Novel Pizza Cafe [Meeting #138]

Novel Pizza Cafe

1759 W. 19th Street (Map)
Chicago, IL 60625
No phone it seems

CPC invaded Novel Pizza Cafe on Sunday, June 8, 2025.

Here's a secret: For our last meeting, we were actually planning on going to Novel Pizza Cafe and not Bob's but only made the last minute switch because we realized that Novel wasn't open on Sundays and we needed a place that opened at 11:00 AM. Here's another secret, this time, our plan was to go to Zarella, the hot new place from the Boka Group but we couldn't get enough people to make it worth it. So with Novel still on the brain and the fact that they are now open on Sundays, we returned to Pilsen for the second meeting in a row.

There were four of us at the meeting but two eagerly awaiting leftovers, so we got three pizzas, two thin crust and one pan. All were good, but the thin crust was the clear winner.

Virtually every single mention of Novel highlights the fact that it's the product of a Filipino-Mexican partnership. And for good reason. Only in America, baby! More on the restaurant and the owners here and here. There's not much Filipino or Mexican influence on the menu, which makes sense because neither country is exactly known for their pizza. One exception is the longanisa and giardiniera pie. If you only get one pizza here, this is the one to get. Frequently giardiniera overpowers pizzas, but that's definitely not the case here were the giardiniera isn't super spicy and it's balanced out really well by the sweet sausage. Here are some more pictures of that delicious pizza.

defying gravity 

Because one of our tween CPC members was with us and her palate hasn't developed yet, we got what Novel calls a margherita but definitely isn't a margherita, but it was solid. Spreading the dollops of ricotta on each slide before eating is this right move.

The crust was very sturdy but not particularly crisp - kind of a scientific marvel in that regard. There was also a notable cornmeal component. I'd rank the crust as better than the edible plate that is most common on Chicago thin crust pizzas, but not top tier. 

It seems that most people go to Novel for the thin crust. And if we weren't so committed to thoroughness, we'd have done that too. But we believe in thoroughness.

So, this is kind of a weird pizza. I suppose it's closest to Detroit but with a heavier, more focaccia-y crust. There's a ton of cheese and I'm still not sure what it is. I asked and, after checking with someone in the kitchen, the guy at the counter said it was a combination of mozzarella and cheddar. I'm unconvinced.it kind of tasted like saganaki, but I can't imagine they're using any Greek cheese in there. Anyhow, it was tasty but I can't imagine getting it again. I think it was the heaviest slice of pizza I've ever had. 

Final thoughts: Novel is good not great. If you live in Pilsen, it would be a very good regular spot. If you don't live in Pilsen, the longanisa and giardiniera pizza is worth going out of your way to try, but come on, if you're making a trip to Pilsen for food, 97 times out of 100, you should be getting Mexican food.