Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co

We had heard about Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co on the Travel Channel's Pot Pie Paradise show. It is located in Lincoln Park a few blocks from the zoo. We ended up parking by the zoo and walking over. This restaurant does not take reservations so we tried to get there as soon as we could on a week night.  We were still met with a wait - we were told 20 minutes but it probably was between 10-15 minutes.



Pizza Pot Pie

                              The only "pizza" they offer is called a pizza pot pie.  It is not really like any other pizza we've tried before. They have a dough crust with a meat bolognese sauce, whole button mushrooms and cheese.  It is baked and looks like a pot pie coming out of the oven and then is inverted onto your plate at your table. They offer a small and large size.  We were going to order the larger size and split it but the server encouraged us to order 2 smalls instead (it is the same price either way).  It is probably much easier to invert the small ones than the large. The pizza was good but not the best pizza we've ever had. 

Small Chef's Salad

Despite the fact that pizza is in the restaurant's name, honestly the salad and the Mediterranean bread were the stars. We ordered a small chef's salad and it was more than enough for the 2 of us.  You also can get other salads that have cheese and meats on them.  The salad ingredients were fresh, but the homemade salad dressings they bring out were amazing. For all salads they bring out 3 dressings - Italian, sour cream garlic and sweet and sour poppy seed  Our favorite was the poppy seed, it was just really unique tasting.

The Mediterranean bread was a heaping plate of bread with great spices.  It tasted best while still warm so we ate what we could before the pizza came out.



Mediterranean Bread

They also over several grinder sandwich options. But we were there for the pizza so we really didn't even look at them on the menu.

This place is also cash only. Most cash only places are really inexpensive so it is not a big issue, but if you are in a group you're probably going to be spending much more than $20 so plan to bring enough cash.

Final thoughts on Chicago Pizza and Grinder Co:

Food - great salad and bread, unique pizza experience

Service - We were seated quicker than the wait time we were told.  We were glad to have gotten there earlier in the evening because when we left there was a huge wait. The food was pretty quick to get to us.  The salad and bread came out first and then the pizza came out later.

Atmosphere - a fairly small restaurant. There are only windows in the front so it is very dark inside.

View across the street - actually where the St. Valentine's Massacre occurred