Pizzeria Dada [Meeting #146]

Pizza Dada

125 S. Clark Street (Map)

Chicago, IL 60603

No Phone

CPC invaded Pizza Dada on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

Good news: The Chicago Pizza Club met for the second time in a week

Bad news: Just 3 members at each meeting

Good news: This pizza was great

Pizza Dada is a passion project from Table, Donkey, Stick. It's a stall in the Sterling Food Hall, so it's primarily a lunch operation. If you go at night like we did (they close at 7:00), I'd recommend ordering a whole pizza ahead of time. Because one of our three only eats cheese pizzas and the other two wanted to try more, we went with slices. They had 6 options, which was great, but none of them were fresh. That these were as good as they were despite being reheated slices, makes it clear Pizza Dada is among the best NY pizzas in Chicago.

The Margherita was fantastic. So much flavor out of such few ingredients. Definitely the best plain(ish) NY slice I can remember having in Chicago.

The Vodka Roni comes with mozzarella, pepperoni, and vodka sauce, all on a sesame seed crust. The flavors were top notch, probably my favorite of the night, but this one would be much better fresh.

I didn't get a close up of the pepperoni, but this picture tells the story. This is a great slice with top notch pepperoni from Enzo.

Plain cheese pizza is boring, but if you like boring, this is a great rendition.

Sausage at pizzerias in New York is, generally speaking, an embarrassment.  In Chicago, even loads of crappy pizza places have great sausage. I guess Dada is going for authenticity because the sausage was not good. Edible, but not good. Still a solid slice overall. 

I'm a fan of the ratio here - just one white pizza. The "White" comes with garlic, ricotta, basil, and lemon with a sesame seed crust. This one suffered the most from being reheated. We also would have liked more garlic.

The crust was uniformly a great rendition of NY pizza. Crisp and chewy and flavorful. What else can you ask for?

Some pizza club members were more eager to get to the meeting than others.

Pizza Amelia [Meeting #145]

Pizza Amelia

2111 W. Roscoe Ave (Map)
Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 697-8579

CPC invaded Pizza Amelia on Sunday, September 20, 2026.

The shop (photo from Yelp)

Thanks to a last minute visit by Andrew from the pizza desert of St. Louis, we had a last minute meeting of the Chicago Pizza Club at Pizza Amelia in Roscoe Village.

Scheduled turnout was light at six people, with Kate, Amanda and her kids Hugo and Felix joining Andrew and I. Kate and Felix got sick and Hugo was being a little teenage bitch boy, so there were only 3 of us in attendance. That was just as well because it's a tiny place with very limited seating. They were actually planning on no seating on Sunday due to the Retro on Roscoe street festival, but thanks to the rain, they let us set up a table.

With just 3 people, we were limited to one pizza and opted for a sausage and mushroom. I don't have too much to say about this one. It was a very good NYC/CT pizza with no flaws at all. It was well-balanced, the sausage was really good, the sauce was flavorful and the crust had a really nice crisp/chew thing going.

It's not destination dining, but so few pizza places are so that's not a knock on them at all. For families in the neighborhood in need of a last minute option, this place is really great. For people into takeout or delivery, this is a great option for the area. 

Kudos to me for making it all the way through the review without complaining that we got there a couple minutes after the scheduled opening time of 11:30 only to be told unapologetically and without a reason that they weren't opening until noon.

DeNucci's [Meeting #144]

DeNucci's

503 W Dickens Ave (Map)
Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 697-8780

CPC invaded DeNucci's on Monday, August 24, 2026

Photo credit: Eater

For the second meeting in a row, the Chicago Pizza Club went to a Chicago restaurant with suburban roots. Well, kind of. The last meeting was at WG Pizza, which was a delicious suburban import. DeNucci's is a little different. The Italian restaurant that includes East Coast pizza on a full menu actually started in Chicago in 2023 and expanded to Highland Park in 2024 before adding Hinsdale in 2025. 

But a little less than a year and a half ago, it was the Highland Park location that introduced Monday-night-only tavern-style pizza . I guess it was an immediate hit because the Chicago location followed suit a month later. And I guess it's a long-lasting hit because the place was packed on a Monday night (though some credit goes to it being one of the best weather days in what's been a horrible summer).

There were only three of us at the meeting, with a fourth there in spirit and getting leftovers, so we were able to order three pizzas. The first choice was what seems to be signature pizza - it's highlighted on the menu - "Sausage & giardiniera fennel-flecked sweet Italian sausage, finely minced hot giardiniera, dry oregano." This was, not surprisingly, a winner. The giardiniera was more medium than hot, which I actually think is a good thing since too much heat can overwhelm a pizza.

For our second pie, we built our own pizza and went with an old Chicago Pizza Club favorite, the Daily Special. Pepperoni, onion and garlic is always a good combination, but this was a particularly good version. First, the pepperoni was good quality - flavorful and nice chew. Second, garlic slices instead of the usual minced garlic was really a great idea. Third, red onion instead of white. This was the unanimous favorite of the night.

We went veggie with our third pizza. There's a "Good Veggie" option on the menu, but it seemed a bit busy. We went with mushroom and oven-dried tomato. This was another winner, but it would have been improved with some kind of spice (or more pepperoni). All three crusts were crisp in part, but this one was definitely the crunchiest of the three, presumably thanks to the lack of animal fat.

Speaking of the crust, these guys have definitely embraced the cured dough phenomenon that has taken over the style in the last couple of years. DeNucci's is no mom and pop operation. Ballyhoo Hosputality, much like the Boka Group with Zarella's, know how to build a good, well-run restaurant.

WG Pizzas [Meeting #143]

WG Pizzas

2819 N Southport Ave (Map)
Chicago, IL 60657
(872) 315-3179

CPC invaded WG Pizza on Saturday May 30, 2026.

Alex's Washington Gardens has been serving Italian food in Highwood for almost 100 years. More on the restaurant's history here. The most recent owners have moved into Chicago with their pizzeria, WG Pizzas, more on that here. And it was there that the Chicago Pizza Club met for four pizzas that blew our expectations away. This was really good pizza.

Every month, they have a couple of special pizzas. It seems like some are designed by chef friends from different restaurants, but this one came from in house - the brain of Chef Victor Joya. It's the Elote Pizza and if  comes with Garlic Butter Sauce, Roasted Corn and Poblano Peppers, Mozzarella, Cotija, Tajin, Cilantro, Scallions, and Chipotle Aioli Drizzle.

This is the Pizza a la Vodka, which is on the permanent menu but apparently a creation of Chef Max Robbins of Lettuce Entertain You. Perhaps it started as a special but it made the permanent menu because it's delicious. It's topped with Vodka Sauce, Calabrian Chilis, Basil, Smoked Mozzarella, and Parmesan.

This is the Italian Beef & Hot Giardiniera. Another winner.

The first three pizzas were selections from the menu with pre-set toppings, but WG also has a build your own option. We opted for sausage and mushroom and it was great.

That's where we sat. It seems like it's mostly carry-out and delivery, but the seating area is perfectly nice. Fresh pizza is always better.

Success!!!

Bad Johnny's [Meeting #141]

Bad Johnny's

1612 Irving Park Road (inside The Long Room) (Map)
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 665-8210

www.badjohnnys.com

CPC invaded Bad Johnny's on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.

The Chicago Pizza Club was supposed to meet at The Beer Temple to enjoy the delicious Detroit style pizzas from the pizza masters at Middlebrow. Sadly, turnout was super light so the truly committed among decided to save the heavier pies for another night. Instead, we headed to The Long Room, where Bad Johnny's has a permanent residency on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights.

Both of these pictures were found online. Thanks to whoever took them.

Bad Johnny's is probably better known for the portable wood-fired oven that shows up at events around town, but the pizzas they're making with gas at The Long Room hit the spot.

We got a salad. It comes with Red Leaf Lettuce, Radicchio, Sweet Red Apple, Watermelon Radish, Herbs, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, and Honey-Cider Vinaigrette. It was tasty.

Up first was the Plain, which Johnny's says is an ode to the New York slice and its condiments. It has tomato sauce, fior di latte, fresh garlic, chili, fresh oregano, and 2-year aged Parmigiano Reggiano. This was a delicious pizza. 

The pepperoni was another really tasty pie despite it crossing the line from charred to burned in a couple of places. In addition to the swine, this one comes with tomato sauce, fior di latte, toasted arbol chiles and buckwheat honey.

The Brussels & 'Nduja comes with, you guessed it, Brussels sprouts and 'nduja (the latter made by Chicago Salumi) along with smoked gouda, ricotta, and lemon. It was pretty but it was also too salty and too smokey and woefully light on the 'nduja. We wouldn't recommend this one.

So there you have it - an excellent cheese pizza; a would-have-been-excellent-if-not-burned-but-still-excellent-in-the-non-burned-parts pepperoni pizza; and a bad Brussels sprouts pizza. Like Meatloaf says, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Throw in the general vibe of The Long Room and Bad Johnny's is a winner overall.

We skipped the drinking at The Long Room because we had to make our way over to Half Acre to try a few variants of Catching Hell. They do a shitty job keeping their menu up to date and there were only two benthics available and one of them (Marabi Benthic) wasn't good. But the 2x4 Benthic was delicious and the Double Bourbon Barrel Generational was very good so a good end to the Chicago Pizza Club meeting #141.

Will we get to #150 in 2026? Probably not but a boy can dream.