APART Pizza Company [Meeting #103]

APART Pizza Company
2205 W Montrose Ave [Google Maps]
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 588-1550
BYOB!

CPC invaded APART Pizza Company on 12/21/10.

We were drawn to APART Pizza Company because Adam had a Groupon that he generously agreed to share. Also, APART was listed in Chicago Magazine's Top 25 pizzas in Chicago which had me wondering whether I'd missed something the last time I'd been there. In any event, a highly rated pizza at a discount made for idea meeting conditions. But sadly, in an embarrassing display of pizza loyalty, a mere four members showed up for the meeting, which was held at the Lincoln Square location of Apart (there's a second location in Edgewater/Andersonville).

Upon our arrival, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that we could put the Groupon off for another day as on Monday and Tuesday nights, the large 18" pizzas are BOGO (that's Buy One, Get One in internetspeak). After careful deliberation which consisted of me crossing off about 2/3 of the pizza listed on our menu and Adam picking two of the remaining ones, we ended up with eponymous APART pizza as well as the Tricolore.

The APART comes with sausage, pepperoni and fresh champignons. The pepperoni was pretty standard but I thought the mushrooms were better than average and the large knobs of sausage were very flavorful. The second pizza, the Tricolore, seemed to disappoint everyone. The pizza comes topped with fresh tomatoes, goat cheese and spinach, and is billed as looking like the Italian flag. They need to mash up that Italian flag as the tomato slice was too tomatoey, and others expressed disappointment with the spinach and goat cheese portions as well.

As far as the crust goes, it's designed to be a crisp, crackery crust but that doesn't translate to the 18" beasts we ordered. The crust had no chance and there were some sogginess issues. I found I had to fold my slices in half by folding the tip back to the end crust. Parts of the Tricolore's crust were more charred than some CPCers would have liked, though I didn't find that to be a problem. Neither the cheese nor the sauce stood out as positives or negatives. Given the amount of toppings and cheese, I thought more sauce would have been nice, though that might have led to complete crust disintegration.

Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy the pizza but nobody was blown away. But at $7 each, including tip, there's really no room for complaining.

Petey Pizza gives APART Pizza Company a 6.33/10

Ian's Pizza [Meeting #85]

Ian's Pizza [GoogleMaps]
3463 N. Clark Avenue
Chicago, IL
773-525-4580

CPC invaded Ian's Pizza on 9/24/09.

Ian's Pizza is a sensation sweeping the nation. Well, Madison and now Chicago. But they do have plans to expand to Milwaukee in the near future and possibly Colorado and additional stores in Wisconsin and Illinois. If they made a game of Risk using only the continental USA, I think it's obvious that the key is controlling Wisconsin and Illinois.

Ian's pizza was founded by the eponymous Ian, who was inspired by famous Massachusetts pizzeria Antonio's. After deciding on Madison as having the right atmosphere for a pizzeria that emphasized quality ingredient, no-frills service with low overhead, and reasonable prices he opened his first restaurant at 319 N Frances St in 2001 on Halloween. Ian's makes their own sauce, dough, and does not use or canned vegetables except for their pineapples and tomato paste. They use no frozen products; they don't keep freezers in their restaurants. They do contract out their sausage and pepperoni to small facilities and get them delivered fresh as needed. Cindy Gross, their Head Chef for all locations, estimates that over 90% of their products as made in-house.

We pre-ordered their special S'Mores pizza (which should be done 24 hours ahead of time) and sat down to try the following pizzas:

• Mac and Cheese Special (Asiago, Pecorino, Gruyere)
• Pesto and Portabello
• Sausage
• Cordon Bleu
• Philly Cheese Steak
• S'mores

Ian's typically sells their pizza by the slice, although you can order either a 12" or 20" pie as well. The Chicago location is small, having maybe 8 tables that can be rearranged as needed to accommodate your group. The dining area is small and comfortable, but nothing extraordinary. They are currently BYOB and they sell Gale Gand's root beer, which I tried and thought was great. We ordered either full pizzas of the above-mentioned toppings or went half and half. The s'mores pizza must be ordered ahead of time by calling in.

The crust at Ian's was well-cooked. Despite coming right out of the oven loaded with toppings, it only seemed to buckle under the weight of the mac and cheese pizza. They make their own dough using high-gluten flour and I thought it had a great flavor that didn't try to compete with the flavor toppings. I've had too many salty crusts lately and thankfully Ian's didn't replicate what I consider to be a terrible pizza sin. The toppings, in general, were pretty good. I'm not a fan of the weird and zany toppings and I firmly believe chicken should be fried and eaten with hot sauce and not put on my pizza. Ian's is challenging my axiom with really good combinations such as the ones listed above. You clearly get the flavor of the toppings, but I never found myself wishing I were eating a cheese steak sandwich as opposed to the pizza like I usually do when I eat pizza with these unconventional toppings. Their staple is the mac and cheese pizza, but we were lucky and their pizza special was a mac and cheese with additional cheeses that were appreciated. The sausage was cut into slices like you might see on the East Coast, but thankfully was of Midwestern quality. It was moist, had good pepper content, and contains a big hit of fennel. Some thought the S'mores pizza crust was soggy, a finding I disagree with. My piece held up well and the melted chocolate and marshmallows were still nice and warm and started blending in with crust to make a really great combination. Finally, as with all pizza, it's a good idea to let it cool for a few minutes when it comes out so you don't end up with a soupy meal.

Ian's Pizza - breaking the laws of pizza and making it tasty. Ian's had a brisk business while we were there, which is fortunate for them. Unfortunately for me, I rarely ever venture into Lakeview for any reason. If I did, I would eat at Ian's again and I recommend it to anyone that enjoys esoteric toppings, but I personally felt that the traditional toppings were their best offerings though other members in the club differ. The majority favored the mac and cheese pizza that has made Ian's famous.

I Monelli Trattoria Pizzeria [Meeting #78]

I Monelli Trattoria Pizzeria [GoogleMaps]
5019 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
773-561-8499

CPC invaded I Monelli Trattoria Pizzeria on 4/16/09.

Review submitted by Andrew

With another tax day safely behind us (and with hopefully all members in good standing with the IRS) the Chicago Pizza Club decided to hit up the North Side to try out I Monelli Trattoria Pizzeria. This neighborhood pizzeria is located in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood not too far from the Western Ave. Brown line stop.

Opened in April of 2008 by Marco Schiavoni (owner of the Pizza Metro restaurants in the East Village area) and chef Giovanni Carzedda (formerly of Pizza D.O.C. and Il Covo)—along with food importer Massimiliano Agostini—I Monelli (which roughly translates to "Those Rascals") serves up contemporary Roman-style pizza along with such other Italian fare as antipasti, salads, pasta, and paninis. But, as always, we came for the pizza... but oh, did I mention that the restaurant is BYOB? Fortunately some members of the CPC remembered to raid their liquor supplies before heading down.

The Roman-style pizza at I Monelli features a thick (thicker than a normal pie, but not as thick as a pan or a Sicillian-style pizza) hand-tossed crust, topped with olive oil before being cooked in a 400 degree pizza oven. Pizzas are square cut and topped with a sauce made from imported Italian tomatoes. There are are nine different topping combinations to choose from on the menu, and of course you can always build your own pie with the standard toppings.

The rectangular pies at I Monelli come in three sizes; 5", 9" (a half sheet) and 18" (a full sheet). On our trip the Chicago Pizza Club ordered five of their specialty pizzas and one custom pie:

• Potate é Rosmarino (Potato & Rosemary)
• Capricciosa (Artichoke, Ham & Black Olives)
• Margherita (Fresh Tomato & Basil)
• Rucola (Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula on White Pizza Dough)
• Romana (Ham, Onions & Oregano)
• Sausage, Garlic & Sauteed Mushrooms

All pizzas were ordered in the "half" size, which the waitress told us normally feeds about two people. The Pizza Club had 12 members tonight (with one late comer) and probably could've stood to order one more pie to share amongst us. Tthe pizzas came out promptly, I forget exactly how long, but I don't believe we waited more than 15 minutes after ordering.

The pizzas all shared the same signature crust along with a minimal amount of sauce with the Romana and Capricciosa pizzas having a little bit more. When the sauce did stand out though it made quite a difference. Toppings for the most part were all pretty generous (especially with the arugula), I felt that the Romana could've used more oregano since it was hardly noticeable on the pizza at all and since it was listed as one if the toppings it seemed like it should've stood out more.

Among the favorites were the Sausage, Mushroom and Garlic pizza, the Potato & Rosemary and the Margherita which had a bit more cheese than the others pizzas and was topped with very fresh basil. The mozzerella on the Margherita also stood out from the other pizzas tonight.

All in all, a solid outing. All of the pizzas were consistent. Unlike some other restaurants that the Chicago Pizza Club has been to lately, I Monelli knows what they do well and sticks to that style of pizza.

Chicago Pizza Club gives I Monelli a 5.62

Art of Pizza [Meeting #72]

Art of Pizza [Map]
3033 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60657-3035
(773) 327-5600

CPC invaded Art of Pizza on 12/19/08.

At our last meeting, the members of the Chicago Pizza Club came to the realization that our social lives were no longer so exciting that the unofficial ban on weekend pizza club meetings needed to remain. Rather than being depressed about the realization that our post-college social peaks are behind us, we embraced it and immediately scheduled a Friday night meeting.

And so it was that we ended up at Art of Pizza last night. In 2001, Phil Vettel and a team of about three dozen reporters and editors from the Chicago Tribune tried deep dish and stuffed pizzas from more than 100 different Chicago area restaurants and determined that Art of Pizza has the best deep dish pizza in Chicago. Now, given that #2 was awarded to the Hyde Park location of Pizza Capri, and that both Chicago's and Exchequer were given Honorable Mention (which puts them in the top 13), it is clear that this team would not fit in well with the Chicago Pizza Club. Still, some of us knew Art of Pizza to offer a quality pie, and any place that gets high praise from Phil Vettel and thousands of pizza-eating Chicagoans is more than worthy of a visit from the CPC. And any place that is BYOB and charges no corkage fee is worthy of a visit on a Friday night.

Art of Pizza offers stuffed, pan, and thin crust pies. The nine of us split three large pizzas, one of each variety. Up first was the thin crust pizza which we got with sausage on the whole thing and giardinera on half of it (to accommodate those members with sensitive stomachs and palates). The sausage had some fennel and a noticeable amount of garlic. Texturally, it had some nice chew, but was definitely not rubbery. The giardinera, as is typically the case, was strong. Unfortunately, the giardinera overpowered the sausage, a problem that could have been fixed with either more sausage or less giardinera. The sauce, which was a little sparse on the thin crust, was well-seasoned - I'd call it zesty - and the cheese, which was generously applied, seemed to be a decent quality mozzarella.

The pan pizza arrived next. For that pizza, we went with Art's Meaty Delight, which includes sausage, bacon, ground beef, pepperoni and sliced beef. Like many pan pizzas in Chicago, this is essentially a deep dish pizza that has cheese on top instead of sauce as it comes with a crust that's at least half an inch thick. And what a crust it was. The thick, crisp, light crust at Art of Pizza is full of herbs that are not overwhelming, but are strong enough to stand up the substantial amounts of cheese, tangy sauce and, in this case, five kinds of meat. Speaking of the meats, they were all generously applied on the pizza, and while that made for a good deal of salt, the cheese and sauce were sufficient to balance things out.

Our stuffed pizza was Art's Vegetarian, which comes with mushrooms, onions, green peppers, tomato slices, broccoli and spinach. The bottom crust was almost as thick (maybe as thick) as the crust on the pan pizza, which is unique for a stuffed pizza. Given the amount of toppings that were stuffed inside this pie and the moisture that is inevitable when that many fresh vegetables are involved, that thick crust may have been necessary to prevent the pie from devolving into a wet mess. Necessary or not, the crust, which had the same herbs (and maybe oil?) as the pan pizza, was a welcome inclusion. By virtue of it being on top of the pizza and the fact that vegetables don't have as strong flavors as meat, the stuffed pizza was the one where we were most able to taste the chunky, flavorful sauce.

A couple of final notes worth mentioning. Art of Pizza gives out free liters of pop to anyone who spends over $11 pre-tax, and 2 liters for orders over $22. However, that offer is limited to take out and delivery orders. While we were disappointed by the policy, the wine we brought (BYOB!) more than made up for it. Also, Art of Pizza has a full menu beyond pizza, though I didn't notice anyone eating anything other than pizza and salad. They have lunch and dinner specials every day, but oddly for a pizzeria, not a single special involves pizza.

Petey gives Art of Pizza a 7.60625.

Pizza By Alex [Meeting #70]

Pizza By Alex [Map]
5044 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
(773) 427-8900‎

CPC invaded Pizza By Alex on 12/01/08.

From deep dish pizza to stuffed pizza to the pizza puff, Chicago has been at the forefront of pizza innovation for over 50 years. But we at the CPC are not regional chauvinists; we can appreciate additions to the pizza world that did not originate here. One such welcome addition came from the California-based movement that began at Chez Panisse in 1980. When Alice Waters started putting then-goofy toppings like goat cheese and artisinal sausages on pizza, she started a movement that was soon copied by multiple California chefs. Ed LaDou was a San Francisco chef who copied Waters's pizza style while the chef at Prego. Wolfgang Puck had one of LaDou's pizzas and hired him to work at the not-yet-opened Spago. The founders of California Pizza Kitchen hired LaDou away in 1985 to create their menu and a new national pizza phenomenon was born.

Today, nontraditional toppings are commonplace throughout the land, but there is room for so much more variety, particularly if pizzerias choose to combine pizza with other ethnic culinary traditions. Pizza By Alex has done its part to fill that gap for the past five years, offering a number of Mexican-influenced options in addition to more traditional toppings. And it was the CPC's quest for chorizo pizza that brought us to Pizza By Alex for this meeting in Portage Park.

Alex Pinega learned the pizza business while working at Caponie's, where he started as a dishwasher in 1992 and quickly worked his way up to general manager in just three years. After developing his pizza-making expertise there, he founded Pizza By Alex as a carry-out pizzeria in 2004. He did well enough there that he expanded to add a sit-down restaurant in the early part of 2006.

Greeting customers who enter the restaurant is a large brick wood-burning oven that not only made pizzas, but provided us with some additional heat on what was the coldest night so far this winter. The thin crust pies, which includes their 8 special pizzas, all cook in the 500+ degree fire in that oven, while the deep dish and stuffed pies cook in a gas oven in the kitchen.

Ordinarily, the Chicago Pizza Club tries each style of pizza offered by every restaurant we visit, but we were so enamored with some of the specialty pies that we went with four thin crust pizzas one deep dish. We were not disappointed.

The crust was cooked well and had noticeable charring on the bottom. The texture was a little crisp and a lot of chew, which I think was a reflection of it being a touch thicker than is typical for wood-burning over/Neapolitan-style crusts. The extra girth was necessary to support the very generous amounts of whole milk mozzarella, fresh vegetables, and wide variety of meats.

Up first was the Pizza By Alex, which features Italian Beef, mushrooms and onions. There was ample meat which was good, but the fresh mushrooms actually had the strongest flavor. There was a very thin layer of tomato sauce on the pizza that some of us thought had little to no flavor, but others thought had a light tanginess to it.

The Pizza di Pastor had steak pastor with grilled onion and pineapple, and came with a choice of red or green sauce. We didn't specify the sauce and the pizza came with a spicy green tomatillo salsa, which was definitely the right call. The sweet pineapple provided a good balance to the spice from the salsa, and with the grilled meat made one of the more popular pizzas at the table.

The Pizza Ranchera featured chorizo, pinto beans, mushrooms, onions and a homemade chipotle sauce. The chorizo was crumbled and there was some disagreement as to how much flavor came from the meat and how much came from the chipotle sauce. Wherever the epicenter of spicy goodness was, this pizza made many Pizza Clubbers very happy. The soft pinto beans did an excellent job tempering the kick from the chipotle while adding a flavor that more than a couple of us thought was surprisingly good.

Carne Enamorada, which means in love with meat, had a whole lot of pig on it: The pizza came with bacon, ham, pepperoni, and chorizo. Italian sausage is an optional replacement for chorizo, but given how important chorizo was to the decision to go to Pizza By Alex, no serious consideration was given to Italian Sausage on this pie. As was the case with the Pizza by Alex, there was very little sauce on this one. An interesting twist to the pizza construction was that the bacon, chorizo and pepperoni were all on top of the pizza, while small pieces of ham were spread out under the cheese.

We also got one deep dish pizza - with roasted red peppers and onions. The crust, which was not thick at all, was firm and had a lot of chewiness to it. It was topped with a good inch of cheese that was filled with the onions and meaty red peppers. The sauce has more seasoning and is a little thicker than the red sauce on the thin pizza. There was a lot more sauce on the deep dish pie, but compared to other deep dish pizzas, there was very little. The deep dish pizza was well-received, but most of us were so focused on trying the different thin crust pies with the unique toppings that most people did not get to it until the latter part of the meal.

One more important detail worth noting about Pizza by Alex that is not advertised on their website: it's BYOB. And for your convenience, there's a liquor store around the corner, albeit one with a limited wine selection.

Petey Pizza gives Pizza by Alex a 6.972.

Pizza Rustica [Meeting #52]

Pizza Rustica
3913 N. Sheridan Rd (GoogleMaps)
(773) 404-8955

CPC invaded Pizza Rustica on 2/21/08.

Pizza Rustica is a BYOB spot on Sheridan Road just south of Irving Park, mere steps from the Sheridan Red Line stop. We arrived on a bitterly cold evening to find that we were not the only ones brave enough to face the elements in order to go to out for these pies.

We began with two of the finest bottles of red wine, which the waitress immediately opened for us. She then brought glasses to those who wanted them (though she neglected to tell us that each glass came with a $1.50 corkage fee - no biggy). The pizza clubbers were hungry and set to the task of selecting pizzas. Pizza Rustica offers 8 different specialty pizzas, so we did not even consider coming up with our own combinations. There were only five of us, but we decided to go for three pizzas. We quickly settled on Tutta Pizza ~ Sausage, Pepperoni, Mushroom, Onion, Black Olives & Bleu Cheese, as well as the Quattro Stagioni ~ Tomatoes, Artichoke, Mushrooms & Ham. The woman suggested Verdure Grigliate ~ Roasted Peppers, Zucchini & Mushrooms. The men initially humored her before suggesting Patate Rosmarino ~ Thinly Sliced Potatoes Seasoned with Rosemary, which is what we ultimately went with, a decision some would come to regret.

The ambience at Pizza Rustica is fairly cozy. There is a second room, but it was empty the night we visited. The tables were somewhat packed in, but they didn't seem to close together. Of course, we were outside of the main dining area so it's hard to be sure. Anyhow, there was nothing particularly memorable about the place other than the rather nifty oven which is out for all to see (pictured below).

About thirty minutes after we ordered, three hot pizzas were delivered to our table. The crust on the pies was a new one for me. It was almost like a thin (about 1/3 inch), slightly compressed focaccia. Very tasty, but with a mild enough flavor that it served its purpose of complementing the toppings. None of the pizzas had much sauce. Normally, that would be a big strike against it. In this case, it really didn't detract from the pizza. The crust, cheese and toppings were all so flavorful, that sauce wasn't necessary.

About the toppings. The Tutta Pizza was my personal favorite. I would have liked a little more bleu cheese as many bites had none, but I can understand why they skimp on it as that's such a strong flavor and nobody wants it to overwhelm the rest of the pie. The Quattro Stagioni was also excellent. Of particular note were the tomatoes. How Pizza Rustica got such flavorful tomatoes in Chicago in February is a testament to either some impressive connections, recent developments in hot house gardening technology, or dumb luck. In any event, everyone at the table seemed to love both of those pizzas.

The potato and rosemary pizza got a mixed review. Some actively disliked both the flavor and the undercooked potatoes on their pieces. My pizzas had only well-cooked potatoes and I really liked the simplicity of the potato and the rosemary (a lot of rosemary).

All in all, I was very happy with Pizza Rustica and I will definitely return there again, particularly in the summer when outdoor seating is available.

In other news, it has come to my attention that Big Cheese Pizza, home of Chicago Pizza Club meeting #36, has gone out of business. A moment of silence for the best chocolate calzones any of us have ever had.


Ambience to spare...


The oven!


Half and half...


Tutta Pizza ~ Sausage, Pepperoni, Mushroom, Onion, Black Olives & Bleu Cheese


Better grab that pizza fast...


Where it went down...

Pizza Capri [Meeting #51]

Pizza Capri
1733 N. Halsted St. (GoogleMaps)
(312) 280-5700

CPC invaded Pizza Capri on 2/04/08.

In college I basically tried every thing on Pizza Capri's menu multiple times. In Hyde Park, I was limited to a few restaurants that delivered to me when I didn't feel like losing my parking spot or walking in the ubiquitous Arctic wind blast. Looking back, I had Caffe Florian available to me as well, but when I wanted thin crust I usually went with my old standby.

So here I am, driving past a Pizza Capri every day on my way to and from work. I definitely had enough of it in college to last me a few lifetimes, but I decided that there must have been a reason I ate it so much in the first place.

• small rosemary, potato, and chicken pizza
  
• small shroom pizza, portabella, crimini, and shiitake mushrooms
  
• 4 cheese pizza with tomato and basil
  
• deep dish with spinach, Canadian bacon

The order took 31 minutes to present itself to us. We had plenty of time to admire the nice, empty restaurant that we had all to ourselves except for a steady stream of take-out customers. Additionally, the restaurant is BYOB - a bonus for those of us who desire to not drink macrocrap with our pizza. The bill came out to $14 apiece; very affordable. I must say that I was happy with the pizza overall. True, I really don't care for these designer pizzas which try to present a whole meal on a crust, but they weren't horrible. Their basic pizzas such as the four cheese were actually quite good. The deep dish here was a little soggy for my tastes and has an underwhelming flavor profile, but its passable.



The Four Cheese Pizza


"Shroom"


Rosemary, Potato and Chicken


Stuffed Spinach and Canadian Bacon


Mmm... Pizza...


Where it went down...

Pizza Metro II [Meeting #37]

Pizza Metro II
925 N. Ashland Ave. (Google Maps)
(773) 772-3267

CPC invaded Pizza Metro II on 12/7/06

Is there anything better on an arctic-cold evening than nice hot pizza with friends? I sure as hell don't think so, and I'm sure the members of the Chicago Pizza Club who braved the cold weather last night will agree with me.

Pizza Metro II is (as the name implies) the second location of the popular East Village pizzeria, Pizza Metro. Their 2nd location boasts an expanded seating area and a larger menu with more pasta items. But dammit, we were there for the pizza and we wasted no time in ordering up three hot pies to warm our chilled innards. After careful study of the menu—which boasts several unusual ingredients as corn, peas, and potatoes—we made our choices. Pizza Metro serves rectangular thin crusts pizza which are quite large and hover somewhere in the realm of 'not quite a thin crust' and 'not quite a pan pizza.' Our selections were as follows:

• Pepperoni & Garlic
  
  
• Italian Sausage & Basil
  
  
• Potato & Rosemary

Since Pizza Metro II offers you the option of ordering by the whole pizza, by the half pizza, or by the slice we ordered two whole pizzas and a half pizza of the Potato & Rosemary. Our pizzas came about 20 minutes after we ordered. And yes, they were all quite tasty. They all hide a nice crispy crust that wasn't too dry, and I remember enjoying the cheese quite a bit too. The Pepperoni & Garlic seemed to be the favorite of the group, with them using what we all agreed was just the perfect amount of garlic. The Sausage & Basil was also pretty satisfying as well. And I remember being initially impressed by the unusual flavor of the Potato & Rosemary pizza, but after a few more slices it soon lost it's lustre. We made the right decision in ordering that pizza as a half.

Take note Pizza Clubbers, these pizzas are BIG! The five of us who did manage to make it out last night found ourselves intimidated by the amount of pizza we ordered, but on the whole, too much pizza is never considered a problem. Overall, these pizzas didn't disappoint, but they didn't exactly blow minds either. I'd refer to this place as that "ole' dependable" kind of neighborhood joint that you'd support if you lived nearby, but not the kind of place you'd exactly go out of your way for. Rock-solid, but not outstanding.

Pizza Metro II is BYOB and also has a small cooler of sodas in bottles, cans and 2-liters. The seating area is fairly small (I'm curious to see the original Pizza Metro's seating area if this place is considered "expanded"), and last night it was a bit chilly in their restaurant, but we were soon warmed up with our pizzas. The prices were fairly average, with beverages and a LOT of leftover pizza to take home it came to about $14 a Pizza-Clubber. Since we probably had enough pizza left for another 4 members, it would have been less than $10 had more people shown up. The staff were all very helpful and friendly as well.

Petey gives Pizza Metro II a 6.75/10.


Italian Sausage & Basil to warm us up...


Potatoes on a pizza?! Yes, it's true


The crowd-pleasing Pepperoni & Garlic


Where it went down

Tomato Head [Meeting #33]

Tomato Head
Webster & Sheffield (Google Maps)
(773) 404-801

CPC invaded Tomato Head on 6/21/06

We visited Tomato head in Lincoln Park and had a great time. This place had some great thin crust pizza. Not to mention the fact that this place is BYOB, a fact that we did not know during our meeting. Rest assured should we ever venture there again we will be certain to be armed with a few six packs. The pizza not only was good as will be described below but was affordable as hell!!! There were 9 of us at the meeting and without sodas we each paid only 6 or 7 bucks (can’t remember final tally) and we all had plenty to eat with one slice left to spare. All pizzas had the same thin crust that was not too crispy and not so soft that each slice fell apart once lifted.

The first pizza we tried was the ZorbaZah, This pizza had some of my personal favorites including feta, Kalamta olives and tomatoes. The toppings were fresh and tasty. The cheese was not too salty which was good since we had plenty of salt provided by the feta cheese. The sauce was good, and had plenty of flavor to it, but could have been spicier. The Greeks (muck like our Italian brethren to the east) like their oregano.

The next pizza was a Hawaiian Pizza which really hit the spot on hot summer day. The pineapple was fresh. This is a good pizza for fruit lovers as there was plenty of pineapple throughout. I think this was the first pizza to go.

Finally, the Belt Buster. This pizza was filled with toppings. Sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions and black olives, were all prominent on almost every slice. Much like the other two pizzas this pizza had plenty of cheese that was not so sticky that the slices congealed after 10 minutes, but still a good amount.

This was a great affordable pizza club that allows one to bring some booze and a bunch of people together for some pizza. (Cubs game on in the background to boot!!!) Petey gives Tomato Head a 7.5 out of 10 and recommends this to thin crust lovers of all ages.


Extreme close-up!


More extreme closeness... making me hungry...


Delicious thin-crust


Hawaiian anyone?


Where it went down

Barcello's [Meeting #31]

Barcello's
1647 N Milwaukee Avenue(Google Maps)
773 486 8444


CPC invaded Barcelo's on 4/13/06

This family-owned Bucktown pizzeria has been making their pizza from a top secret recipe developed in Calabria, Italy back in the early 1900's. Eat your heart out, Colonel Sanders. They have a prime location just a block of the intersection of North, Milwaukee, and Damen. Thankfully, Milwaukee Avenue seemed to offer enough parking to accomodate all 13 of the CPC members that attended.

We went on a Thursday night at 7:30 and were the only diners in the restaurant for a good portion of our meal. The decor was nicer than the picture on their webpage suggests and they added a nice touch of tall white flowers (Kelly tells me they are calililies) on every table. It’s nicer than your typical walk-in pizzeria and good for a group of friends but not a romantic place that will impress your first date. The wait staff was pleasant but looked at bit bored by the slow evening. They were helpful over the phone when I made reservations and made a special point of informing me that the restaurant was BYOB. We came armed with Sam Adams, Goose Island, Bass and Guinness.

The menu offered a wide range of pizza sizes (baby 10” – party 18”) and some gourmet ingredients including giardiniera, prosciutto, artichokes, shrimp, cappers, sundried tomatoes, red peppers eggplant, zucchini, and ricotta cheese. They also have a couple specialty options including a taco pizza and a double dough pizza. Barcello’s serves a full menu of Italian dishes and appetizers. Diners on a budget should look for coupons on their takeout menu.

We had the following:
Thin Crust (taco pizza)- tomatoes, lettuce, parmesan cheese, and ground beef
Thin Crust - (veggie pizza) - green peppers, broccoli, spinach
Pan Crust - italian sausage, prosciutto
Stuffed - sundried tomato, spinach
Thin Crust - giardiniera, blue cheese, artichoke (yes, you read that correctly)

The first round of thin crusts took about 45min to arrive, which was a little surprising since we were the only ones in the restaurant. Either there was a busy delivery service that runs in and out the back or they had to pre-heat the ovens when our group walked in. The stuffed crust that I was told would take 45min came at the 1 hour mark. However, when we added another thin crust they were very accomodating and the turn around was only 15min.

Petey gives Barcelo's a 7.35.


The veggie pizza, ready for action


Mmm... cheesey stuffed pizza


And here's the pan crust


Noam digs in


A thin crust


Where it went down

Caffe Florian [Meeting #28]

Caffe Florian
1450 E. 57th Street (Google Maps)
773-752-4100

CPC invaded Caffe Florian on 3/29/06

Caffe Florian is one of many restaurants in Hyde Park that make pizza. During orientation at the U of C you quickly become familiar with The Medici, Caffe Florian, Pizza Capri, and Edwardo's since every function you attend has pizza from all of these places. Surprisingly, the university neglects to provide its students with Cholie's Pizza, but that's a different story. There are three reactions to the pizza offerings at these meetings. You can be (1) a rube and declare how delicious it all was compared to the standards (Pizza Hut and Domino's), (2) from Chicago and feel disheartened that Hyde Park doesn't contain good pizza, or (3) an East Coast snob and hate the pizza because it wasn't made in New York and OMFG, did you realize we're not in New York anymore???

Eventually you come to realize a few things

• Cholie's is bad in a good way; the adjacent Falcon Inn is just bad
  
• The pizza wasn't so bad, it was just laying in cardboard boxes for half an hour before anyone touched it
  
• On second thought, the Medici really is that bad. Just because they let you carve your name anywhere you want doesn't mean the overpriced pizza is any good.
  

Though Hyde Park residents are split on their favorite pizza, Caffe Florian always has supporters that endorse its crust as the only one in Hyde Park worth a damn. Plus, it is BYOB, a handy touch for the cheap, the discerning, and the underaged. We sat down at the big booth in the back and ordered the following pies:

• Thin Crust, Pepperoni, Garlic, Onion
• Pan (regular), Ham, Basil
• Pan (wheat), the special Artichoke Pesto pizza

It was pretty empty on this Wednesday evening and the pizza came very quickly, in 22 minutes. Our waiter was quick and unobtrusive, a refreshing change from our recent experiences and I didn't mind giving him his 18% gratuity for parties of 6 or more. All the ingredients that were sliced (ham, garlic, onion) were finely diced. I appreciated this because it ensured a better flavor distribution even if there is less texture. The artichoke pesto pizza was still covered in tomato sauce and not just pesto. As I said earlier, Florian is BYOB and good thing. For 3 pizzas and 7 people, it came to $9.50 per person. For anyone in their delivery area, I remember that they include little packets of cheese, oregano, and red pepper flakes in their orders. Now that's service. It's also right next to the 57th street Electric Metra line if anyone is going home to the south suburbs and wants some pizza.

Petey gives Caffe Florian a score of 8.6


The pepperoni & garlic goes fast...


Ham & Basil


The last slice...


"Do you like Pizza? Yeah, me too"


Where it went down