Emmett’s

Disclaimer: I’m a born and raised New Yorker so of course I’m gonna be a harsh pizza critic.
I came here on a Friday night with a native Chicago friend and he loveeees deep dish pizza. Now i’ve had deep dish pizza in Chicago myself and I didn’t like it but I was willing to give this a try. Emmett’s is super tiny with maybe 5 tables that seat at most 20 people. There are also bar seats available.
The menu is very limited to some various appetizers and the pizza. If you order deep dish, it’s about a 30 min cook time so do not come hungry already. The fries we had were very flavorful– but I also could have been very hungry. As for the pizza, i loved the cheesiness but I’m sorry, still a NY thin crust pizza gal at heart. I viewed it more as a cheesy, saucy cookie with sausage and peppers. Good flavors just not what i’m into.
I would love to come by again at a less busy time because the crowds and noise dampened my experience as well.

Came here on a whim one Tuesday night to try deep dish pizza without going all the way to Chicago. There was no wait when we arrived around 7pm, but the place quickly filled up by 8pm. It’s a small low-​key restaurant, with only bar seating with stools and 5 – 6 tables for a party of two. They push the tables together if you have a larger party.
We put in our order of a medium deep dish pizza ($ 24) right away with a side of fries ($ 5). The pizza charges an additional $ 4 for meat toppings, and $ 2 for vegetable toppings.
Once we put in our order, we waited. waited. and just waited for our pizza to come out.
I understand that deep dish pizza takes a long time to bake. With the menu mentioning to allow at least 20 minutes for cooking, our pizza actually took almost an hour to come out. I was already picking at the crumbs from the fries that came out 40 minutes earlier.
The pizza was pretty good — I definitely enjoyed it. Two slices of the thick pie (a medium comes with 6 slices) was enough to keep me full. The pie was fresh — not oily or greasy at all. But it’s not something I would wait an hour for, since it was basically melted cheese on top of thick dough. The tomato sauce tasted a bit sour, and the crust was not flavorful as I would have liked. However, the pizza was still great to try once! But I’ll leave my next deep dish pizza experience to when I’m in Chicago.

Beautiful local place. Came here just for the deep dish and would definitely come back again. Wish my topping was a little less loss in the sauce but the sauce was great and made up for it. Dough was perfect and the setting was relaxing. Cudos to the service and kind waiter/waitress.Small Menu which isn’t an issue. Be prepared for a wait, but be prepared to be satisfied. Rating is 4.5÷5, but Unilocal doesn’t like me I guess.

Deep. Dish. Pizza.
I first tried searching for deep dish in New York (a bit blasphemous, I admit), but after a meal here, I am absolutely floored.
For me, even though I’m a voracious eater, one meaty slice of deep dish, willed with sausage and pepperoni, was enough to get me through the rest of the night.
They also have an amazing pear cider (called ACE), which I highly recommend.
The seats were limited, but we came at a good time: my boyfriend and I were able to be seated immediately.
The pie takes a bit long to cook, and we were left impatient towards the end of the nearly half-​hour wait. However, we had some delicious potato chips to hold us over. When the pie finally came, we were rewarded with cheesy-​filled goodness.
Though it might strike as a bit pricey compared to the NYC thin slice, think of this place as an investment into your culinary travels, especially if you’ve only had UNO Chicago Grill (chain restaurant) deep dish, and not the real kind like here.
PS. Come early in the night for a good seat.

I am giving Emmett’s 4 stars due to the fact that they were extremely accommodating to me when my two friends were an hour late to meet me there for dinner on Friday night after work. The menu is very small but the food is tasty. The three of us split the homemade potato chips and split a deep dish pie of half spinach half pepperoni. The pizza was great. Just as close to Chicago style deep dish as you can get in NYC and, I’ve been to Chicago before.
The restaurant is tiny all of the tables are very close together but that gives it an old school charm. My main suggestion for any type of improvement would be for Emmett’s to expand their menu maybe add some entrees.
Bottom line — good deep dish that makes for a great picture, but your in NYC go for the classic NYC slice.

Visit #3. Apparently has become a New Year tradition for me and the hubby. Space is still small, no décor updates at all since they opened (and could use some) but the pizza is a real taste of Chicago.

I’m all about the bar pie right now. That being said, I skipped the deep dish for the bar pie. Emmett’s is a bar– a charming one on one of the prettiest streets in the Village. This place is popular and small.
Ate:
Arugula salad
Bar pie– half pineapple
The rocket salad with apples & walnuts was spot on– perfectly dressed. The thin crust came out lovely — round cut in squares, made to share. Crispy, tasty, but with no semolina finish on the dough like Denninos– I found the pizza pedestrian, but might try the deep dish at a later date.

I wish I was eating here now instead of writing this review. I have never had such authentic good Chicago pizza outside of Chicago until this place. I have been here twice and both times were 5 star experiences.
I am from the suburbs of Chicago and the friend I went with both times is from downtown Chicago. We both love NY pizza, but there is a special place in our hearts for Chicago pizza. There are some misconceptions about Chicago pizza… like it is only deep dish. Chicago also has really great thin crust pizza. it is distinctive from New York. Emmet’s really delivers with an amazing thin crust pizza. It is a must try. So no one should cancel out this place because they don’t think they would want deep dish.
The last time I was there, I met the owner. Very cool guy who bought us a beer because he saw 2 people who ordered more pizza than 2 people could possibly eat (we wanted serious left overs!).
Great date place. It is small, so there can be a wait. Better to go with only one other person, though they of course seat more. Casual, but in a cool way.

Came in for a Bourbon County beer event. Sat at the bar and ordered a cheeseburger and fries ($ 13). The burger was spot on, juicy and cooked to medium rare as asked on a potato roll. The shoestring fries were fresh. A great value for a well done beer.
The bartender was attentive. Even though she did not seem like a huge beer drinker, she seemed genuinely curious about the $ 95 bottle of Bourbon County Rare that we ordered.

The experience started with a hour and 30 mins wait. During half the wait my party and I were solicited by a homeless man but thats not really on the restaurant since we waited on the rocking bench outside the restaurant. After that we went in to fight for a table since there were confusion regarding seating arrangements. Sadly we lost our table to a bigger party so we Sat by the bar until they can put together another table. And let me tell you do not say or ask the bartender anything because he will be very upset with you. My suggestion to the restaurant will be either get a new bartender or give the guy a attitude adjustment.
Now on to the waiters. The waiter on the other hand were extremely polite and accommodating. Not only did they explain things the bartender failed to or refused to explain but they also tried their best to get my party seat.
The food was pretty good. I highly recommend getting the fries and chips with a aside of beer while you wait for the pizza because it takes about 30 – 40 mins to cook a chiago style pizza. The pizza itself is everything a Chicago style pizza should be, thick, cheesy and saucy with topping. I also highly recommend getting onions with the pizza because it gives a sweet and fresh relief from all that luscious goodness.

Every business should strive to have the attitude of the people who work at Emmett’s. Makes me happy that such people exist (and yet sad that such people don’t). Shout out to Paul, Camden, and nameless bartender and waitress (sorry). They’re all helpful and easy to engage with.
I asked ahead of time if a small, outside dessert would be allowed after the meal in honor of a birthday. They said yes and offered to plate it. Extra respect for the transition between waiters, because our new waitress brought out the stashed dessert without a whispered reminder. Very smooth.
Food’s great.
$ 11 for the arugula salad — featuring grana padano, sliced apple, lemon juice, chopped walnuts.
My friend and I shared their $ 18 small deep-​dish pizza +$ 2 spinach topping. Let me tell ya: it looks small but it’s filling. We just-​finished it. Skeptics can sit their butts down (everything is subjective), but the deep-​dish here is really good. It’s a solid crust on the bottom with hearty sauce; always mindful of how it holds up in that area. I ate the crust-​edge with like ½″ of the remaining sauce+cheese since it looked like it could use a moisture factor. Delicious. Ideally I’d have a picture of the wonnndrously stretchy mozz as a slice was pulled off.
One hunned. Nice beer and wine selection to boot.

So based on my experience from beginning to end:
Highs:
–Cozy atmosphere.
–We got Barside seats. 15 minutes later, it was packed.
–Large pizza was good for three people. Me and my friends were full. Imagine if we got an extra large!!!
–The bartenders/​servers were nice enough to provide us with a timer on when to eat so we don’t burn the roofs of our mouths.
–The bartenders/​servers were also nice enough to cut our pizza for us.
–The service was great, although a tad slow. But for a Saturday night, not too too bad.
Lows:
–I feel that 30 minutes for a Chicago style pizza is a bit much of a wait time for a pizza. I understand Chicago style pizza is thicker and more involved but 30 minutes?
Overall:
–Pricing for pizza in that area was good. For SoHo, I’ll take it. So much better than Grimaldi’s!!!
Verdict? Will be back soon. :)

It was a welcome change to tuck into some deep dish pizza here in New York! The pizza was sooo good!
The restaurant/​bar is quite cosy and intimate and so there was a wait for a table, so my friends and I sat at the bar and ate there. 4 of us shared the family sized pizza which was plenty of pizza for each of us. We had different toppings on each half. It is a knife and fork job! I really enjoyed the pizza and it is really filling.
The staff were really friendly and checked in on us throughout our meal. We will definitely be going back for our deep dish fix in the future!

It’s definitely the closest you’d get to a deep dish in New York. Only complaint is that the crust is hard. Doesn’t crack easily.
My ranking of deep dishes are the following
Lou’s
Emmett
Pequod
Gino’s
Giordanos
People who say this is nothing like a deep dish have probably only tried one place in Chicago that does a different style crust.
They’re all different. Try them all before you complain.

First time I have had good chicago deep dish outside of Chicago! Great service great pizza. Definitely will be back.
The pepperoni is great

My first shot to experience a true deep dish pizza — haven’t been to Chicago since I was a little kid so I don’t have to compare the meal here to one in the Windy City. Needless to say, pretty stoked to try it out.
Came in and no one else there (aside from a couple finishing up), so was able to quickly order a Small Sausage Pizza ($ 22) and a beer ($ 6). The menu says the pizza will take 20 minutes — I waited 35 minutes, then another mandatory 3 minutes so it could cool down. Was definitely hungry when I finally got to chow down, so was able to finish off the entire thing in about 12 minutes. Very cheesy and thick sausage chunks for each slice (4). The crust was crisp but chewy enough to eat all the way through (and to mop up the extra sauce).
Love the pizza, but just not at the price and wait time. Good for the novelty of having a true deep dish in NY and that’s about it.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza??? IN Manhattan?!? And it’s down the block from me? Shoot, I’m screwed. Low carb diet not happening.
But fortunately or unfortunately… Emmett’s failed to exceed my expectations of what Chi Town Deep Dish is supposed to taste like.
Having lived in Chi-​Town for 7 years prior to NYC, I know my Chicago pizzas well. Too well. I used to eat at Gino’s East next to my grad school almost three times a week for their lunch specials. Lou Malnati’s. Giordanos. Been to them all frequently.
So I ordered my Hawaiian deep dish from Emmetts with great anticipation. Delivery took forever. And when I finally took that first bite… Sigh. It. Just. Didn’t. Taste. Right. It was ok. Chicago deep dish is not supposed to taste just… ok. The sauce just wasn’t tasty. The crust was… plain to me.
So yeah, disappointed and happily. or unhappily back on my low carb diet.

A solid 4.5 spot!
Very quaint and small. Came here for the deep dish pizza and the good beer. Had a goose island bourbon county stout which is always good. We ordered a medium deep dish pie which is good for two people. ½ sausage and ½ pepperoni. It was very good and looking forward to coming back for the thin crust pizza!

Being a native Chicagoan I have a certain expectations for Chicago style pizza especially in another state. I knew that Emmett’s had to be the real deal because another Chicagoan that is living in NYC highly recommended this place. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by the pizza and the ambiance of the restaurant. I would high recommend going to Emmett’s because the crust alone is enough to say you experienced Chicago style pizza. To be fair I will list out the pros and cons of Emmett’s.
Pros:
The pizza is delicious and the crust is buttery and flaky
They fill the pizza with a ton of toppings so you don’t go hungry
This is a great date night restaurant
The staff are friendly and always have recommendations for you
Cons:
The inside is extremely small so I wouldn’t recommend this place for groups (roughly 8 tables)
Whenever there are regulars at the bar it gets kind of roundy and takes away from any conversations that you are trying to have
Toppings are pricey and can add up quickly ($ 4 for meat and $ 2 for vegetable)
Not recommended for groups larger than 2

I consider myself a pizza aficionado, having frequented some of the best pizza joints in NYC and around the country. From Roberta’s to Tottono’s to Satchel’s (from my hometown in Florida), I thought I had tried and eaten the best pizza. Emmet’s, however different, really blew me away. The crust is made fresh, the sauce is rich and somewhat spicy, and the pizza doesn’t skimp on anything. A 10 inch pizza is plenty to share between a couple of people, with bigger sizes more suitable for groups. What more can a pizza lover ask for?
Keep in mind that the joint is small (the cozy not cramped kind,) so make sure to reserve a table. Even on a Sunday night at 9pm, I found the restaurant completely full. Also, the corkage fee is $ 40, so don’t plan to bring a bottle of wine. Glasses of wine range from about $ 9-​$ 14, with bottles of wine starting at about $ 36. Aside from this, bring a date or a few friends, and prepare to have the best Chicago Deep Dish that you have ever tasted!