Pequod’s Pizza (Morton Grove)
8520 Fernald AvenueYou all watch The Bear, right? If not, you should.
The show is about a chef dealing with family trauma coming back to Chicago and taking over his brother’s beef joint after the brother takes his own life. Somehow, it’s considered a comedy at award shows…but it’s really not. The show is a pretty intense look at a chef dealing with personal demons while trying to save his brother’s legacy.
Season 1 of the show was all about taking over the restaurant. Season 2 was about transforming The Beef into a Michelin Star rated high end restaurant…with a walk up window for Italian beef.
During the transformation process, Carmy (the protagonist of the series) sends staff left over from the Italian beef restaurant to train with other restaurants and chefs transforming them in to the high end restaurant staff he needs.
One of those people, Richie, who Carmy exclusively calls “Cousin,” is sent to a restaurant in Chicago to learn how to run the front of house.
During the end of his run, when he’s working the floor, he overhears a customer talk about how they’ve been in Chicago for an extended stay and haven’t had any Chicago style pizza. Cousin’s training during the week has focused on the customer experience. He puts in an order for a pizza from Pequod’s Pizza in Lincoln Park, brings it back to the restaurant, and the chef puts his own twist on the pizza before serving it to the guests. It was a quick, but impactful moment in the series.
And Pequod’s Pizza is a real Chicago pizza joint.
I told J when we were in the Chicago area for L’s figure skating competition that I was going to be “that guy” and pick up a Pequod’s Pizza. I’ve had a lot of Chicago pizza and I have….opinions, but I’ve never been to Pequod’s.
Lucky enough for me, I didn’t have to go in the city. There is a second location in Morton Grove.
L had two practice sessions on the night before her competition at the US Figure Skating National Solo Dance Finals. One was at 5:30. The other was a little after 8. There was time in between. J told me to try to time it to get pizza back to the rink so she could eat in between her practice sessions.
Pequod’s Pizza in Morton Grove is on Fernald Avenue just north of Lincoln Avenue. The restaurant almost sits entirely within a residential neighborhood. Fernald Avenue isn’t a major street. The building has the look and feel of a neighborhood dive bar. I didn’t get a chance to actually go inside but just looking at pictures online, they pack the tables in to a small bar area. It’s the kind of place I wish we had more time and were able to actually sit down and eat. It’s a unique looking atmosphere for such a big name pizza joint.
I put in my order online for a thin crust pepperoni, well done and a deep dish Italian beef and giardiniera. I also added on a tossed house salad in chase L didn’t want something greasy. She was running around with her friends and then on the ice practicing when I was putting in the order so I didn’t get a chance to ask her. The wait was about an hour. That was perfect timing for me to watch her practice then make the 20 minute drive from Glenview.
I was super confused when I got to the restaurant to pick up my order. There were instructions online to stay in your car and go through the alley to the pick up window. Don’t go inside. I turned down the alley and drive past the building but didn’t see the pick up window. I thought maybe the pick up situation had changed and it hadn’t been updated online so I found a parking spot on a neighborhood street and walked to the restaurant. There was a sign on the door… “Pickup in Alley.” I got back in my car and tried again…driving slowly until I saw a door on the side of the building with a small, hard to read sign that said “Pickup Here.”
A guy leaned his head out from the interior door and asked what my order number was. I told him the number I got in the confirmation email. He grabbed the two boxes and the salad and set them down on the passenger seat of my car.
I got back to the rink and everyone was waiting for me. J and L had planned on sharing the salad…but they didn’t give me a fork. I never thought to check because I assumed if you order a salad to go they’d throw in a fork. I scrambled and went to the car to see if we had any fast food forks on the floor or in the glove box. Luckily I found one but L had started on the pizza by then so it was just J who ate the salad.
The Tossed House Salad is pretty simple. It’s romaine, spring mixed greens, carrots, croutons, and cherry tomatoes with Italian dressing. The portion is huge and would have been enough for two or three people. J ate a little bit of it then we boxed the rest up in case wanted it later. We took it back to the hotel but we didn’t spend a lot of time at the hotel and the rest of it never got eaten….all because we didn’t get a fork.
We are much more thin crust pizza than deep dish people. I have to explain to people *ALL* the time that most Chicagoans don’t eat deep dish on a regular basis. The tavern style thin crust is really the best representation of “Chicago style pizza” but the deep dish already has a pretty good grip on the nations pizza opinion chart.
I ordered J and L a pepperoni thin crust. Luckily, I noticed there was an option for “cut” when I ordered. By default, Pequod’s pizzas don’t come cut. That would have been an absolute nightmare if I hadn’t noticed that. As it was, it still wasn’t cut very well, so there was a bit of a struggle.
The pizza is what we like from the Chicago thin crust. It’s not to thin so it’s still filling but the crust is nice and crispy all the way through. They do a little twist around the edge so you have something to hold on to. Pizza sauce seems to be sweeter in Chicago and that was the case here as well. The cheese also seems to be thicker as most places use slices instead of shredded cheese. That sliced cheese gets really stringy and sticks with you on each bite. We’re pretty tough on pizza people because we have our favorite spot on the South Side but J said while it’s not better than our favorite pizza place, this one from Pequod’s was really good
I ordered myself the deep dish with Italian beef and hot giardiniera. I will always get those toppings when I’m in Chicago but I go back and forth on thin crust and deep dish. If I’m trying a new Chicago place, I’ll typically go for the deep dish the first time I go there if that’s what they’re advertising.
I’ve gotten in to many arguments over which is better Chicago Deep Dish or Detroit Style. I like both and they’re totally different pizzas. Chicago Deep Dish isn’t a thick crust pizza like Detroit style is. There are some similarities but they’re different animals.
I don’t like eating Deep Dish pizzas really hot so I let it cool in the car while I ran food in to J and L. When I came back, it had cooled down enough for me to handle. I noticed the edge of the crust was a little burnt but I did ask for it well done. The thing I really love about Chicago pizza is the sauce. It’s not cooked before it’s put on the pizza which gives the sauce a much fresher taste. The bits of Italian beef and pickled veggies were piled on pretty thick under that layer of sauce. I only ate one pizza at the rink but took the rest back to the hotel for a late night snack and breakfast.
We can argue all you want over pizza styles but pizza like this will never get old to me. If you’ve never had Chicago Style pizza from a place that isn’t one of the Big 3 (Giordano’s, Lou Malnati’s, or Gino’s East), you’re really missing out. Pequod’s was a little out of my way but really worth the trip and another place I can check off my list.
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