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.
- Thin Crust, Pepperoni, Garlic, Onion
- Pan (regular), Ham, Basil
- Pan (wheat), the special Artichoke Pesto 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
Posts
4 comments:
Well, as a former UofC student, I have been here many times. I think by my last few months in school I had finally come to appreciate this place as the best Hyde Park has to offer.
All vegetables were fresh and they gave large artichoke portions, making me happy. The ham was really just diced deli ham, but it grooved well with the basil.
The pepperoni pizza was quite garlic-laden and I applaud their bravery. People come here on dates, but it doesn't matter to Florian.
The sauce is not sweet, but very fresh tasting without being acidic. It has a tanginess from the seasoning and was excellent. The crust, which I usually don't pay attention to, was great and my favorite part of the evening. You could eat the pan slices by hand because the crust wasn't soggy and bending. I couldn't really tell the difference between the wheat and regular crust but they were both awesome. Maybe I'll go back to college so I can walk to Caffe Florian.
9.0
This place was awesome. After a mild string of misses this place came on strong. The sauce was very flavorful, without being overpowering at all, a nice subtle taste with good spices.
The crusts were very good, if I had one complaint, it was that they could've used a bit more butter on them. But they were nice and crispy without being burnt, and they stayed that way without ever getting soggy as time wore on.
The place had a nice college atomosphere too, the waiters/hostesses were really nice and even the bus boy was pretty cool
I give the pizza here an 8
Caffe Florian is a crust lover's choice. If you like it crisp this is about as good as it gets. Both the pan and the thin crust were extra crispy without being the least bit burned. Every piece had crunch whether on the edge or in the middle. An excellent crust in concept and execution. As other members mentioned there wasn't much difference in taste between the wheat and regular crust but who cares? Both tasted great.
I enjoyed both the pan and the thin, with a slight edge to the pan. I would recommend getting one of each if your party is large enough. If not, get the pan.
Of the three pizzas we ordered my favorite was the pepperoni/onion/garlic simply because the ingredients were a great combination. The pepperoni was very thin sliced. It worked well for the thin crust but I wonder if it would have gotten lost in the sauce of the pan pizza. The ham/basil was good but I probably wouldn't order the diced ham again. Artichoke/pesto was an excellent vegetarian choice. Artichoke slices were large and tasty.
The sauce at Caffe Florian was tasty and they give you a lot, especially on the pan pizza. Not particulary sweet or spicy, just fresh.
And if you're still not convinced, Cafe Florian has nice decor, good service, and is BYOB. Now you're out of excuses so drive your lazy ass down to Hyde Park for some pizza.
9.1
The pizza at Caffe Florian is great. I enjoyed it years ago while studying at U Chicago, but it was even better than I remembered. The crust of each pie was delicious. I don't usually demand stand-out crust from a pizza to enjoy it, so the fully developed flavor of the pan crusts and the crispness of the thin crust just made these pizzas all the more delectable. The sauce was a great balance of fresh tomato sweet goodness, garlic, and herbs.
All three pizzas were great, but I liked the pan pizzas the best. I love artichokes and the artichoke pesto was a great triumph for this ingredient. The ham and basil pizza was good, but I agree with other reviewers that the diced ham was a bit weak and not coequal with the other ingredients. It was not what we expected when we ordered ham. Still a great pizza, though, because the sauce, crust, cheese, and basil got the job done.
The thin crust with pepperoni/garlic/onion was great, especially the potent but not overwhelming garlic. I thought there was a bit too much cheese on the thin crust, but all of the ingredients worked well together and the amounts of everything else were right on.
9.0
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