Burt's Place Pizza

So we finally made it to Burt's Place Pizza in Morton Grove.  This restaurant has been featured on everything (Check Please, Chicago's Best, No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain).  Lots of people really love this pizza so we wanted to for check it out. 

Super Salad

There are some rules that have to be followed (think soup nazi but nicer).  Burt buys all of the ingredients fresh every day so you have to make a phone reservation (where you state the size and toppings on the pizza) at least one day before. The time you pick as your reservation time is the time the pizza will be ready and out at your table.  So don't get there late. Also order your appetizers ahead on the phone as well. They do carry out pizzas as well but you have to abide by the call ahead policy also.  So we did see a few parties try and walk in to be told they couldn't be accomodated.  The funny thing is when you look inside the restaurant it may look like there are tables available.  However, a few of the tables are used as staging areas where the pizzas sit to be served to you. And one last thing is that they are cash only.

Garlic Bread

So they are very picky but every mention of this place on the internet plus the tv spots have mentioned these "rules" so it really shouldn't come as a surprise to someone who has done their research. Burt's Place doesn't have its own website but we were able to find reviews on yelp plus a photograph of their menu - to give us an idea of the appetizer and pizza toppings options plus how much it would cost since we needed to bring cash.

We phoned in on a Wednesday for Saturday dinner. We ordered a salad, garlic bread and a large pizza with extra cheese, sausage and mushrooms. 

Super Salad - nice salad of romaine greens plus a few toppings.  Nothing spectacular but it is a way to say you are eating healthy at a pizza place.

Garlic Bread - this was really good and fresh.  We knew the pizza would be good once we ate this.

Pizza!

Large Pizza with extra cheese, sausage and mushrooms.  All of the reviews said to get extra cheese so we went with that.  This is literally the best pizza.  NICK SAYS THIS IS THE BEST PIZZA HE HAS EVER EATEN. The crust was perfect - it wasn't too soft or gooey or too crunchy.  It is a pan style pizza. The toppings were fresh and flavorful and the freshness of the ingredients pushed the flavor profile over the top. The extra cheese made for the perfect ratio of cheese, sauce and toppings. You can definitely tell Burt cares about his craft.  At this time in his life he doesn't have to have a restaurant; he does he because he loves it.

Final thoughts on Burt's Place Pizza:
Food - We loved the pizza.  We haven't eaten pizza since and it will be hard once we do. We would skip the salad next time, but do the garlic bread.  We love this place and would like to go very often - if it were just a healthier meal :).
Service - We got there about 1/2 hour ahead of our pizza being done time so there was plenty of time to eat the salad and the garlic bread. Burt cooks all of the food and his wife and another person serve all of the food.  All of the food came out as expected and they were very nice. We did see Burt when we were there.  We wonder what they do if he got sick?
Atmosphere - the restaurant is located in a residential portion of the suburb of Morton Grove - it almost looks like it doesn't belong. The building is very old and there are lots of knick knacks on the walls and shelves.  One critique is that the place doesn't look super clean, but just ignore that and enjoy the pizza.