Thin crust in Lakeview?

There's plenty of good deep dish options in the area, but I'm looking to get a big stack of thin crust pizzas for the Super Bowl. I've had Chicago's, and I'd prefer not to ever again. Pete's on Western is within range and probably a good option, but I'd like to know if anyone has any other reliable thin crust standbys in Lakeview...

I like:

La Gondola Restaurant
2914 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 248-4433

I second La Gondola, or would try Art of Pizza.

Art of Pizza
3033 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 327-5600

When I lived at Lincoln and George, I always liked Pat's Pizza.

Pat's Pizza
2679 N. Lincoln
773-248-0168
http://www.patspizza.info/

I live just around the corner from it and just tried it for the first time a few weeks ago: Pie Hole. Sure, the menu is pure Boystown kitsch, but the pizza was really good (I had the "Angry Pesto" with sun-dried tomato pesto, sausage, mushrooms, goat and mozzarella cheeses).

Pie Hole Pizza
737 W Rosoce
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 525-8888
www.pieholepizzajoint.com

Would I prefer Coal Fire? Well, sure; I wake up in the morning craving Coal Fire, but Pie Hole is really convenient, delivers, and is a really good thin-crust pizza.

-Dan

deesher wrote:When I lived at Lincoln and George, I always liked Pat's Pizza.

Pat's Pizza
2679 N. Lincoln
773-248-0168
http://www.patspizza.info/

I've heard lots of good things about Pat's -- maybe I'll give that a try this time.

Their website claims "best thin crust pizza in Chicago" from 1992. At least I'll know where to go when I get this time machine working.

dansch wrote:I live just around the corner from it and just tried it for the first time a few weeks ago: Pie Hole. Sure, the menu is pure Boystown kitsch, but the pizza was really good (I had the "Angry Pesto" with sun-dried tomato pesto, sausage, mushrooms, goat and mozzarella cheeses).

Pie Hole Pizza
737 W Rosoce
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 525-8888
http://www.pieholepizzajoint.com

Would I prefer Coal Fire? Well, sure; I wake up in the morning craving Coal Fire, but Pie Hole is really convenient, delivers, and is a really good thin-crust pizza.

-Dan

I second this recommendation. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the pizza.

i'm another big fan of Pat's pizza. i've only ever ordered from the sheffield location (oh--it appears they've moved.) and d'agostino's on addison at southport makes a darn good thin crust as well.

d'agostino's pizza & pub
1351 W. Addison
Chicago, IL 60657
Phone: 773-477-1822

we've been enjoying ian's pizza on clark. i believe they are a madison-based chain. they have a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional toppings. crust is nicely cooked, a bit of chew to it. the toppings i've tried have all been top quality--the fresh calamata olives, roasted red bell peppers, artichoke hearts. they've recently started delivering as well, though we've only ever eaten in-house.

i read in the redeye that they were having a special superbowl pizza with beef and bbq sauce, though i can't recall the other ingredients. their prices are reasonable as well.

the one thing that i have to mention about them is that the owner couldn't be nicer. he remembered my son on only our second visit, always greets everyone happily, and gave him a brownie on the house after hearing he had a good report card. i always feel like these guys are working hard for their business.

ian's pizza
3463 n. clark st.
chicago 60614
773-525-4580
http://www.ianspizza.com

It might have been a "one-off," but the last time I got delivery from Pat's, the result tasted like a salt pizza with extra salt. I am sure I will give them another chance, but there's a reason why the last pizza I got from them is still, as of now, the last pizza I got from them.

I like D'Agostino's, with certain caveats.

Mainly that the sauce is sweet and the whole pizza tends to the bland side. I usually correct this by ordering something that has its own spice to it, like pepperoni. That said, the crackery crust itself is quite good.

One I was disappointed by recently was Fornello. The sauce was also bland here, but here you had to chew through a bready thin crust and way too much cheese to realize it. D'Agostino's is a far more balanced pie.

D'Agostino's
1351 W. Addison
Chicago, IL, 60657
Phone: (773) 477-1822

Pat's is one of the best tavern style, cracker thin pizzas in Lakeview for sure. I don't get to have it often, but it's always great.

I agree completely with Mike G's comment on D'Agostino's. If a sweet sauce is your thing, you'll probably love it. I believe they are Dennis Farina's favorite pizza in Chicago.

This might be a bit over the top, but it's fun to do if you can - order from more than one place and do a taste test. I once did that with my family, we got 4 pizzas from one place, and 4 from another. It was a lot of fun comparing the two restaurants. It might be harder to do during the Super Bowl, but for a future idea it's a lot of fun (and something I need to do again!).

dansch wrote:I live just around the corner from it and just tried it for the first time a few weeks ago: Pie Hole. Sure, the menu is pure Boystown kitsch, but the pizza was really good (I had the "Angry Pesto" with sun-dried tomato pesto, sausage, mushrooms, goat and mozzarella cheeses).

My own post left me with a craving for another "Angry Pesto" pizza. I ordered one last night around 10pm and it was fantastic - good chewy crust, liberal but not excessive scattering of toppings, nice heat from the spicy pesto, and a pleasant balance of goat and mozzarella cheeses. Yum.

-Dan

This may be too far north for you, but I enjoy the pizza from Villa May. (Really, my favorite is D'ags but I think Villa May is good in an 'old school' way.) YMMV, especially when it comes to pizza in this town!!!

Villa May Pizza
1509 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 878-0882

I went with Pat's Pizza and was really disappointed. Limp, soggy crust with none of the expected "cracker" crispiness, bland sauce and cheese. I ordered four pizzas -- one sausage, one pepperoni, one special, one veggie -- and all were about the same. Their staff was nice and friendly when I picked up the pizzas, offering me a bottle of wine for the large order and having the pizzas ready right on time. Despite the nice experience, the pizza was so subpar that I can't imagine ordering from them again, especially with so many other options nearby.

I was going to make soup. It didn't happen. It wasn't going to happen.

But I couldn't stand the idea of the same three pizza places, even though I like them fine. I needed novelty. I needed somewhere new to order from.

The only LTH thread about Panino's relates to catering... in Evanston. That is, I think, exactly what this pizza was made for. It's well made, a flaky cracker crust, good enough quality ingredients... and nothing stood out. Nothing would scare Aunt Marge with unwelcome flavorfulness at the family get-together. I think I had pizza. There's an empty box, I must have. But I have only a slight memory of tomatoes, cheese, sausage.

Would I start a flame war if I said something like "The taste of the suburbs, now available in Chicago?" Probably. It would be unfair, I'm sure there will be many catering occasions for a pizza like this in Lakeview, too.

Panino's
3702 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 472-6200
http://www.paninospizzeria.com/

Has Pie Hole closed?

They are apparently in the process of moving up by the Treasure Island on Broadway. For now, they're closed.

YourPalWill wrote:Has Pie Hole closed?

Indeed it has. I know not the circumstances -- just that when we walked by a couple of months ago, it was gone. Cocktail appears to have expanded into the space.

BUT "when one hole closes, another one opens" -- looks like they'll be reopening (very soon) at Broadway and Cornelia:

"Formerly located in the heart of Boystown, Pie Hole used to offer contemporary pizza in a charming atmosphere with stunning views of the 7-11 parking lot. Now we offer stunning views of the Treasure Island parking lot on Broadway and Cornelia!"

http://pieholepizzajoint.com/

Pie Hole Pizza
3477 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657

Pie Hole opened at the new location this weekend... (despite complaints from a few neighborhood associations -- http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4 ... =fbx_album and even specific private condo boards complaining, a last minute stop work order on the space, etc)

as far as the old location, it was speculated prior to it happening that Cocktail would be opening more of an upscale strip club in that space. ironic, considering that when Pie Hole closed people apparently were glad because they said Pie Hole attracted an unsavory crowd. I never saw such issues, who knew...

as another option for thin crust, Mista Pizza is great. local/organic and very tasty. I find it doesn't really fill me up though.

Mista Pizza
2929 N Broadway
http://www.mistapizza.com/

(there's a location in Andersonville as well at 5351 n clark... owner was talking about opening a downtown location but i don't know the status of that)

Mista is good, but the crust is cracker thin and so it makes a much better lunch pizza, in my opinion.

Darren72 wrote:Mista is good, but the crust is cracker thin and so it makes a much better lunch pizza, in my opinion.

Agreed. It's practically a matzo pizza.

Mike G wrote:The only LTH thread about Panino's relates to catering... in Evanston. That is, I think, exactly what this pizza was made for. It's well made, a flaky cracker crust, good enough quality ingredients... and nothing stood out. Nothing would scare Aunt Marge with unwelcome flavorfulness at the family get-together. I think I had pizza. There's an empty box, I must have. But I have only a slight memory of tomatoes, cheese, sausage.

Would I start a flame war if I said something like "The taste of the suburbs, now available in Chicago?" Probably. It would be unfair, I'm sure there will be many catering occasions for a pizza like this in Lakeview, too.

Panino's
3702 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 472-6200
http://www.paninospizzeria.com/

I never knew there was a different side to Panino's, and quite literally. On occasion, I have had slices of the Panino's pizza described above. But did you know that Panino's has an upscale, sit-down side, with outdoor dining in nice weather? I didn't! You enter on Waveland (between Halsted and Broadway), not from the inside of the shopping mall where you go for take out.

And you also may not have known that you can get Neapolitan pizza at Panino's. But we were first started off with some really outstanding house made bread, two types to be exact. This was pretty good foreshadowing of the pizza crust to be served. As it turned out, these were very respectable versions of Neapolitan pizza. Crust was very good, albeit not the best I've had (my two favorites right now might be at Great Lake and Lazza in Norridge). And sauce skews just a little sweet for my liking. But still a very good pie, nicely topped, and cooked for just a couple of minutes at very high temperature.

Dining room was largely empty at 9pm on a Saturday night, which suggests to me that people in Lakeview either don't know about this side of Panino's (possible), or that the vast majority would be perfectly happy with crap pizza (also possible). I'm hoping the answer is more the first, and that you'll now know that you can get some pretty damn good Pizza at Panino's. I'd still go out of my way for other places, but Lakeview residents, Panino's should now be on your radar. And you'll be happy to know that they also feature a very friendly and attentive staff.

Having lived in the neighborhood for a couple of years and being a pizza fanatic, I would rank things in the following order:

1) La Gondola (Ashland; their Belmont location is distinctly sub-par in comparison) – The best Chicago-style thin-crust in the neighborhood.

2) Dimo's (formerly Ian's) – Same owner, same kind service, same free pepperoni, same almost New York-style pizza with a deliciously sweet sauce and tons or weird topping blends.

3) Art of Pizza – Mainly known for their great stuffed pizza, their thin crust is also quite good.

4) Cafe Luigi – Formerly the best NYC-style pizza in Chicago, they've now been eclipsed by several other places (i.e. Armitage Pizzeria, in Lincoln Park and no delivery but by far the best East Coast pizza place in Chicagoland). Their best is still great, but it's not often that they serve that up. Even their bad nights are still quite tasty, though.

5) Pat's Pizza (also a Lincoln Park spot) – This might be controversial, but I've never understood the love this place gets. I heard from many people when I moved here that this was THE spot for Chicago thin-crust on the north side. Not a fan. It's not bad, it's just mediocre.

6) D'Agostino's – Really solid. Perfect for delivery when you've come home trashed from watching football at the bar and you're too tired to make something.

7) Mista – Hate, hate, hate this place. Crust is a joke as matzoh is tastier and has more flavor than their crust. Claims to have high quality ingredients, but "fresh" mozzarella does not make a good pizza if it's of poor quality. I'd take an aged low-moisture mozz over whatever Mista uses any day of the week. They don't really have a "sauce" so to speak, they seem to just marinate their tomatoes in some balsamic-based concoction. I know I'm an outlier here, but I can't figure out what is good about this place.

Never had Pie Hole or Panino's.

I think you have to include Pizzeria Serio in this list.

jordanhojo wrote:I think you have to include Pizzeria Serio in this list.

Have never tried it, somehow. Care to describe?

jordanhojo wrote:I think you have to include Pizzeria Serio in this list.

Serio is a cross between Neapolitan and NY style. They have a wood-oven-styled gas pizza oven so the crust gets very crisp, toppings are light. The end product is a smaller NY-style-esque slice. It's in our regular rotation.

Hey itshissong,

Since you seem to be such a fan of the NYC style offerings in the area, I wonder if you have ever been to GNR Winner Jimmy's Pizza Cafe. From what I hear, he's nailing the NYC style and even I, a devout Chicago thin crust fan, enjoy his slices.

Jimmy's Pizza Cafe
5159 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 293-6992

jordanhojo wrote:I think you have to include Pizzeria Serio in this list.

For those (like me) who hadn't heard of Pizzeria Serio:

Pizzeria Serio
1708 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
773-525-0600
http://www.pizzeriaserio.com/

LTH thread: http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=28432

stevez wrote:Hey itshissong,

Since you seem to be such a fan of the NYC style offerings in the area, I wonder if you have ever been to GNR Winner Jimmy's Pizza Cafe. From what I hear, he's nailing the NYC style and even I, a devout Chicago thin crust fan, enjoy his slices.

Jimmy's Pizza Cafe
5159 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 293-6992

Definitely a big Jimmy's fan. Been going since a couple of months since it opened. Definitely very good. Not as good as Armitage Pizzeria, imo, but a decent case could be made. I just wish it were closer to where I live. I mostly get takeout when I pick up my wife up in Evanston on a Friday.