Tomato Head Pizza Kitchen

Kind of glad this place closed. It was not good at all. Food was subpar and just… yick.

Not surprising! Pizza was good. Service was poor! There are too many great pizza options in this great city to deal with bad or rude service.

Something has changed here. This used to be my favorite thin crust pizza.
My last few pizzas seemed burned and had so little cheese that you could see through to the sauce. I keep ordering, dismissing last time as an isolated mistake, but soon I will have to concede that it has become a pattern.

This pizza is delicious if you love flat bread pizza made with fresh ingredients. My wife and I have ordered (usually phone in for pickup) from here many times and have always been satisfied with the service and the taste. There is a subtle sweetness to the crust, which has us eating a little more than we ordinarily would. The price is higher than we would like, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

I used a Groupon which lured me here. That was a mistake. The offer was a cheese pizza and a side order. We picked onion rings. Who really needs onion rings with pizza? Everything else was fried, cheese sticks? No thanks. The Onion Rings were not fresh, but frozen, and boring, ate a few and tossed them.
The Pizza needed more than cheese, so with some added toppings of sausage, mushrooms and green pepper, the Pizza was decent enough, but not worth a return trip… There are some other menu items that looked decent. Total cost was 6.50 plus the Groupon.
This is not a destination place for me.

Pizza was no good.
Oh, then there’s this: 1 slice = 2 slices. Not kidding. I ordered 2 slices and he gave me (and charged me) for 4 slices.
I kinda stood up for myself, ya know, cuz that’s just annoying. I didn’t want 4 slices for lunch and that’s probably why it was so expensive. I said, «whoops, I only ordered 2».
His response was, «that is 2».
So, I counted for him, «1, 2, 3, 4».
He said «that is 2 slices, cut in half».
So I said (laughing), «next time I’ll order 2 half-​slices, then».
So they basically created a little scam to charge you DOUBLE what you ordered. I paid $ 8.75 for my «2 slices».
Cuz a whole pizza is really just a slice of pizza, cut into tenths, right? haha

I know many of my fellow reviewers have ranked this place pretty high. So, as with any review, take this with a grain of salt… or shall I say, a cherry tomato. Haha.
Ok, now, I admit I wanted to like this place because of what I read. But, I think I just am not into the cornmeal crust. Thin crust — h. yes! Thanks to NYC, I do love my thin crust. But, this isn’t THAT kind of thin crust. It’s not brick oven-​type either. It is what it is — cornmeal crust. Couldn’t savor any taste of the pepperoni on my pizza or the cheese either. Just didn’t have a ton of flavor in the sauce either.
Overall this is more of a pick up and go place vs. the ambiance if you do check this joint out. They’ve got a lotta different toppings to choose from though and specials of the day. Buy it by the slice, or individual size all the way to large! Love options.
If you do go, keep in mind that it’s hidden on the part of Randolph St. that I think some people forget about… amidst the shops open only during the day-​deli/​supply type shops.

I order from Tomato Head on a regular basis — their BBQ chicken pizza is one of the best I’ve had! I HIGHLY recommend trying it. Love the cornmeal on the crust.
The only other pizza I’ve tried is their pepperoni, which was just okay, nowhere near as good as the BBQ chicken. I also like the jalepeno poppers appetizer. My carryout and delivery orders have always been on time or early — I’m surprised to see so many other reviewers have had issues with this. They also offer an easy online ordering system.

Tasty takeout thin crust pizza– it’s that great kind that they slice up into little 2 inch squares so you can eat like 10 pieces and fool yourself into believing that’s okay. Love it. The pizza is good, although I wish they had some more diverse options for toppings. All of the toppings here are pretty standard.
We ordered delivery and they said it would be almost an hour before it arrived– yikes! However, it actually arrived in closer to 30 minutes instead.

Really good thin crust — this is where we order for delivery to our office. The fire breather (sausage, pepperoni and jalapeño) is an awesome pie — you’ve got to admire a place with this on the menu.
Sandwiches are good as well and often a good option at lunch. I’ve never actually been in the restaurant but delivery is prompt and the food nice and hit. Definitely a thumbs up!

Truly outstanding pizza! I had the good fortune to order delivery from TH and while the delivery squeaked in under the estimated time, the pizza was well worth the wait. I remember going to their old location in Lincoln Park before it burned down, but I do not remember the pizza being this good. Quite the opposite in fact, but I’m glad to know things have changed.

It was late, we were hungry, and in West Loop. Not even remotely knowing where we were Tomato Head became our choice because there was nothing else around and I didn’t feel like doing anymore walking. My mom and I walked in to a group of Chicago’s finest. The space had a warehouse feel with a television set in the corner playing the Blackhawk game. The menu had pizza, sandwiches, burgers, salads, and hot dogs. The woman at the counter was pleasant. Since pizza is my favorite food group we ordered a small spinach, red pepper, and feta cheese pie. My mom asked for a salad and saw the basket of chocolate cookies and added it to our order.
The salad was your basic house salad. Nothing extravagant but decent. Our pizza arrived and it was a disappointment. It tasted like a frozen pizza. The crust was thin, pale, and was so crunchy I thought I bit in to a pretzel. Now, I can forgive a lackluster pizza what I can’t forgive is a tasteless cookie. A food crime if there ever was one! The chocolate cookie was atrocious and this is coming from someone who will eat any sweet thing put in front of her. I rarely dislike sweets but that deserves two thumbs down.
I finished what I could of the pizza and a cookie but ended up throwing both of them out. It has been years since a meal has been such a let down.
To be fair there was a glimmer of hope at the end of our meal. What could have turned this uneventful dinner around? Staring at the employee who was an exact replica of a guy I used to lust after. I should give another star just for that but no.

Yuck. That’s pretty much all you need to know but if you want the details keep going.
It’s been a while since I last grabbed food from Tomato Head — in the past I’ve always considered it decent, inexpensive, fast food with a wide enough selection to fulfill cravings for burgers, sandwiches, pizza, etc.
Anyway, I had a taste for their beef sandwich today so I decided to go and grab one. When I got my to-​go bag, I stopped to pick up some napkins and a straw and noticed a small roach crawling around the area. Granted it was tiny but if there’s one; there’s usually more. I tried my best to forget about it on my two block walk home. It kinda worked but still gave me the creeps.
Anyway, on to the food. The beef sandwich in the past was by no means «tops» in Chicago but it definitely was good enough. This time around it was DISGUSTING. The meat was incredibly fatty that I pretty much couldn’t even get a good bite and after (TMI) spitting out a gross mouthful of fat — I tossed it in the garbage. I thought the usually yummy fries would at least be decent but they were bland so I dumped a package of salt on them; had three and tossed the rest of the meal in the garbage.
I’m not sure if I just caught the place on a bad day or if their overall food and cleanliness has taken a nose dive in the past few months since I was last there — regardless; I will never be going back.
Yuck, again.

Love it when a place over delivers on my expectations.
Picture this: 4 starving adults late on a Sunday night sitting at a bar that doesn’t serve food. We all start calling restaurants to see who will still deliver. Finally, one in the group yells, «Got one! We’re having pizza!» And a cheer goes up from the rest of us.
And within 30 minutes– we were happily munching on our Pizza Head Pizza– saving us from sure starvation and putting something into our tummies other than beer!
The thing I like the best about their pizza? The cornmeal thin crust. Kind of crunchy but yet not. And the toppings? We had more meat than vegetables (yeah– they guys took over with what to top it with) but it was all fresh tasting and quite delicious. It must have been. It seemingly was gone in seconds!
A large pizza with plenty of toppings delivered was about $ 30.
But the highlight of my night was the delivery guy who made me laugh when he took one look at our motley crew and said, «You really look like you need a pizza!».
Ah, the pain of honesty!

Ok I’m from Detroit and we are not lacking the places to get a great pizza. Matter of fact I think I found the best Metro Detroit has to offer. BUT!!! Tomato Head!!!
My boyfriend and I stumbeled upon this place after dinner one evening and we were dying for pizza so we stopped in and HOLY COW!!! It was the BEST pizza I have ever had. We took the train all the way back to some hotel we were staying at outside the city so it was a good hour till we had a chance to eat it and it was still AMAZING at room temp!
Now during our stay we got delivery from some local joint that was supposed to be the be all end all and I cant think of the name but it was GROSS! We ate one piece and tossed the rest!
The last day of our trip we drove to Tomato Head in a major down pour. Streets were flooded and everything. But we had to haev that pizza again!
The 4 hour drive back to Detroit we talked and ate the most amazing pizza AGAIN!
I’ll be back in Chicago this weekend and my first stop when i get off that plane is Tomato Head!!!
xox

…Ordered in last night in hopes of a repeat and sorry to say, it wasn’t all too wonderful.
The village salad is nothing but salad toppings cut into large cubes and no lettuce. It wasn’t so much a village salad but a lazy one. Also, the pizza arrived cold, not super cold but needed heating up.
Maybe another time…

Just got this pizza once. The thin crust is solid and I had pretty high expectations.
What’s with all the salty reviews?

Okay I have lived in this city my whole life and I thought I knew some good thin pizza… enter Tomato Head… that was the most amazing thin corn meal crust ever… it was so crispy… the crust held up until I brought it home to the family… it was just perfect! Sauce was great, toppings abundant and a lot of cheese. Some places have started putting less toppings on but not Tomato Head. Thank you Mr Tomato Head for making my night tonight. I can not wait to order again.
My only complaint would be the employee… no personality and not very friendly. Um last time I checked this is a service industry. I also felt bad for this location because there was no one in here on a Tuesday night at 6pm.

In this city, there is no shortage of pizza places and as such, I do think there is a higher standard because you can simply go elsewhere. I should declare my bias upfront since I found one of my favorite thin crusts. (see Pat’s Pizza review)
That said, this place is a hit or miss which is one of the bigger problems. No consistency. When it’s hot and good, the pizza is good. I recently tried bacon on the pizza and it was very well done and wonderfulyl yummy. It is a thinner crust, but not as thin as others (inbetween thin and a handtossed is how I would categorize it). It is a perfect combo when you have some that are a little wary of «thin crust.» If the pizza was like this all, or most, of the time, it would get a solid three or three and a half stars. The big problem is that other times it has been overcooked, not hot, and just not the same.
Delivery is so-​so: sometimes it’s not very hot. Other times they forget things in your order (I don’t know how this happens when you order it online). The upside is it has been pretty quick delivery and it’s pretty cheap.

God bless
. They make me aware of all of these great places that deliver to my apartment that I never knew existed.
Enter Tomato Head.
I had a fierce craving for a meatball sandwich. (My favorite! Hey, when you hear the call of the cow, you have to answer.) Tomato Head makes ‘em and delivers ‘em. And oh boy, are they tasty! The meatballs are perfectly seasoned, the tomato sauce is super rich and tangy and there’s the perfect amount of melted mozzarella cheese on top. Add a can of diet coke and serve it on a slightly toasted hoagie roll and you have yourself one very happy camper.
Meatballs = love. I bet you didn’t know that. Well, maybe if you’re Italian you did.