Al's Pizza - Warrenville, IL.

As a kid growing up in Naperville in the 1970's our go to pizza place was Al's over in Warrenville. Thin crust, tavern style pizza, around since 1959.

Finally made it back to Al's last night after at least a 10 year hiatus. This visit I started out next door @ the Towne Tap for a few drinks. Found out Towne Tap and Al's arer connected through a walkway in the back of the bar. You can get drinks @ the bar and take them to eat pizza, or you can bring the pizza in the bar. Its all good. I stared out with some Jim Beam and High Life, then chatted up the bartender about an Old Fashoned. She said she hadnt made one in a while but knocked out a great one. Cash Only.

We headed over to Al's where you order your pizza at the counter, and grab what pop or water you might need from a cooler. You pay at the end of the meal. We went with a large sausage, mushroom & garlic pizza, well done. Came to about $23 with a couple drinks. Dining room is basic, a handfull of booths & tables.

Pizza took about 30 minutes, and came out charred, and molten hot. Perfect. A well balanced pizza whose flavor intensified as it cooled. I liked the mild sausage and particularly the crust. A solid pizza.



Cash Only:





Large: sausage, mushroom and garlic (well done):





I wont stay away this long again.

Al's Pizza
28w241 Warrenville Road
Warrenville, IL.

Towne Tap
28w247 Warrenville Road
Warrenville, IL.

I love Al's. It was my favorite place when I lived in Warrenville and worked in Naperville. Just went there for lunch a couple of months ago. Sausage and mushroom, well done. Thin, crispy and delicious. Wish I was closer so I could go more often.

Love Al's! Since I moved to Naperville in 2008 we had a hard time finding a pizza worth spending the money on. First read about Al's in another post on this forum about a year ago and have not gotten pizza from anywhere else since. Nice flavorful sauce, good toppings and thin crispy crust. Casual old-school ambiance doesn't hurt.

My mother in law grew up there and still has friends and family there. Everyone raves about the Town Tap and Al's Pizza. Kind of fun to see a thread about the two places. I gotta get down there sometime soon!

Al's is the bomb. It was my go-to pizza place when I lived in that area, albeit 30 years ago. But that pizza in your photo looks exactly like the ones I got back in the day. I need to get back there soon. Jim, did you ever try Pay Joey's in W Chicago? A totally different style pizza (pan), but very good for what it was. Not sure if it is still around.

Cogito wrote:Al's is the bomb. It was my go-to pizza place when I lived in that area, albeit 30 years ago. But that pizza in your photo looks exactly like the ones I got back in the day. I need to get back there soon. Jim, did you ever try Pay Joey's in W Chicago? A totally different style pizza (pan), but very good for what it was. Not sure if it is still around.

Pal joeys was/is on Roosevelt by 59 I think. I do remember having it back in h.s. In the mid 1980's. Not sure if they are still in business though .

jimswside wrote:

Cogito wrote:Al's is the bomb. It was my go-to pizza place when I lived in that area, albeit 30 years ago. But that pizza in your photo looks exactly like the ones I got back in the day. I need to get back there soon. Jim, did you ever try Pay Joey's in W Chicago? A totally different style pizza (pan), but very good for what it was. Not sure if it is still around.

Pal joeys was/is on Roosevelt by 59 I think. I do remember having it back in h.s. In the mid 1980's. Not sure if they are still in business though .

Ever try the pizza from the place (sorry, can't remember the name) next to White Tavern on Ogden in Naperville? I always thought their pizza was pretty good. Like Al's, there was a pass-through into the bar for pizzas.

Cogito wrote:Ever try the pizza from the place (sorry, can't remember the name) next to White Tavern on Ogden in Naperville? I always thought their pizza was pretty good. Like Al's, there was a pass-through into the bar for pizzas.

I did years ago, I think it was called Uncle Steve's. I really like bars that are connected to pizzerias.

Pal Joey's is still around, it moved to new digs about a mile west a few years ago. It's still pretty good. Uncle Steve's is still in Naperville on Ogden Avenue. I've never been there.

Love Al's though. Always gotta get it well done. For some reason, it's one of those pizzas that works really well with hot sauce.

Be careful if you order pizza with anchovies. They don't skimp on the 'chovies.

saps wrote:Pal Joey's is still around, it moved to new digs about a mile west a few years ago. It's still pretty good.

We used to go to Pal Joey's at the old location a lot. Been to the new one a few times now and while the pizza is OK, the service is pretty indifferent.

It's been at least 10 years since I have had pizza at Al's and remember it being pretty good. Centuries ago when I worked for the City of N-ville (1973-1978) we would go to Little Italian. Are they still around?

Al's looks really good. I've lived in the Lisle/Naperville area most of my life, and had not heard of it. Thanks for posting.

FYI, Uncle Steve's now is Cassano's Pizza. I have not had it, but I've heard that it's good.

Little Italian still is in around (at least the one on Bailey is, as far as I know). I think that their pizza is okay, but not great (perhaps it was better back in the day).

I have been to Als but I was not really impressed with the pizza. Maybe my mistake was not getting it well done. I do like the ambience or lack thereof. Its in an odd area kind of hidden from the suburban hustle and bustle and like a throw back to the past. I will try it again.

toria wrote:I have been to Als but I was not really impressed with the pizza. Maybe my mistake was not getting it well done.

Or getting one with pepperoni on it. I really enjoy the sausage pizza from Al's, but with the number and size of fat/grease puddles, their pepperoni pizzas are borderline disgusting. I've never had a pizza anywhere else that is as greasy.

I've had the misfortune of experiencing their pepperoni pizza a couple dozen times in the past 15 years due to an acquaintance loving it. But that acquaintance also has an unhealthy love of all fatty foods, to the point that he's had three heart surgeries in the past 15 years...

I'm actually a fan of the pepperoni pizza. I like the way the pepperoni crisps up when they make it well-done. I will say that if you don't order it well-done with the pepperoni, the oil tends to pool more rather than crisp up the cheese.

The pizza is kind of greasy to begin with, before putting any meat on it, but it still is one of my favorites. If we bring it home, we make a salad with Italian dressing, and sometimes the dressing seeps into the crust (we put them on the same plate). I like it, I'm sure it's not for everyone. I'm a fan of messy food and things melding together, so it works for me.

the wimperoo wrote:I love Al's. It was my favorite place when I lived in Warrenville and worked in Naperville. Just went there for lunch a couple of months ago. Sausage and mushroom, well done. Thin, crispy and delicious. Wish I was closer so I could go more often.

not sure why it took so long for Al's to re-enter my mind, especially with struggling to have a decent meal in Naperville for the past 6 months when we were in town for dinner twice a week every other week.

The impetous for my visit to Al's was a craving for a tavern style pizza after many Quad Cities pizzas lately. Al's hit the mark.

With the above said V & N's Lemont location is easier to get to for me, and my preferred pizza right now.

I like the pizza at Al's, but when I worked in the area, I'd usually eat at Towne Tap. Pretty good home cooked food, with a couple of different specials at lunch.

c10 wrote:I like the pizza at Al's, but when I worked in the area, I'd usually eat at Towne Tap. Pretty good home cooked food, with a couple of different specials at lunch.

definitely had my eye on their lunch items when I have been in for a drink outside of their lunch hours.

Really interested in their Friday Fish Fry which they do at dinner as well as lunch.. 5 - 8:30 p.m. -

Heading to Al's and Town Tap tonight after work, been craving a good pizza for a month or so now.

Spied that they have a website, with a tab for the Town Tap and their lunch and fish fry menu on it.:

http://alspizzainc.com/Home_Page.php

got in last night, Al's was pretty busy. Took our drinks from Town Tap over to Als and ate: Did up a 16" sausage, mushroom and garlic, well done.

one of my top 5 pizza spots:

Al's/ Towne Tap is quickly becoming one of our favorite local haunts. Imo, the tavern pizza here is top tier. Crust: crisp/crunchy all the way through the center pieces. The sausage is fresh and pops with fennel. I'm loyal to the unique caramelized cheese rim at Vito & Nick's, but other than that, I can't say I've had better tavern style than at Al's. And we love the welcoming, warm vibe of the Towne Tap.

Punching back in here to say how truly blessed I feel to have this place in our new 'hood. Pizza is one of those foods, that for us, is about comfort and ease. We might be willing to go out of our way once or twice a year for an exceptional pie, but we tend to find the most convenient, delicious spot and make that our regular.



Warm, locals-only vibes in the bar and the pizza parlor, getting to be on first name status with staff. That pie though. Party cut perfection. Order well done and the crust is impossibly crispy, every single piece. And flavorful to boot, cracker-y, yeasty, seasoned. I love how its irregular edges sometimes curl up around the toppings. Unlike many of this style, no sugar discernible in their sauce, which is brightly tart and also perfectly seasoned. Not a cheese bomb. That perfect Chicago sausage.

As good as Vito & Nick's or Well's Brothers? A contender for sure. A savior for us in our new-found suburban-dining-desert? Hell yeah! My favorite style of pizza right down the street.