Joe's Pizza - Chicago, IL

A large number of months ago, I got an e-mail from a Road Tips reader in Chicago that said, "I saw your blog post about Dino's Pizza.  That's one of my favorites, too.  But if you like Dino's, I'm sure you'll like Joe's which is just down the street."  The reader was referring to Joe's Pizza, located about a mile and a half east of Dino's on Higgins.  I filed Joe's away in my "Restaurants to Visit" list.  But with the pandemic raging and my travel shut down, I wasn't able to get there until Chicago opened up to vaccinated travelers in early June.  Thinking pizza would be good for a meal one evening, I started out thinking about heading to Dino's.  But then I remembered about the one place down the road.  I looked it up on my saved places on my Google Maps application and decided to head over to Joe's Pizza to give it a try.

Giuseppe "Joe" Pollini was a sailor in the Italian navy during World War II.  However, his ship and fellow crew mates were captured and taken via ship to the United States to be interned in a prison camp.  (My dad was stationed in Texas during World War II and the base he was at held a number of Italian prisoners of war.)  During the trip to the U.S., Joe was one of the cooks who made meals for the crew of the American ship.

Once he got to New York, the war was coming to an end and many of the Italians on the ship just stayed in the U.S.  By the mid-50's, Joe Pollini had made it to the south side of Chicago and worked at a tavern-style pizza place in the Evergreen Park neighborhood.  There were others in the neighborhood who either owned or worked at pizza places and even though they were in competition, the families co-mingled at church and at school.  The pizza restaurants would even share ingredients with one another if one was running low on something.  

Joe's Pizza moved to their present day location on W. Higgins in the late-60's.  Joe Pollini was later joined by his son-in-law Mario Demonte, an Italian immigrant who grew up in a small village in southern Italy.  Mario Demonte was a culinary specialist in Italian cuisine and he expanded the menu to include pasta dishes, deep pan pizza and seafood.  Mario eventually took over the business and he was eventually joined in the business by Joe Pollini's grandson Frankie Pollini - the third generation family member to run Joe's Pizza.

I pulled up to Joe's Pizza just before 6 p.m.  It's situated in a small store front near the corner of W. Higgins and N. Mango Ave.  (see map)  Parking was available on the street in front of the business.  

I went inside and was met by none other than Vicki Demonte, Joe's daughter and the wife of Mario Demonte.  I was the only patron in the place.  I asked if they were open for dine-in and she said, "Yes, we are!  Come on in!"  She told me that I could sit anywhere.  I took a booth along one of the walls of the establishment and she dropped off a menu for me to look through.  I knew that a number of restaurants in Chicago had to close for dine-in services during the height of the pandemic, so I asked Vicki when they reopened for dining-in.  "Early March," she said.  "And it didn't come any time too soon!"   She asked if she could get me something to drink and I saw that they had a handful of local craft beers and a couple imports.  I ended up getting a bottle of the Peroni beer from Italy.  

The inside of Joe's Pizza is pretty small.  There was a small bar and a few tables and chairs in the middle of the floor with four or five booths on the side wall.  While I was there, they had a couple delivery guys hanging out waiting to do their runs.  They also had a pretty brisk take-out business during the time I was there.  It was a nice clean and cozy little restaurant.

The menu at Joe's Pizza is pretty deep.  In addition to tavern-style, stuffed and deep-dish pizza, Joe's features a number of pasta dishes including basked mostaccioli, gnocchi in a vodka sauce, fettuccine alfredo, and linguine in a clam sauce.  They also had entrees such as chicken parmigiana, lemon pepper tilapia, barbecued ribs, and roasted or fried chicken dinners.  Joe's also featured a number of sandwiches and burgers, as well as appetizers and salads.  I wondered how big their kitchen was with all the foods they offered on their menu.  

But I was there for the pizza and that's exactly what I got.  I got a small tavern-style pizza with my standard toppings - sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms.  Vicki brought out the trio of parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes and Italian seasonings in shaker jars.  The Italian seasonings were heavy on the oregano - exactly how I like it.  The 10" pizza was topped with bubbly caramelized mozzarella cheese.  

I always like to take a square or corner triangle of a tavern-style pizza to try before I put any seasonings or cheese on the piece.  From the first bite, I knew I had a winner.  The sauce was sweet and tangy; the cheese was plentiful and smooth in taste with a hint of that burnt taste that really can give mozzarella a good kick in flavor; and the crust was crisp, but not hard to chew.  This was an outstanding pizza.  

I love finding great tavern-style pizza places in Chicago and Joe's Pizza will definitely become part of my rotation.  I loved everything about Joe's - the small, intimate setting, the great service from Vicki and her crew, and the pizza itself.  Joe's is a great little neighborhood pizza place and I'm sort of jealous that I don't have anything like it near me at my home.  I'll certainly look forward to getting back to Joe's at some point during my travels to Chicago.  

Comments

[Larry L Adams]

No, not Joe's or Dino's, but the best pizza in the area is Trios, literally across the street from Dinos.

[Road Tips]

I'm familiar with Trio's Pizza. But it's carryout only, and since I'm traveling when I come to Chicago, I just haven't ever stopped because I like to sit down and enjoy my pizza with a beer or two (or three!). Trio's doesn't offer that. Thanks for looking in!