Big Cheese (Closed)
2554 W. Diversey Ave. (Google Maps)
(773) 227-1122
CPC invaded Big Cheese on 11/08/06.
Big Cheese is a family-run business that originated in Rhode Island in 1965. Returning to their Chicago roots, the family recently opened up a restaurant in Logan Square. The restaurant occupies a large space that formerly contained a night club. Those dining in the restaurant typically order from the counter, but it was pretty quiet when we were there on a Wednesday night and the friendly servers came to our table of ten. The delivery and take-out folks were bustling in and out.
Big Cheese focuses on crisp and crunchy thin crust pizza. Everything is made fresh daily from fresh ingredients. They offer white and wheat crusts, and their pies are 6", 10", and 14".
We only delighted in the pizza offerings, but Big Cheese also serves up various appetizers, pasta dishes, calzones, sandwiches, and salads - not to mention salad dressing that has earned awards from the Boston Globe. Petey may have to go back and try that some time when he's off the clock.
Big Cheese is BYOB as of this writing.
CPC ordered the following pizzas:
- Tomato Pie w/ Wheat Crust
- No cheese! What were we thinking?! Probably that the pie only cost $5.
- Three Cheese Specialty Pizza
- A blend of mozzarella, cheddar & feta topped w/ sliced tomato & garlic. This was a great blend of flavors and a crowd favorite.
- Chicken Artichoke Specialty Pizza
- Strips of chicken tenders, marinated artichoke hearts, black olives & sliced tomato, w/ mozzarella & parmesan. This was probably the least popular of the pizzas at our table. The chicken did not have much flavor and the ingredients did not really come together convincingly.
- Pizza Gardiniera Gourmet Pizza
- Fried breaded eggplant, marinated artichoke hearts, sweet roasted peppers, w/ mozzarella & feta. The fried eggplant was nice and crispy.
- Mediterranean Gourmet Pizza
- Greek style pizza w/ chopped tomato, spinach, feta, cheddar, and special sauce.
- Wheat Crust Pizza w/ Genoa Salami & Italian Pepperoni
- Regular Crust Pizza w/ Sliced Meatballs & Sweet Roasted Peppers
As you can see, we ordered a number of pizzas and they all came out burn-your-tongue hot as they were ready. The first pizzas were brought to our table about 20 minutes after we placed our order, and the rest of the pizzas came out over the course of the following 20 minutes. The cost came out to $12 /person and we had a bit leftover to send home with the club photographer.
Petey gives Big Cheese 8/10.
The interior
Where's the cheese?
The "Med"
OMG... Meatball Pizza!
The chicken artichoke pizza
Here comes the pie...
The owner with desert!!
Chocolate Calzones!
Where it went down
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