Great atmosphere and awesome food. Wings are some of the best I have ever had, and I've had a lot of wings.
Great joint!
It was a Saturday night around 8:15pm and the wait for 2 people was 90 minutes. Since it's to be expected, we planned to get a few drinks at the bar to wait anyway. While waiting at the bar, I noticed several tables open up and sit empty for over 20 minutes. It's a crowded place so I'm not sure if the hosts or waiters just miss it or what, but the turnaround time could be a lot better if they fix this problem.
The beer is pretty good with a great variety to choose from. The golden arm is lighter and not at all hoppy. The dark and curvy was my favorite. My bf ordered a few IPA's which he seemed to enjoy.
You decide on all of your toppings for the pizza. Some items are about $2 and some premium items are about $2.25. The small is plenty enough for two people, it came with 8 slices. The crust is thin, crispy, and delicious. Toppings are really good. I do agree with some people that they skimp on the sauce though. In that regard, it is kinda like a flatbread. It is a little oily also, but what the hell, only good pizza is!
Service was good but you can tell these people are busy and are making good money regardless if they give you excellent service or not since it's so busy. So where's the incentive? That's alright by me, it's a pizza and beer joint, not a 5 star awesome service dining experience.
It's loud, it's deeeeeeeelish, and it's worth the wait.
Karaoke on Saturdays.
i really wanted to like this place alot.. i ordered a medium 2 topping and it came to like 25$ Â a little pricey i thought but after i read the good reviews it didnt bother me. so i ordered delivery was fast. i had ordered the white sauce pizza instead of standard red. they assured me they had white sauce too. i get the pizza. it looks great, i bit into it and realize that there is no white sauce. there is no sauce at all??? so i guess thats what they mean by white sauce is they put none at all. Â the toppings were very cheap. they put very little on it. it was still an ok pizza. alot better than dominoes and stuff like that. maybe i just had very high hopes and read a bunch of reviews people were saying white sauce on pizza was great. i didnt experience the same thing. maybe next time ill just get standard and im sure it wll be alot better. no sauce jut made it bland.
Review Source:Hmm...my pizza was good, but nothing special. Â I happened to be in Wicker Park with a friend so we stopped by and grabbed a pie: mine was topped with spinach, mushrooms, and sausage. Â I enjoyed it and I appreciate that it was thin and not covered by cheese. Â But I can't say that I'd make a special trip back to the area for it. Â We just did take out so I can't say much about the ambience except that it was really loud and crowded (Sat night around 9pm, so no surprise).
Review Source:This is one of my FAVORITE pizza places and restaurants in Chicago!! It has such a great environment, amazing pizza you can customize and awesome home brewed beers. Â The only down side (which means this place is awesome) is its always packed and they don't take reservations. Â But the wait is totally worth it!!!
Review Source:The BEST thin crust in Chicago. Don't even bother looking elsewhere. This is where it's at. The fact that they have an amazing brewery here doesn't hurt either, especially the Sunday carry-out special of a growler and a large for $25. You can't be that with a stick.
I've been here a handful of times and have never had a bad experience. Sure, the wait can be long, but that's why it's awesome. If you have to wait, they usually call your name way before and you can go grab a Cameltoe (the beer, no harassing the staff!) and sip your way into happiness. I have tried all the sauces and my favorite is the red and I add giardenara and ricotta. The goat cheese appetizer before the pizza is also divine and I save some of the goat cheese to dip my pizza in. This place has TVs all over to catch the games and a pretty cool staff that handles the crazy amount of people pretty well. The space is pretty huge and their beers vary by the season so go all year round and savor the yumminess.
This is a great pizza (not Chicago stuffed though!) joint. Â They brew their own beer here and have a solid assortment of styles. Â None of them have blown me away yet, but they are all solid enough to keep me coming back. Â The pizza toppings are high quality - my personal favorite is the italian sausage. Â The white pizzas are surprisingly delicious too! Â I have not tried any non-pizza as I usually end up here when I am the mood for a Piece of pie.
Wait times can be a bit long on Thursday - Saturday night, but you can either grab some brews at the bar or go to a nearby place in the area while you wait. Â My favorite times to go are actually off peak hours, such as a weekend lunch or a weeknight dinner.
Overall, this is one of my go-tos in the city if I am in the mood for some craft brew, good pizza, and a lively atmosphere.
Let me start this review by saying I have been going to Piece for about 6 years and almost always had a great time. However, this past Sunday turned out to be the worst experience I've encountered. Â
Decked out in in 'Hawks gear and ready to watch the game, my brother and I asked for a table and were surprised to see that we were being seated right away. This excitement was short-lived when the hostess brought us up to the section of booths in the back with no TVs. After kindly asking for a table near a TV, the waitress said nothing, picked up the menus and walked away towards the main dining area leaving us to assume we should follow her. With tables open with a better view, we were seated between (and right next to) two separate couples on a date and one of us with our backs to TV and facing the wall. Â
After being seated, we then waited about 15 minutes for the waitress to find us. Â It then took her 20 minutes to come back and tell us they were out of a beer we chose. This wouldn't have been so annoying if we didn't have to ask them 5 minutes before the game started to change the channel from Bob's burgers, and then have to ask again when someone changed the TV to the Oscars in the middle of the opening face off (the Oscars were already on the TV right next to it). Â
As always, the food was amazing, but the service was not. I was skeptical about going to watch the game during their Oscars party, but thought they could handle it. Unless I planned on sitting at the bar, I probably would not go back to watch a game here.
This is one of the best pizza joints in town. The hubby also gets his favorite beers while we munch away at our pie, usually topped with mashed potatoes, basil and whatever else we are feeling.
The thin crust is excellent, baked to a resilient texture. If we are around the area, we are happy campers in Piece.
Been coming to this place for years for both the delicious pizza and beers. Â I grew up in Connecticut so the pizza reminds me of childhood. Â The crust is perfectly chewy and a little charred. Â The sauce is not the typical Midwestern-y sweet but is fresh and light. Â I have never had a pizza I didn't like here. Â It's even delicious cold in the morning. Â However, the quality of the beers on tap and service as seemed to really slip.
   In a recent visit, I had a Full Frontal that I remembered as being light, crisp, citrusy, and wonderfully hoppy, but instead it was under carbonated and watery.  I can't believe I'm calling a Piece brew "watery" because their beers have been just as wonderful as the food over the years.  The "beer in progress"  and dunkleweiss were better but still nothing I wanted to put in a growler. Â
  Aside from the so-so beers, we waited almost twenty minutes to even get a waitress to come to our table (they weren't busy nor were they on a  wait). The pizza was great as always.  After dinner we tried our luck at the bar to see if the service would be better (it wasn't).  The only two beers we were interested in taking home weren't available for growler fill.  Our bartender seemed uninterested in answering any of my or my friend's questions as well.  He was very nice however, to the group of hipsters he knew sitting beside us.  We ended up hitting up Revolution to fill our growler ad realized this is where we should have been all along. Too bad for our waitress AND the bartender because both my friend and I work at a long established brewpub in the suburbs.  We're pretty easy going customers and even better tippers.
  I'm giving two stars for the great pizza and my faith that this was just an "off" night
To use baseball parlance, Piece Brewery and Pizzeria is a solid double (maybe a triple if the right fielder has a weak arm)
Pros:
-The onsite brewery beer is always a great choice.
-The pizza is good, not great (I would suggest adding clam to your pizza and to avoid the New Haven style pizza unless you know what you are getting into)
-Reasonably priced
-Good sports bar. You have to position yourself in the right spot to get a good TV view.
-I love the barn (Belgium brewery?) style roof. Very nice touch. Â
Cons:
-Crowded
-Louder than a normal sit-down restaurant
Check it out if you are in the Wicker Park area and the line isn't too long.
The pizza is some of the best I've ever had, and the beer is very good too, but your experience will be much better if you go into it with the mentality that it's a bar that serves pizza, NOT a restaurant. Â That way the noise, lackluster service, and crowds of people who have nowhere else to stand other than right next to your table won't bother you so much.
I realize this review sounds pretty harsh despite the fact that it's 4 stars, but the food and drink really is top notch, so maybe check it out on a week night or during an off-peak time on a weekend if you're looking to avoid the crowds.
What's not to love here? Great microbrews, delicious non-deep dish pizza, fun environment, and Karaoke Thursdays. That sounds like a winning formula for me. Especially when it result in meeting cute blondes in red sweaters who can't help but fall under your spell after singing "Senorita" by Justin Timberlake. Yeah, I saw you smiling at me last night... ;)
Review Source:Birthday dinner, good, fun, and cheap! Popular place too--must make reservations. We got a booth seating with a table side for 8 people. 7 Adults, one child. My friend wanted to celebrate his birthday here and he cared about saving us some dough and just getting our stomachs filled before a long night of drinking in the Wicker Park area.
We ordered a cheese, pepperoni, and jalepeno pizzas. They were the hugest pizza's I've ever seen, cooked hot and fresh, and thin style. They came pretty quick and I'm glad that's all we ordered because we were all full by the end of the night and there were extras left over. All the pizza's were delicious. A great beer list and the pitchers were awesome to share and at a great price.
WIth sports TV's for entertainment and a large bar area, I'm not surprised that this place was a hit. You will feel happy splitting a check here if you go with a group of friends, it's so nice to go on a budget. We got a delicious complimentary sundae to share at the end of the night. Our waiter was nice, did his job and was friendly, kind of left us alone but we didn't mind.
The best pizza in the city according to this girl. Â Large pepperoni with banana peppers is a greatest hit. Â Serve that up with about 2 of "the weight" and you are a happy camper.
Live band karoke is fun on Saturdays. Â Once saw a participant walk the entire length of the bar, wrap up Whole Lotta Love, thrown down the mike and make a glorious exit out the front door. Â Now that is not nothing....that is definitely something.
UPDATE** Came back on Sunday afternoon 2/10/12.
General Manager Eric invited my BF and I to come back to give them another try (on the house)- as he saw that I was not impressed with the service first time around.
The fact that he reached out to me made a huge impression.
So we took him up on his offer.
PJ was awesome - thanks for looking out! Loved your service.
Although they seemed busy - Eric sat us right away in the middle at a larger table.
Hands down one of our best dates!
I will definitely be bringing my parents back here! -My father is relieved!
Thanks Eric and PJ!!
I recommend!
Lucky me, one of my best friends moved to Wicker Park and can walk to Piece in 5 minutes. Â Hurray! Â Despite other halfhearted attempts at having dinner elsewhere, it seems lately we end up saying "Should we just go to Piece?" Â Yes we should.
I just really like it here. It's packed, and you always have to wait, but for some reason I never mind it. Â The atmosphere just feels fun and it's fine to stand around with a beer for a half hour. Â And the pizza is always worth it. Â I'm not always crazy about their beers, but I think that's just me. Â I'm just picky about beer - not like I know about it and I'm being appropriately snobby, I just only like a few kinds - and really just like wheat beers and pale lagers. Â A lot of their beers are really flavorful and many are darker, so less for me to choose from.
I loves me some thin crust, and I'm also amused by the hilariously long slices. Â I am getting hungry now thinking about the fresh toppings on a delicious cheesy red pizza. Â I usually get something really basic like pepperoni, roasted red peppers, and spinach. Â Don't overload the pizza with toppings - the crust is thin and you don't want to weigh it down! Â I've also had the goat cheese appetizer which is totally unnecessary (cheese + sauce on bread - wait....isn't that pizza?) and yet utterly delicious and always worth it.
I'm sure I'll be back soon....and I'm already excited about it.
It's pretty amazing that I had never been here before a recent visit considering Piece's staying power. The staff was friendly and the service was fast. The beer was terrific, honestly much better than I expected (and I can't tell you why I expected less, I just did). Lots of topping options for the pizza, which is great, but the pizza seemed pricey and for being the "best pizza in the city" I wasn't thrilled with what we got. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great either. We'll likely go back to fill the growler but won't necessarily stay for food.
Review Source:They offer meatballs as a topping on a pizza. Â Meatballs! Â I love meatballs! Â The pizza was good. Â Not quite as mind-blowing as everyone else seems to think, but I have no complaints. Â I went there on a Wednesday night after work. Â It was pretty slow when we got there, but halfway through our meal the restaurant became packed. Â It was mega loud.
The service was good too. Â They didn't carry my beer, but the waitress gave me a great suggestion. Â
I would eat here again, but it's not a place that's been on my mind much after my first visit.
I have been to Piece many times over the past several years. Â I am sad to say that the quality of the dining experience here has seriously declined and I do not see a reason to return in the future. Â Things have changed over the past few years. Â
The pizzas are smaller than they used to be, which is fine, just no more leftovers and it makes the prices a bit unbearable. Â There is an annoying speaker system that is used to call parties now. Â When we dined here last on a weekend night in January 2013, the music being played was so loud and god-awful that we looked at each other and said, "they must be trying to get us out of here as soon as possible." Â We could not speak to each other for the whole meal because the music was so loud. Â I am not a cranky old fogey, I just want to be able to speak without screaming. Â Service was surly and slow.
The worst thing was that the pizza quality was just bad. Â We ordered a white pizza with sausage. Â There was something seriously wrong with the dough because it was too chewy to eat, like chewing on jerky that's been left out for a month. Â The pizza was also completely burned on a half. Â It was a pathetic excuse for something trying to be passed off as edible. Â I am beyond disappointed that someone made this for another person's consumption, looked at it, and said, sure, send it out. Â By the time it came out we just ate it so we could leave.
The only thing that has remained the same about Piece is the hour-plus wait for a table and an impossible crush to get beer at the bar while you are waiting. Â The wait is no longer worth it.
Serendipitously stumbling into Piece was probably one of the greatest things that has happened to me in my time here in Chicago.
My friend and I ordered a large thin-crust (because, I'm sorry, Chicago, but I don't like deep dish) white pizza with chicken, bacon, mushrooms, and olives. The combination was a match made in heaven. I don't know how they manage to do it, but their white sauce bursts in flavors of garlic and cheese while simultaneously not making my stomach feel overloaded. The crust was perfectly crispy and not bready, a quality which I abhor in New York/American thin crust pizzas. They didn't over-do the oil, either, which many pizzerias in Chicago do.
Besides the pizza itself, what really made my experience here was how several folks that I passed by after eating here asked me where Piece was because I was carrying a pizza box from there. I learned that pizza boxes from Piece are a person's gateway to ultimate coolness.
Okay, I eat at Piece, like once a week. SO, I don't know why it's taken me so long to review it.
The service is good, not great.
Their beer is good, sometimes great.
The pizza is almost always fantastic. They don't skimp on the toppings. They have multiple sauce options, and a LOT of topping options. Something for everyone...veggies, mashed potatoes, all sorts of meats.
My favorite combo would have to be a red sauce with bacon, pepperoni (they must do something to their pepperoni, because it's better than probably any other pepperoni I've ever had anywhere), ricotta, garlic, and spinach. Don't ask how my friends and I came up with that combo. It was a long, drawn out process, over weeks and weeks, with a lot of taste tasting involved.
My only complaint is that because their crust is so thin, sometimes if you are ordering a pizza topped with a lot of veggies the center comes out soggy. Not sure how they would fix it, and I'm not sure that everyone would mind this? Maybe it's just me, but I like my thin crust really crispy and this doesn't always fit the bill. However, that small complaint will not deter me from returning again, and again, and again, and again.
I liked Piece, but I wanted to love it.
Being a brewery, I started with a glass of the Full Frontal Pale Ale. Â It was quite delicious! Â The caesar salad was less than impressive and a bit bland. Â The pizza, which we ordered with chicken, jalapenos, and banana peppers, was very good, but not best thin crust I have had in the city. Â Overall, I enjoyed the concept of Piece, but I would love a bit more creativity on the menu. Â I understand that the ala carte toppings help out the average check, but it would be nice to see some Piece original creations. Â 3.4 stars.
There is always a cluster of folks waiting for tables outside of Piece and now I know why. Â Their pizza is really delicious-- thin crust with tons of different options for sauces, toppings, and sizes. Â There is definitely something for everyone. Â Between 4 of us we ordered 1 medium (white with spinach, artichokes, roasted red peppers, and goat cheese) and 1 small pizza (red with pepperoni, black olives, and mushrooms) and still left with a few leftover slices.
They have a great selection of beers too-- both the ones they brew there and other fun craft brews.
Prices are also surprisingly reasonable.
And here's a fun fact: Karaoke on Thursday nights. Â Enjoy!
In town last weekend, my buddies encouraged me to hit up Piece for the two things they do best. We went with a medium Plain: traditional New Haven pizza, a generous amount of red sauce topped with garlic, extra parmesan, and EVOO. This mozzarella-less pizza was fresh to death, and the two of us demolished it.
The odd-ball of the group went with something a little different. Â White pizza with CLAMS! I tried a bite, but it was not my cup of tea. Or my shell of clam.
I got a little flight of four of their beers, which is an awesome option. But, that being said, while being solid, none of the four really stood out enough for me to order a full pint. The Flat Iron Stout was probably my favorite, rich and tasty, but nothing to write home about.
It was a particularly freezing night, so the karaoke was a bit dead/sad, but I can imagine it being pretty awesome when the weather heats up a bit.
I don't want to add too much to the sea of reviews already flooding Piece, but suffice to say everybody already knows their pizza is awesome.
So I'm going to rant about beer. Â If you're a crisp beer guy (or one of those deluded light beer drinkers) then the Golden Arm fits the bill. Â The Dark and Curvy, from every single person I've belittled and/or forced into drinking, has always been a success. Â It's light, a little fruity and super easy to drink. Â The Camel Toe is a super hoppy, heavy-alcohol glass of awesome (although the last time I went it was off the menu).
They also routinely change their beers, but appear to always have Golden Arm and Dark and Curvy on tap.
There are three places I take every visitor to Chicago and Piece is one of them (the others being Big Star and Violet Hour).
I came here with a couple friends at around 7:20PM on a Wednesday night and there was a 20 minute wait which gave us more than enough time to review the menu and decide on what to order as soon as we got seated. Â We ordered our food at around 7:50pm and the food arrived close to 8:20PM. Â It basically took us an hour from when we got there to start eating...
This place is a good place to come with friends due to the amount of food that is provided; however, at the same time, it can be a disadvantage as well due to the wait time...the bigger the group, the longer the wait (unless the group would like to split up which defeats the whole purpose of coming to the restaurant as a group)..
Food:
Large Pizza with white sauce, clam, chicken and jalapeno
-the pizza was delicious and maybe a little more delicious because the wait got me more hungry...the white sauce, clam, and jalapeno go perfectly together! Â the chicken, white sauce and jalapeno was ok (not as good as the clam..)
Food Portions: the large pizza is huge as you can see from the pictures and the pizza slices are huge as well...an average person/female can probably eat 3-4 slices and be full.. or even be full with 2 slices of pizza..depending on how many people you go with..you will either be full or full & have leftovers by the end of dinner..
Drinks: they are known for their beer selections and also have the option of brew samples at $1 if you want to just try out different beers.. YUM..
The Weight ($6 or $1 for 3oz brew sample) - tastes like pear....
Flat Iron Stout -it doesn't contain any coffee, but to me it tasted like coffee beer which I enjoyed because I like coffee and beer
Atmosphere: mostly college students and professionals (ages 20s to mid 30s)..people come here to watch sports while they enjoy their beer & pizza or to hang out with friends/co-workers after a long day of work
Customer Service: Â the waiter/waitresses were ok... you can definitely tell that they are extremely busy because it's sometimes hard to get a hold of them..
Costs: more on the higher end... we ordered a large pizza, 2 brew samples, 2 beers and the total costs was around $40 (w/out tip)...so with 3 ppl.. around $15-$20+ per person...definitely depends on what you order tho..pizza sizes & toppings vary in cost....beers range from $7-$10+ or you can spend less if you want to try out the brew samples..
Wait Time: Â I'm sure it depends on the day and also on the games that are showing (basketball, football, etc); but typically the bigger the group, the longer the wait as mentioned earlier...
Big group wait time = ~1hr-1.5hr wait
Small group wait time = ~15-20 min
*the place gets less crowded around 10PM on a weekday like Weds.
Good to know: unfortunately the red sauce and white sauce cannot be combined in one pizza; however, you can request for different toppings (ex: half chicken and half clam on the same pizza)..
Parking: there's street parking, but it's honestly really difficult to find any parking because there's soo many other restaurants in the area..if you can avoid driving, I would suggest taking public transportation..
I would definitely come here again to try out their other beer selections and pizza sauce and topping options..:)
Been here only once so far and I'm quite the fan already. Â Its a pretty happenin' place and was packed when I decided to visit. The wait which wasn't too long was worth it. Everyone loves pizza and I'm no different but I may love beer just a lil more. All I can say is I would visit Piece solely for the Camel Toe...recommend!
The pizza was good though. Â My first pizza here was a traditional red with chicken, clams and fresh garlic. About as crazy as I wanted to order and it was fantastic. Especially with a squeeze of lemon. There are three different pizza choices: red , white, plain. Solid list of ingredients. Salads. Drinks. Go now.
The establishment itself is nice and spacious but can get quite packed near the bar where tons of people find themselves standing. The servers were on point. And in all its pizza and beer...just one of my many middle names.
I still prefer Chicago Pizza to this place, but a few weeks ago I tried Piece again. Â One of the pizzas was actually decent and I would eat it again. Â The decent pizza was a red pizza (ie normal pizza) with spinach and garlic. Â
It seemed weird to me to add garlic as a topping, but I wasn't in charge of ordering. Â The garlic helped a lot. Â The garlic topping helped make the pizza taste like a normal pizza. Â Apparently Piece needs to add more garlic to their sauce!
Chicago is known for its "pies" as they call 'em so if you're lookin for the traditional PIE here at Piece. It's NOT that kind. But, with that said, it IS the oh-so-fill-your-belly -to-the-max kind. It's thin crusted pizzagasmic creations that you can make to order with whatever your heart desires, practically is just well, pretty darn good. Banana peppers aren't the canned kind - fresh as they come. Yumm. Choose the popular tomatoey red sauce or garlicky olive oil-type white sauce. Â The P salad to balance off the fatty goodness is refreshing with pear, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, gorgonzola, and candied pecans. Goat cheese marinated in their tomatoey marinara sauce is so divine served with bread to dip/chow/dip/chow. Mmmm.
And, wait, the Growlers? Yes, glass jugs you can buy and bring in to take home P's craft brews - any of the 8 Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup-winning beer - so you can guzzle away? C'mon, great recycling enjoyment P!
It's popular as heck so be prepared to wait it out. TV's are a plenty here so it's a great place to watch "THE" game, whichever your pleasure while you chow down.
All kinds of folk frequent this place - great for large parties. But hey, a casual romantico date wouldn't be bad at P either I would think.
Parking is not the best, but you can always CTA it pretty easily because it's right near the Blue Line-Damen. Just beware, leave room for the yummy beers on tap so you can try several!
Still a great place to grab some pizza and drink some excellent beer.
We decided to attend the Piece Brewery NYE party and we really, really enjoyed ourselves. Â The $75 price tag included AYCE pizza, salads and AYCD beer and mixed drinks. Â Stellar price, if you ask me, especially since the Piece house brews were included in that price. Â
There was a bit of confusion surrounding the final details of the party, but everything worked out in the end and we had a great time. Â We received different start times (email vs. website) and when we called to ask about arrival times (which were also listed differently in email vs. website) no one seemed to know when we could come in. Â We opted for the 'earlier is better' attitude in order to secure a table, which was a good move. Â If you want to go next year, be sure to arrive at least 45 minutes before the start of the party to get a table for your group. Â By 10, some people were just left to stand because all the tables were occupado.
Still, despite the confusion of arrival and start times, we had a great time. Â The food was fantastic (as always), the beer flowed, the service was friendly and fast and the Live Band Karaoke was excellent.
Piece & Love. Â Two things that don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. Â I don't LOVE Piece, but I don't NOT love it either, knowwhatimean?
Pros: well-seasoned, cheesy, gooey square-shaped, pan-baked pies. Â Pretty good award-winning brews too.
Cons: The wait the wait the wait. Â Like Jon, Paul, George and Ringo shouted at the end of Abbey Road, "Boyyyy, you're gonna carry that [wait] a long time!" Â (Not to be confused with "The Weight," their award-winning American-style pale ale.)
The desserts look awesome, but save some room and hit up the frozen yogurt place across the street.