Pizza Picks for National Pizza Month
October is National Pizza Month, and if you're not salivating already, you may want to check your pulse. One of the greatest comfort foods of all time merits your respect and adoration, and National Pizza Month is a downright sacred time. Of course, a true pizza aficionado would treat every month like it's National Pizza Month, but this is the time of year where everyone is practically obligated to break diets and dig into slice upon slice of cheesy happiness. Chicago is chock full of killer pizza spots, both pizzerias and restaurants that just happen to augment their menus with exceptional pizzas. Here are several spots to visit this month for pizzas aplenty.
Brand new Blackfinn Ameripub offers some stellar flatbreads as part of its "under $10" weekday lunch bargains. Similar to the good ol' fashioned soup 'n' sandwich combo, the barstaurant allows customers to order half a flatbread and pair it with a small salad or soup for $8.99. Guests can go the traditional route with margherita or sausage and pepperoni, or they can opt for something a little more extravagant, such as a cheeseburger flatbread or one flecked with buffalo chicken.
Pizzas draw inspiration from Northern California at The Boarding House. The wine-centric restaurant serves pizzas in the bar area only, in flavors that would make Wolfgang Puck blush. Go for the chicken and pesto pizza topped with grilled chicken breast, pine nut pesto, and arugula, or the shrimp pizza splashed with lemon and white sauce. Looking for something a little more rib-sticking? The merguez sausage pizza with roasted fennel will satiate.
There is nothing happier than pizza happy hour. Everything else seems sad by comparison. Get elated at The Florentine, where the happiest of happy hours runs from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Guests receive a free wood-fired thin-crust pizza with the purchase of one alcoholic beverage. Varieties include the speck pizza strewn with fiore de latte, peaches, rosemary, and arugula; pomodorini pizza with ricotta, cherry tomatoes, and marjoram; asparagus pizza with mozzarella, house-cured pancetta, black truffle, and fried egg; and a meatball pie with tomatoes, peperonata, ricotta, and basil.
(Allow this chicken sausage pizza at tesori to whet your appetite)
This month, pizza nights at Floriole Cafe & Bakery get even better with the inclusion of Vinejoy wines. Beginning October 11, the cafe will offer pizzas specifically designed to compliment the Central Coast wines curated by Vinejoy's Ian DeGraaf and Steve Sullivan. Friendly reminder that pizza nights take place every Friday and Saturday from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., featuring different varieties each week. And they are life-changing.
tesori goes all out with pizza this month, featuring a different special variety every single day of the month in conjunction with their everyday menu. Uncommon flavors include the roasted sweet potato pizza on October 8, the "apple pie" pizza on October 13, a baccala pizza on October 18, and an acorn squash pizza topped with sage and pumpkin seeds on October 21. Pretend like they're Pokemon cards and collect them all!
Pizza at avec. Enough said. Two of the world's greatest entities team up for one incredible evening on October 16. While the wine bar has a seasonal pizza on their menu regularly, things get really saucy when New York City's Mark Bello of Pizza a Casa takes over the kitchen for one night only. Along with avec's signature dates and a selection of salads and antipasti, the menu features a delicious miscellany of red, white, and dessert pizzas. Slice into the Paulie pizza with fresh mozzarella, red sauce, Publican Quality Meats spicy sopressata, pecorino romano, and hot honey; the Slice of Yore pizza with shredded mozzarella, red sauce with dried Italian wild oregano, pecorino romano, and sausage; the Vongole Veraci pizza with fresh clams, shallots, crushed red pepper, white vermouth, heavy cream, pecorino romano, and flat leaf Italian parsley; and for a cheese course-inspired variety, the Pear and Blue speckled with pears, farmstead blue cheese, and balsamic reduction.