Joe Chicago's Pizza Co. Review

Yesterday Janna and I met in Grandville for dinner and a trip to Costco. I had a meeting at Rivertown Mall and had agreed to meet Janna at Costco at 5:15. Well, 5:15 rolled around and Janna wasn't there. Tired of waiting for her, I did my shopping and left to see if perhaps she had gone to Joe Chicago's Pizza instead. I drove to the pizza place and there was no Janna. Thinking maybe I had missed her in Costco, I returned only to discover that she had just arrived. What an outrage, doesn't being on time mean anything to anyone anymore?

But that's not really the point of this entry, the point here is to review Joe Chicago's Pizza on Wilson Ave in Grandville. For those who haven't been before, I highly recommend it. Joe Chicago's is a locally owned company serving authentic Chicago stuffed pizza. Don't be fooled by the chain gang down at Old Chicago's on Beltline and 28th Street, Joe Chicago's is 100 times better. The decor is classic old Chicago meets modern Pottery Barn, complete with an exposed brick wall and sleek bar.

The service was laid back and quite excellent. Our server didn't hover over us but rather treated us as if we were guests in his home, it was a pleasant change from the disgustingly peppy and nosey servers you get at the chain gang places.

The food was top notch. We started off with breadsticks and cheese, with a nice pizza dipping sauce. The bread sticks were delivered right out of the oven. It is quite clear they were cooked on a pizza stone, the crust was crisp and the inside was soft. The cheese was perfectly melted and browned. While these breadsticks with cheese are not quite as good as the gaudy ones at Deluca's in Lansing, they were about as good as you can find here in Grand Rapids.

We of course had to have pizza, it's the whole point of the trip. We ordered a small 'Chicago Meats' stuffed pizza. Apparently 'Chicago Meats' are pepperoni, Canadian bacon, Italian sausage and regular American bacon. All of these meats were stuffed inside of a huge two inch high crust along with a gargantuan amount of cheese, it was topped with a ton of sauce. It was cooked perfectly, the crust was crisp, the cheese was perfectly gooey. The sauce is made fresh daily and was absolutely sublime.

For those of you who haven't been to Joe Chicago's yet I highly recommend it. So rarely do I highly recommend a restaurant but in the case of Joe Chicago's I'm going to have to do it. The pizza is right up there with Uno's and Due's in Chicago as well as Gino's. It's locally owned, not part of the chain gang which makes it all the better. It's also reasonably priced, our meal with tip barely cost $25 and we have enough pizza left over for at least two lunches. That's quite a good value. If you're looking to save, Joe Chicago's web site has coupons and they seem to have a lot of week night specials. For your next 'date' night, head over to Grandville and the Joe Chicago's Pizza Co. you won't be disappointed.