Hands down the BEST pizzeria in the Champaign-Urbana area. They are the only place around that serves authentic Chicago deep-dish pizza, though not exclusively; they also do excellent traditional thin crust pizzas as well as sandwiches and other appetizers.
The campus location offers dine-in, delivery, or carry out. Be warned that the dine-in option is limited by space. All the tables are essentially crammed into a corner, which not only makes for a sometimes spatially uncomfortable seating arrangement, but also for a very unamusing game of who can shout the loudest to overcome the raucous echoes from other tables.
Whether you dine in or out of the restaurant, expect a longer wait that usual. This isn't the usual pizza, so naturally it requires more than the usual time to prepare. Regardless, Papa Del's is worth experiencing - don't leave Champaign without doing so!
My brothers and I showed up in town for a Big 10 tournament from Chicago - so we relied on yelp to help us find a decent pizza restaurant in the area. Â Papa Del's listed great reviews for deep dish pizza - but we had just had our favorite in Chicago the night before so were actually looking for hand tossed or thin.
Thanks to yelp, we ended up here.
We called ahead for carry out rather than trying to figure out if they could deliver to our hotel. Â The pizza was perfect and the italian salad was too big to finish. Â The sausage on the pizza we ordered were like mini meatballs - almost too big for one bite.
Everyone who works there is obviously a college student but very nice and helpful. Â The restaurant has a weird layout and was typical dirty bar/college with crumbs, straw wrappers, napkins on the floor...so get your food to go if this would bother you.
I visited Champaign, IL, recently for a quick weekend stay, and this restaurant was always the first suggestion made when I asked, "where should we go for lunch." It wasn't crowded at lunch time so my girlfriends and I could sit and relax. We ordered their specialty deep dish pizza. It. was. huge. We ordered  a large and I think each one of the four of us at one piece. It was good but next time I will try the thin crust. If you are looking for an appetizer - try the meatballs. They were fantastic!
Review Source:Got one of their pizza's to take home since I was in town. Â It was pretty good for deep dish pizza but I have had better. Â I ordered a small onion and mushroom. Â The crust was subpar and there was very little sauce, cheese, and toppings; it was mostly dough. Â It does take a while to cook the pizza, like 45 minutes from when we called from the mall. Â Whether it takes that long when you eat in I cannot say.
Review Source:Truly authentic Chicago style pizza! My boyfriend is from Chicago and although we now live in central Indiana, we still love a good Lou Manalti's pie when we get a chance.
We had never been here before, and although it was about 7pm on a Saturday night, we were able to get a table without a wait. There was, however, quite a wait before a server came by to take our order; it was probably 15 minutes and then we finally just flagged someone down.
Boeyond that, everything was great. We ordered a pan pizza and after an hour (which they tell you is the wait time for a pan pizza), it was brought out in all its glory. It was amazing. Just like a Manalti pizza exept it lacked the one thing I HATE about most Chicago style pizzas - the chunky sauce! The sauce was smooth but flavorful and full of spices. I cannot stand chunky pizza sauce so I was very excited. It was SO GOOD. The slices were so thick and loaded that I was full after just one. We ended up taking more than half the pie home.
Our dining partners had the "thin crust", and I use quotes because it really was what I would consider to be hand tossed in thickness. It looked wonderful and I would like to try it next time.
All in all, worth the wait. The building is set up oddly but they make it work. There is a full bar and the menu also includes pastas and sandwiches if you are not feeling a pizza.
Orgasmic deep dish pizza. Park in the back of the place and the shop is upstairs. We got one pizza with cheese, and one veggie. Even having leftovers the next day was amazing.
If you have 20 coupons, you get $10 off your order.
In California, nothing compares to papa del's. Don't take this for granted!
Alright. I'm a Chicago boy. I have a deep dish pizza beating in the center of my chest. Don't get me going about what is mistaken for pizza in other parts of the country.
That said...this place is great.
My daughter introduced us to this place after a late night trip down to Urbana. Wow. It was better than expected.
Food: Excellent pizza. We had deep dish and it was high quality, flavorful and abundant. Cost was very reasonable.
Service: It was just before closing time and the young fellow taking care of us was attentive, personable and overall just great.
Atmosphere: This place screams college town pizza joint. That should be all you need to know. It reminds me of an old pizza joint that was located on Taylor street in Chicago's little Italy. The place is closed now and there is a high end restaurant (Tuscany) running there now. It was dark, lots of wood and smelled of beer.
Overall: It's a winner. Bring the family or order out. Great Pizza.
All I have to say is: WOW.
Their pizza is sooooooooooo good.
For sure ranks up there as one of the best stuffed pizzas EVER.
This place was a sheer Godsend in a town utterly devoid of quality food!! I was drowning miserably in the midst of constantly-disgusting and disappointing meals. I am sorry Champaign, but you have basically no good restaurants. All of the remaining eateries are either Asian restaurants and/or restaurants with chefs who don't know how to cook.
So thaaaank you Papa Del's for your scrumptious fare! Loved the super fresh veggie toppings and hefty (MASSIVE) pizza sizes.
Hope to be back soon!
On a recent visit to Champaign, my bro and I decided to get some Papa Del's to bring back to his place in Paxton for dinner... and boy were we in for a treat!
Being from Chicago, REAL pizza is either Deep Dish or Stuffed. Don't give me that thin garbage (thin is good, but its not za). I want to eat my pizza with a fork and knife, and Papa Del's Super Stuffed fit the bill!
Note: Please don't get me started on people who don't know the difference between Deep Dish/Pan vs. Stuffed. If you have a question, just ask, because I will thoroughly explain it to you.
Our order took about an hour, which is fine, because you can't rush perfection. Our total was very cheap too, because my bro acquired 20 coupons for a special deal.
I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical because this is Champaign.... a very far cry from Chicago. Once you are south of 80... be very wary of Pizza!
now to the good stuff: the super Stuffed. It was fantastic! The crust looked sort of dry on the initial viewing, but on tastinhg, it was awesome. It has a nice chew, but was not chewy or crunchy. As for the cheese, the pizza had plenty, which was awesome as well. The sauce was very good too; it wasn't amazing, but it was seasoned nicely and did not just get dumped from a can (unless I'm totally !off, which I doubt). I actually wish there was more sauce, but oh well.
I was pleasantly surprised at how good papa Del's was. IT made me feel like I was still eating Za from Chicago, which is a very good thing.
Will I be back? You can count on it. The onlydecision I have to make: Their Deep Dish, or the SuperStuffed with Spinach (Only got cheese on this previous trip)? either way, I'm looking forward to it
I am not going to lie. I was so nervous trying this place for myriad reasons.
I am from the Western Suburbs. I love Stuffed Pizza. First, let me remind you there is a difference between stuffed, deep dish, pan, double dough, thin, and extra thin. Examples:
Papa Del's=Stuffed (stuffed crust, cheese, EXTRA THIN LAYER OF DOUGH, Sauce). Nancy's, Giordano's, and my local favorite growing up, Gianorio's of Winfield excel in making this type of pizza.
Deep Dish=Lou Malnati's/Gino's East (crust, cheese, sauce)
Pan= Connie's (THICKer.....crust, sauce, cheese) I want to say Papa Del's Sicilian is very similar to this, but it is their specialty that I have not tried as of yet, but I will soon!
Double Dough= Self explanatory. Usually closed to hand tossed.
Thin= Average local joints mix between this double dough. Think Home Run Inn, Domino's standard, Papa John's. Pub crust is often used here as well.
Cracker thin=specialty, like Vito and Nick's
Anyway, now that we have that all settled, Papa Del's still gave me pause before ordering...especially when I ordered, the clerk didn't seem too happy to know that I had 20 coupons (10 dolla off any L/XL pizza). One of my best friends' sisters actually had a run in at this location with a waitress which is the reason why I had waited so long to try this place! Again, why let some snobby undergrad waitress ruin the nostalagia that is crust, cheese, sauce, and love?
Decided on the Super Stuffed Cheese. 21.64 our total, which was before the coupon. We'd have to wait an hour and since I live 25 minutes from here, it worked out well.
The stuffed pizza was AMAZING! The clerk was actually very nice, the total ended up being under $11 with the coupons, and I had a "pizza warmer" in my car for the long drive! SCORE! I thought the crust would be dry, but it was full of flavor! The cheese is the highlight of this pizza for sure! The seasoning in the sauce really wasn't there, but what do you expect in a college town pizza joint? Well, have high expectations for this place!
Some of the best pizza I have ever had! I would put it in my top 10 pizza experiences of my life! Even though the drive through the rain sucked on I 57, I know I will be back!
I was so worried it would not be up to my high standard, but I can't wait to have it again...plus even try the Sicilian! GO TO PAPA DEL'S IF YOU ARE in Champaign!
this is the best THICK pizza I have ever had since the first time I came here in 1972 when we dropped off my older sister as a starting freshman at U of I.
It is very different from Chicago Deep Dish pizza...this is Sicilian
I dream of this pizza and if I lived any closer I would be dead from eating it way too much.
I see some of the other reviews were whining about it taking so long to cook....oh my, it is amazing how some people need their food fast and do not respect the time it takes to make something of true quality.
I go simple here, sausage and garlic....but any pie here is awesome in my humble opinion.
Best pizza I have ever had, anywhere (yes I have been to the popular pizza joints in Chicago). Â My all time favorite pizza place. Â Thick crust is awesome. Â Sicilian Pan all the way, and love the stuffed pizza as well. Â The building is old, right next to the smelly and often flooded Bone Yard Creek. Â The place is kind of dirty, and it takes forever. Â Though who cares when they make pizza this good? Â Thick crust is obviously where it is at, and my experience with pizza places is they either do thick or thin crust good. Â They usually don't do both. Â Though I have always enjoyed the thin crust here as well. Â Crispy, buttery, garlicy crust that is homemade, as is the house made sausage. Â An institution on Green St that I hope never closes.
Review Source:I've had better pizza in cleaner, more efficiently operated places, but it's hard to say Papa Del's isn't at least pretty good. Â
The menu is very, very limited.   If you don't want the Big Three toppings - pepperoni, cheese, sausage - you could have a plain crust, I guess, but there's no chicken, pineapple, Canadian bacon, steak, jalapeños or anything else even a millimeter away from conventional.  That said, the pizza was pretty good, if unoriginal. Â
The atmosphere of the place was lively. Â Â Being able to pre-order is a stroke of genius - you put your name in for a table and your pizza order. Â By the time you have a table, the food is on its way. Â
This place is a U of I tradition. Â Far be it from me to diss Papa Del's. Â Â However, like the Illini football team, Papa Dels could stand a little work improving their game.
I am not a fan of Papa Del's although it is a Champaign staple. Â I was going to give 2 stars but i just couldn't do that. Â ALOT of people love Papa Del's and have for many ,many years. Â I am not one of them and I can't figure out why. Â It tastes fine. Â I just would not go out of my way to get one. Â
They are big and heavy and take a long time to cook. Â Every time we have ordered one for work I have to wait when I arrive because it is still cooking. Â Every time. Â It's a messy kind of pizza too so maybe that's another reason I am not fond of it. Â I would not recommend it nor would I discourage anyone from trying. Â Seriously on the fence with this one.
My advice is try it for yourself then decide what you think and Yelp about it.
I had heard about Papa Del's and was excited to try it after reading the reviews. I ordered a pepperoni, sausage and mushroom (my go-to pizza). The parking was difficult to find because it's on the side of the building. Up the stairs is where you pay and when I got up there, the service was not very friendly. After paying and walking to my car, I noticed that the grease from the pizza was ooozing out of the box and dripped onto my jeans. I was fairly pissed about that, not only did it stain my jeans, but I knew I ordered a greasy pizza.
Deep dish pizza was pretty good, but there was soo much sauce and not enough cheese. I usually enjoy pizza, equally if not more on the second day of eating it, and this pizza was not very good on day two.
Overall, I'm not sure if I would go back, but I'm glad that I tried it. I think there are better pizzas around town.
Don't come here if you have any sort of time constraints. The only reason I'm not giving this place 1 star is because I didn't actually get to taste the food. I came here for lunch knowing that there would probably be a wait. But, I was craving some chicago style pizza, and I had an hour so I thought I'd be fine.
I walk in and stare at the 2 workers in the place for 5 minutes. Finally he asks "Can I help you?" Something about the way he said it just rubbed me the wrong way. It felt like he thought I was intruding upon his precious time. Granted, the restaurant was pretty full, and they seemed understaffed so I just asked for a table. He told me to "sit tight", which I did. I sat tight for at least 15 minutes without anyone paying any more attention to me. An update on time would have been really nice. Even just saying a word to remind me that I hadn't become invisible would have been appreciated. Of course they were too busy running past me to say anything though. After wasting 20 minutes of my lunch break, I gave up and left.
Hopefully I can come back and actually try the food. But, the service here is really poor from what I can tell. The pizza better be amazing; otherwise, I don't think I'll be tempted to come back here.
For full disclosure purposes, I worked at Del's in the early 'Nineties.
I stopped in a couple of weeks ago and was in heaven from the heady smell and the curiously identical everything else!
Pops is still making some of the best Deep Dish anywhere.
The decor is dated, the pies take forever in that five-deck oven, and the service is a bit lackluster. Â
But the food is great old school pizzeria. Â
Get the Italian Salad as an appetizer. Proceed to the Sicilan Pan pizza (although the Stuffed and Thin are solid--just not as good).
Not fancy, brother. Â Just tasty. Â Still good cold the next day. Â Bank on it.
Show me a better pizza that Papa Del's. SHOW ME!
It simply does not exist.
If you want clogged arteries and a big belly, this stuff will meet your needs quite well. It tastes pretty awesome, too, probably because they run up to Chicago daily to buy fresh produce at Fulton Street markets.
I searched far and wide across America for the best pizza that it has to offer. I've been to all the best places in Chicago and New York and I have to say that Papa Del's Sicilian Cheese Pizza is by far the best I've had. Cheese only, for the purists.
There's something about the combination of cheese, crust, and sauce that make this place legendary. As far as price goes, it's not too bad, especially if you split a pie. Usually, my friends and I can only eat two slices each, so it usually ends up being around $5 each if you get carry out. Also depends on what size you get. The smallest size will easily feed two.
I can't say much about other items offered here...I have tried the thin crust and as for that, you can go to plenty of other places in town that will better serve your thin crust needs. But who cares about the other food? If you're coming here for anything other than the Sicilian, you're doing it wrong.
This place is almost perfect. If they sold Coke products then I don't think I would ever need to leave the Champaign area.
Mmmmm. Best deep-dish in town. Â (Not sure that there's much competition, though.)
Whether ordering delivery or in the restaurant, expect to wait about an hour. I've only been in the restaurant once, and it was nice and relaxed. I've ordered delivery from them countless times whenever I have guests, and it never disappoints. Melty, cheesy, tomatoey...so good. It's kind of pricey, but I usually just eat one to two pieces and am completely stuffed, so it's really not bad.
Somehow, it took me till my last few weeks of undergrad at uiuc to go here. Â I Â was expecting the best Chicago style pizza in town, and yeah, it probably is. Â But it doesn't compete with Chicago-area Chicago style pizza so I must say I still was a little disappointing.
I got a stuffed pizza with spinach. Â I felt like there could have been a lot more spinach on it, and something about the crust just didn't seem right. Â It was tasty and pretty soft, but the bottom was surprisingly hard and it seemed like the crust to pizza ratio was too high. Â Also, we got a loaf of garlic bread for the wait. Â It wasn't bad, but I've made better garlic bread at home. Â Some parts of the loaf were just too dry and bland. Â It was pretty cheap though, so no big deal.
I guess overall, if you want a Chicago-style pizza, then go for it. Â But try to hit up a pizza place in the Chicago area sometime!
This would probably be a five-star for me, but I am trying not to include nostalgia in the review. Â There are two things to tell you.
If you haven't eaten here and are reading this review, then you are probably from out of town. Â The one thing I can say that might influence your decision is this: the stuffed pizza here is better than any I can find in Chicago. Â Honestly, I have tried everything and keep looking. Â Stuffed pizza, foodie pizza, local pizza - none better. Â That should be all I need to say.
But once you get there the other thing you need to know is this: the service is epic slow. Â Remember when you studied The Odyssey in school and the teacher told you about the oral tradition and it not being written down for a few centuries? Â That is how they train the waitstaff here. Â For decades the means of serving people in a lovingly slow and sometimes forgetful fashion have been passed down to new staff with such fidelity that I can only call the institutional memory involved Homeric. Â Embrace it as part of the experience and realize that the name tags are hand written, the one old thing about the staff is that almost everyone seems new. Â The pizza will eventually be delivered, be patient, it will be worth the wait.
I went with a large group of friends on Halloween weekend. Pretty much everyone except for me and Husband went to the U of I. The out-of-towners in for Halloween insisted there was only one true C-U place for lunch: Papa Del's! They lauded the deep-dish-by-the-slice. I was warned it would be crowded, but I'm willing to walk into the fires of Mt. Doom for some good pizza.
My experience: Meh.
So, I think that people really love Papa Del's because that's where they went in college. It brings back fond memories of late nights or drinking or whatever. I get that. I am very nostalgic for certain college hangouts of my own. However. Papa Del's pizza SUCKED.
I might be a bit unfair in my review. It might be amazing if you get a fresh pie made. It could be incredible. But the slices we got at 1:30 pm (after 20 minutes wait)? SUCKED.They were hardly warm, yet still had dark-brown spots from spending too long waiting to be served. Husband had a sandwich, which he said was decent, but everyone had talked up this pizza. Said it was better than Vinny's, better than Rosati's, etc. WHAT. It wasn't inedible, but I was far from impressed.
Service wasn't outright rude, but also wasn't fantastic. I get it, it's lunch rush on a Saturday. You're used to getting treated poorly by college kids. Still, I expect a certain level of positive attitude from waitstaff. I certainly don't want to be treated like I'm a burden upon you because I chose to eat at your restaurant.
In my opinion, if you aren't a current UIUC student, or someone going for nostalgia, there are better pizza places on campus.
The best deep dish pizza ever. Â The first time I ate here I could only eat one slice. Â I have now graduated and can eat almost 3. Â I want to eat even more, but I can't handle it. Â We now order from the Crossing location since it is closer to home, but we used to pick-up from this location (they didn't deliver to our area). If you are going to sit down, a couple things to note. Â 1) parking sucks during busy periods. Â 2) It takes 45 min to cook the pizza...so you will have to wait.
My family sent me a couple of their frozen pizzas through the mail service, but the pizzas do not cook the same at home. Â If you absolutely can't get good deep dish pizza wherever you are located, I can understand ordering it. Â Otherwise, just wait till the next time you are in Champaign to get some.
Although I am hopeful every time I see a Chicago pizza place, I am usually skeptical. This place looked perfect for what we were looking for... natural light, TV's, laid back, etc. We ordered breadsticks not knowing they are like 2 ft long! They were good but we couldn't make much of a dent.
The stuffed pizza was a small but it was almost as tall as it was wide. It looked good and we struggled to figure out a way to conquer it. Unfortunately, the dough didn't do it. It was the same dough that was used for the breadsticks but it felt like I was eating pizza on a giant piece of Wonder Bread! My crust needs a little more personality and pizzazz and without a solid crust, the pizza isn't worth much!
The best Chicago-style pizza anywhere is not in Chicago. On one trip to Illinois we had Lou Malnati's, Pizzeria Uno and Giordano's pizza, aka the trifecta. Then we visited my family in Champaign and grabbed a couple of slices of cheese pizza to go from Papa Del's before driving to O'Hare. We inhaled them in the car, and I swear, that beat those fancy Chicago places hands down. I love all kinds of pizza...East Coast, West Coast, you name it...but when it comes down to it, it's Pop's for pizza or no place at all ;-)
Oh yeah, and order take out. Don't judge this place by the dining experience; Â just get the pizza. I lived in C-U for the first 17 years of my life and have gone back once or twice a year for the last 20. Of the hundreds of Papa Dels pizzas I've had, I can probably count the number of times I've eaten there on 2 hands. Who cares?
When I fall in love, I fall hard. Â Imagine, a scared college freshman away from home for the first time. Â Ready for new experiences...ready for deep dish pizza, oh yes.
I can remember my first pizza at Papa Del's as clearly as last night's. Â (Well maybe last night's is a little clearer because the leftovers are in my fridge.) Â You can go home again if home is for the best deep dish pizza this Illini fan has ever had.
This is our eighth year of being the proud parents of U of I students and boy are we glad they weren't in college at the same time. Â Not to avoid double tuition payments but to stretch out those Papa Del's pizzas.
When we come here after football games, we know it will be a huge wait. Â Before Basketball games is much easier. Â Last night I actually had allotted 2 hours and we were completely done in a little over an hour and had surprisingly good service. Â (It's a campus pizza place, 'nuff said for service expectations.)
While you wait for your pizza you can talk to your family! Â Have an Italian salad and then some cheesy garlic bread. Â Then be prepared to fall in love and have an emotional affair with pizza that will last a lifetime.
Here's a secret: I will do anything for this pizza.
Since every single person in Illinois seems to be some sort of self-crowned pizza expert, I'll tell you upfront: I'm not. I'm just a regular person who eats food. Sometimes I eat that food in Chicago. Most times I eat it in Portland. But in my 28 years of eating food, I've never eaten pizza that I like better than Papa Del's. The last time I was visiting, I even stuffed a frozen pizza into my checked luggage to take back to Portland, where I threw it in the oven a mere 90 minutes after my plane landed. What I mean to say is: this is special, special pizza.
I'm seeing a lot of complaints about service, but that's missing the point. Does one complain about climbing a mountain to obtain wisdom from the guru at the top? (Actually, I probably would.) Yes, the service is miserable, but that's just part of the journey! There are two seating options to choose from while you wait (and wait, and wait): a sterile, cavernous dining room, or the small bar area, where the jukebox will inevitably be blaring an entire Journey album. Oh, neither of those suits you? Sheesh, why not ask Jesus to tidy up his manger while you're at it? The service has never improved at all during the 10 years I've been eating here, so it's futile to even spend time wishing it would; it's just what you have to deal with if you want the pizza.
There is this part of the crust where the cheese sort of gets stuffed inside, and it's all gooey and amazing and occasionally I think about it when I'm supposed to be thinking of something else. I start eating each piece with a fork, but about 2/3 of the way up, I always just give in and eat it with my hands so I can best enjoy those precious bites that meld with the crust. The breadsticks are like giant loaves of bread, and you can get them with the pizza sauce or with this nacho cheese that I would normally reject outright, but for some reason it's amazing here. And really, I can only eat two slices, but sometimes I dare myself to go for three, and damn it if it isn't worth the stomach ache every time. What was it I said before? Oh, yes: this is special, special pizza.
I'm sorry everyone. Â Maybe it's not fair that I review this as I love thin crust pizza so much. Â Maybe it's also not fair that I was served after the pizza was delivered, and then I waited in line for several minutes. Â Maybe it was the ridiculous hype that everyone brought with it that was its downfall. Â With those things in mind: one of the worst... pizzas... ever.
I took a quick picture on my phone (see: <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/u8C8pRvaHXg3PgDrsUHJHQ?select=KEIMjrhuV466cpYyYI8nhw">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>) and sent it to a friend.  He wrote back calling it bread lasagna.  Maybe it wasn't very good because it had been sitting out for 5 or 10 minutes after being delivered.  It had almost no flavor though.  And it was ALL bread.  I've had deep-dish before that was much better.
I would be willing to try it again, fresh, at the restaurant; if I didn't live 1000 miles away.
Great pizza, my mom even said she thought it was better than Chicago style IN Chicago. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that, but it is some damn good pizza.
I've never had a type of pizza there I dislike. Last time I had spinach and fresh garlic which was fantastic, though I usually order plain cheese or sausage.
Note: If you're on a time crunch, either don't go here, or call in your order ahead of time. They warn you it takes 55 minutes, and it really does take that long... if not longer. It's worth the wait, if you have the time.
I really wanted to give this place a better rating! Â I've heard amazing things about it, so maybe that raised my expectations.
I went with a few friends and they called in our deep-dish half cheese, half green pepper and mushroom pizza about an hour ahead of time and it wasn't even ready when we got there. Â The waitress kept forgetting about us, it seemed, and the place was packed and not well-staffed enough for the amount of people here.
Well, you guys know how I feel about customer service, so that would bring it down at least 1.5, if not 2, stars.
The thing is, their pizza was awful! Â There was too much dough and not enough cheese; the sauce was a bit under-spiced in my opinion, and the vegetables on my half of the pizza were sparse and didn't taste fresh. Â I came in starving and didn't even eat a whole piece of pizza.
I do remember, however, coming here years ago and really enjoying the thin crust pizza. Â I saw some other people with it and it looked and smelled a lot better than mine, too, leading to my decision to give Papa Del's two stars instead of one.
Also, the bathrooms were clean.
That's about all I have to say.
Two inch vertical
Two pounds of waist-line per slice
Pure deep dish delight
(First, I must make an odd observation about Del's. Â I've NEVER, EVER, EVER been to a pizza shoppe that DIDN'T have 'suggested' pizzas on their menu! Â No "Hawaiian", "Supreme", or "Carnivore Lovers" pizzas here... if you don't bring your own inspiration, then you're SOL at Del's! Â The waiter gave me a funny look when I mentioned this, as if he'd never noticed this before. Â Strange...
But back to the food... Â This place makes pretty solid deep-dish pizza. Â As with most deep-dish, it takes a while for it to come out, so plan your dinner time accordingly. Â We ordered a large pizza, and each slice was practically a meal in itself. Â It also reheated nicely the next day, which was a nice bonus. Â The pizza WAS moderately expensive, but worth it.
Note: Â I wasn't as impressed with their cheese-bread appetizer as I was with their pizza. Â I wouldn't recommend it.
One other POSITIVE noteworthy addition: Â I needed to break a $20 to get change for the parking meter. Â The server didn't have the exact change on him, so he just smiled, gave me 4 quarters, and said "Don't worry about it." Â I don't see this kind of generosity very much. Â It's only a buck, but it made my day. Â Needless to say, he received a handsome tip from me!)
Horrible. Â Absolutely horrible.
I stopped in for lunch. Â I had an hour. Â The garlic cheese bread was good, but didn't need to take forty five minutes to arrive, and my two slices pizza? forget it? Â And I'd have chalked it up to the pizza taking time, but then why did the two tables that came in after us and ordered similar slices GET SERVED FIRST!? Â Hell no.
The service was...meh. Â They were friendly but clueless and were completely flustered when I said, "I'm late, I have to leave now."
Worker: "But your pizza is ready now!"
Teej: "Way late, but I'll take it to go."
Worker: "Uh, wait, I'm gonna need a minute to change it up."
Sweet Odin's Beard, woman! Â Put it in foil and a bag. Â It ain't that hard. Â UGH.
You suck Papa Del's. Â And you know what else, I found the pizza to be...okay. Â I'm not from Chicago, I know, but I do like deep dish, and I found it to be only okay. Â Perhaps that's because I was rushing now to class late thanks to you, Papa Del's. Â You suck and I hate you.
You know Papa Del's must be good when the owner of  the place can be so, so rude to customers and they keep on coming back for more. Â
The Papa Del's horror stories that I know of first-hand and have heard (all from reliable sources) range from being hung up on over the phone while trying to order take-out to customers actually having their cars towed from the parking lot. Â
And still, I am giving Papa Del's four stars. Â Why? Â Because everytime I bite into that first thick bite, I am once again surprised by it's woderful deliciousness.
Papa Del's is to pizza what a wife-beater is to marriage. Â They'll break you down and disrespect you, yet somehow they have the power to keep you crawling back, begging for more. Â Please don't leave me Papa Del's! Â I have been blacklisted from the delivery list once before (long story, I learned my lesson) and I never want to go back there again!
If loving you is wrong, Papa Del's, well then, Baby, I don't ever want to be right.
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