G Wiv wrote:ronnie_suburban wrote:This pizza was, for me, revelatory and easily worth the minor inconvenience we had to endure to experience it. This was a truly magnificent, bar-setting experience.
R,
I have attempted to go to Great Lake three times, no-soap-radio. I figured three strikes and out, but after your post, and conversations with others, looks like I have to go one more inning of attempts.
Wonderful post and pictures.
Enjoy,
Gary
miesplz wrote:Ronnie, you had an awesome post. G wiz, yes, I do feel that the food at Great Lake is truly extraordinary and worth attempting again. Best bets are to go there early on Wed. or Thurs. night. Any other time and expect to wait. Nick is the only person cranking out the amazing pizzas and Great Lake only has one oven with room to cook two pizzas at a time. But wow! It is the best pizza I have ever had in my life.
Throwing down the gauntlet, are we now...ronnie_suburban wrote:I had an unequivocably stellar experience last week at Great Lake and felt, based on this initial vist, that it was clearly among the finest pizzas I've eaten in Chicago and quite possibly the best. I think there are a few other places that are in the ballpark but based on quality, execution and my personal preference of style, I cannot remember a more satisfying artisanal pizza.
G Wiv wrote:
I have attempted to go to Great Lake three times, no-soap-radio.
Stagger wrote:This is a place that is on my "you better get there before you leave or your palate will kill you" list. I know I will sleep better leaving town if I know there is someplace here operating on the same level as Pepe's, Sally's, Modern, Naple's, or Harry's in Chicago. I know there focus is different here but this looks like a place that has a wild, reckless abandon for quality that I see in my favorite places back east.
Kevin Pang at The Stew wrote:A notoriously slow pizzeria in Andersonville will become even slower, now that GQ Magazine has named it as serving the best pizza in America.
In June's issue of GQ, food writer Alan Richman singles out Great Lake's Mortadella Pie (1477 W. Balmoral Ave.) as the best he's tasted after traveling 20,000 miles scouting the perfect pie.
ronnie_suburban wrote:Better hurry. GQ (Alan Richman) just named it the Best Pizza in the U.S.
=R=
PIGMON wrote:Wondering if anyone can tell me whether they've tried Great Lake pizza both onsite and carryout.
Having only tried their pies at the restaurant, I've always speculated that it has a relatively short half-life, making it a less-than-optimum pizza as a carry-out product (like most other variations of thin-crust pizza).
robert40 wrote:My first post.
This may sound a bit extreme but never less true. After reading this thread and also another article about Great Lake on Slice, I decided I had to try it. Unfortunately it took some advance planning as I live in upstate NY. So last week my family and I drove over 1600 miles round trip just to visit Great Lake.
Needless to say if Michelin gave stars to pizzeria's Great Lake would fall under "worth the journey" category. I'll put Great Lake right up there with Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix and likely surpassing it. We tried three pizza's and all exceeded our expectations.
I have not mastered posting photos yet but for those interested see below link to some I uploaded on this Great Lake face book fan group. Thank you to all the above posters for the heads up but next time I think I better fly. It seems the older I get the rest (rooms) areas get farther and farther in between.
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref= ... 0472678781
ronnie_suburban wrote:Hey Robert,
Nice to 'see' you here.
I agree with you about GL being as good or better than Bianco, which is no small praise. I love Bianco but GL was on another level for me.
I also agree completely about the bathrooms on roadtrips.
Completely impressed by your culinary dedication.
=R=robert40 wrote:My first post.
This may sound a bit extreme but never less true. After reading this thread and also another article about Great Lake on Slice, I decided I had to try it. Unfortunately it took some advance planning as I live in upstate NY. So last week my family and I drove over 1600 miles round trip just to visit Great Lake.
Needless to say if Michelin gave stars to pizzeria's Great Lake would fall under "worth the journey" category. I'll put Great Lake right up there with Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix and likely surpassing it. We tried three pizza's and all exceeded our expectations.
I have not mastered posting photos yet but for those interested see below link to some I uploaded on this Great Lake face book fan group. Thank you to all the above posters for the heads up but next time I think I better fly. It seems the older I get the rest (rooms) areas get farther and farther in between.
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref= ... 0472678781
robert40 wrote:You know Ronnie without saying your above post was mostly responsible for this aching back of mine. At least it was short compared to Bianco's. Yet I still need to get out there again to visit our friend Eliot.
PS. Also tried Hot Dougs and Burts Place. We enjoyed both very much but Great Lake really blew me away.
pastry643 wrote: Any thoughts?
Cathy2 wrote:Kennyz,
In her April initial inquiry, the poster stated, "This summer, I will be having a food-centric long weekend in Chicago with my father."
It is entirely possible the trip she's been planning has not yet happened.
Regards,
Kennyz wrote:There is such a wealth of information about Burt's and Great Lake that I think one is best off reading through them and deciding what sounds most appealing. "Which one would you choose?" type posts are relatively useless, in my opinion.