Pequod's Pizzeria

Pequod's is the best pizza in Chicago, period. There's really nothing else that needs to be said. The caramelized crust is wonderful. Great ingredients. Friendly service.

If I have a friend making a short trip to Chicago, I'd probably tell them "Lou's" is the one to try based on pure convenience/name. But when TRUE Chicagoans ask my opinion on my favorite pizza, it's PEQUODS without a doubt.

And btw, to all of the "The suburban location doesn't lose anything" people....the suburban location is the original.

Wow. Just, wow.

I've been to Pequod's in the city (gave that place 5 stars as well), and I was happy to see that nothing was lost in their suburban location.

We knew we would be having a big group (10 people), so we tried to call a couple weeks ahead of time for a reservation. They said they didn't take reservations, but we would be put on a "priority list." Needless to say, I was worried about how long it would take us to get a table.

We told everyone to get there at 6, so my husband and I aimed to get there about 5:45 to try to get our names in and see what this whole priority seating thing was all about. I had never been there, so I thought there would be a parking lot. No lot, but ample street parking with no night restrictions. We easily found a spot nearby. One thing to mention: this place is on a side street (Fernald), which is a light on Dempster, but could still easily be missed as you can't see Pequod's from Dempster.

We walked in and told the hostess that we had priority seating for 10. I was prepared to wait and just hope they would be able to find enough tables for us. From the looks of the place, which was pretty busy, I wasn't even certain we would be seated together, as the restaurant itself is pretty small and a bit cramped.

We walked into the back room, and I saw a long table had been reserved for us! No wait or anything! I was very grateful. After we were seated though, we actually were asked to move to a smaller table in the same room. I guess another party was coming in with one more person than we had, so they wanted to give that table to the bigger party.

The table we got moved to was really cramped, next to the wall, so if you were the person on the end, you really couldn't get out at all unless everyone else also got up, but that was the worst thing that happened all evening.

We started off with beer - Leinie's for me at $3.95 a glass, Sam Adams for my husband. We ordered mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers for when people started to arrive. For dinner, we ordered 2 large pan pizzas and a small thin cheese pizza for our group. We were left with 2 pieces of the pan pizza and about 4 slices of the thin. Everything was delicious, especially the caramelized crust of the pizza. They were not skimpy on the toppings - our sausage pieces looked like meatballs! One piece of pan pizza was enough for me, though I stuffed another half a slice down because I couldn't stop eating it.

We left around 7:45 and the wait was out the door! I guess go early or be prepared because they don't take reservations.

I like this place. The pizza is good and original, but not great. You have to like the carmelization on the crust. Blackhawks games. Craftiest beer is Sam Adams seasonal.