The majority of people have tried thin crust pizza, neapolitan pizza, and if you live in Chicago, deep dish pizza. Well, this past weekend, I tried the less common pizza pot pie from Old Chicago Pizza and Grinder Company.
The restaurant is located on North Clark St. in the basement of what looks like a house. The atmosphere of the building is old school Italian- a place where it is easy to imagine old Chicago mobsters hanging out.
When we first walked in, there was a huge line of people waiting to be seated. We were asked how many, we said two, and were told to wait. We didn’t give a name or a number for them to contact us. However, after waiting twenty minutes, we were taken to our table.
Small Chef Salad with the homemade sauces
We ordered a small chef salad (which was huge) accompanied by their homemade sauces. One was a sour cream garlic sauce, and the other was lemon poppyseed. They recommended that we mix the two, and they were right. I had to restrain myself, because I was getting full even before the pot pie got to our table.
As for the pizza pot pie, we had a few options when ordering. The first was, “half pound or pound pizza?” The next was, “mushrooms or no mushrooms,” and the last was, “white or wheat crust?” I should mention another was, “meat or vegetarian,” but that question didn’t take too long to answer- meat, obviously!
When the pot pie arrived, it looked like a regular pot pie (a bowl with crust on top.) Next, the server flipped it over and scooped out the cheese. Finally, it was time to dive in! Thankfully, I didn’t get the mushrooms; they were huge.
The pizza was amazing. It is unlike deep dish or regular dish. The way I describe it is, imagine the meatiest red pasta sauce you’ve ever had, put it on some doughy crust, and then top it with a thick layer of melted cheese. I only ate half of my half-pound, and I was stuffed. Sadly, that meant I couldn’t get any of their dessert, which sounded amazing. They also have oven grinder sandwiches and Mediterranean bread which I have to try it next time.
If you are tired of regular pizzas and deep dish, this is a must try place. The pizza is unlike anything I’ve ever had. Pizzas are available frozen, so you can bring one home for when you have a craving. The dressings are also for sale. The only two downsides are that during the week they don’t open until dinner, and they only accept cash, so be prepared (however, there are ATMs near by).