with a large group of Italians who also shared my opinion, so I only hope you caught them on an off-day.

Well, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. We've got a two night sample, which ain't much, but I didn't bring up the eggplant. I ordered it, and now report back.

Also, regarding the amici curie Italiani for the defense of melanzane, the Italian American I consulted on this issue thought it was pretty bad. I trust him on most such issues. Got to stop referring to JeffB in the third person...

The pizza, I should have stated, was good. Did I mention the soup?

JimInLoganSquare wrote:The low, low "west of Western" prices didn't hurt, either. But an observation on that "west of Western" rule of thumb; keep in mind Manzo's is just around the corner from Arun's, so there are notable exceptions - don't get suckered.

My "west of Western" rule is pizza-specific. Arun's however, falls under the most expensive "west of Bangkok" rule.

After reading the positive things in this thread I ordered a large thin crust for delivery last night. Pizza with 4 toppings came to about $23 with delivery. The pizza was well done to order and the topping ration was good. A little over sauced, but many would probably disagree.

I have lived in the area off and on over the years and this was my first time ordering. The late Cafe Pranzo was always my go to in the past. Very happy to find a new pizza delivery to the rotation.

Cheers,

Decided to try ordering from Manzo's instead of my usual go to Italian delivery place. Husband got a chicken parmesan, I ordered lasagna (we ordered side salads with the pastas for a $1.50 up-charge) and we also ordered a 10 inch thin crust pizza with mushrooms to sample for a total of $44.00 with delivery.

I wish I'd looked here before ordering as the red sauce was exactly as has been described in this thread - impossibly sweet and thick. It was so unpleasant that one bite was all that I could handle. Husband echoed the same sentiment about his chicken parm and wound up scraping off the sauce and a really impossible amount of cheese to eat part of it before admitting he couldn't finish it. Our salads were small containers of pre-washed iceburg mix with one wilted spinach leaf and a wedge of winter tomato tossed in, not even remotely worth the up-charge. Both salad dressings were found to be as overwhelmingly sweet as the sauce and were promptly tossed along with the rest of our pasta. I never, ever throw food out, but it really was inedible.

The pizza itself was just fine, lightly sauced (it did not seem to be the same sauce they used on the pasta), fresh mushrooms, and a pretty good crust. If I lived closer I'd probably order their pizza again, it was definitely the highlight of the meal, but I don't think I'd go out of my way for it again. That being said, based on other comments on this thread, I think pizza is the way to go here.