Aurelios's Pizza
18162 Harwood Ave
Homewood, IL 60430
CPC invaded Aurelio's on 9/17/08.
Aurelio's Pizza is a local favorite of the south suburbs of Chicago. It has been so successful that it has spawned many franchises in six states scattered throughout the Midwest. The original building is no more, but the current one in Homewood is just down the street from the original. It was moved to the current cavernous location because they needed more space to seat their large customer base. Joe Aurelio opened the original in 1959 and rapidly outgrew his 4 table operation. They claim on their website that their 12,000 square foot restaurant is the largest pizzeria in the world. I was unable to substantiate that claim, but suffice it to say that it is very large. Although they have over 40 franchises, the flagship location in Homewood is still owned by the descendants of Joe Aurelio. It took 20 minutes from the time we ordered for our pizzas to start trickling onto our table.
We ordered:
- Medium thin with onions, garlic, and meatballs
- Medium thin with pepperoni and canadian bacon
- Lil taco
- Medium stuffed with sausage
Of the pizzas we ordered, the general consensus was that the onion pizza was the best. The onion opened up the full profile of the sauce and the meatball. I did not remember that Aurelio's made a stuffed pizza until we got to the restaurant. This is a true stuffed pizza - the top layer of crust is more substantial than you normally find. It might be more accurate to call it a calzone with a layer of sauce on top. The thin crust, whether aided or not by the rack, was crisp and held up well to the toppings. It was a medium thickness flour crust. No cracker, cornmeal, or buttery crust here.
Aurelio's bills itself as a family pizzeria and we were willing to see what they could offer us. After the meal, we spent some time playing their carnival games and one member managed to win the claw game and fish out a patriotic and needy teddy bear. Score! We also certainly appreciated the proximity to the award-winning and just flat out excellent product at Flossmoor Station Brewery. We headed over afterwards to let the pizza settle and play with our new toys before making the trek back into town.
Petey gives Aurelio's a 7.625
The sign doesn't lie...
Bosco Sticks!
The Meatball, Garlic and Onion thin crust...
The 'Lil Taco!
The Pepperoni and Canadian Bacon thin crust...
El Presidente orders me to document the meatball...
The Stuffed Pizza with Sausage...
We work hard and we play hard...
Where it went down...
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