Stop #3 Art of Pizza

3033 N. Ashland Ave.

Chicago, IL 60657

Well, I’m going to come right and say it: Art of Pizza got very mixed reviews from our panel. I am going to try and be fair to both sides, but I will say, those that did not like the pizza far outweighed those that did like it.

Art of Pizza is not your typical pizza restaurant. They sell pizza by the slice -- which is great if you’re in a hurry -- it’s hot and ready to go! They do have ample seating if you’d like to dine in, but you still have to place your order up at the counter. They have a lot to offer on the menu, including thin crust, pan pizza, and stuffed deep dish pizza. Don’t be fooled by “pan” pizza -- it’s actually as thick as deep dish, just not “stuffed” (when the sauce is on top). I will also warn anyone willing to try this pizza after reading our scores, no matter what you order, you get a TON of pizza. Please be conservative on your order, or give your leftovers to someone who needs them (i.e. someone who lives and works under the Kennedy Expressway).

All right, here we go ... again, this is going to be brutal. If you’re an Art of Pizza lover, do yourself a favor and stop reading.

Here’s what we ordered:

Stuffed Art’s Special (Deep Dish)

-- Sausage, onion, mushroom & green peppers

Meaty Delight (Pan Pizza)

-- Sausage, bacon, ground beef, pepperoni & sliced beef (I know ... )

Vegetarian (Thin Crust)

-- Mushroom, onion, green pepper, tomato, broccoli & spinach

Hawaiian (Thin Crust)

-- Pineapple, Canadian bacon & green peppers

To sum it up, this order was “Quantity, with no regard for quality.”

Our average score for Art of Pizza was a 2.55/5. Service, Atmosphere and Value ranked rather low as well -- remember, we did have to order at the counter and actually found ourselves clearing our own crowded table a couple of times. The service factor coupled with the fact that Art of Pizza does not serve alcohol, our price per person was not enough lower at this restaurant to merit a high mark for value. This is an average of our scores for Deep Dish and Thin Crust. Not everyone at the table tried the pan pizza and only one person gave it a rating. To sum things up on that, Kyle said “The sliced beef on the pan pizza was atrocious!” Sliced beef on a pizza ... seriously??

<-- Meaty Delight

Service- 1.88

Atmosphere - 1.50

Value - 2.88

We’ll start with the Thin Crust.

Crust - 2.14

Sauce - 3.43

Toppings - 2.21

Cheese - 3.14

Overall Quality - 2.50

Overall Taste - 2.43

Average - 2.46/5

Coming directly from a thin crust pizza fan, this pizza was gross. The scores speak for themselves. Despite the fact that they have a lot of toppings to offer, they really did not work well together and did not taste very good. The crust itself was impossible to cut through and resembled cardboard to me. I hate to be so negative, but there really just isn’t much to say. I guess I can add the fact that Art of Pizza’s claim to fame is the “#1 Deep Dish in Chicago.”

<--Hawaiian

Vegetarian -->

Moving on to the thick crust (sorry, but the statement above did not ring true among our group).

Crust - 2.36

Sauce - 3.93

Toppings - 2.57

Cheese - 2.57

Overall Quality - 2.43

Overall Taste - 2.79

Average - 2.61/5

We did have a few fans of this deep dish pizza in our group (obviously, not enough to help out the average). To start off on a positive note, Elizabeth loves Art of Pizza deep dish. She loved the proportion of ingredients, and although the crust was a little doughy on the bottom “it made [her] like it all the more ... Yum!” I will add to Elizabeth’s compliments of the deep dish with the fact that the sauce was delicious! Unfortunately, the compliments stop here. I know we had some fans, but the doughy crust made the deep dish (read: a lot of food) a little too heavy and tended to overwhelm the flavor. The toppings, however, were distributed pretty evenly which received mixed reviews from our group. The deep dish fared (slightly) better than the thin crust among our group. #1 Deep Dish in Chicago? Doubtful.

Art's Special

Up until this trip to Art of Pizza, I have heard nothing but good things about the place and it was packed while we were there. I think Dan summed it all up with his Cubs-charged comment: “Worse than Alfonso Soriano. In my opinion, this place went 0 for 3 tonight. Unfortunately for Art of Pizza, unlike Alfonso Soriano, it won’t have a chance to redeem itself.” That’s Dan’s choice (and that of many others in our group), but it’s up to you whether to give it a chance or not.

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