kdiener wrote:glfball wrote: Just curious - what other pizzerias in Glenview do you like? We are very frustrated by the lack of a good pizza and beer joint in Glenview. I consider the pizza places in Glenview-proper to be shameful. I like Viccino's, but you can't sit down and have a drink.

Good news...Salerno's soon to be opening in The Glen. Have you tried Mama's or D'agostino's? I haven't so I can't comment, but I've heard that both are solid.

Tony_Spilotro wrote:

kdiener wrote:glfball wrote: Just curious - what other pizzerias in Glenview do you like? We are very frustrated by the lack of a good pizza and beer joint in Glenview. I consider the pizza places in Glenview-proper to be shameful. I like Viccino's, but you can't sit down and have a drink.

Good news...Salerno's soon to be opening in The Glen. Have you tried Mama's or D'agostino's? I haven't so I can't comment, but I've heard that both are solid.

Thank goodnes for Salerno's. It's great. Pizano's crust is too buttery, too greasy (not the good cheese grease kind of way) and too crunchy.

Tony_Spilotro wrote:Good news...Salerno's soon to be opening in The Glen. Have you tried Mama's or D'agostino's? I haven't so I can't comment, but I've heard that both are solid.

Had a sandwich at Mama's once, and am not a fan of D'Agostino's. Glad to hear about Salerno's, even though I don't know them. Do you know where specifically, or when?

(Blargh! Thanks nsxtasy, but I am apparently still challenged by quotes).

kdiener wrote:(Blargh! Thanks nsxtasy, but I am apparently still challenged by quotes).

Your post looks exactly the way it should to display a quote properly.

I bet the problem is that you have HTML and/or BBCode disabled in your post. You don't need to know what these features are, but you need to enable them in your post. Under your post, you will see "Options" and these are among them. HTML and BBCode need to be ON. You can edit your post to change these options.

In your profile, you can also set the default so that HTML and BBCode always start out as on (or always off) when you create a post. You can change the defaults in your profile by clicking on "Profile" at the top of the screen (where it says "FAQ - Search - Usergroups - Profile - ...").

But is there a code we can enable to see pictures of the bartender?

nsxtasy wrote:I bet the problem is that you have HTML and/or BBCode disabled in your post. You don't need to know what these features are, but you need to enable them in your post. Under your post, you will see "Options" and these are among them. HTML and BBCode need to be ON. You can edit your post to change these options.

In your profile, you can also set the default so that HTML and BBCode always start out as on (or always off) when you create a post. You can change the defaults in your profile by clicking on "Profile" at the top of the screen (where it says "FAQ - Search - Usergroups - Profile - ...").

nsxtasy gets the brass ring. I looked into kdiener's post to find the BBC code disabled. It is now activated, which allowed the correctly tagged quotes to now function. A permanent resolution can be made by adjusting your profile as nsxtasy advised.

Regards,

Santander wrote:But is there a code we can enable to see pictures of the bartender?

I go with the guys from my office for lunch at least once a week. I'll see what I can do about snapping a photo (with permission of course)

Ahhh... Something about beautiful women pouring me drinks.

We visited Pizanos' pizza in glenview last night, but this time we went
early arriving at 6 p.m. I must say everything was great, we tried the
thin crust sausage/mushroom pizza & it was great. And yes my favorite
bartender is still the hottest on the North Shore.

I'm not going to get into the "best" pizza debate that runs rampant throughout the LTHForum. It's too subjective and everyone has their favorite. But I'd like to comment on our Pizano's experience and the Malnati connection as I know it.
My wife and I decided to try Pizano's in Glenview last night. We had enjoyed lunch at their State St. store last Spring and had waited for the Glenview store to open. We arrived at around 6 pm and our car was parked by a complementary valet service. We were seated immediately and the restaurant was not very crowded. We had tried their tortellini soup last Spring and ordered that for a start and a medium "Rudy's" pizza (thin crust) for the main course.
If you've never had their tortellini soup, you should. Besides the homemade tortellini, the soup is loaded with celery and lots of Italian seasonings. Truly a delight on a cold winter night.
The pizza was very good and that's the only comment I'll make based to my comments above.
When we left, I asked to talk to Rudy, but he was chatting with Jack Brickhouse's wife, Pat, and we didn't want to wait too long.
I talked to the Operations Manager, George, who gave me some background.
The Glenview store opened about one week before the New Year. He claims that the reason it took so long to open was that they had problems with the Village of Glenview. He didn't elaborate and I didn't ask. There website shows that the Glenview store is "coming soon." Obviously someone needs to update that link.
Indeed, Rudy Malnati Jr. is the son of Rudy, Sr. and Lou Malnati's brother. I mentioned that my IIT (Chicago) fraternity brothers and I used to frequent Uno's often during the mid-1950s and got to know Rudy Sr. fairly well. As far as I know, Rudy Sr. managed Uno's for Ike Swell. I don't know if he had a financial interest in the original Uno's He brought Lou into the business to train him for the planned opening of Due's. My fraternity brothers and I were at Due's the night it opened in 1955. Here's a link to the history of Uno's: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 1712.story
I seem to recall an article several years ago about the difference between Uno's and Due's pizza. Same equipment and the Uno's cook trained her niece to be the original Due's cook. Yet the two pizzas are decidedly different. My guess is that when the dough is proofing, different molds from the air at different locations affect the dough and result in different crust textures, flavors, etc.
Back to Pizano's: George indeed confirmed that Rudy Jr's 80+ year old Mom makes the dough for all their pasta. Based on knowing restaurant owners and managers over the years, I wonder how true that statement actually is.
One other point about the high cost of pizzas and pasta that was made somewhere else -- The price of pasta at my local supermarket has doubled over the last year due to wheat shortages and wholesale wheat price increases. So the restaurant business must be having a really tough time in keeping their pricing competitive. Like everything else (gas, beef, etc.), the costs are always passed along to the consumer. That means a doubling of food costs will either affect profits or cause a similar increase in the selling price. Like everyone in business, the selling price must be consistent with cost increases.
The service was okay even though our waiter brought us the wrong tab. I wonder how often people have charged an incorrect tab to their charge card.
Best regards,
GP Bob

Pizano's Pizza and Pasta
1808 Waukegan Rd
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 486-1777

Grandpa Bob wrote:I seem to recall an article several years ago about the difference between Uno's and Due's pizza. Same equipment and the Uno's cook trained her niece to be the original Due's cook. Yet the two pizzas are decidedly different.

In what way do you find them different? I've never found that to be the case (unless you're comparing Due's to one of the franchised Uno's in other places).

Steve,
I'm comparing Due's with the original Uno's. There seemed to have been some subtle differences a long time ago. I've tried doing a Google search to see if I can find any reference to the article which I think I saw in the Chicago Tribune several years ago.
Ta-da! I just did a Tribune archive search through my local library web interface. I found an article from the Tempo section published on July 20, 1982 entitled "Cooking up Chicago's premium pizza." The article is credited to Phila (sic) Vettel. The two lady cooks featured had been cooking at Uno's and Due's for 32 and 25 years. The article talks about them essentially making the pizza by glopping some oil in the pan followed by a hand full of dough. That made it quite difficult to standardize the pizza-making when they started franchising.
The General Manager of both pizzerias at the time, Janice Smich, is quoted in the article. "There[i]is[/i] a difference between the two pizzas. I can tell it, and I'm sure a lot of our customers can - but they're pretty evenly split which one is better. I'm not sure why there's a difference. Each has her own way of doing it, so maybe that's it. It could be even the dough mixers. Uno's has been the original mixer we used; Due's uses a brand new Hobart. Just that could be the difference."
So for a 72-year-old codger, my long-term memory ain't too bad, wouldn't you say?
Best GP Bob

Grandpa Bob wrote:So for a 72-year-old codger, my long-term memory ain't too bad, wouldn't you say?
Best GP Bob

Yes. But the question remains. What differences have you found between the two places. As a lifelong customer with what some may say is a discerning palate, I've never found a difference. That's why I'm curious about your personal experience.

It's not like I did a taste test comparison back then. It would have been quite difficult to get both places to have the pizzas ready at exactly the same time. And I don't think that in those days there was as much interest in food as there is now. (e.g. this forum and other and the Food Network and the cookbook glut, etc.) so no one did a story comparing the two as I recall.
But to answer your question -- If I remember, I thought that the Uno's crust was a bit crisper than Due's and Due's was a bit chewier. Obviously, it wasn't a major difference, but probably one that was just too tough to pinpoint.
And in the entire scheme of things and not to appear rude, does it really matter?
Best regards,
GP Bob

Grandpa Bob wrote:And in the entire scheme of things and not to appear rude, does it really matter?
Best regards,
GP Bob

It only matters in the sense that if there is some actual difference and I haven't ever noticed it, I'd like to know what I was missing.

Tried the Madison St. location (in a very limited way) last night.
I'm not enough of a pizza expert to know how to define the crust, but I liked it. It was thicker than standard thin, but not by too much. and it had a definite ridge around the perimeter. The main thing about it was that it had a crunch almost as if it had been fried. Not a crunch like toasted dough, a crunch like fried fat. And I mean that in a good way.
Wife and son ordered before I arrived, so I didn't really see any of menu copy that might provide more detail. It was a plain cheese pie. I thought the cheese-to-sauce ratio was about right. The sauce was a nice fresh (not overcooked) color, but could have used a bit of seasoning. Cheese was browned on top almost suspiciously picture perfect. An order of fries had disappeared before my arrival, but we well spoken of.
I ordered a bowl of minestrone in their baked version (a la French onion, with a large crouton and melted cheese.) While the cheese was said to be a combination of romano and mozz., it was still bland and didn't really add anything. And the crouton was completely waterlogged, so it failed to add the bit of crunch that a good toasted crouton adds to soup.
The soup itself was full of bright, fresh looking veggies and beans. The broth had a homemade look about it (by which I mean clear and thin rather than corn syrupy). What stunned me was what seemed an absolutely overwhelming use of both salt and pepper. While the pepper wasn't visible, my throat actually closed as the first sip went down. I kept sipping away at it and wondering if I was really tasting what I thought I was tasting, because it's not the kind of place to go out on a limb with seasoning. But my wife also pronounced it distinctly fiery. I ate it and didn't pursue the issue, but I continue to wonder if it was a mistake or just the way they do it.
We were seated outside. And the sidewalk tables were quite full. Service was very friendly and accomodating with appropriate busing and waiter follow-up---something I always worry about when one chooses to sit outside. Not a destination spot, but given limted options right there around Wabash, a very reasonable choice if you're downtown, especially with some kids. A bit pricey, but not outrageous.

Grandpa Bob, I really enjoyed your recollections and story about Uno's and Due's. I started going there about 1961 and noted, too, that there seemed to be a little difference between the two pizzerias. I don't think that's the case today, but back then there seemed to be a difference in taste and texture. Sometimes I had a preference for Uno's, but on another day I had a preference for Due's. Oh, those were the days. Their pizzas have changed tremendously since then, but still among the best.

I've tried Pizano's at both the downtown and State Street locations and was very surprised to see how "thin" their deep dish pizza actually was. It was very good, but I would still prefer Lou Malnati's or Uno's/Due's in the end.

I had been waiting a long time for Pizano's to open in Glenview after hearing a lot of hype for it. For some reason, I just never had time to go try it downtown. When it finally opened, I ordered both a thin and a deep dish to compare to Lou Malnati's, which I assumed would be similar with Rudy Jr the owner. The decor certainly felt like a Malnati's. The thin was very much like Lou's thin, but a little better. The deep dish on the other hand was not as good as Lou's. It was still very good, but not excellent. I also tried Pizano's on State St last month and had a thin pizza there. It was really good, on par with Glenview. That being said, Pizano's has a unique thin pizza that is a little different than your typical pizza and I don't usually crave it. On the other hand, I seem to crave a great deep dish like Lou's every week and never tire of it. I still give Pizano's a thumbs up, but it's not in my top 10.

Now I have to check out this Salerno's you mentioned...

I have to say that take-out is really no way to judge anything that isn't served cold to begin with. The problem is the solidifying of fats, condesation, saturation of food moisture into the crust, etc.

I have been there and am a big fan of the sausage pizza - it is made in the restaurant, which is all to uncommon these days. Go in and give it a shot - I think there is a free pitcher of beer with a pizza on Wednesdays???

I will say the thin crust is better, but when the not-so-thick crust is right, you can hold it out like a slice without it collasping and spilling the toppings.

I still prefer Pizza DOC over any other in the area - they have the real idea...they make their dough with aqua panna, not tap water and old baker's yeast. The oven temp and make-up of the stone is also a big part of it, not to mention firing the hearth with wood mmmmmmmmmm !

After several positive carry-out experiences, last week we decided to stop in for lunch at the Glenview Pizano's, so we could finally experience their pizza on-premises. Our carry-out pizzas had been very consistent and surprisingly good, and I wondered how much better they might be straight out of the oven. I'm glad that we tried it out because I thought the pizza was excellent . . .


Actually, I probably could have used a car wash more than a pizza



Pizano's Pizza and Pasta is located at 1808 N Waukegan Rd in Glenview (corner of Waukegan and Chestnut, across the street from fRedhots)



Cheesy Garlic Bread
We started out with Cheesy Garlic bread, which had nice flavor. That said, I wish it had been a bit more browned. This item ended up being comped because our waiter told us that it had taken longer than it should have to reach the table. We told him that wasn't necessary because we'd eaten it anyway but the house insisted. Very nice of them and again, not something we would have even thought to ask for.



Caesar Salad
Nice, no-frills salad that was comprised completely of fresh lettuce that was in good condition. I mention this because so many north-suburban pizza places serve salads that look like they came out of the dumpster. This was definitely not the case at Pizano's.



Meatball Sandwich
Decent meatballs and sauce served on outstanding bread, which had a nice, crisp shell and was tender and yeasty inside. It was somewhat evident (and later confirmed) that the restaurant was experiencing a bit of holiday-season staff absenteeism and I think this is where it manifested. The sandwich was piping hot but the fries, which had nice flavor, were pretty cold.



Large, thin-crust Pizza
We ordered our pie with sausage on the entire thing and pepperoni and onion on half. As I mentioned above, I thought the pizza was excellent. At our previous carry-out experiences, I was struck by how well the crust held up, even after being boxed up and transported. Eating in-house, the crust was stellar. It was short, dense, extremely crispy and flavorful.



A bit of caramelization on the egde of the pizza



Side view



Bottom view
You can get an idea of how well the crust was cooked here -- not only because of the color and texture -- but also via the fact that I was able to stand this piece up on its edge without it flopping over.



Egg Nog Ice Cream from Homer's
Pizano's serves Homer's ice creams and while my last couple of trips to Homer's were not so positive, this ice cream was great. It was very dense (not fluffy like my last tastes at Homer's) and the flavor was intense. I will definitely pick some of this up next year to serve at my family's Christmas dinner. This was also comped by the house as an additional, completely unecessary apology about the delay on the cheesy garlic bread.

I like the space a lot. It's funny because Pizano's reminded me of Malnati's/Lincolnwood (perhaps not unintentionally), with sports-themed and Chicago iconography all over the walls. However, Pizano's is brighter, more cheery and it feels very clean. On my last few trips to Malnati's flagship, I've felt like the place was dingy and in great need of an updating/deep clean. And speaking of Malnati's, I think Pizano's thin-crust pizza surpasses theirs. I do like Malnati's sausage slightly better (a matter of personal taste) but the cheese at Pizano's tasted much richer to me and the crust itself was superior to Malnati's. Overall, I prefer Pizano's thin-crust pizza to Malnati's, which -- being big fan of Malnati's for the last 3 decades -- is no small thing.

I look forward to returing to Pizano's to try their deep-dish pizza and some of their other items. Some posters upthread mentioned the bar, which runs the entire length of the main dining room and looks very inviting. I could see grabbing a drink and a bite at the bar, just as easily as sitting at a table. Pizano's is not super near my house but it's close enough that it would be a reasonable destination on a weeknight, too. But even if it's just for carry-out, I will definitely continue to hit Pizano's on a regular basis.

=R=

Pizano's Pizza and Pasta
1808 N Waukegan Rd
Glenview, IL 60025
847 486-1777

Try the tortellini soup next time, Ronnie. It's great on a cold winter's night. Actually it's great any time.
Regards,
Grandpa Bob

pizano's is hands down my favorite pizza in chicago. we usually go to the one on north state. it is destination dining for us.

How crowded does it get during the weekday lunch rush?

Went to Pizano's Glenview for lunch today. Alas, the pizza wasn't nearly as good as my experience with the city locations. I've had the best luck with the State Street location.

Our pizza was quite undercooked. The underside wasn't as colored as in Ronnie's picture above. Also, I think the pizza suffered because it was a veggie pizza and thus on the damp side (93 year old grandma doesn't eat meat on pizza). Just by looking at it, I knew the pizza wasn't going to be great and would have sent it back had I not been with hungry and time constrained company.

Next time, I'll be ordering well done.

Ronna

We typically order thin crust at Pizano's, but the other night our son ordered a deep dish cheese and sausage for delivery, specifically asking that it be cooked well done.

Absolutely perfect. It tasted to me like Uno from 30+ years ago, when it was really great.

Had lunch at the Glenview Pizano's the day Farrah and MJ died (was all over the TV screens). It was pretty awful. Pizza didn't have NEARLY the amount of sausage as seen in Ronnie's pictures. The minestrone soup ordered by my mom was awful, she sent it back. I would not return.

Hi,

Stopped in for dinner at Pizano's with my folks. We ordered their Rudy's Special thin crust pizza consisting of cheese, sausage, mushroom, onion and green pepper.

While waiting for dinner, we asked for bread and butter priced at $2.50 on the menu. This was pretty good bread with a very nice crust. If this was made in house, we had great expectations for the our pizza.

We dug into the pizza once it arrived. We took one bite, then each of us went looking for additional seasoning. From crust to toppings, the pizza lacked enough salt. We used salt initially until we caught a waiter's attention to bring some parmesan cheese. Typically, we eat pizza as-is with no additions of salt, cheese, oregano or chilis. Perhaps if we were in the habit of doctoring our pizza, it would not be apparent.

My Dad quibbled about the toppings being scant. I didn't think it was as bad as he thought. I told him there is a delicate balance to keeping a thin crust pizza crunchy. If you go top heavy on the cheese, meat and all, then you risk having a soggy crust.

I was glad to finally try Pizano's to satisfy my curiosity. It seemed to be a multi-generational gathering place and family friendly. It certainly seemed well supported by its community.

I did check the bill to learn we were not charged $2.50 for their bread service.

Regards,

Stopped in at the 864 N. State location a few days ago and found the pizza to be quite serviceable. Oddly, I kept getting a honey taste from the crust (unconfirmed by fellow diner MikeG), but that's not a bad thing.

David Hammond wrote:Stopped in at the 864 N. State location a few days ago and found the pizza to be quite serviceable. Oddly, I kept getting a honey taste from the crust (unconfirmed by fellow diner MikeG), but that's not a bad thing.

Forced to accompany my 15 yeard old cousin to go shopping on black friday (plenty of pharmeceuticals and spotify on my Ipod kept me from going insane), we retreated to State street after a few hours of capitalist frenzy to get a deep-dish at Pizanos. I love their pie, even more than Malnati's. The crust is dense and flavorful, without being overwhelmingly greasy or buttery. Garlic and Chi-style sassich (why can't we get this in NY?) were the toppings, and the whole thing was great, if helluva gut-bomb. Not for everyday eating certainly, but once or twice a year, nothing beats a deep-dish pizza.

Habibi wrote:I love their pie, even more than Malnati's.

That is quite a statement my friend. I pretty much exclusively eat deep dish at this point, I will have to give this a try. Also Black Friday is for jerks, tell your cousin it's another reason why the terrorists hate us.

When it comes to Pizzeria Uno/Pizzeria Due, I've always preferred Pizzeria Due because the crust has always been more buttery/crunchy compared to the crust at Pizzeria Uno. I know their menus are the same and on paper their pizzas are suppose to be the same, but Pizzeria Due's crust has always been better. It appears that Pizzeria Due's crust recipe uses both olive oil and corn oil for some added flavor, but the amount of butter used at Pizzeria Due truly stands out over Pizzeria Uno (but still not as much butter as Lou Malnati's). Pizzeria Due's crust has a more yellow look, while Pizzeria Uno's crust is more of a brown color. Over the years, I've found Pizzeria Uno's crust to be somewhat bland because of the lack of butter compared to Pizzeria Due. And whenever I order onions and mushrooms, Pizzeria Due's onions and mushrooms tend to be blended in with the sauce, whereas Pizzeria Uno places their onions and mushrooms directly on top of the pizza. Now that I think about it, everyone I know that grew up with prefers Pizzeria Due over the original Pizzeria Uno, basically because of the more buttery crust at Pizzeria Due. The one thing that both places still have in common is that they both use Anichini Brothers as their sausage supplier for their famous garlic sausage. Pizano's also uses Anichini Brothers, but Pizano's seasons their garlic sausage a little differently. I find Pizano's garlic sausage recipe from Anichini Brothers to be the best, along with Burt Katz's garlic sausage at Burt's Place from Burt's secret sausage supplier.

As far as Pizano's is concerned, there Glenview location is the best in terms of service. I've found their service at the original State Street location to be terrible at times, and their Madison Street location o.k. My wife and I regularly order out from their Glenview location, and their thin crust with sausage always carries out very well. Their deep dish becomes somewhat soggy when carried out, even when it's left uncut. Pizano's thin crust with sausage is one of my favorite thin crust pizzas anywhere, along with Villanova in Stickney on Pershing Road. Pizano's thin buttercrust is the best in the business. It's very crunchy and very buttery, and unmatched in terms of taste compared to everybody else. Eating in at Pizano's is always the best option as we sometimes do, but their thin crust carries out very well.

Pizano's deep dish happens to be my wife's favorite, but not mine. Their deep dish buttercrust, for whatever reason, is not as tasty as their thin buttercrust. It's good, but not great. And every time I order their deep dish, I always find myself wanting more of both their sausage AND their tomato sauce. Maybe that's because I grew up on Pizzeria Due, and I'm use to sausage in every bite and tomato sauce that covers the entire pizza. As I stated above, I believe Pizano's sausage recipe from Anichini Brothers to be the best, but I just wish there were more of it on their deep dish pizzas. Pizano's uses a whole milk mozz cheese that is definitely more expensive (and better) than the cheese used at Pizzeria Uno/Due and Lou Malnati's, and this is why my wife claims Pizano's as her favorite pizza. And she's right about this- their cheese is better.

But the one thing that keeps me going back to Lou Malnati's and Pizzeria Due over Pizano's is the tomato sauce. Both Lou Malnati's and Pizzeria Uno/Due's sauce recipes are better than Pizano's. In my humble opinion, Lou Malnati's has the best vine-ripened tomatoes in the business. I have always felt that both Pizzeria Uno/Due and Lou Malnati's use some sort of wine in their sauce, but I can't prove it. This "wine" taste in both Lou Malnati's and Pizzeria Uno/Due's sauce will always be superior to the sauce used at Pizano's. And Lou Malnati's buttercrust is better, too. It's simply more buttery than Pizano's, and at Lou Malnati's you can dip their crust in their housemade creamy lemon garlic dressing, which is the best creamy garlic dressing anywhere.

All in all, Pizano's in Glenview is a great place to take the family out for lunch or dinner. My kids love it, my wife loves it, and their thin buttercrust is one of the best thin crust pizzas anywhere. And the Glenview location is very family friendly, and very accomodating on all levels. Great service and great food all the way around. I just prefer Lou Malnati's and Pizzeria Due for their tomato sauces, especially Lou Malnati's.