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LTHNLG - 2/11 - Kaiser's Pizza & Pub - Gurnee - 12:30pm

LTHNLG - 2/11 - Kaiser's Pizza & Pub - Gurnee - 12:30pm
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  • LTHNLG - 2/11 - Kaiser's Pizza & Pub - Gurnee - 12:30pm

    Post #1 - January 29th, 2019, 9:28 am
    Post #1 - January 29th, 2019, 9:28 am Post #1 - January 29th, 2019, 9:28 am
    The recent LTH discussion about Giardiniera on Chicago pizza has intrigued me. "Esteemed" minion EddieK has been bugging me forever about Kaiser's in Gurnee. Mondays are 1/2 price pizza and they have "Hot Giardiniera" as a pizza topping. Let's kill two birds with one stone and check it out. As always, bring a friend.

    Kaiser’s Pizza & Pub‎
    1801 North Il Route 21
    Gurnee, IL 60031
    847-336-6500
    http://www.kaiserspub.com/

    Dave148 - Esteemed Coordinator - LTH North Lunch Group.
    Cathy2
    EddieK
    jnm123
    WillG
    Katie
    jeffs
    Last edited by Dave148 on February 10th, 2019, 3:12 pm, edited 6 times in total.
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #2 - January 29th, 2019, 9:37 am
    Post #2 - January 29th, 2019, 9:37 am Post #2 - January 29th, 2019, 9:37 am
    HI,

    This is near The Point on 41, I get it.

    I will be there.

    Regards,
    CAthy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #3 - January 29th, 2019, 10:23 pm
    Post #3 - January 29th, 2019, 10:23 pm Post #3 - January 29th, 2019, 10:23 pm
    In, of course!
  • Post #4 - January 30th, 2019, 8:06 am
    Post #4 - January 30th, 2019, 8:06 am Post #4 - January 30th, 2019, 8:06 am
    Half-price is always good. Haven't been yet to the Mundelein Kaiser's on Butterfield, so this will be a nice way to try it out. I will have to wipe the memory of Wells Brothers out, as everything in thin pizza I eat these days I compare to it.

    Count me in.

    J
  • Post #5 - January 30th, 2019, 9:18 am
    Post #5 - January 30th, 2019, 9:18 am Post #5 - January 30th, 2019, 9:18 am
    I am in. Might have to order The Beast.

    -Will
  • Post #6 - January 30th, 2019, 9:39 am
    Post #6 - January 30th, 2019, 9:39 am Post #6 - January 30th, 2019, 9:39 am
    I'm in too.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #7 - January 31st, 2019, 12:46 pm
    Post #7 - January 31st, 2019, 12:46 pm Post #7 - January 31st, 2019, 12:46 pm
    jnm123 wrote:Half-price is always good. Haven't been yet to the Mundelein Kaiser's on Butterfield, so this will be a nice way to try it out. I will have to wipe the memory of Wells Brothers out, as everything in thin pizza I eat these days I compare to it.

    Count me in.

    J
    Kaiser's in Mundelein closed years ago. I think Kaiser's does a great thin tavern style pizza. They serve par-baked Kaiser's pizzas at Donelli's Pub in Lake Bluff.
  • Post #8 - January 31st, 2019, 1:14 pm
    Post #8 - January 31st, 2019, 1:14 pm Post #8 - January 31st, 2019, 1:14 pm
    Oh, that's right, it's called Hitz now. My bad.
  • Post #9 - February 3rd, 2019, 9:00 pm
    Post #9 - February 3rd, 2019, 9:00 pm Post #9 - February 3rd, 2019, 9:00 pm
    Sadly it's a little far for me that day, I'll be in Maryland.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #10 - February 4th, 2019, 5:14 pm
    Post #10 - February 4th, 2019, 5:14 pm Post #10 - February 4th, 2019, 5:14 pm
    jnm123 wrote:Oh, that's right, it's called Hitz now. My bad.
    Hitz is not a bad pizza either.
  • Post #11 - February 10th, 2019, 9:43 am
    Post #11 - February 10th, 2019, 9:43 am Post #11 - February 10th, 2019, 9:43 am
    Have some work being done on a furnace tomorrow so I will be a gametime decision.

    -Will
  • Post #12 - February 10th, 2019, 12:50 pm
    Post #12 - February 10th, 2019, 12:50 pm Post #12 - February 10th, 2019, 12:50 pm
    I'll be there.
  • Post #13 - February 10th, 2019, 9:22 pm
    Post #13 - February 10th, 2019, 9:22 pm Post #13 - February 10th, 2019, 9:22 pm
    jnm123 wrote:Half-price is always good. Haven't been yet to the Mundelein Kaiser's on Butterfield, so this will be a nice way to try it out. I will have to wipe the memory of Wells Brothers out, as everything in thin pizza I eat these days I compare to it.

    Count me in.

    J

    Kaiser's in Mundelein closed years ago. I think Kaiser's does a great thin tavern style pizza. They serve par-baked Kaiser's pizzas at Donelli's Pub in Lake Bluff.


    Postby Ram4
    February 4th, 2019

    jnm123 wrote:Oh, that's right, it's called Hitz now. My bad.

    Hitz is not a bad pizza either.


    Thanks, Ram, for clarifying. Some time ago, J, told me there was a Kaiser's on Butterfield Road. I drove slowly down that street searching for Kaiser's but was unable to find it. I thought I had gone goofy, now I know better.

    Postby jnm123
    January 30th, 2019
    I will have to wipe the memory of Wells Brothers out, as everything in thin pizza I eat these days I compare to it.


    Kaiser's is the closest I have found in the northern burbs to PIGUE (pizza I grew up eating) on the southwest side of Chicago. We tried many including Vito and Nick's several times but found too much gristle in the sausage. Our favorite was Ken and Dick's in Roseland. I agree with J regarding Wells Brothers. That is the pizza I WISH I had grown up eating.

    Kaiser's pizzas are half price on Mondays, eat in only, with the purchase of a drink. That is, if I go with a friend we would order a medium pizza, I would have a drink and she would usually just have water.

    With the prices this low, our group members can each order a small 10" or medium 14" pizza and a drink or we can order large pizzas and share. Medium and large 16" pizzas are best ordered well done especially if they have more than one vegetable topping which tend to release more water when baking. They will pack leftover pieces to take home.

    Fountain drinks, Pepsi products, are $2.49 with refills. Canned drinks, I like caffeine free Diet Coke, are 90 cents and seem to be the better deal.
  • Post #14 - February 11th, 2019, 5:58 am
    Post #14 - February 11th, 2019, 5:58 am Post #14 - February 11th, 2019, 5:58 am
    As a rule, when ordering pizza up this way (Mundelein, Vernon Hills, Gurnee, Libertyville) I routinely ask for it to be well-done. And I wondered why I did that.

    But Eddie hit on it--it's to try and replicate the pizza we grew up with. For me in Skokie, it was either Pinocchio's or Biasetti's (Lincolnwood), and throw the early renditions at Dave's Italian Kitchen in Evanston in there as well. Maybe I look fondly upon those pies because as a kid we were happy to have pizza at all, but it was really solid tavern-style in the days before we knew what that was. Hell, I never had deep-dish until Lou's opened in Lincolnwood in 1972.

    Unfortunately, well-done these days doesn't cure the ills of a badly-made thin crust pizza. And we never had to order it well-done back in the day. I think the main culprit is the abundance of cheese, no thought of ingredient balance whatsoever. I've tried to order 'easy cheese' but then I get no cheese, which is not a solution either.

    Ah well, grist for discussion later today...
  • Post #15 - February 11th, 2019, 6:01 am
    Post #15 - February 11th, 2019, 6:01 am Post #15 - February 11th, 2019, 6:01 am
    Rules?
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #16 - February 11th, 2019, 6:10 am
    Post #16 - February 11th, 2019, 6:10 am Post #16 - February 11th, 2019, 6:10 am
    Without rules, EC, there would be chaos. Sadly, we're all used to that during your tenure in office, fraught with despair, leaving the minions grumbling for something...anything to stop the pain.

    Oops! Forgot to take my pills this morning. Never mind...
  • Post #17 - February 11th, 2019, 8:15 am
    Post #17 - February 11th, 2019, 8:15 am Post #17 - February 11th, 2019, 8:15 am
    Furnace got pushed off. I will be there, rules or no rules.

    -Will
  • Post #18 - February 11th, 2019, 8:24 am
    Post #18 - February 11th, 2019, 8:24 am Post #18 - February 11th, 2019, 8:24 am
    Dave148 wrote:The recent LTH discussion about Giardiniera on Chicago pizza has intrigued me.


    Not just Giardiniera but you have to pair it with Italian Beef for the full effect. :)

    479B20F7-398D-49AD-9682-8F69855B572E.jpeg Homemade before cheese

    Thanks, as always for setting this up and sorry I will not be able to attend. :(
    "Very good... but not my favorite." ~ Johnny Depp as Roux the Gypsy in Chocolat
  • Post #19 - February 11th, 2019, 10:01 am
    Post #19 - February 11th, 2019, 10:01 am Post #19 - February 11th, 2019, 10:01 am
    Postby WillG
    January 30th, 2019
    I am in. Might have to order The Beast.

    -Will


    It's good to see that Will will be there. We might get to see him attack "The Beast." No not you, EC, "The Beast" is Kaiser's Italian Beef, Onion and Hot Giardiniera pizza. Perhaps Panther will reconsider and order "The Beast" to go, say hello to the minions and give us his review later.
  • Post #20 - February 11th, 2019, 10:46 am
    Post #20 - February 11th, 2019, 10:46 am Post #20 - February 11th, 2019, 10:46 am
    There’s a reservation for Dave. See ya soon!
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #21 - February 11th, 2019, 3:18 pm
    Post #21 - February 11th, 2019, 3:18 pm Post #21 - February 11th, 2019, 3:18 pm
    IMG_2104.jpg Sausage/Peppers--The 'Ed Special'

    IMG_2105.jpg 'The Beast'--Italian Beef, Onion, Giardiniera


    Just got back from Kaiser's Pizza in Gurnee on half-price Monday. Our septet pretty much devoured 4 medium extry-crisp thin pizzas, highlights above. 14" sausage/pepper cost $6.63 per, 'The Beast' was $8.63. Those were 'pizza-like-when-I-grew-up' prices...

    This was real good stuff--a gem for the area--almost (but not quite) in the same strata as Wells Brothers/Racine. Perfect crunch on the crust, ingredients in balance, thank goodness. The mild giardiniera could have been distributed better to the outer edges, however-- a nitpicky point.

    Conversation, as is wont with this group, free-ranged from food smuggling across international borders to aggressive driving habits, and anything in between. Kind of a Cromie Circle for the borderline insane.

    Let's do it again!
  • Post #22 - February 11th, 2019, 3:24 pm
    Post #22 - February 11th, 2019, 3:24 pm Post #22 - February 11th, 2019, 3:24 pm
    Let's not forget the Airing of Grievances!
    EC
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #23 - February 11th, 2019, 4:02 pm
    Post #23 - February 11th, 2019, 4:02 pm Post #23 - February 11th, 2019, 4:02 pm
    Hi,

    The two small squares of The Beast were liked by my parents. I wasn't sure they'd like the Giardiniera, but fortunately they like it.

    Great introduction to someplace I should have known long before.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #24 - February 11th, 2019, 5:00 pm
    Post #24 - February 11th, 2019, 5:00 pm Post #24 - February 11th, 2019, 5:00 pm
    Isn't every one of our meetings an airing of grievances? :lol: But yes, we did have quite a few today. And yet we had a lot of fun too.

    I had a fantastic time with our usual group, and I'm glad Jeff joined us too---hope you will again soon, Jeff. This was one of the farther-north places we've ever gone to, so maybe some upcoming locations will be more convenient for you. Our "Esteemed" Coordinator never likes to reveal the next location too soon. This may be his desperate way of clinging to power---as if that will work when the revolution comes!

    Just about every LTHer who was not there won't believe it, but I think we'd all agree Kaiser's Pizza & Pub in Gurnee serves a variety of crisp thin-crust pizzas that are among the very best you can find around Chicagoland without driving up to Racine.

    Of the three pizzas, I liked Eddie's sausage and green pepper best; I think we all did; and I don't usually even like bell pepper on pizza much. In this case, it was sliced thinly and cooked well so that the pepper slices were not wet and didn't make the pizza soggy. I had my first taste ever of Italian beef and giardiniera on pizza and liked it more than I expected; I thought it was the Italian beef flavor moreso than the giardiniera that made it taste interesting. I thought the garlic/onion/tomato slice pizza was fine, tomato slices a little bland, but it is February; I could have put on some salt or red pepper flakes.

    Cathy suggested a pizza with mushrooms but we did not get one of those, but since mushrooms and pepperoni are my two favorite pizza toppings, I'd be up for going back soon to try a few pizzas with those. Now that I know Kaiser's does such good pizza, I imagine they'd do mushroom and pepperoni toppings well too. Having lived more than a dozen years with someone who wouldn't eat mushrooms (among many other things; c.f. "Things My Dog Will Eat With Me That My Husband Won't") it is a pleasure to be able to order mushrooms on pizza again. This is the kind of freedom you will enjoy too, Cathy, now that you're divorced. :lol:
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #25 - February 11th, 2019, 9:17 pm
    Post #25 - February 11th, 2019, 9:17 pm Post #25 - February 11th, 2019, 9:17 pm
    Katie wrote:This is the kind of freedom you will enjoy too, Cathy, now that you're divorced. :lol:

    Snort! First I have to get married to even think of getting a divorce. :D
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,

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