Pizzeria Via Stato

I'm an obstinate person. When I lived in Colorado and Nebraska, I hated steak. And ever since I moved to Chicago and tried deep dish for the first time, I hated it, too. (If I want lasagna, I'll order lasagna. Not soggy bread.) I'm also not a fan of the super-oily, cheese-overload thin crust pizzas, either.

You must now be thinking: Gee, what kind of pizza *do* you like?

Thin crust, preferably cracker-crunchy. Not too much sauce. Not too much cheese. Basically, I like a good Roman style pizza.

My husband and I searched and scoured reviews on Yelp. We traveled to Wicker Park, up to the old  Carmen's pizza stand at Loyola, and to little storefront pizza shops, but they were all too much New-York-y styled, with rivers of oil oozing down the front if you picked it up. I feared we would never find anything good when year 1 in Chicago passed without much luck.

Then one night we stopped in this place because we were hungry. Jackpot.We've visited so often that some of the servers remember us and bring out just the bottles of Sprechers Root Beer, no glass and no ice, the way we love it.

Cracker crust. Good cheese, good sauce, and not too much of either. And one pizza feeds two people almost perfectly. Sometimes we have a few squares left over, and sometimes we polish it off. I can imagine that people of size might consider the thin crust a personal-sized pizza, but for the average Joe, it feeds two. I've had the cheese and the pepperoni, and both are good. I'm sure the other pizzas are tasty, but honestly, I have no desire to try them. Give me cheese, and I'm happy.

The gelato is also good. Not OMG THIS IS AMAZING, but it is certainly delicious. Since they're made fresh, the available flavors vary. I can vouch for the cherry, caramel, chocolate, and vanilla.

The macaroons, though...they are the best that I've ever eaten (so far). Almond-sliver-encrusted heaven. My husband and friends love the dark chocolate truffles and the candied oranges. And the dark chocolate tart.

The service here is really good. I mean, you're not expecting Smith and Wollensky style service here with the fancy serving trolley, but they are nice, friendly, and and definitely know their customer service, which I've noticed is a quality that Lettuce Entertain You establishments are good at.

A couple of pro-tips: It's pretty slow early in the evening. You can go to dinner at 5 or 5:30 and be able to get a table quickly. It's a small place, so it fills up quickly as the evening goes on, and you may end up waiting for a while. (It's worth the wait.) They do not take reservations for the Pizzeria side of the restaurant. (Osteria does.) If you want to take the pizza home, you can call ahead and pick it up. And order desserts. If you can't decide among the ice cream flavors, order the 3-dish option. The serving sizes are normal, probably half a cup to maybe 3/4 of a cup of ice cream in a dish, so you can easily sample the ice cream platter with a friend or spouse.

So, if you're looking for Roman style pizza with good service and desserts without spending a pretty penny, go to Pizzeria Via Stato.

A fun place to spend the afternoon.  Delicious pizza and wine!  If Keith is your bartender, he will also have great shopping suggestions.

Oh, my heart, my conflicted conflicted heart. We live in the area and had walked by this place before, read the menu, and I knew we had to come back.

The food  was amazing. Even the complimentary bread was so good -- crusty and warm. The soup du jour.. something like cream of tomato.. yum. The crispy pork pizza with balsamic onions was to-die-for. I've had pizza in Rome, and this place did it justice. Chocolate tart was a great way to close off the leisurely lunch too.

So why so conflicted? I loved the food but service was so sorely lacking. We were seated immediately then looked around uncomfortably for 15 minutes before our orders were taken. Then our pizza came after a long time and we had to ask for our soup that never came. Our water was never filled. We didn't see our waitress from ordering our food to dessert. It was a really late lunch, and the place was nowhere near full. So frustrating.

Food is so good though, I'll come back and hope for better service.