Being that we're largely insulated in suburbia it's hard not to get a bit worked up over all the dining options in Chicago. Toss in a few "Best of" lists and it's a truly daunting task to pick a spot for a family outing. Case in point - recently downtown for a night to enjoy the Christmas lights and take in some casual grub. Where to go? With two teenage boys in tow, Pizza seemed like a good, and affordable, choice.
Off to Yelp, Chicago Magazine, Time Out Chicago, Serious Eats, Slice, etc. to read, reference, cross reference and generally research the sheeyat out of the pizza scene. All signs pointed to Pequod's. On lots of lists? Check. Yelp rating? Check. Affordable? Check. Plus it seemed to have the allure of the scarcely found, yet much underrated, carmelized crust (see Quatro's in Carbondale).
The order - Family salad, wings, one large extra cheese/extra sauce, one large sausage. The verdict - Salad fail...served on warm plates, not anything fresh tasting about it, cheese torn in irregular shapes. Wings fail...baked not fried, no tabasco or hot sauce to speak of on 'em. Pizza...well, nothing special. It had a LOT of cheese and sauce, no complaints there. But it just lacked flavor. The sauce is sweet, almost like a can of Ragu dumped on top of the cheese. Lacking any real flavor profile or depth. The carmelized crust delivered - to a point - but had more burnt taste than carmelized. The damage? $116 with tip included. Fed 6 of us easily and could have fed 2-3 more.
For me, I'll stick to Lou's for the time being and wait to go back and hit Piece, Great Lakes Pizza, Due, Pizano's or any of the others I found while scouring the web. Anyone else have some pie feedback? Let's hear it.
