D’Agostino’s Pizza & Pub (Wrigleyville)
1351 W. Addison StreetMy original plan for the weekend was to spend a weekend in Chicago with my family.
Plans change.
The kids competed at Synchro Illinois at the Robert Crown Ice Arena in Evanston last weekend. In the past, this has always been a one day thing on Saturday. Somehow, this year, my kids got split up. B skated on Friday. L skated on Sunday. Instead of a day trip, it turned in to a weekend with missed school and work plus a two night hotel stay.
I thought, great. We have all day Saturday to enjoy Chicago….except L had to stay with her team all weekend despite the fact they weren’t competing until Sunday. Oh, and I had to come back to Michigan to work. Luckily, it was Saturday that I had to work so I wouldn’t miss any skating.
After B got done competing on Friday, I took J and the kids to the hotel. We had a block of rooms at the Hampton Inn near Loyola University for the club. It was a great location with a lot of great restaurants within walking distance. Parking, however, was almost $50 so I just dropped everyone off, made sure they got their stuff and I headed back to Kalamazoo.
I couldn’t leave Chicago without a pizza though. My plan was to pick one up near the hotel but when I went to order, at 6:00 on a Friday night, they weren’t taking online orders.
That’s fine. I always have a plan B.
A friend of mine used to live in Wrigleyville and I used to see him post about a pizza place near where he lived all the time. I wasn’t too far from Wrigleyville and I needed a pizza so I got online and ordered one.
D’Agostino’s Pizza & Pub is a small chain of six pizzerias on the North side of Chicago and in the north suburbs. The Wrigleyville location is the original having opened in 1968. The restaurant is on the corner of Addison and Southport a little over three blocks from Wrigley Field. The restaurant is a pretty typical Chicago neighborhood building with the restaurant on the first floor and two floors of housing above it.
If you’re dining in, the entrance is right on the corner of the building. There’s a large dining room indoors but they also have a couple of outdoor dining areas on the sidewalks on both sides of the building.
I was not dining in. I had ordered my pizza online and I just needed to pick it up.
There’s a separate building for carry-out. It’s just to the east of the main restaurant and is marked with a sign for pick ups.
The pick up location is pretty small. There was a guy waiting at the order counter when I walked in just before 7:00 on a Friday night. I was earlier than my ETA so I gave him my name and understood I was early so it was cool if it wasn’t ready. He went to the back to check and came out with a box. He said it had just come out so I timed it perfectly.
While this is the pick up spot for D’Agostino’s, they also have slices available. You can stop in and they actually have a decent special on a slice of pizza and a beer.
There is a little bit of seating with a very Chicago rail along the window looking out on to Addison.
I obviously wasn’t going to wait until I got back to Kalamazoo to try this pizza. As soon as I got back to my car across the street, I threw the box in to the passenger seat and opened it up.
I ordered a large thin crust pizza with Italian beef and hot giardiniera. Outsiders still believe Chicago is a deep dish pizza town and no matter how many times I scream from the rooftops that they’re wrong, the perception just won’t change. This thin and crispy cut in to squares Tavern Style Pizza is what Chicago pizza is all about.
The pizza is exactly what I needed before heading back to Michigan. The crust had a great crispy bite all the way through. It was topped with a thick, sweet sauce that was covered in slices of Italian beef and crunchy, spicy pickled veggies. I was only going to eat a few slices before making the trip home but I couldn’t stop eating. I ate about half of the pizza then forced myself to stop. I actually put it in the back seat so I wouldn’t be tempted to try and eat it while I was driving.
The cost for the pizza was a little pricey coming it at just under $40.
I got exactly what I wanted and exactly what I needed from D’Agostino’s Pizza & Pub. I would have loved to have taken my family here to sit down and have a meal but that wasn’t in the cards this weekend. I still got the two thing I need when I travel to Chicago. An Italian beef for lunch and a Chicago Tavern Style pizza, also with Italian beef, for dinner. I’m not a Cubs fan….and I hate everything about Wrigley Field…but D’Agostino’s would be high on my list for pregame if I’m somehow ever convinced to go back to that frat house for game.
SW Michigan Dining 