Pete's Propagates!
By John DiGilio in Food on Aug 23, 2011 4:40PM
Look out Edgewater, there is a new player in your pizza scene. The new kid on the block, however, is by no means new to the business, just your neighborhood. Pete's Pizza has been serving up traditional, thin crust pizza and Italian specialties for over 60 years. After working from essentially one outpost for six decades, this is their first real expansion. The new digs are bright and cozy, giving the Granville corridor yet another breath of fresh air. Having heard the hype, we decided to put Pete's to the test.
Pete's Pizza was founded in 1950 by the Cirrincione family. With a handful of old world recipes and a dream, they turned a passion for pizza into a revered Chicago business. Their menu today is extensive, with everything from cheese pies to soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas and desserts. Virtually every individual entree is under $10 and the pizzas fall in the $15-20 range depending on how many mouths you intend to feed and the toppings you want. For those wanting something a little less ethnic, Pete's also offers chicken, ribs, and wings.
We dropped in on their new location on a busy weeknight. The crowd was good and all around us were sights and smells that set our mouths to watering. The pizzas not only looked decadent, but the one we sampled had a taste to match. Not too thin and nicely crisp, it featured an ample layering of cheese and sauce. This was thin crust pizza the way Italy intended it to be. Autentico! We also ordered one of the deli sandwiches for a little post-workout protein. The tuna salad came plentifully piled on a tasty multi-grain bread with plenty of tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. It was quite good and paired nicely with some homemade potato chips. The only let down to the whole meal was the cup of chili that we also decided to try (we told you the menu was extensive). It looked and smelled great, but was a little on the soupy side once we actually dug in. Then again, Italian restaurants are not generally where one goes for a southwestern dish. But we had to try.
The dessert menu at Pete's was definitely a step back in a more traditional, Italian direction. The tiramisu and connoli looked tempting for sure. But the night was warm and we were already pretty full. So it was the gelati that caught our eye. The Granville location has a gelato case that just beckoned to be breached. A scoop of pistachio and a scoop of Oreo later and we were at capacity. It was cold, creamy, and delicious. The pistachio was definitely our favorite of the two. With so many more things for us to sample, you can bet we will be returning to Pete's again soon. For our first outing, it more than passed muster.
Pete's newest location is at 1100 West Granville Avenue.