Spizzico’s Pizza

I think the further you get from the Geographical center of Chicago, the more lenient you must be in judging pizza. And for me, the geographical Center of Chicago is either near 31^st and Cicero, where the original Home Run Inn is, or 16^th and Wesley in Berwyn, where the original Salerno’s was.
For the lofty pizza reputation Chicago has, there sure is a lotta shitty pie around. My wife is from NewYork, and thinks Sbarro’s is fab. Damned Ketchup bread to me. I can’t believe Dominos or Pizza Hut have a toehold here at all. (Sbarro’s is NOTHING like good NYC pie, IMHO)
And woe be unto you if you ax for Anchovies on your ‘Za. (As I do) at many places.
I’ve lived in the far burbs for about 15 years now and always looked at the neon temple that is Spizzico with a slightly jaundiced eye. The bright and colorful lights seem to scream «cheap» is what’s on sale here, and for those prices, don’t expect flavor.
One night, wife and I were coming home from who-​knows-​what and it was near midnight. We didn’t want Denny’s or iHop. «Spizzico is open» said intrepid Missus.
I anticipated a pre-​fab dough disc with concentrated Tomato soup for sauce, plastic cheese and mystery meat sausage.
But!
I was struck by the old-​school Pizza joint smell when I walked through the Spizzico portal. Hmm! Smelled splendid! Smelled REAL!
I ordered the Wife’s half extra chiz and other half Spinach. I got Sausage and Anchovies.
Fine old-​style thin Chicago Pizza!
No wonder when you learn this is an outpost of a long time Elmwood Park Pizza joint.
And that’s good enough pedigree for me. For a West-​Side boy, sometimes nothin’ will do ‘cept old-​school, and Spizzico’s is it. Fine Salads and Sandwiches too.
Look past the garish neon and follow your nose!

A very decent pizza for around $ 10. The crust is thin and crispy, the ingredients taste very fresh. I like the sauce, too, as its tangy but not too acidic with chunks of tomato mixed in. The service is fast, too. From the time you order until you have your pie in your hands is usually about ten minutes.
Although I always get pizza, they have other options too. Salads, sandwiches, and typical desserts like cannoli and cheese cake.
Try this pie! You won’t be sorry!

This isn’t the greatest pizza in the world but given the price, it is an awesome deal. $ 5.99 for a good pizza… beats Little Caesars any day. The Italian ice is awesome! Parking here is tight though.

You want warm pizza, Food for a great cost to feed a bunch a folks or just a cheap night out, well here it is Cheap warm pizza. For a good Price…

The pizza and boneless wings here are delicious! The prices are very reasonable. Call ahead like 10 mins before you go so the food is ready when you get there!

As good as it gets in terms of value
Menu is small. Only consists of pizza, sandwiches, wings, fries and breadsticks.
Their large one topping pizzas are only $ 6.99 and they taste better than probably 75% of the pizza joints in the area
They also serve fresh cut fries, just like the ones served at the authentic Chicago Hot Dog Stands.
My only gripe is the parking, or lack of parking I should say.

Super tasty food and for a great price! Being a college student, this place is like a jackpot!

Great Pizza! You get a great deal for a few bucks. Great for movie night at home.

I’ve gotten both pizza and wings from here on several occasions, and both are good quality. The pizza is a better value than the wings. For $ 6, you can’t beat it.

I had seen the sign many times advertising that they have pizza ready to go, but just never stopped in because $ 5.99 doesn’t sound like great pizza for that price. I finally stopped in there today because I was in a hurry & didn’t want to go far from work. I asked the guy behind the counter what kind of pizza he had ready to go and he said he didn’t have any because of some reason) like people have been picking them up for lunch). But he said one could be ready in 6 minutes. I decided to wait, for a sausage pizza, & added their ½ lb cheese fries since I’d be sharing both.
Not only was the pizza ready in exactly 6 minutes, but it was awesome pizza! All ingredients were legit, and the sauce was chunky. The ½ lb of fries was like at least 4 McDs dollar fries for $ 2.40, so you get your $$ worth.
Only complaints: can’t advertise that you have pizza ready to go and not have it when you have customers who stop in for that reason. The parking lot is super small and awkward to get out if there’s more than one car.
But I’d definitely go back for that price and that pizza.

The pizza is delicious. Good cheese. Good sauce. I recommend the Hawaiian pizza.

I hadn’t tried Spizzico yet, because I feared being a guinea pig, and how good could a cheap pizza be… but my daughter called me the other day and said she was on her way to pick up a pizza… onion and pepper and invited me to come over to her home to join in the fun! Wow… with one extra ingredient above the 1 included in the $ 5.99 price, her price was $ 6.99 for a large pizza. Understand that I don’t tolerate mediocrity… why should I?!! This was a great pizza… the crust was awesome and the topping was perfect. I was very impressed and I will definitely be back! I think it would be great fun to go there this week and get a pizza to eat down by the river, on one of the benches… sounds like a plan!

Wings are great! I crave them! The pizza could use a little more spice or salt but it tasty also. Fast, great service too.

Pulled into the parking lot 10 minutes before closing. I gave the guy a Thumb’s Up/Thumb’s Down sign from the car, he waved us in!
Very nice staff, Great Pizza. Love the Italian Sausage and chunky tomato sauce. Wings were good too, but were not able to split types. (Something to think about).
If the owner reads this, «You have a good crew on that will wave customers in 10 min prior to closing.

I’m the try anything once type. $ 5.99 pizza? Sure why not? But maybe it wasn’t the best idea on my part to get a pizza to go on a ninety degree day. The pizza was made fresh as soon as we ordered it, but it was a bit soggy. We also ordered a twenty piece wings. Half lemon pepper, half buffalo. They didn’t have breading, just chicken and sauce-​not a bad thing. Pretty good. They have a small menu w/​a few specialty pizzas. I’ll probably give it another try but it’s not at the top of my list.

So here’s the deal. I’ve driven past this place while they were working on the building for the past 2 – 3 months. They finally opened up, and I decided to give them a try. They are offering pizzas at a low enough price to make me think twice about going in. I with I had thought a third time.
The owner was working in the kitchen. He came out to talk to a few customers in the waiting/​ordering area. He made two very large claims. First, he said that he is making the best pizza in the area. I ordered the pizza and it was horrible. The sauce had an odd seasoning mix and the crust had almost no flavor. I think the Pizza Express down on New York St. is serving the same pizza.
There were two people in this shop trying to order chicken wings. They asked for 10 wings, half buffalo and half parmesan. They said this wasn’t possible and that they would have to be done in quantities of 10. They then ordered 35 wings (a standard quantity on their menu) and asked for 10 buffalo, 15 parmesan, and 10 lemon pepper. They were told that the 10, 20, and 35 quantities had to be ordered all the same type. They couldn’t order 20 wings and split it in 10s. They had to order two 10 piece orders at a higher cost.
At this point the guys tell the cashier that they’re new and are going to lose a lot of business for being inflexible. This is when the owner comes out and talks about how he is making the best pizza in the area and that his wings are so good that people keep coming back to try the other flavors. He claims that there is no reason to change the policy on wing flavors.
Long story short (too late), the food was horrible, management feels that they are better than the customers, and both the parking and waiting is problematic due to space constraints. Never going back.
Incidentally, I notice there is a place with the same name in Elmwood park. The two places seem unrelated.