Reader’s Choice
Coalfire
This category is so unfair. How can you compare thin crust and deep dish, Neapolitan and New Haven, the simple minimalism of a Marie’s pepperoni pie to the complex magic that is one of Burt’s? Backed against the wall, though, I’ll stick with Coalfire. The swarms have dwindled since Bill Carroll and longtime Matchbox bartender J. Spillane opened their BYO pizzeria at Grand and Ogden last year, but the pizza’s as great as ever. It all comes down to the crust—thin and chewy at the center, blackened and blistered at the perimeter, with a sooty, toasty edge thanks to the blast power of an 800-degree coal-fired oven. Overdo the toppings and the pies can get soggy. But with mozzarella, mildly salty tomato sauce, and some spicy Italian sausage from nearby Bari Foods? Perfection.  1321 W. Grand, 312-226-2625, coalfirechicago.com. —Martha Bayne
Readers’ Choice
Lou Malnati’s
Multiple locations, loumalnatis.com. Send a letter to the editor.
From the Reader blogs The Food Chain Mike Sula: Ketchup on a hot dog? It wasn't always a sin.
Thursday at 11:41 am
|
![[Reader Free Stuff: HEROES Season 2 on DVD]](http://www.chicagoreader.com/homepage-buttons/RH1186_BUTT_Heroes.jpg)
![[CHICAGO DRINKS: Your drink specials guide]](http://www.chicagoreader.com/homepage-buttons/Chicago-Drinks-Your-drinks-specials-guide.gif)
![[Chicago Reader - Fall Arts & Entertainment Guide - Everywhere on Sept 11]](http://www.chicagoreader.com/homepage-buttons/RH1188_BUTT_FallArts.gif)
![[CHICAGO DRINKS]](http://www.chicagoreader.com/homepage-buttons/chicagodrinks.gif)
Digg this
Post to del.icio.us
E-mail this to a friend
Flag as inappropriate
sbh at 11:53 AM on 7/7/2008
not that coalfire isn't a good little bite for the money and who doesn't love byo. but to call it the 'best pizza' is a gross misunderstanding of food and a lack of knowledge by the reader staff.
the sauce is at best adequate , blending mid quality canned roma with paste, over herbed to where the the taste is reminiscent of the era of prego consumerism. as for the cheese , it is hard to call those terse wads of lackluster milk fat mozzerella, the olive oil, whose colour is that of soured chicago rain water, has no depth , no intrigue or length. though you are right , the bread is quite tasty with bite, proper tear from good yeast cultivation, and a nose redolent of char. it is by no means nepoletana. i quite like the establishment and the people who work there, but i humbly suggest that the reader be more aware of your culinary vocation, many read its uneducated voice like the bible
Flag as inappropriate
NP at 1:01 PM on 7/25/2008
Seriously? I livea block from there and will never go back. Chicago has sooo many great pizza spots and this place does NOT deserve the best pizza honor. I was able to count the spots of cheese, the sauce was definitely some sort of canned concoction and the crust was burned. I won't even go on about the salad, but just to say "skip it". Stick with the oldies, but goodies..
Flag as inappropriate
mjc at 9:15 PM on 8/26/2008
You can't beat Cafe Luigi on Clark for solid NY style pizza. Sausage is especially tasty. They also have excellent calzones an cannolis as well. Can't believe this place has not been review by Chicago reader yet!
2548 N Clark St
Add a comment