Worthy Successor to Great Lake Pizza?

Assume you believe that Great Lake Pizza was some of the best pizza that ever existed. You have a friend and you want to demonstrate how awesome it was, but duh Great Lake is no more. Where do you take them today?

For me, it'd be Coalfire, which is, by a wide margin, my personal favorite. That said, it's a different style than what GL offered.

=R=

1321 W Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60642
(312) 226-2625

ronnie_suburban wrote:For me, it'd be Coalfire, which is, by a wide margin, my personal favorite. That said, it's a different style than what GL offered.

=R=

Without a doubt (from me), the best pizza in Chicago.

I'm a huge fan of Coalfire, but I prefer Spacca Napoli . . . and it's not very far from where Great Lake was located.

OK it's weird (maybe not) that the first two to come up are Spacca Napoli and Coalfire. Have been to both within the past few weeks, preferred Spacca, although neither are really comparable to Great Lake. There must be others!

atastydish wrote:OK it's weird (maybe not) that the first two to come up are Spacca Napoli and Coalfire. Have been to both within the past few weeks, preferred Spacca, although neither are really comparable to Great Lake. There must be others!

Agreed

For me, the pizza that comes closest to the magic of Great Lakes is actually Floriole. Just phenomenal crust.

Commbrkdwn wrote:For me, the pizza that comes closest to the magic of Great Lakes is actually Floriole. Just phenomenal crust.

I was donning my Pizza Professor robes (three bands of pepperoni-spotted jonquille on a field of crimson) just to make this recommendation - glad to find it here. Crust, right-here ingredient quality, and imagination of toppings (sour cherry!) put the Floriole Fridays - check schedule - into GL territory.

My runners up are Coalfire and Pizzeria da Nella (Fullerton), which I prefer to current Spacca - try the cafone, or a funghi with panna, which somewhat capture the umami of GL, though not the local freshness. Do not hesitate to ask for full distance / char, as they will happily accommodate. Creative suggestion: Stop 50, pistachio. Highly impressive but not as distinctive: Forno Rosso, the Locale. Again, my preference is full distance.

Floriole gets bonus points for their selection of great desserts you can have afterwards.

Spacca Napoli is great. Have yet to do Coalfire though.

atastydish wrote:Assume you believe that Great Lake Pizza was some of the best pizza that ever existed. You have a friend and you want to demonstrate how awesome it was, but duh Great Lake is no more. Where do you take them today?

Great Lake was my favorite pizza spot in the US when it existed. I can't think of another place that can touch their crust (IMO the flavor and texture were dead ringers for the excellent, rustic, charred Italian sourdough loaves baked by D'Amato's). Coalfire is probably the closest - I don't think Spacca or Nella are similar (they aren't trying to be anyway). But for something COMPLETELY different, but nearly as delicious, I now order from Pizza Rustica in Lakeview when I'm in town. The crust is nothing like GL's was, but the spongy, rich, well-seasoned crust is very unique and the base for some of the best Roman-eque style pizza in Chicago. If anything, the similarity is that their pizzas are delicious and unique, and showcase the diversity of Chicago pizza. But yeah, for an approximation, Coalfire (or just a loaf of D'Amato's dark sourdough).