Palermo's Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria

Best Pizza in Chicago if they ever cook it right. It's the same as Palermo's on 95th and Cicero. They never deliver on time, pizza is never consistent, and the guy I just ordered from was very rude. But like I said if they get it right and they're not rude its the best around. Problem is they never it get it right. I have had the wrong pizza delivered twice and every time I call it seems like the person on the phone is training.

Came here for a good Chicago-style pizza after finishing the Wrigley Field tour. The tour guide and some employees at Wrigley recommended this place when we asked for a good local Chicago-style pizza joint. The place was dead when we were there (only one other table sat). The server couldn't tell us how many slices were in a large pie or how big it was. After leaving to find out and coming back she told us 10 slices. We all ordered pizza. The pizza was good, but I don't think is was real Chicago-style. I've always heard Chicago-style pizza has the crust on the top. This pizza had the cheese on top, even though it was a deep-dish pie. It did take an hour or more to come out after ordering (we were told 45-60 mins for deep dish). Both pizza's came out at different times (one about 10 mins before the other). The pizza was definitely good, though.

It's in Wrigleyville so if you really think the service is going to be great at a bar make sure you go on a weekday that is a non-cubs home game day. I have only gone here to eat during this exact situation and I have had nothing but great service. There has never been more than three other tables with customers at them. If you really want their pizza on a Cubs home game get takeout.

For my taste buds their sweet tasting sauce is my hands down favorite in Chicago. It's not watered down (like NY pizza sauce) and it is a nice change in Chicago.

I give their deep dish four stars. If you like a little cheese in the crust you would fall in love with this stuff! This makes the pizza very filling and those who I have brought here get that "food coma" from it. I think six pieces is perfect for a two couples who don't want leftovers. For the reader's reference I only use sausage as the ingredient to compare deep dish pizza in Chicago. I think pepperoni, while my favorite, can give an unfair advantage as it has a tendency to take the focus away from the pizza sauce and crust by letting its spice take control of the consumers mouth (and has been know to cover up bland pizza in my experience).

So I've ordered the deep dish about 6 times at Palermo's / Red Ivy and I love it so much that I never even thought twice about ordering the thin crust. Wow was I dumb, I give their thin crust pizza five stars! The crust is light and crispy, but not flaky and unfulfilling. The particular pizza we ordered had 5 toppings on it (spinach, garlic, onion, pepperoni and green peppers) and it was out of this world. What I think made a big difference was they put the pepperoni underneath the cheese and this REALLY helped keep the greasiness of the pizza to a pleasant level. Don't get me wrong I love a nice greasy thin crust like the next Chicagoan, but sometimes you just don't want that feeling in your stomach once you finish.

If you are worried that the pizza may not fill you up, PLEASE try the onion rings. They are not greasy and they have the perfect amount of onion as you don't have to bite down hard to split the larger rings. Plus they usually give you about half of little mini rings that can taken in one bite. My personal favorite, which others have caught onto after looking at me in disgust/confusion, is dipping them into BBQ sauce and then a little ranch. People think I'm crazy but just try it and find your BBQ/Ranch mix ratio and feel free to bash my post if you don't like it (you have to use a thicker bold BBQ as a sweet BBQ sauce may not blend well with the ranch). Plus you get to keep the left over ranch to dip your pizza crust into!