Chicago's Pizza [Meeting #35]

Wednesday, October 18th
Chicago's Pizza
3006 N. Sheffield (GoogleMaps)
773.755.4030

CPC invaded Chicago's Pizza on 10/18/06

Come judge harshly indeed.

Chicago Pizza Club meeting #35 has come and gone, and those who attended are probably most happy about the "gone" part. The general consensus was that this was the most mediocre of mediocre Chicago pizza, and one can't help but wonder if they truly deserve to besmirch our good city's name.

The Chicago Pizza Club invaded Chicago's Pizza on North Sheffield last night and ordered up our pies just before 8pm. Our selections this week were:

• the Garlic Lovers Pizza: With fresh sliced tomatoes, roasted garlic, fresh basil and mozzerella cheese, brushed with olive oil. (This was from their 'Gourmet Pizza' menu).
  
  
• The Chicago Special Stuffed Pizza: Sausage, mushrooms, green peppers & onions.
  
  
• Thin crust pizza with pepperoni: This one is self explanatory.

Our pizzas took about 40 minutes to arrive, and worked out to $9 per person (paid in advance, including soft drinks) for the 8 Pizza Clubbers that we had in attendance (side note: we managed to order the perfect amount of pizza for 8 people). The Stuffed Pan Pizza was probably the best pizza of the three that we ordered, the sauce was pretty interesting but in the end I think it was mainly responsible for the massive heartburn I had when I woke up at 4 in the morning. The thin crust pepperoni pizza was pretty standard and nothing really to speak of, other than to say, yes, it faired better than a Domino's pizza. Their 'Gourmet' Garlic Pizza was probably the most maligned of our order, though I do know of at least one member who liked it.

As for this restaurant's atmosphere? Well, I think you'd find more atmosphere floating in space in an orbit around Pluto (I still can't get used to their only being 8 planets, but that's neither here nor there...). This was storefront seating, and the restaurant's modus operandi at this location seemed to revolve around carryout, delivery and pizza by the slice. Though I was presently suprised when they brought us out real plates and silverware. And, they did let us turn on the baseball playoffs, and that was nice.

In the end, this pizza wasn't worth the effort of our trek, parking in this neighborhood is extremely difficult, and even more so when the Vic Theatre across the street is attracting hippies like nobodies business for a concert. I'm guessing this place bases their business on locals who eat there out of convenience.

Petey gives Chicago's a 4.55.


Here comes our pizza


Maybe it's the Garlic Lover's, maybe it's not...


Thin-crust pepperoni


The pan pizza, looking a little worse for wear


Where it went down

O'famé Italian Restaurant [Meeting #34]

O'famé Italian Restaurant
750 W. Webster (GoogleMaps)
(773) 929-5111

CPC invaded O'famé on 10/05/06

O'famé is a family-run Italian restaurant boasting recipes that have been handed down through several generations, after originating within the neighborhood food businesses of Chicago's Taylor Street. Though inconveniently located in the center of a spiritless neighborhood calling itself "Lincoln Park," the restaurant itself is in a warm and simple two-room space. They accommodated us with a large table for twelve by the window, and the servers were friendly and attentive. A very nice touch for the squinting crowd: reading glasses at a table by the entry to help tired eyes peruse the menu in the dim lighting.

O'famé has a broad selection of pastas, salads, and sandwiches, but clearly the Chicago Pizza Club was there for the P to the I-Z-Z-A. They serve thin, pan, and stuffed pizzas, all topped with mozzarella and aged parmigiano cheese. We did not notice a big difference between the pan and stuffed varieties, though the pan pizza was certainly doughier, and at least the one we had was a bit soggy, but still pretty good. O'famé offers a variety of fresh ingredients, including their own homemade Italian sausage, ricotta cheese, roasted red peppers, and all the staples.

We enjoyed the following pizzas:

• Pan pizza: O'famé Specialty Pizza - Ricotta and Tomato with Basil
• We added basil to this specialty pizza and it went well with the ricotta and tomato. The dough of this pizza was a bit soggy, but it was also soft in a good way, going well with the delicate flavors of the ricotta and other ingredients.

• Stuffed pizza: homemade sausage, roasted red peppers, garlic
• The crumbled homemade sausage in the stuffed pizza was really good, and evenly sprinkled throughout each slice. The roasted red peppers were also nice. The stuffed pizza was soft like the pan pizza, but not quite as soggy.
  

• Thin crust pizza: bacon, artichoke hearts
• Both thin crust pizzas were nice and crispy. This pizza was topped with long, crispy slices of bacon, just like you make for breakfast.

• Thin crust pizza: O'famé Specialty Pizza - fresh garlic, oil, tomato
• This specialty pizza was the crowd favorite. The crust stayed thin and crispy and had a good amount of salt to complement the delicious fresh ingredients.

There was more than enough pizza to go around, and the cost without alcoholic beverages came out to $12/ person. Petey forgot his watch, but all of the pizzas came out hot at the same time (stuffed pizza lagged just a few minutes) after what seemed to him like about 45 minutes.

Petey gives O'famé a 6.8 / 10.