Chicago Pizza Club

[Chicago Pizza News] 2nd Annual Pizza Fest Contest Winners

2008-06-30T22:32:00.006-05:00

Contest Winners

Somehow, without the critical guidance of CPC members, the Chicago Pizza Fest judges managed to decide on the winners of their contest.

Best Chicago Style Deep Dish: Nonna's
Best Thin Style: My Pie
Best Gourmet/Unique: Nonna's

We've already been to My Pie, so looks like we definitely need to hit up Nonna's! If you missed it, check out Stu's review below.

[Chicago Pizza News] The Chicago Reader Picks Its Favorite Chicago Pizza

2008-06-26T13:11:00.005-05:00

I'll be the first to admit that I'm having a slow work day, and having already read all of today's Obama-centric news stories, kept up to date with my blogs and purchased my new Chicago vehicle sticker a friend suggested I check out the Chicago Reader website for their "Best of Chicago 2008" selections.

Seems a bit early for Best of 2008 picks doesn't it? I mean, we're not even at the halfway mark for 2008 yet...

Anywho, I was kind of suprised to see their pick for Chicago's Best Pizza, though I must say the place they picked does serve a pretty fantastic pie...

Read about their choice right here, and then why not read the Chicago Pizza Club's review of that very same restaurant by clicking your mouse right here.

Do you agree or disagree? Let the endless debates begin!

[Meet the Members] AJ

2008-06-26T09:56:00.011-05:00

Screen Name: AJ

Real Name: AJ

Came out of the Oven: Evanston

Favorite toppings: Various Pork Products

First Pizza Club Meeting: June 25, 2008 (Ranalli's)

Favorite Deep Dish Pizza: Lou Malnati's

Favorite Thin Crust Pizza: Vito and Nick's

Favorite Pizza outside of Chicago: Why would I want to have pizza outside of Chicago?

Had Pizza in the Motherland? See above.

What Do You Do When Not Eating Pizza? Masquerading as and being accused of being "the man."

Personal Pizza Statement: For future wannabe CPC members, two words of advice: Fork and Knife. "Sharing" is the word and as you can see from my shameless profile picture, I was slow to learn.

Ranalli's [Meeting #60]

2008-06-25T18:49:00.007-05:00

Ranalli's on Clark
2301 N. Clark St. Map
(773) 244-2300

CPC invaded Ranalli's on 6/25/08.

Ranalli's is a family-owned Italian restaurant that first opened on Lincoln Avenue in the 1970s. In addition to the current Lincoln Park location on Clark that we visited, Ranalli's also has restaurants in Andersonville and on Montrose. Each location offers a variety of pizza styles in addition to standard Italian fare, with a few Mexicanish staples mixed in.

The indoor dining room of the Clark Street location seats about 100 and is set up as a typical Lincoln Park bar/restaurant. Because our visit took place on a lovely summer evening, we elected to dine on the outdoor patio facing Clark to accommodate member Fred. We were joined by enough others to order all five styles of pizza on Ranalli's menu. We also took advantage of a couple of notable offers. With respect to the pizza, you can order any number of toppings and all the toppings after the fourth are free. You can also get a bucket of six beers for the price of five, which were priced pretty reasonably even without the bucket.

We ordered the following pies:

Super thin wheat crust pizza with mozzarella, cheddar, swiss, provolone
Thin crust I Heart Mexico pizza
Pan pizza with capicola, mortadella, genoa salami
Stuffed pizza with basil and tomatoes
Double Decker pizza with sausage, bacon, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, onions

Our server brought out all the pies at the same time, about 45 minutes after we placed our order. No one noticed a difference between the thin and the super thin, or between the regular crust and the wheat crust. The crust on the thin and the thicker varieties was crisp and very dry. It had very little flavor but did its job holding all the other elements together. The sauce was very basic tomato sauce. The mozzarella on the pan and stuffed pizzas was gooey and melty similar to fresh mozzarella, though not as flavorful.

Although the reviews reflect fairly divergent opinions among our members as to whether the pizza as a whole passed muster, most agreed that the toppings made Ranalli's stand out a bit. The variety was excellent, and most of the toppings themselves were pretty good. The various pork products we tried won't be mistaken for having come from your favorite Italian deli, but pork is pork, and pork tastes good.

The thin, pan, and stuffed pizzas are in line with what you typically find at a pedestrian Chicago pizza place, but I was not sure what to expect from the Double Decker. It is, in fact, exactly what it sounds like: a thin layer of crust topped with sauce/cheese/toppings, followed by another thin layer of crust topped with sauce/cheese/toppings. It also had a very thick circle of bread/crust around the edges. The crust was no more remarkable than with any of the other pizzas, but we were impressed that the layer of crust in the middle of the pizza stayed crispy. And the wild toppings party ordered up for the Double Decker made each bite more interesting than most of the other pies.

The Mexican pizza was different from taco pizzas we have tried in the past. This pizza seemed to have more beans than usual, and it had no tomatoes or lettuce. Or sauce, as far as I could tell. Also, don't order it if you're not willing to get three to four jalapenos in every bite.

The cost came out to $13/person for those abstaining from fun, I mean beverages, and $16/person for the rest of us. Note that Ranalli's will validate your parking in the adjacent pay lot for up to 90 minutes.

Overall, I'm not sure why some of our harsher judges were so disappointed. I did not think any aspect of any pizza stood out as bad, though the failure of the crust, sauce, and most of the cheese to stand out at all is why I found the pizza a bit humdrum. Kate-D. gives Ranalli's a 5.5.

Petey gives Ranalli's __ / 10.

Stuffed Pizza with Capicola, Genoa Salami, and Mortadella...

Double Decker Pizza with Sausage, Bacon, Garlic, Onion, Green Peppers, Tomatoes, and Mushrooms...

Pan Pizza with Basil and Tomatoes...

Mexican Thin Crust Pizza and a Four Cheese Thin Crust with Cheddar, Mozzerella, Provolone and Swiss...

Dan and Fred enjoying their post-pizza afterglow...

Where it went down...

[Chicago Pizza News] Suburban Family Sending 3,000 Pizzas to Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

2008-06-24T22:51:00.004-05:00

In the 1990s, Air Force officer Mark Evans of Elk Grove, IL, sent 50 Lou Malnati's pizzas to the troops in Bosnia. Recently, he and his son have decided to repeat history, but on a much bigger scale.

They decided to try to raise money to send 300 Lou Malnati's pies to the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan for a Fourth of July pizza party. The response has been so tremendous that they have increased their goal to 3,000 pizzas.

Anyone interested in helping can send an email to Evans. Kudos to DHL for offering free shipping for all of the pizzas the Evans buy for this project.

[Special Report] The 2nd Annual Pizza Fest Chicago

2008-06-22T18:12:00.011-05:00

The 2nd Annual Pizza Fest Chicago
Racine & Fullerton Map

The Chicago Pizza Club invaded the 2nd Annual Pizza Fest Chicago on 6/21/08.

It was very hard to tear myself away from the television on Saturday afternoon (with the crosstown, Cubs/Sox rivalry in full swing), but with a pitching change in the 4th inning I headed out the door and hopped on the CTA towards the DePaul campus and this year's Pizza Fest Chicago. Upon meeting up with Dan and Fred (who muddied my Pizza Club t-shirt with a very enthusiastic greeting) we paid our $5 "donation" to enter and proceeded to purchase the tickets that are standard food and beverage currency for Chicago street festivals. After walking the grounds briefly we entered the area that housed the music stage and pizza vendors, and using the logic that the longest line must correlate to the best pizza we queued up and waited for Pizza Club member Kate to join us while we waited.

First off, let me say that I loved the idea of a Chicago Pizza Fest. Not just because any street festival in Chicago is going to be a good time when the weather is good (and the weather is seldom better than it was on Saturday afternoon), but also for the opportunities that a Chicago Pizza Fest would present to sample a variety of Chicago pizza at once.

A few things stood in the way of such a Pizza Fest realizing its full potential. Mainly, none of the pizzas served were freshly cooked. All of the vendors had opted to serve their wares from under heat lamps and warming trays. This was a huge letdown to all of the Chicago Pizza Club members in attendance. The heat lamps seemed have a detrimental effect on the cheeses and crusts of all the pizzas we sampled. We understand that using heat lamps and serving "warmed" pizza is the most cost-effective measure for this situation, but we also know that there are other alternatives that would've allowed the vendors present to offer up freshly cooked pizzas on the premises.

Another downer was that of all the numerous and varied pizzerias in Chicago they only managed six pizza vendors at the festival. I realize that the Pizza Fest is only in its second year, but six options at a festival celebrating Chicago Pizza seems to me like a slap in the face. Especially when one of those vendors was a frozen pizza company. Seriously, frozen pizza?

One of the upsides though was that most of the vendors offered sample slices for only $1, which was a nice way to get a variety of pizzas at the festival.

Fortunately, the Chicago's Best Pizza judging featured a more diverse range of entrants (and we certainly wished some of them would have been vendors), we didn't get the chance to witness the judging (nor to take part in the judging for that matter as the CPC sent in their applications a tad late) as the judges seemed to be set off to the side.

For the reasons I listed above I don't really feel that it is fair to rate any of the pizzas we sampled at the festival, but we did make note of a few places for the Chicago Pizza Club to visit in the future.

Also, none of this is to say that I didn't enjoy myself at the festival (though, the weather was the main contributor to that), but without a more diverse offering of pizza vendors, and freshly cooked pizza I can't recommend this festival to anyone who's looking for anything more than spending some time outdoors on a beautiful day at an average Chicago street festival.

***UPDATE: And the winners of the pizza contest are:

Best Chicago Style Deep Dish: Nonna's
Best Thin Style: My Pie
Best Gourmet/Unique: Nonna's

Waiting in line for some samples and enjoying some music...

Frozen? Pizza?? Frozen Pizza???

Some of the various pies we sampled...

Fred cares nothing about heat lamps...

[Chicago Pizza News] Piece Offers a Truly Special Delivery

2008-06-17T09:44:00.004-05:00

Piece, the New Haven style pizzeria in Wicker Park, is raising money for PAWS Chicago in a rather unique manner. Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist for Cheap Trick, who is an investor in Piece, will turn into a pizza delivery boy for one night and will deliver pizzas to the highest bidder on eBay.

The winner gets five pizzas delivered anywhere within 40 miles of the restaurant, a couple of Rick Nielsen autographed Piece t-shirts, some guitar picks, and they can hang with Rick Nielsen for a bit. None of Piece's award-winning beer is included in the auction.

The auction ends just before noon (Chicago time) on Monday, June 23.

[Special Report] Pizza Rustica

2008-06-16T21:23:00.007-05:00

Pizza Rustica
270 Wellington Street, Toronto ON Canada
(416) 260-0200

In the midst of a fine weekend of Cubs baseball and gastronomic excess, my friend and I were looking for a place to eat when we stumbled upon Pizza Rustica (no relation to the Chicago pizzeria with the same name). One look through the window at the pies on peoples' tables and it was an easy decision for us to head inside.

Pizza Rustica is about two blocks north of the Rogers Centre, next door to Wayne Gretzky's (he was a hockey player) restaurant, and a couple of blocks away from Toronto's booming night club scene. Despite it's location, it's a nice quiet restaurant.

We got two pizzas, the Spinach and Blue Cheese which, aside from the obvious, was topped with sun-dried tomato sauce, mozzarella, and sliced roma tomatoes; and the Salsiccia, which came with fresh sausage, sweet red onion, gorgonzola cheese, mozzarella and tomato sauce.

The crust of both pizzas was very thin and yellow - likely the result of the corn meal that seemed to be in it. The oven cooked the pies quickly at about 280 degrees. That might not seem very hot, but the silly Canadians use celcius. In civilization, that's 536 degrees.

Both pizzas were very good. The spinach and blue cheese had fresh spinach and just enough blue cheese to give the pizza a good tanginess, but not so much as to overpower the rest of the pie. The sliced roma tomatoes were a nice treat, as they always are on top of a pizza. I didn't taste anything particularly sun-dried about the tomato sauce, but that may be because there was not much on it.

The Salsiccia also had a good balance between a strong cheese - gorgonzola - and the mozzarella. The sausage, which was obviously fresh, was excellent. Again, I didn't think there was enough sauce, but I never do when eating Neapolitan pizza (or similar styles).

If you're in Toronto, I'd recommend stopping by Pizza Rustica if you're in the mood for pizza, but there was nothing particularly mind-blowing about it that makes it a must-see in anyone's eating tour of the Great White North.

Look at all the friendly, pizza-loving Canadians...

The oven, makin' it happen...

The Salsiccia Pizza...

The Spinach and Blue Cheese Pizza...

Where it went down...

[Chicago Pizza News] Just a Reminder...

2008-06-16T11:21:00.001-05:00

2nd Annual Pizza Fest Chicago
Racine & Fullerton, Chicago (Google Maps)

Post a comment if you plan on attending!

[Special Report] Beau Jo's Pizza

2008-06-14T15:10:00.015-05:00

Beau Jo's
1517 Miners St,
Idaho Springs, CO Map

This is a long overdue special report on some great Colorado pizza. On your next trip out west be sure to schedule a stop at Beau Jo's.

The original Beau Jo's is in Idaho Springs, a small Colorado mining town. And apparently miners take their pizza seriously. I've been to this town twice now and while I've never remembered to bring my pickaxe, I have always brought some friends and a healthy appetite. Average Joe Snowboarder encounters this place by pulling off I-70 between Denver and the ski resorts.

Beau Jo's offers an extensive menu with an incredible number of pizza options.

Pizza sizes are described in pounds. 1-5lbs instead of S-XL, which makes more sense if you're used to weighing the days work.

Crust options are Thick (Mountain Pie) or Thin (Prairie Pie). And while I am from the prairie state, Mountain is definitely the way to go. Options for crust are honey white or honey whole wheat. And I'm happy to report that Beau Jo's rejects the notion of disposable crust ends (Giordano's are you paying attention?!). A bottle of honey is provided as a dip for the large fluffy crust. It's a deliciously sweet way to finish off a big slice.

You'll also have some decisions to make with the sauce. There is regular pizza sauce, garlic/olive oil, basil pesto, garlic cream, barbeque, salsa, ranch, green chili, marinara, ranch/hot sauce. Nice, huh?

Plenty of ingredient choices including the regulars and more rare toppings like salami, andouille sausage, meatballs, red hot chicken, smoked salmon, pepperoncini, green chili, tofu, sun dried tomatoes, scallions, and artichokes.

Choices of cheese include mozzarella, low fat mozzarella, fontin-provolone, dairy free mozzarella, montery jack, provolone, cheddar, feta, ricotta and swiss.

You could eat here every day for ten years and never have the same pizza. And while the indecisive are already getting overwhelmed, Beau Jo's also has a list of 46(!) specialty pizzas with their favorite combinations.

Lastly, Beau Jo's also has the John-Candy-from-the-Great-Outdoors-esque pizza challenge. THE CHALLENGE is their Grand Sicilian weighing in at 12-14lbs with hamburger, sausage, green pepper, onion, mushroom, and pepperoni. Two people try to finish in one hour. Winners take home $100, t-shirts and the pizza is free. Even those who epically fail (i.e. two teenage girls with daddy's credit card) will have a Polaroid picture placed on the wall to commemorate the attempt.

Our group ordered two Mountain Pies specialty pizzas, which were excellent. My wife, Kelly, especially liked the Beau Taco pizza. Everyone enjoyed the honey-dipped crust ends. Service and wait time were reasonable. We had leftovers and everyone could still afford their lift tickets the next day.

Highly recommended. 8/10.

Ryan

Ryan, Chris and Paul eating at Beau Jo's

Crust on the taco pizza

Honey for the crust!

Chis polishes off a slice

Polaroids on THE CHALLENGE wall of fail

La Villa Restaurant [Meeting #59]

2008-06-11T21:24:00.013-05:00

La Villa Restaurant and Banquets
3632 N. Pulaski Map
(773) 283-7980

The Chicago Pizza Club invaded La Villa on 6/11/08.

It's not often that we venture West of Damen Ave., but the Pizza Club is a fearless bunch and we had no problems trekking out near Addison and Pulaski. I have to say, after reading the rave reviews on Yelp.com that I had high expectations for this place. But I guess this just goes to highlight the difference between Yelp and the Chicago Pizza Club.

Thanks to the ever punctual CTA bus service I showed up about 20 minutes late to the meeting to find that our order had already been placed and that we had several appetizing bread options at our table. I opted for some pizza bread which was really quite good, maybe the best thing I had all night? We had eight members attending the meeting and ordered a 14" pan pizza vegetarian special, a 14" stuffed pizza with pepperoni and mushroom, and a 16" shrimp and garlic thin crust pizza. Our order was placed at 7:45 and I don't think it took more than 30 minutes for our food to come, but maybe it should have...

The best of the bunch was the thin crust with garlic and shrimp... but yeah, that's not saying much. The garlic was overpowering and the shrimp was not very high quality, obviously we don't expect fresh shrimp yanked right from the ocean here in Chicago on our pizza, but you hope for something better than this. The crust was bland and the sauce didn't bring a whole lot to the table either. The pan vegetarian pizza was described by one of our Pizza Club members as as a salad with dough and cheese, and I don't think I can argue with that. The excess of vegetables made the whole pizza much too soggy. And the pepperoni and mushroom stuffed pizza? Well, the best comment I heard about this pizza was that at least the mushrooms weren't canned. I'm sure this pizza did have pepperoni on it, but I can't remember tasting any... I was probably too distracted by the half-cooked crust and the bad sauce. Also, kind of disappointing was the fact that there was no difference in crust between the pan and stuffed pizzas.

It's kinda rare that there is leftover pizza at a Chicago Pizza Club meeting, but tonight there was plenty, and it was even thrown up for debate whether if even Fred would want the leftovers. I'm honestly suprised that there were so many positive reviews of this place on Yelp.com. While it's hard to call any Chicago Pizza Club meeting a failure (dinner out with good friends is always cause for a smile) this meeting was definitely a let down. Not the worst pizza the CPC has ever had, but I don't think any of us will find a reason to head back to La Villa.

Petey Pizza Gives My Pie a 3.1/10.

The Pizza Bread!

An unsuspecting Chicago Pizza Club...

The Stuffed Pepperoni & Mushroom Pizza...

Thin Crust with Shrimp & Garlic...

The Vegetarian Pan Pizza...

Where it went down...

[Chicago Pizza News] Fun Pizza Facts

2008-06-11T14:52:00.004-05:00

According to this article, the following are all true:

There are almost 70,000 pizzerias in the United States
More than 66 percent of them are independently owned
17% of all U.S. restaurants are pizzerias
Nearly 33 percent of all U.S. restaurants have pizza on their menus.
Chicago is the largest frozen pizza market in the world

[Chicago Pizza News] My Pie Down to One Location

2008-06-10T20:13:00.002-05:00

When the Chicago Pizza Club recently visited My Pie in Lincoln Park, we were surprised to learn that there had once been 23 different locations in 9 states, but that according to the website there were now only two locations, one in Lincoln Park and one in Bucktown.

It turns out that the out of state locations were franchises and that at some point in the 1980s, the owner decided to stop franchising My Pie and the restaurant went back to being exclusively owner-operated and in Chicago.

In much more recent news, it seems the CPC were among the final visitors to the Lincoln Park location, as it is now closed! The Bucktown location is still open and the company is looking for a new location in Lincoln Park.

[Special Report] Punch Neapolitan Pizza

2008-06-09T19:20:00.009-05:00

Punch Neapolitan Pizza
704 Cleveland Ave S, St Paul MN
(651) 696-1066

I went to my college reunion this weekend and may have stumbled on the future of Neapolitan pizza in the United States. Punch Neapolitan Pizza was founded in 1996. Sorrano and his family had moved to Italy when he was 8 and he spent a lot of time in a pizzeria there. While on his honeymoon in France, he was reinspired and opened Punch about six months after getting home. He clearly knew what he was doing as Punch's pizza was certified as authentic by Vera Pizza Napoleatana.

To people who are in love with Neapolitan pizza, that certification is important. More important to the long-term success of Punch is that in 2000, regular customer John Puckett bought into the company. That's the same John Puckett who started Caribou Coffee, sold it, and has a whole lot of money and entrepreneurial experience. There are now five locations in the Twin Cities and a new one is set to open this summer. I suspect there will be many more in the near future.

On to the pizza...

There are two basic pies at Punch: the Margherita which is made with basil, and the Napoli, which is made with oregano. They offer almost 20 different combinations of toppings as well as a build-it-yourself option. All of the pizzas are very thin and cook in an 800 degree wood-burning oven for 90 seconds. As is common with Neapolitan pizza, toppings are fairly sparse and my sausage margherita was no exception. The sausage, which is homemade, is excellent, but there is just not much of it. The sweet sauce, made from crushed San Marzano tomatoes was very good and there was more of it than I expected (but still not enough for my liking). I ordered mine Doppio, which means it has extra mozzarella di buffala. That was a wise decision as the cheese, which is flown in from Naples weekly, was outstanding. Someday I would love to try a stuffed pizza made with mozzarella di buffala. It would cost a fortune, but it would be good.

My cousin got a kid's size margherita with pepperoni which he liked a lot. From what I could tell, the pepperoni was higher in quality than the typical Hormel-style that most places use.

My only complaint about the pizza (aside from my standard gripes about Neapolitan style not having enough toppings or sauce or cheese) was that there was too much olive oil on it. The crust, which had a great taste, was soggy. To eat each piece, I folded the piece in half horizontally and again vertically. That was the easiest way to avoid a mess. And because the pizza is so thin, when I folded it twice, each bite was still smaller than a bite of deep dish or stuffed pizza.

For a Neapolitan pizza, I was very happy with Punch. It was every bit as good as Spacca Napoli, but lacked all of the pretension of the popular Ravenswood spot. Hopefully, the company will expand to Chicago soon.

The Pepperoni...

And the Sausage Pizza...

Behold, the Oven!

Where it went down...

[Special Report] Mineo's Pizza House

2008-06-02T15:17:00.009-05:00

Mineo's Pizza House
2128 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
(412) 521-9864

A marital union of two pizza club members is always a special occasion, and on Saturday, May 31, El Presidente and Kate (hereinafter known as La Primera Dona) wed. On Sunday, a few Pizza Clubbers and their friends were to visit Mineo's, which is widely recognized as the best pizza in Pittsburgh. Because a number of Pizza Clubbers were much worse for wear on Sunday morning, only four people attended: Stu and I and our respective Pittsburgh friends/hosts, Joe and Alyssa. Alyssa's boyfriend, who was home recovering from the Penguins loss and a truly impressive amount of whiskey, received a share of pizza at home after the visit.

Mineo's offers three kinds of pizza: a regular thin crust, a white pizza and a Sicilian pizza. Of course, we got one of each. The ordering process was complicated as none of us speak Pittsburghese. When I inquired about the size of the pizzas, the answers were all about cuts as in, "you can order a six-cut Sicilian or a whole Sicilian." After much confusion on my part, I figured out that cut is used instead of slices. It was the first time I truly felt dumb ordering pizza.

Anyhow, we got a small meatball thin crust, a small white pizza with tomatoes and a whole sausage Sicilian (only $4 more than a six-cut). The crust on the meatball thin crust was a good, dense crust - almost like a french bread crust. It's unclear if the ground beef that was allegedly a meatball was ever actually shaped into a meatball, but by the time it was on the pizza, it consisted of pretty sparse small pieces of meat. The sauce was smooth and seemed a little pasty - a far stylistic cry from typical Chicago sauces which are much chunkier.

The white pizza was not a traditional white pizza - there was no ricotta cheese. Instead, there was a nice thick layer of provolone cheese. The crust was similar in texture to the thin crust, but had a significant amount of olive oil in it, giving it a yellowish color. We got tomatoes on the white pizza, which was recommended and they went over very well. There was also a decent amount of olive oil on top of the pizza. Or perhaps that was oil from the provolone cheese. Either way, the white pizza was the unanimous favorite at the table.

The Sicilian pizza had a fluffy crust that was about an inch and a half thick. The sauce on the Sicilian did not seem to be as pasty as the sauce on the thin crust pie. It actually seemed to have even less sauce. The sausage, which is homemade, was incredibly tender and, I thought, delicious.

In the end, we had about twice as much pizza as we needed, but we felt we did our duty by trying all three kinds of pizzas offered by the king of all Pittsburgh pizzerias. Although, by eating the pizzas in the restaurant, it seems we may have been in the minority. A lot of people go to Mineo's and get their pizzas "half-baked" and then take them home to cook it themselves.

One interesting Chicago connection: Before Giovanni (John) Mineo opened the place in 1958, he was planning on opening a bakery when he went to Chicago to visit a friend who owned a pizzeria. According to family legend, that friend convinced Mineo to open a pizzeria and taught him how to make pizza. I've never had anything in Chicago remotely similar to Mineo's, but I can't imagine they'd make this up. If anyone knows the name of the Chicago establishment where John learned how to make his pies, I'd love to know.

Trying to bring back the cup...

The crowd-pleasing White Pizza...

Meatball Thin Crust Pizza...

The mighty Sicilian...

Where it went down...

[Meet the Members] Erik

2008-05-21T11:04:00.010-05:00

Screen Name: Erik

Real Name: White Chocolate

Came out of the Oven: October 10, 1980

Favorite toppings: Sausage, Green Peppers, Anchovies

First Pizza Club Meeting: Early 2008

Favorite Deep Dish Pizza: Moretti's

Favorite Stuffed Pizza: n/a

Favorite Thin Crust Pizza: Santullo's

Favorite Pizza outside of Chicago: Garcia's - Champaign/Urbana

Had Pizza in the Motherland? Not even sure I've had pizza outside of Illinois ...

What Do You Do When Not Eating Pizza? By day I'm a mild mannered engineer. By night I'm a mild mannered engineer who plays too many video games.

Personal Pizza Statement: I think Papa John's is pretty tasty, so, like Roger Ebert, I'm a pretty easy critic

My Pie [Meeting #58]

2008-05-20T12:29:00.013-05:00

My Pie
2417 N. Clark Map
773-929-3380

The Chicago Pizza Club invaded My Pie on 5/20/08.

All of the Pizza Clubbers in attendance tonight have walked by My Pie numerous times, but none of us had ever been there (at least not to this location - a couple had been to the much smaller place in Bucktown). The first thing we all noticed was how much bigger the restaurant is than we expected. From the outside, it seems like it would be primarily a take-out place with a few tables. But it's actually a nice, large restaurant with brick walls and heavy wood tables.

My Pie is a family-owned chain that has opened 23 locations in 9 states. They claim to be the first Chicago deep dish pizzeria to open outside of Illinois. It's unclear how many My Pies currently exist since the claim about other locations is in the past tense, but the only two mentioned on the website are both in Chicago. I shall try to solve this pizza mystery someday.

We ordered four pizzas: a deep dish sausage and mushroom; a deep dish pepperoni, onion and garlic; a thin crust roast beef; and a stuffed spinach soufflé. My Pie says that is makes its dough daily and that it uses different dough for the three different styles of pie. In fact, they say they use different cheese, spices, sausage and tomatoes for each of the three types. After about a 40 minute wait, our pies were all delivered to the table.

The thin crust with roast beef had no characteristics that really stood out. The crust drooped when one held up a piece, but there was some debate whether that was because of a flaw in the crust or because of the weight of the beef. There was definitely not a shortage of roast beef on the pizza, but the amount of cheese made it less than easy to taste the roast beef. Indeed another possibility for the lack of sturdiness in the crust may be that the oil that came out of the cheese during cooking softened it up. One thing to note about the crust is that it is thicker than a typical Chicago thin crust like the one at Pat's or Vito & Nicks.

The deep dish pizzas were noticeably different from typical deep dish pizzas in that their crust was not particularly thick. In fact, it seemed no thicker than the crust on the thin pizza. The crust seemed to have a garlic flavor to it and it definitely had a lot of butter, so it wasn't entirely unique for Chicago deep dish, but the crust/cheese breakdown was different. A couple of notes on the toppings: the sausage had a higher fat content than most sausage. Also, while My Pie is generous with the toppings, the chefs are not particularly careful about even distribution. On one slice of my pepperoni, onion and garlic pie, I counted six pieces of pepperoni on top of one another and I had a couple of bites with no pepperoni at all.

The stuffed spinach soufflé was definitely the most unique pizza of the night. Like a traditional stuffed pizza, the cheese and toppings sit between two layers of crust. But while the top layer of crust is normally paper thin, here it was about as thick as the bottom layer. Furthermore, while traditional stuffed pizza has only sauce on top of the top layer of crust, this one seemed to have a little more cheese on top of the crust and under the sauce. It's hard to say what the cause is, but the result is that the stuffed pizza at My Pie does not feel nearly as heavy as a traditional stuffed pizza.

Finally, a word about the sauce. This may have been the chunkiest sauce that I've ever had and there was not even a hint of acidity to it. I could not tell a difference between the sauces on the different pizza, but one reason for the lack of acidity could be, as My Pie claims, that their tomatoes are vine-ripened and only single-cooked, while most canned tomatoes are double or triple-cooked.

For those who are planning on driving, My Pie is on a busy street in a busy neighborhood - parking is sparse. My Pie offers discounted parking just two blocks north at Children's Memorial Hospital for $3.

Petey Pizza Gives My Pie a 6.2/10.

Serving up some deep dish...

The Roast Beef thin crust pizza...

Limp crust makes El Presidente sad...

The Spinache Soufflé

Who knew it was so big?

Where it went down...

[Pizza History] Pizza History according to American Heritage

2008-05-17T16:23:00.005-05:00

Here's an excerpt:

"The modern pizza industry was born in the Midwest, not coincidentally a place of sparse Italian settlement. Although pizza had pushed into the suburbs as second-generation Italians relocated, most of the heartland was pizza-free. Its inhabitants had neither allegiance nor aversion to the traditional pie. The region also boasted an enviable supply of cheese.

Sewell’s lightly seasoned deep-dish pie, introduced in 1943, the signature item at Pizzeria Uno, was the first true American pizza. The pie was a uniquely Chicago institution, like a perennially losing major-league baseball team, that other cities showed no interest in adopting. Until Uno’s opened its first location outside Chicago in 1979, people had to go to East Ohio Street to sample anything like Sewell’s idea of a pie. But its success liberated pizzeria owners nationwide to tinker with their product, ultimately paving the way for the megafranchises."

I take issue with the reference to losing baseball teams, backhanded compliments and inaccurate top ten list but they've managed to collect at least some useful information.

Read more at American Heritage

[Chicago Pizza News] Vito & Nick's II Expands Again

2008-05-16T11:04:00.004-05:00

Vito & Nick's II is owned by Nicholas Barraco II, son of Nicholas Baccaro, who is the Nick in Vito & Nick's, the southside institution at 84th and Pulaski that is home to many Pizza Clubbers favorite thin crust pie. Vito is Nick II's grandfather.

Initially, I assumed that the two were part of the same company and that Vito and Nick's II, which has multiple locations, was just an extension of the original. When I came across this article announcing the opening of another V & N II location, I did some investigating. While Vito and Nick's II emphasizes its ties to the original Vito & Nick's , the original states in block letters on its website, NOT AFFILIATED OR ASSOCIATED WITH VITO AND NICKS II IN MOKENA IL OR ANY LICENSEE OR FRANCHISEE. It seems likely that some family squabble got overblown and that there is some bad blood.

In any event, V & N II seems to be looking to become the Uno's of the thin crust world - the pizza that is the definition of Chicago style in the minds of the rest of the country. Not only does V & N II have six locations in the Chicago suburbs, it also has a location in Gilbert, AZ and is opening one soon in Coral Gables, FL. They also ship frozen pizzas and they are looking for people interested in franchise opportunities.

Perhaps the CPC should invest. But first, we should definitely plan a trip out there to see if the son is as talented as the father.

[Chicago Pizza News] Ordering Pizza Gets All High Techy...

2008-05-14T11:06:00.004-05:00

So, Papa Johns is in the news this week for hitting over $1 Billion in online pizza sales. You can read about it over here.

Papas Johns was always my prefered chain pizza while I was in college down in Champaign/Urbana, but they don't seem to be too widespread up here in the city. I actually researched the possibility of getting some delivered for the Chicago Pizza Club's Chain Pizza Extravaganza, but there were none in my delivery area.

Anywho, I love ordering food online with the interwebs, I think it cuts down on mistakes with your orders, people writing down the wrong addresses, etc., and while Domino's and Pizza Hut both offer online ordering, I much, much prefer to use websites that offer the option of ordering local, non-chain pizzas right to my doorstep. Both Foodler.com and GrubHub.com let you enter in your address, see what local restaurants deliver to you, browse menus online and let you place your order through their websites. Also handy is how they have their menus broken down into handy categories such as; Pasta, Mexican, Sushi, Chinese, etc... oh, and of course, Pizza! And while I haven't used this site yet, it looks like Delivery.com also offers similar services to the Chicago area.

So, if you're lazy like me and are hungry for pizza rejoice in knowing that your online ordering needs (oh yeah, it's a need) can be met by more than just the big pizza chains.

[Special Report] Los Mano Pizzas

2008-05-09T10:22:00.009-05:00

This post from abroad came to me this morning from our member Mark, currently vacationing and avoiding kidnappers in Brazil...

Hey, I am in Sao Paulo Brazil, and decided to have a pizza club meeting for one. I took a few pictures, though I do not have any of the restaurant. I have a few minutes so here is a review written off the cuff:

The food in brazil has presented me with numerous new flavors and combinations of old flavors I would not have thought appropriate prior to the trip. As the trip winds down, I decided to see what the Brazillian take on pizza was like. I am currently staying in a Jewish neighborhood in Sao Paulo with a friend. This is not a neighborhood where tourists are seen, so I believe that this sample of one is fairly representative of a normal Brazilian pizza. The pizza place chosen was one 2 blocks away that seemed to be doin a fair amount of business. Los Mano Pizzas located at 1333 rua Dr. Albuquerque Lins, Higienopolis. Ph # 3662-0000, and yes, they do deliver. The menu presented several options that appeared very strange, including a banana pizza, and pizza with the cheese replaced by a mousse squeezed out of a pastry bag. The sauce appears to be a basic, I think, marinara, which is spread very sparingly on a very neutral pizza dough. The topping of choice is placed on top of slices of buffalo mozzerella the outside of the crust is then sprinkled with sesame seeds, and the pie placed in a wood fired oven for 8-10 minutes.

The word to describe the pizza best is neutral, the crust had no real distinctive flavor other than the presence of the sesame seeds which I must admit did not suit my taste. The sauce was minimal and fairly sweet. The cheese was of an excellent quality despite its placement in sliced form. The toppings were of a high quality, however I must admit when I received the pizza I was a little shocked. As this is an establishment where people always speak Portugese there was obviously no menu in English. I, having spent the last 9 days mastering the language, assumed I would be fine. What I ended up with was a pizza with the finest olives on it I have ever tasted, and a whole pile of tuna. The tuna was of higher quality (possibly from one of those vacuum packets rather than the can) and the oil and seasonings actually made the pizza much more tolerable than I expected, but I really dont like tuna.

The pizza was quickly produced and the staff were very interested to talk with a gringo such as myself, even if I only speak a little spanoish. They were totally unaware of the existence of stuffed crust, and I wrote down the address of the pizza club so they can get their minds blown at what the technologically mighty U.S. can produce.

As I ended up with a pizza with toppings that confused the review I do not feel that a rating is appropriate, however I do feel that this remains an excellent lesson in eating while in a foreign land; that you frequently end up with a food that you would never eat. Sometimes this ends up exposing you to flavors you have never tasted before, and sometimes you get a pizza with tuna on top of it.

Looks good...

I wonder if they deliver to Chicago?

Look at that! Sesame seeds!!

[Chicago Pizza News] Let's All Mark Our Calendars!

2008-05-07T15:00:00.009-05:00

2nd Annual Pizza Fest Chicago
Racine & Fullerton, Chicago (Google Maps)

If there two things we can say about the members of the Chicago Pizza Club it's that they love Pizza and they love Festivals. So news of the 2nd Annual Pizza Fest Chicago will know doubt resound in the ears of our readers and contributors as nothing less than spectacular news.

The Fest this year takes place on June 21 & 22, from noon to 10pm both days.

Further details (and there are many further details to behold) can be found here!

Chicago Pizza Club members let's all do our best to attend and cover this glorious event in detail!

[Special Report] Imo's Pizza

2008-05-05T21:42:00.006-05:00

Imo's
742 S. 4th Street, St. Louis, MO (GoogleMaps)
(314) 421-4667

Stu and I had a lovely day yesterday, making the trek from Chicago to St. Louis to watch the Cubs spank the Cardinals 9-3. As there are some White Sox fans in the CPC, I will respectfully decline to elaborate on the game. But I will write about my return to Imo's Pizza for the first time since I lived in St. Louis in 1998-99.

Imo's, which has been around since 1964, is the most prominent St. Louis pizzeria. It's pies have a cracker-thin crisp crust, a tangy sauce, and provel cheese. What is provel cheese, you ask? It's a cheese that was developed in St. Louis more than fifty years ago and, despite massive globalization in the food industry, is still pretty much only available in St. Louis.

A food reporter from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch did some research into Provel's origins:

It was originally developed to meet perceived demand for a pizza cheese with a "clean bite"—one that melts well but still breaks off nicely when you bite into it. Neither gentleman had a definitive answer for where the name comes from, although one popular theory is that it's a combination of the words provolone and mozzarella, two of the cheeses for which it is substituted.

What the local reporter left out is that provel is actually processed cheese a la American cheese or those lovely Laughing Cow cheese disks. Like other processed cheeses, provel has a wax-like quality that both retains heat and gives it a very chewy texture.

The original Imo's is no more, so Stu and I opted for convenience and went to the location closest to Busch Stadium. We picked up our sausage pie and headed over to the Arch to enjoy St. Louis' pizza under St. Louis' classic monument.

While I understand why provel has not caught on nationally, I enjoyed the pizza. We had to walk about 3/4 of a mile from Imo's to the Arch, but the pizza was still warm and the crust still had it's cracker-like crispness. The sausage was nothing special, but there was a decent amout of it on the pizza.

Imo's was a nice trip down memory lane for me and I'm glad I went. That said, if I don't eat it for another ten years, I'll be just fine.

A couple of Chicago-related notes. First, Hoffman's, the Milwaukee cheese manufacturer that developed provel with a St. Louis grocery store, is now owned by Northbrook-based Kraft Foods. Second, Feed the Beast, a bar and restaurant in Chicago, is owned by a St. Louis native and serves St. Louis style pizza, complete with provel cheese. Perhaps the CPC will visit someday.

Award Winning St. Louis Pizza... at least until 1999...

I wonder what's inside?

Oh yeah... Pizza!

Dan enjoys a square under the Arch...

Where it went down...

Pequod's [Meeting #57]

2008-05-05T21:39:00.004-05:00

Pequod's
2207 N. Clybourn (GoogleMaps)
(773) 327-1512

CPC invaded Pequod's for the second time on 4/27/08.

Da club came together on a mild spring day to take a bite out of Pequod’s signature caramelized crust pan pizza in Lincoln Park. This was one of our largest meetings to date, with a group of about fifteen folks including regulars, new members, out-of-town visitors, and a couple of tykes.

Pequod’s, named for Captain Ahab’s whaling ship in Melville’s Moby Dick, is one of several establishments started by the legendary Burt Katz. These days, Burt spends his time making pizzas at the appropriately named Burt’s Place in Morton Grove, but his signature pizza can be found at various other establishments he owned at different points in the past going back to the 1960's, including Pequod’s and Gulliver’s. Don’t expect to see Burt at any of his former haunts, though. When TimeOut Chicago asked Burt for his thoughts on his former pizza places, he replied, “When you sell your car, do you check on it every six months? Nope.” Nevertheless, the CPC has visited Burt’s Place in the past, and there is no mistaking his lingering influence on Pequod’s.

The restaurant itself is a long, rectangular room with a bar along the left side. We had to string four or five square tables together to accommodate our large group. It is a casual spot with dim lighting, where you can hang out with family and friends or just stop in for beer and pizza while you watch a sports game. The image of the whale is prominent throughout, as you can see in the photos below.

At Pequod’s, you can expect charred outer crusts, a nice tangy sauce, and abundant fresh toppings. The crust itself is thick and more bread-like than the typical pan pizza. It is soft other than the charred outer edges. The cheese is good enough, but it comes in a pretty thin layer and it’s not terribly remarkable until it joins the caramelized goodness of the charred crust. The sauce is delicious and probably one of the best around town in my opinion. It is sweet, tangy, and altogether the flavors are very well-balanced. Because of the thickness of the bready crust, El Presidente and I often request extra sauce and/or cheese when we order Pequod’s for delivery.

We enjoyed the following pizzas at our meeting:

Pan Pizza with Sausage and Pepperoni - the sausage comes in big, flavorful chunks and the pepperoni is appropriately spicy.

Pan Pizza with Pepperoni, Onion, and Garlic - this is a great combination. some spicy pepperoni, the crunch of the onion, and the garlic is probably my favorite topping here because it goes so well with the sauce.

Pan Pizza with Garlic and Basil - perhaps because of the daintiness of the ingredients, this pie didn't seem to get as much sauce as the others, so it was a lot of bread, but still tasty.

Pan Pizza with Spinach and Mushroom - the combination of these two waterlogged vegetables resulted in a wet mess, but the ingredients themselves were good.

Pan Pizza with Mushroom and Garlic - fresh, perfectly cooked mushrooms and garlic. a good combination when not partaking in the meat options.

Thin Crust with Canadian Bacon and Pineapple - the pineapple was cut into rings, so it didn't appear on every slice, but the juices still added the flavor throughout. the Canadian bacon was cut into small, thin slices. generous amounts of cheese. this pizza was okay, and we tried it to get a feel for the thin crust, but I wouldn't order it again. go for the pan pizza.

The pizzas came out in a timely fashion and we ended up with a bill of $15/adult. Overall, a delicious and successful outing that has me itching to get back to Burt's again soon.

kate-d. gives Pequod's an 8.2

The CPC gives Pequod's 8.15/10.

Serving up some deep dish...

Thin crust Pineapple and Ham

The crowd-pleasing Pepperoni, Onion & Garlic

The famous Carmelized Crust

What do you mean there's no more pizza?

El Presidente has a whale of a good time...

Where it went down...

[Meet the Members] Ryan

2008-05-02T09:49:00.002-05:00

Screen Name: Ryan

Real Name: Ryan

Came out of the Oven: Wheaton IL

Favorite toppings: Pepperoni/sausage, onion, garlic

First Pizza Club Meeting: Sorry. That memory slipped out of my left ear a couple years ago when I fell asleep on the El. If you seen it at a local pawn shop let me know. My iPod is missing too. Thanks.

Favorite Deep Dish Pizza: Pequod's.

Favorite Stuffed Pizza: Still looking. I told myself I'd never do it but I'm one spinach ricotta mistake away from posting myself on StuffedPizzaMatch.com.

Favorite Thin Crust Pizza: Cafe Florian.

Favorite Pizza outside of Chicago: Sam's Pizza - Iowa City IA

Had Pizza in the Motherland? I've had pizza on the mothership, man. It tasted like laser beams.

What Do You Do When Not Eating Pizza? After a lifetime in the Chicagoland area I recently moved to complete a Radiology residency in Miami; where they don't understand pizza, my beer gut, or my primary language. So I've been busy practicing my espanol, sitting in the dark, and sitting in the sun. I've also been eagerly waiting the release of my wife, Kelly, who is currently serving a sentence at Northwestern graduate school. If I'm not buried under a pile of requisitions in the Jackson ER you can find me on a kite board off the coast of Key Biscayne. Look for my reviews during my frequent returns to Chicago.

Personal Pizza Statement: There's no list of absolute criteria for a pizza to receive a good score from me. It just has to inspire me to use an expletive before an adjective. However, if you're looking for some Hot and Cold inspired insight into my spot-on pizza ratings, here it is:
Warmer - tangy sauce, crispy crust, innumerable toppings (amount not types), squares on thin, triangles on thick, garlic
Colder - limp crust, play-doh cheese, end in -tarian, confusable with a 3-colored block of ice cream, cotton-mouth crust, heat lamps, eaten like a taco
And a word about 'Specials'...Don't cheapen the term. If sausage and green peppers are coming to mind think a little longer.