LTHNLG - Fatmans Gurnee - March 6th - 11:30am

We're going commando again for the March outing. I've driven past this place a million times. Never stopped in.

Some of the recent LTH pizza chatter mentioned that this place puts out some decent product. They've gotta a $10 16" cheese special on Mondays. Let's check it out. Might be too chilly for volleyball. As always, bring a friend.

Fatmans Gurnee
36309 Skokie Hwy.
Gurnee, IL 60031
(847) 244-8300
https://fatmansgurnee.com/

Dave148 = Esteemed Coordinator - LTH North Lunch Group.
jnm123
Cathy2
WillG
LHS

Yeah, I'm in. Hope RAM4 is too for perspective. Kaiser's & Wells Bros. are the last two, let's hit the trifecta, baby!

Hi,

I have heard lots of stories of this place, but never went inside.

I plan to attend.

Regards,
Cathy2

jnm123 wrote:Yeah, I'm in. Hope RAM4 is too for perspective. Kaiser's & Wells Bros. are the last two, let's hit the trifecta, baby!

I would definitely be there but I am not back in town until the end of March at the earliest. I have never tried Fatman either.

Neither of us can make this one, sorry.

Should be able to make it.

Thanks, Will

Question is...do we or do we not...order the pizza well-done?

If we're doing a direct comparison to Kaiser's, then the answer is yes. What was a shame was not being able to try out Wells Bros. well-done. We decided at the table because of the menu caveat that stated 'the house is not responsible for well-done pizzas', we opted to do without. The pizza was still outstanding, but how much more cracker-y would that crust have gotten well-done--too dry maybe? Probably half well-done would've been perfect.

Am I the only one that thinks along these lines? The perfect bite. I'm sure Ram4 obsesses like this...

jnm123 wrote:Am I the only one that thinks along these lines?

Yes

Count me in.

There's a reservation for Rothschild. See ya tomorrow!

I've gotta work instead. Curious to hear how you all think it compares to Kaiser's.

RAM4 has a standard he has kept up for years. It works for him. If you recall, he ordered his own pizza at Kaiser's to maintain this standard comparative.

At Kaiser's and Well's Brothers, we have ordered extra crisp without any negative consequences. Usually it was sausage, pepper, onion and mushroom, which at Kaiser's was the first to be finished. The second pizza had pepperoni which was finished at a slower pace. Why not stick to what we know, like and can make a direct comparative based on our experience?

I have always wanted to go to Fat Mans. Looking forward to this.

Regards,
CAthy2

Cathy2 wrote:At Kaiser's and Wells Brothers, we have ordered extra crisp without any negative consequences.

That's right, the times before at Wells Bros. we ordered extra crispy. This last time a few months ago--were you there?--we did not order it that way because of the menu thing.

jnm123 wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:At Kaiser's and Wells Brothers, we have ordered extra crisp without any negative consequences.

That's right, the times before at Wells Bros. we ordered extra crispy. This last time a few months ago--were you there?--we did not order it that way because of the menu thing.

Oy Vey!

Hi,

I wasn't there. I have seen the Well's Brothers note and still ordered as I wanted without any reservations.

Regards,
CAthy2

Great pizza and company today. I’ll yield to the crust snobs to chime in.

Dave148 wrote:Great pizza and company today. I’ll yield to the crust snobs to chime in.

Dave, remember what Rush drummer Neil Peart wrote: 'If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.' Let that sink in for awhile, Ray Bolger...

You did, however, make one cogent remark. You queried, 'Is there really any 'bad' pizza?' To which I answered yes, there is but not very often. Most pizza is better than no pizza at all, even Stouffer's French Bread Pizza. In York, Maine, there about 6-7 choices for pizza within 10 miles, with all of them being somewhere on the scale between barely edible & mediocre. Really.

Last spring, a new 'Detroit'-style place opened on Rte. #1, and the first try was promising indeed. Since then it's been varying degrees of dog you-know-what. Part of the problem up there, since the start of Covid, is not enough workers has made for wildly inconsistent quality control.

So my point is...you take Fatman's sausage/green pepper/onion/mushroom or sausage/onion thin crust 'up Maine', as they say, and I'm all over it, my choice for pizza every time. Here? So much competition. Bottom line is that I like the crust slightly better at both Kaiser's & Wells Bros. Fatman's sausage was pretty good--again, better than most.

But the feng shui, man. It means '...a system of laws considered to govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy...' Overall, the pizza of Fatman tasted fine, but I thought--especially on the 4 ingredient pie--that there was too much overall cheese, and then it pooled heavily toward the center, making the inner circle & crust pieces worlds apart in looks, texture & yes, taste. That should never happen. At Wells Bros., and to a certain extent Kaiser's, all components are as one when taking the bite, with every bite a consistent flavor profile, from center to crust.

That deep enough thought for you, EC?

jnm123 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:Great pizza and company today. I’ll yield to the crust snobs to chime in.

Dave, remember what Rush drummer Neil Peart wrote: 'If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.' Let that sink in for awhile, Ray Bolger...

You did, however, make one cogent remark. You queried, 'Is there really any 'bad' pizza?' To which I answered yes, there is but not very often. Most pizza is better than no pizza at all, even Stouffer's French Bread Pizza. In York, Maine, there about 6-7 choices for pizza within 10 miles, with all of them being somewhere on the scale between barely edible & mediocre. Really.

Last spring, a new 'Detroit'-style place opened on Rte. #1, and the first try was promising indeed. Since then it's been varying degrees of dog you-know-what. Part of the problem up there, since the start of Covid, is not enough workers has made for wildly inconsistent quality control.

So my point is...you take Fatman's sausage/green pepper/onion/mushroom or sausage/onion thin crust 'up Maine', as they say, and I'm all over it, my choice for pizza every time. Here? So much competition. Bottom line is that I like the crust slightly better at both Kaiser's & Wells Bros. Fatman's sausage was pretty good--again, better than most.

But the feng shui, man. It means '...a system of laws considered to govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy...' Overall, the pizza of Fatman tasted fine, but I thought--especially on the 4 ingredient pie--that there was too much overall cheese, and then it pooled heavily toward the center, making the inner circle & crust pieces worlds apart in looks, texture & yes, taste. That should never happen. At Wells Bros., and to a certain extent Kaiser's, all components are as one when taking the bite, with every bite a consistent flavor profile, from center to crust.

That deep enough thought for you, EC?

I’m sorry. I dozed off for a bit. Were you talking to me?

I wasn't there, but this is a common problem at Fatman's - the toppings are a couple inches smaller than the pizza, leaving a big ring of untopped crust. Otherwise it's pretty good pizza. And service is usually friendly.

Were there some dudes smoking weed outside near the door? And some poor souls obsessively playing slots in the corner?

tjr wrote:Were there some dudes smoking weed outside near the door? And some poor souls obsessively playing slots in the corner?

Unless jnm123 snuck back in after I left, no.

tjr wrote:Were there some dudes smoking weed outside near the door? And some poor souls obsessively playing slots in the corner?

Dammitall, another opportunity missed!

HI,

Fatman's does have a reputation. I remember reading of someone dead in their car from an overdose. That was back when the building looked like it was built from mud to look like adobe. The motel next door had a western theme.

A friend's sister was the fatman's girlfriend, because yes it was once owned by the fatman. When he died there were far more motorcycles than cars making their way to the cemetary, because it was pictured in a newspaper.

I was reminded yesterday that I once proposed a really early breakfast at Fatman's. I cannot find the post, though I do vaguely recall suggesting this. I think nobody responded and I stayed home. If it were in Chicago, I might have gone anyway, because someone might have showed up.

I was glad to go to Fatman's yesterday. I enjoyed all the cheesy goodness of their pizza, especially with all cheese pizzas were $10, then you added the ingredients. I think I will take my parents there sometime.

Regards,
Cathy2