Stop#1: Pizano's Pizza & Pasta

Pizano's Pizza & Pasta

864 N. State St.

Chicago, IL

(For additional locations, visit http://www.pizanoschicago.com/state.html)

Our virgin “Pizza Challenge” voyage found us on North State Street at Pizano’s Pizza & Pasta. Pizano’s was founded by Rudy Malnati Jr. (yes, Rudy is related to the very well-known Lou Malnati). The Malnati Family has a deep-rooted history in Chicago Pizza; this will not be the last time the Pizza Challenge will visit a Malnati-owned restaurant this year. Enough of the history ... let’s get on to the real deal here.

Upon walking into Pizano’s we were enveloped with an authentic Italian feel -- Sinatra music in the background, actual Italians eating in the restaurant (see photo at right) and plenty of chianti flowing! We found the restaurant surprisingly busy for a Sunday evening and took this as a good sign. We were told we would have to wait 25 minutes for a table, but were seated in less than 10! Our server received mixed reviews from our crowd; I, personally, thought he lacked personality. Other than that, I can’t complain about him. He got our order right and he was prompt. Overall, he hit the mark as a server. (I’m going to let the personality thing go.) Off to a solid start for good ol’ Pizano’s.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, for Pizano’s), we did not find the best pizza in Chicago on our first stop. After some appetizers, we dove right into the good stuff ...

Our Order:

Deep Dish -- Sausage, Green Pepper & Onions

Thin Crust -- 1 Pepperoni, 1 Vegetarian

I’ll start with the deep dish. For anyone who knows and loves Chicago Deep Dish, Pizano’s is not the place to go for that widely renowned fare. Our group had several issues with the deep dish, starting with the lack of sauce and, for those of you familiar with infamous Lou Malnati’s sausage patty, the toppings (other than cheese) were sparse. If it’s possible, more than one person at the table found this pizza “too cheesy”. Mary’s take on the deep dish hit it right on the mark: “It was neither thick nor deep enough.”

Score: 2.88/5

I have some better news for Pizano’s thin crust, which is what they are known for anyway (Ranked #1 in Chicago, according to their website). The crust was pretty crispy and delicious (4.3/5). Our table was a fan of the pepperoni, in particular. Elizabeth said it was “just what [she] needed, which ironically, was the song playing at the time.” The veggie pizza, on the other hand, only had 3 vegetables on it, one of them being mushrooms which were very few and far between. Overall, we enjoyed the thin crust much more than deep dish and it gets our stamp of approval.

Score: 3.29/5

Here’s the run down on overall scoring -- by the way, we called an audible and added cheese to our list of categories.

Service: 3.75

Atmosphere: 4.44

Value: 3.38

Deep Dish/Thin Crust

Crust: 3.25/4.31

Sauce: 2.13/2.75

Toppings: 2.63/2.5

Cheese: 2.94/3.44

Overall Quality: 3.00/3.13

Overall Taste: 3.31/3.63

I can’t sign off without commending Kevin for delivering the quote of the night in reference to his thin crust pizza experience: “Bullseye! There was no escaping the union of cheese and pepperoni. It was like Snooki and “the Situation” in the hot tub!” It really only applies to the first 15 seconds of this clip, but for all you Jersey Shore lovers out there, I just couldn’t resist! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wduuUMviVqQ

The evening, in general, was very enjoyable. Pizano’s ranked pretty highly in the service, atmosphere and value categories. We would recommend it if you’re out and about looking for a well-priced, tasty meal in Chicago (especially those looking for a good thin crust pizza). For you die-hard deep dish fans, keep reading ...