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.
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.
We ended up here at 1030pm Wednesday because our other choice changed their hours and closed at 10pm. I am so glad we found this place!! Our server was awesome and didn't care we were there 30min before close. We chose to eat outside so we could people watch while we ate.
My boyfriend and I love over ordering when we try a new place, we want to try it all.
So to start we ordered a simple Caprese salad, Grilled Octopus with garlicky finglerling potatoes and Veal meat balls. My favorite was the Octopus. I saw other reviews claiiming there were too many potatoes..we did not have that problem. Most appetizers were about $7.95. And you if often go out to eat thats a pretty average starting rate. The veal meatballs were very delicious, i thought they were small but you got a lot of them which made sharing easy. The marinara was very simple and very clean tasting, great with the bread. As for the Caprese...wonderful! I know i know its just tomatoes and cheese, but they do something great with those tomatoes.
For our entree we ordered just a simple sausage pizza and we chose to add mushrooms. It was perfect!! It was the cleanest simplest pizza ive ever had. Crazy right? Lets just put it this way I didnt feel like a hippo after stuffing my face with this beautiful za. The pizza is so thin you have to actually fold the middle pieces to eat them. This is how i prefer my pizza. Â If you do not love super crispy thin crust pizza, then dont order it or maybe go somewehere else.
Back to prices people were complaining that it was too expensive....Our total bill was $60. Thats for 3 appetizers, one pizza and two top shelf drinks that cost $11 each. If you can't afford $38 for dinner STAY HOME!!!
Can't wait to come back!
Been here twice, once dining in and once taking out.
This place is clearly for tourists and as it's attached to the Embassy Suites, this shouldn't surprise. First of all, the bar prices... No one in their right mind would pay $7 for any Bell's or Goose Island draft at a normal restaurant like this, (unless it's a Bell's Hop Slam, but no way it gets that good here, much less most places). I live nearby though so I've tried this place a couple times.
First time dining in, it was good. Didn't blow me away, but they have some interesting combinations and their oven provides a legit enough Italian style pizza. It was done right, crispy on the bottom with a little softness. The diavola and margarita were good, fresh ingredients, solid. It's convenient and I liked it. Â
Second time, I took a margarita pizza home. It was really overdone, burned on the bottom and had no softness at all. Lame. Way more options in the city for delivery or take out, and way better places to dine out for good pizza. I'll probably go elsewhere unless I'm too lazy to make it more than a block away. Â And I may be persuaded by the half-off pizzas during happy hour sometime, but then again the bar prices may deter that thought.
Uh YUMMMMMM.
Having been to both Pizzeria Via Stato & Quartino within the past couple of weeks, my choice will be Via Stato. Our service was great and the atmosphere was very enjoyable.
The grilled octopus with fingerling potatoes was to die for. Amazeballs. We also got the antipasto board, which consisted of salumi, olives, parmigiano, a white bean spread, red cherry peppers, and some other random things I can't remember. The white bean spread was delicious, as were the red cherry peppers. Actually, every part of the dang board was so good. I would have been content with my meal after these two plates.
Celery caesar salad was good. A little too heavy on the parmigiana for my liking, but that's just personal preference (I know, WTF, I'm Italian). Ordered the vegetable pizza - green pepper, vidalia onion, mushroom, mozzarella, basil - and it was phenomenal. Paper thin, fresh, perfect Italian-style pizza that you can just fold in half and shove in your mouth. The sauce was delicious and very well balanced with the cheese.
I'm looking forward to returning and trying some more of the food, and the other side, Osteria Via Stato, as well!
For thin crust pizza you can't go wrong at Pizzeria. Â Others have complained that it's confusing to have two restaurants next to each other in the same space, but it's really just the typical restaurant menu vs. bar menu that lots of places use these days. Â The only difference is they call the bar menu the "Pizzeria" menu. Â Now, back to the pizzas. Â If you like thin crust and minimal toppings that highlight the quality of the underlying ingredients, this is the place for you. Â I've been to the Pizzeria a half-dozen times now and tried pretty much every pizza on the menu, and they're all great. Â A few of the non-pizza items were just so-so, which prompted me to dock a star. Â The service has been generally friendly, and they were even quick to get a high chair when we brought our baby. Â Pizzeria is definitely one of our old-reliables when in River North.
Review Source:I've been here a few times now, and I love it! Service is great and super friendly. Pizza is delicious!!! Expect to pay a little more for drinks, given its location, but they have a beer of the month for a great price. Sit at the bar and get the advantage of both Osteria and Pizzeria menus!
Review Source:My husband and I ordered the prosciutto pizza and grilled octopus. The pizza was delicious, but the crust was very, very thin. Â We like thin pizzas, but this felt like a thin cracker! Grilled octopus was very tender, but there was not enough octopus and too many fingerling potatoes! I think the best part was the warm bread they served beforehand... it tasted amaaaazing with the olive oil and vinaigrette mixed together. :) Overall, the food was decent, but overpriced for the portions.
Review Source:I guess they're trying to compete with Quartino, but Pizzeria Via Stato was a let down for me. I had the special pizza of the month, which our server recommended and was supposed to be slightly spicy with prosciutto. It fell flat--the crust was the best thing about it, there was not enough cheese or other ingredients on my pizza, it lacked any taste (I actually wish it had been spicy) and it was just bland and boring. Portions are kind of small for dinner, the pizza was super thin. I tried a Peroni, which I did not like either, wish they had a few more beer choices. So all in all, a disappointing dining experience here. Service was satisfactory.
Review Source:We weren't really in a pizza mood but decided to try this place and glad we did. Â First, the service was AWESOME. Â Our waiter was attentive, knowledgeable, and personable. Â He is the reason for five stars. Â The wine list is extensive and Italian. Â The waiter made a great suggestion based on what we liked and we were not disappointed. Â We had the antipasto...yum! Â The waiter suggested the special pizza - again, we were satisfied. Â It was a thin crust with bacon, pepper, blue cheese, and pear. Â We finished the night with wonderful coffee drinks. Â
We will return!
u can't beat the prices for downtown dining. Â the only odd thing is pizzeria via stato and osteria via stato are two different restaurants next to each other. Â personally i think it's very weird that u can't get both in one restaurant... what if your friend wants pizza and u want pasta? Â u have to split up into 2 parties or sit at the bar. Â we both ordered from the pizza menu and got to sit in osteria via stato anyway. Â the whole thing is very confusing.
onto the food... we shared grilled octopus with fingerling potatoes. Â the potatoes were a bit on the mushy side but delicious as they were drenched in olive oil. Â i had the arugula salad with dates, parmesan, and bacon. Â oh mah gah. Â i don't normally like or eat dates but they were so delicious in the salad. Â balance of sweet and chewy with salty savory and fatty. Â my friend had the roasted beets salad. Â equally delicious and fresh. Â
the pizza was just to my liking. Â SUPER thin brick oven pizza. Â paper thin and fresh. Â so u can eat pizza and not feel heavy and gross afterwards. Â we got the margherita which is a classic and a staple. Â if u mess up a margherita pizza then... u just suck.
finally dessert. Â oh lord. Â 3 small scoops of gelato. Â each scoop had either crushed cookie bits or a whole cookie. Â the texture of the gelato was perfect. Â sometimes u order gelato and it just tastes like ice cream. Â chocolate hazelnut, pistachio, and vanilla were our choices. Â pistachio won me over, hands down. Â this was indulgent and heavenly. Â
for two people we spent $55 including tax and tip. Â not bad for a date night.
oh one more thing, this is a great alternative to quartinos next door which is always a busy cluster. Â the menus are similar even tho the restaurants are not related and i would venture to say i like pizzeria via stato a little better, if not only for the gelato.
I came here for dinner with my friend after she got off work. Â I wouldn't call it early bird special time, but it was still early enough that there weren't very many other diners. Â So I didn't have any trouble with the service.
The roasted garlic is so good. Â It comes in a bath of balsamic and olive oil that you can spread over a piece of bread. Â You get the same effect almost as black garlic, but roasting it makes it way easier to spread. Â Of course the pizza is good; the crust is super thin and crispy. Â The sausage for the sausage pizza is seasoned really well and it was my favorite. Â But the margherita and four cheese white pizzas were also really good. Â I also love pizza that's cut into squares, because I like to steal all the middle pieces. Â
I wish the beer list was longer, because they have some good beers on there. Â I tried the Metropolitan Krankshaft that had just the right amount of bitterness. Â Most other people were drinking wine.
I'm kind of confused by people saying you have to go into Embassy Suites to use the bathroom. Â If I remember correctly, there is a bathroom here. It's a one-person bathroom with a translucent window that's located right off the dining area. Â You can kind of see what's going on right outside of the bathroom, so that's pretty awkward.
I think I'd say 3.5 stars. Â It was good, but I'm not absolutely dying to come back so I'm rounding down.
Some of the worst service in all of Chicago. Â The wait staff here acts as if they are doing you a favor by getting you a drink. Â Waited 20 minutes to even open a tab at the bar.
The bartender (an older gentleman) was organizing stuff and making drinks at a snails pace when there were tons of people waiting to get drinks. Â He even turned his back so he didn't have to take people's orders.
Once I opened a tab and wanted to get another drink the female server working that night told me she couldn't get me a drink unless I was sitting at a table and to ask the other male server. Â
This male server told me to get a drink from the bar and that I couldn't from him because I had already opened a tab there. Â Hello!??? How about being proactive and trying to find a solution? Â I had another credit card he could have taken. Â He could have offered to close my bar tab and open it with him. Â It seemed like nobody at this place gave a damn. Â I couldn't believe it. Â Seriously this was quite possibly the worst most arrogant "service" in all of Chicago. Â Have some pride in your job and your life.
If i am just rating the goods: Incredible! huge recommendation: get the peppered bacon and egg pizza. You will love it- . The Bellini's here are awesome as well. I dream about the pizza here- very much like true pizza from italy and so good!
But the service would get 2 stars. I sat at the bar on a Monday (no one was in the place except for a few patrons Bc it was a holiday) I barely got greeted, took forever for her to actually place my order. Maybe they let all of their good staff have the holiday off, but the food was worth it.
I've said it once, and I'll say it again... I love thin, crispy pizza. Pizzeria Via Stato is a solid choice for this anti-Chicago-deep-dish gal.
Recently I ventured over for an outdoor weekday lunch and had the opportunity to try something other than their delicious pizzas. I went with the "bring me lunch!" deal (seriously, this is a really good deal for a downtown lunch), and had asparagus soup, the chicken pesto sandwich, and a mini chocolate torte, all for $10.
It was delicious. I was expecting the sandwich to be a 1/2 sandwich, since the full sandwich without the soup & torte is the same price as the lunch deal, but it was a full-on sandwich. I couldn't finish it, and ended up taking my little torte to-go.
Highly recommended for a leisurely lunch!
Came here because yelp had pointed us to a Pizza place. Â Me and my co-worker were visiting Chicago and had wanted to try a Chicago deep dish pizza. Â This is no where near what we had expected.
Lighting was super dark and the place was cramped and crowded. Â The place is apparently known for their thin crust pizza, which we reluctantly ordered. Â It's not half bad, but I'm not exactly impressed. Â Ended up giving the take-out to a homeless guy, not because the food was bad, but just so you know...
Service I have to say was pretty sub par. Â Pizza took forever and a half to come out and it was a pain to flag down the waitress because the place is so small and dark... The price I couldn't remember, but I wasn't complaining too bad for it. Â Now I'm no down town kid, but I sort of like to not be accidentally listen in on other people's conversations because the tables are way too close together. Â If you're here to discuss mafia secrets and hit lists, I don't suggest coming here to discuss that.
Wandering around Chicago at 9PM with no reservations, we were lucky to stumble upon this gem. Â The food was fantastic, the setting was lovely and our total bill was less than $30.
We had the eggplant arancini, the fonduta and pepperoni pizza. Â More than enough for the both of us.
The first bite of arancini yielded a crisp coating with melty cheese. Â Awesome. Â The fonduta was also good (think of the best hot spinach dip you've ever had then multiply it by a hundred), and the garlic toasts were tasty even by themselves. Â The pizza was good -- the opposite of deep dish. Â Thin, crackly crust, not too much cheese and teeny, high-quality pepperoni.
Yum!
I came here with several other co-workers last week for a lunch with our company president and had a decent meal. Â I ordered one of the pizzas on special; it was vegetarian and had fennel. Â I'm fuzzy on the details but thought that the pizza was alright. Â Not great, by any means. Â Most everyone seemed to enjoy their food and one lady ordered a super special dish because not only is she extremely difficult, she is also lactose intolerant. Â The chef came out at the end of our meal to make sure that she liked it. Â So, plus points for being so nice and accommodating.
There's outdoor seating but also numerous ambulances that rolled by with sirens blaring. Â Not the restaurant's fault but it's still unpleasant.
But my main complaint with this place is the service, and lack of it. Â Our waitress would disappear for long spouts of time and I had to ask EVERY SINGLE TIME that I wanted a refill of my iced tea. Â The chick I sat next to ordered a jameson & coke and the waitress completely forgot about it, not once but twice. Â It was annoying and borderline ridiculous; like pulling teeth to get a damn to-go box. Â Terrible service.
If I ever end up here again, I'll probably try the pasta. Â And hopefully another server. Â There were a couple of uber cute gays that seemed to be on their game with their tables. Â A girl can dream!
Four stars for the food, none for the service. A year ago, Pizzeria Via Stato amazed me with not only unique, tasty pizza but also very solid, friendly service. Today, it seems to have take on an ambience more suiting to its location--a hotel lobby. Seated on the outside patio, we waited 15 minutes for the waiter to take our orders, another 30 minutes for our pizzas to arrive. Our waiter never stopped by to see if the food was to our liking (it was) or to tells us what was taking the food so long--this despite the fact that the table next to us was seated and fed in half the time as us.
Meanwhile, a busboy "wiped down" an adjacent table by shoving straw-wrappers, a receipt and crumbs onto the floor. We were not given napkins and silverware so I had to get up and fetch them myself. The music playing outside was the worst of bland late 90's pop-rock; to make matters worse, the CD was skipping.
This is a shame because, honestly, this is some of the more tasty pizza I've had in Chicago. But with service and atmosphere not just unimpressive but downright bad, I doubt I'll be back.
The ambience is dark and secretive and lovely. You go from State Street to an underground village tavern. Perfect for a late-evening meal with your significant other. I like you already, pizzeria darling.
Oh, and the pizza. The pizza, the pizza, the pizza. Fresh toppings artfully sprinkled over the most fragile of pizza crusts, so thin and light that when you bite into it, you hear a delicate but satisfying crunch. That, my friend, is the sound of music to my ears.
We had the roasted fennel and radicchio white pizza (my favourite!) and the barese sausage with goat cheese. For an appetiser, I highly recommend the grilled octopus with roasted potatoes. Ask for some bread to mop up the olive oil, lemon and herb sauce-- the bread is warm, supple, and very very good.
After a day out with friends, we decided to stop in and grab some pizza, late night style. Â I had heard good things about this place, and was eager to try this widely talked about spot.
It was late and we originally wanted to sit outside, but after realizing it was a little chilly, they accomodated us by letting us sit inside. Â This is where the evening began to go downhill.
Upon walking back inside, one of my friends apparently tripped, but no one else seemed to notice. Â We sat down, received water from the staff and menus. Â After about 10 minutes, a waiter finally came over and took our order. Â We ordered 3 pizzas, a salad, and some olives for the 5 of us, but no drinks at that time. Â Another 10 minutes went by before we saw or heard from our waiter again when he brought our salad to the table. Â At that time, one of my friends ordered a glass of wine and was told by the waiter, "Umm...yeah...I don't think that is going to happen. Â I can serve you water or some tea, but anything else is not happening."
Apparently, when my friend tripped coming in, they interpreted that as "stumbling" and therefore would not serve us. Â I appreciate and understand that as an establishment, you cannot serve someone who appears to be intoxicated. Â However, I really think that he could have been nicer about how he handled the situation and said something like, "I'm sorry, but my manager has told me I cannot serve alcohol to your table." or even sent the manager over to tell us. Â Instead, he was a complete jerk!
I then canceled the rest of our order, and asked for a check the salad we had already started to eat. Â I sent the rest of my party outside to wait while I paid the bill. Â Bringing us the check was also an ordeal apparently, and was taking forever. Â While I was waiting, I took money out, put it on the table and stood up. Â The waiter came over and rudely asked, "Oh, so I assume you girls are leaving and not paying for your check?" Â I replied, "Well, I asked for the bill, but it hasn't come yet. Â The salad was $5.95, and we canceled everything else, so I would assume with tax $7.00 should be enough." Â I handed him the money and walked out.
I believe in good customer service, and have worked in customer service for over 10 years. Â Because of how the situation was handled, because the service was slow, and because the waiter was rude, I will not be back...and I will make sure to tell people who ask me about this restaurant about my experience.
I've never actually eaten at the restaurant location itself, I've only had their food delivered along with my Osteria Via Stato order. Â
First of all, I absolutely HATE deep dish pizza, so if you are looking for that lame excuse for pizza, you won't find it here. Â All the pizzas here are thin crust, with a light sprinkling of toppings. Â You won't find a brick of cheese, doughy mushy pizza with gigantic toppings the size of fists here. Â As you can tell, I've been to Giordano's.
All the pizzas I had here are great, the mushroom, arugula, potato, vegetable, pepperoni - all stellar.
I think I understand why this pizzeria is attached to a hotel. It's so you can be discreet with your over indulgence, maybe to get some alone time and really dive into each other, to go wild and make a mess.
Stop Six: As in six six six
It might be very a sin to eat here at Pizzeria Via Stato. Service is excellent, pizza is very very good, and it's a quaint little place. If you're on a diet, this is not the place for you! This is also not the kind of place to bring a first date, unless they like that garlic, onion breath?!
Sweet Onions crusted with Parmesan **Holy cheesy oniony mess
Roasted beets salad -red & chiogga beets, goat cheese, micro greens ** Good
Celery Caesar -romaine, celery, garlic croutons ** Massive sized salad, it could have been my dinner
Margherita Pizza -san marzano tomatoes, hand-pulled mozzarella, basil ** One of the best Margherita pizza's I've ever eaten and that says a lot.
Of course I went with the special but who could resist BACON Pizza -BACON, onions, egg, garlic, and a hint of olive oil. ** The Onions were a little much but the rest was deliciously EVIL!
I think I made my case!
We came on a Tuesday night after work and we were pretty much the only table. We ordered a good variety for the seven of us. The pizzas took much longer to come out than expected. Most of the thin crust places we have gone to, the pizza comes out in 5-8 minutes. These took a good 20 minutes which was odd considering how thin they were. In fact I would have liked them more if they spent less time in the oven. The crust is extremely thin and cracker like. Some parts were overly burned and fell apart right away. The toppings were pretty good, but the crust really couldn't hold up to them.
The sausage had a great flavor to it. The peppered bacon was delicious. I generally like the pizzas with egg on top, but my one wish is that there were more than one egg. It's really difficult to eat when the one egg is smack in the middle of the pizza. The roasted butternut squash was pretty good, but could have used a bit more cheese and squash. The pepperoni was pretty standard. The artichoke and sunchoke pizzas were both really tasty. It probably helped that they were drizzled with truffle oil. For many of the pizzas, it would have helped if there were some more toppings spread towards the edges. Because the edges that had very few toppings were often burnt and really dry.
I'm surprised that the "Pizzeria" Via Stato part hasn't put the "Osteria" part out of business b/c it's a great atmosphere and it serves delicious antipasto and pizzas! Â
You feel as if you're nestled in a little European village at Pizzeria Via Stato. Â The dark woods, abundant wine, and drapery make a great atmosphere for dates, dinner with friends, etc.
The pizzas here are really fantastic. Â Not as huge of a selection as there could be, but enough to make you want to veer away from the standard margherita pizza and try something new. Â You can also add different toppings to personalize your pizza.
Best part of Pizzeria Via Stato is the price. Â Pizzas are in the $10 range and wine is affordable as well. Â For River North, Pizzeria Via Stato is such a deal.
I was here over the weekend for a non-lovey dovey date with the boy. We completely over-ordered, and the tab reflected that. I always like it when a server says "Hey, that may be too much food." Â But some people may not think so, they might think, " Hey bucky, who are you?" So I understand it was our fault we over-ordered.
Too much food or not, it was very tasty. We had prosciutto with buffalo mozzarella to start, the potato rosemary pizza, and the sunchoke pizza. I had never even heard of a sunchoke, but they're some pretty yummy sweet little things. Apparently from the root of a sunflower, they're named after a sunflower and an artichoke. Â One pizza would have been enough to share, if getting an app and some dessert. We each took half a pizza home with us.
Friendly staff, spacious, comfortable place to have a Roman pizza, a quart of wine, and relax.
A group of us went here a couple of days ago, but only in a roundabout way. I've always thought pizzeria was great, but this last experience was what tipped me over the edge into writing this review.
The person in charge of making the reservation intended for us to go here, but ended up making reservations at Osteria instead. We sit down, get out drinks and bread, and belatedly realize there's no pizza on the menu. Horrors! So we ask to be switched, fully expecting grumbling and hand waving, but they were so awesome about moving us over. And they got  us new bread!
In the land of deep dish, there are a couple of thin crust places that just stand out. Piece, in wicker park is one. And this is another. Great, great pizza. Thin and crisp and crunchy. And a great wine selection to boot.
If you get here early, definitely go get a drink at the bar. The other patrons dining there and the bartender are a hoot - they all seem to be regulars from the way they interact with each other.
Highly recommended.
We were driving down Ohio and were STARVING, so my sweetie found the first available parking space. Â We figured it would be fun to just go to the closest restaurant we see. Â Via Stato it is! Â It was about 2:35 pm and as we approached the host stand, there was this HUGE board that stated, "1/2 off all pizzas from 2:30-4:30, SHHH don't tell anyone!" Â oops, I guess I spilled the beans!...OMG, I never get that lucky! Â We arrived at the perfect time! =) Â Yey! since the pizzas are 1/2 off, we ordered 3. Â We got the sausage (my favorite), pepperoni, and garlic. Â They were very good, and VERY thin, which I loved! Â I hate getting stuffed on one slice of the traditional pan pizzas, so this was perfect for me. Â Oh, we also ordered the penne chicken pasta which was very good. Â FYI, the servings here aren't huge like other Italian restaurants, but appropriate for the price.
The only reason this place doesn't get 5 stars is because the service was slow, and the pizzas took a fairly long time. Â But for half off, I ain't gonna complain!
Ok, so... night number 8 in Chicago for work and only one day left...
As it was my last night and I was completely brain dead from working so long (and being in a hotel so long), I planned on blowing my night on margaritas at a famous Mexican restaurant down the street... and then it started to rain. As my Southern blood can no longer handle 40-50 degree weather AND precipitation, I decided to just eat in the hotel restaurant (something I NEVER do)... which was Pizzeria Via Stato.
I sat down and started out with the Sangiovese blend of wine... delicious! Amazing and I definitely had another glass...
I ordered the Margherita pizza and the Panzenella salad. I expected the salad to be a, well, SALAD, with bread on it (like you see on Food Network). But, it was actually a bread salad (no lettuce at all) with heirloom tomoato halves, strips of onion, cucumber and olives, all drenched in olive oil. DELICIOUS!! The olive oil was amazingly aromatic and flavorful, and it completely drenched the authentic, toasted Italian ciabatta it was covering. Amazing! The tomatoes, cukes, onions and olive slivers all complimented it perfectly. DEFINITELY go and get this salad!
Then my pizza came, and it was kind of a bummer! :( This pizza is extremely thin crust, which I knew when I ordered, but didn't realize that it was so thin that parts would turn BLACK AS COAL as it was being cooked! (Yikes! I thought that stuff caused cancer?!) The ingredients were simple, hand-crushed tomatoes, cut up basil and mozzerela... only not nearly enough cheese to be satisfied with. It was yummy, but not nearly as awesome as EVO back home in Charleston (SC)... SC better then Chicago... what's that tell you?!
In the end... only 3 stars for the pizza but 4 for the salad, wine and service. It was a nice atmosphere and a good meal (some parts great) for a rainy night in!!
Ok.... this is an edit... the gelato, OMG, the gelato!!! Amazing! I had the caramel chocolate, and was told all gelato was made in house daily. Amazing, heavenly, orgasmic...
Seriosly, go to this restaurant, get some amazing wine, the panzanella salad and the GELATO!! YUMMY!!
I came here for dinner after a Saturday afternoon movie at AMC on Michigan. Â A 10-20 minute wait was closer to 30 minutes, but that was alright. Â We ordered our appetizers and pizza and enjoyed the outdoor seating and people watching on State St. Â Our server must have forgotten about our appetizers because only minutes after I commented on how long it was taking for our appetizers to come, our pizzas arrived sans appetizers. Â We had to remind the waiter of our order. Â Oh well.
The food itself was quite good. Â I had the margherita pizza and I believe my friends ordered the mushroom and sausage pizzas. Â All of them were very tasty. Â The margherita had a hint of sweetness to it, which I enjoyed, though it's not for everyone. Â They serve extremely thin crust pizza here, which usually isn't my thing, but the crust was very well done. Â It was flaky and crispy in all the right places. Â The mozzarella appetizers were also very good, albeit late, and were a good complement to the pizza.
I was a bit disappointed that you really couldn't order anything besides pizza, appetizers, alcohol, and dessert at the pizzeria. Â So, if you're in the mood for anything other than pizza you'd be better off going to the full restaurant or somewhere else. Â Even though we got our appetizers after our entrees, the waiter did keep our beverages topped off throughout the meal which almost made up for the appetizer flub.
The pizzas are pretty small and are kind of a mix of Chicago tavern style (cracker-crust) and central/northern Italian-style. Â A pizza per person and a split app is probably the least someone would want. Â
Mine was cut into squares and the margherita has nice minimalist but high-quality toppings, with good olive oil being the most noticeable flavor. Â I'd def go back. Â
I went on a weekday, you can walk up and get seated easily.
Is it fair to write a review just on the wine??? Â You bet...here it goes.
I used to come here a lot for happy hour when the entire restaurant was called Osteria Via Stato, but we called it Erik Estrada's. Â For some reason it was much easier to say and remember. Â Osteria Via Stato is a mouthful...and now it's Pizzeria Via Stato..seriously whatever.
Well after guzzling down wine at Quartino my friend and I had the bright idea to get more across the street because a) it was close by and b)we hadn't had enough. Â
So we hurled ourselves through the revolving door and wow, has this place changed. Â It's like two completely separate restaurants now. Â I usually like to belly up to the bar, but every seat was taken so we decided to get a table and just drink amidst the 'eaters'. Â
The wine list had several nice wines, but I stop reading when one of the wine descriptions mentioned Zinfandel (I love Zin's) That's what we ordered. Â Ok, it was the cheapest on the menu, but one of the best glasses of wine I've had in a while. Â Our server, which was great (Brian), noted that it was new on the list. Â
Service was great and we didn't eat a thing.  We let out server know that we were just gonna have a glass or three of wine and he  was happy to attend to our thirsty needs. Â
Everyone looked happy with their pizza's and they smelled delicious. Â Maybe next time I'll try a slice. Â But this time it was all about the wine. Â I remember now why I used to come here so much...the wine was always great here...sigh.
Ok, BIG STAR DEDUCTION for the bathroom. Â I forgot that the men's restroom is a true 'country' mile away - I'm serious. Â This restaurant is connected to the Embassy Suites and yes, you have to go in there to use the restroom. Â If I remember correctly, it's up several flights of stairs, around two corners, past the business center then down a corridor. Â I should have stopped in to update my facebook and tell my friend that I didn't ditch her and that my journey back would be a while. Â It's kind of funny at first until you have to go again, then it's not.
I want to go back and try the pizza and leave before I have to pee.
Honestly, I rarely give 5 star reviews! Â (upon second thought, it looks as though i do, I've given a total of 19)
It was by mistake that I stumbled on Pizzeria Via Stato, I eat at Quartino quite often and when they were too crowded, we crossed the street and decided to give this a whirl.
I had the Pizza & Wine by the glass combo: Shitake Mushrooms, cheese and black truffle oil accompanied by a glass of Feres Grojean Pinot Noir. Â I was so impressed with this pairing, the wine was delightful and went exceptionally well with the truffle oil. Â
My friend had the pepperoni and that pizza was also magnificent. Â
JUST SO YOU ARE AWARE...I love European style, very, very thin crust pizzas. Â They use about 3 oz. of dough and only 3 oz. of cheese. Â If you are not a fan of very thin pizza, so thin it is crispy, you will not like this!
The service was friendly, I like that they can wear jeans and the price is also really good. Â The wine was $11 a glass and $55 a bottle, that is a really fair price for such a nice wine.
We got the cheese Fondutu which was excellent, and probably the best spinach cheese like dip I have ever had! Â It came with toasted buttery toasts and with the cheese, my friend said it tasted like a delicious grilled cheese sandwich, to make it more elegant, you could say it was like a gooey deconstructed grilled cheese sandwich. Â There were three of us so we decided to share two pizzas, the house special which was the mushroom, ricotta, truffle oil, with farm egg pizza, and the margherita pizza. Â The Margherita was ok, it was very thin though, and I almost felt like I was eating paper. Â The white truffle pizza was definitely my favorite of the two pizzas and it was very interesting to have a sunny side up pizza in the middle of the egg. Â I have to say though, odd as it is, after eating this, I wish there were more eggs in the pizza!
Pizzeria was pretty good, I would go back, but I am not sure I would say it is my fav pizza place, but I was very pleased with the cheese fonduta and the white mushroom truffle pizza. Â I wonder if they would add another egg for me next time?
I really thought this place was terrific.
I usually loathe going to places in the tourist-laden downtown area, especially in the summertime, but I had a friend in from NYC, and that's where we randomly ended up (I realized halfway through ordering that bringing a New York City-dweller to a pizza joint in Chicago was risky to say the least).
The pizza, though, is great. When they say thin crust, they mean THIN CRUST. Like, cheese and toppings piled on perfectly crisp tracing paper.
The pizzas are considered "personal" pizzas - which is awesome, since I grew up with giant brothers stealing my food, rendering me averse to sharing.
Also, they have a nice wine selection. Call me unsophisticated, but I'm always impressed when I order the cheapest wine on the menu, and they still bring it to me in one of those glasses as big your face with a sliver of a stem.
I also remember having a Caprese salad (the ultimate test of an Italian restaurant, if you ask me), and it was incredible. Literally, my mouth just started watering at the recollection.
Proof that State Street isn't always a shitshow.
Everything here was good, though not a "wow" experience, so I'm going to give it 3 stars. Â The fonduta appetizer was delicious, to be fair. Â The pizza was good - I had the mushroom, onion, mozzarella and tomato sauce. Â The crust was super thin, and the ingredients were all tasty. Â We had some red wine with the meal as well, and I guess I feel like it was on the pricey side... but the blame for that could easily fall on my dining companion's shoulders, as he selected it. Â
They don't do reservations for this part of the restaurant, but a walk-in was no problem on a Monday night. Â For the guys, as a heads up, to go to the Men's room you have to actually go through the hotel lobby next door, up some stairs and around some corner to get there - essentially, the restroom is located in Evanston. Â But the ladies room is perfectly close by. Â
Our server was really good, and the ambiance in the dining area is nice. Â So overall, a good experience, but I would recommend La Madia over Pizzeria Via Stato, if someone asked me which pizza I thought was better.
OH MY GOD AMAZING...Located adjacent to where I work I was dieing to try Osteria's pizza. Even though I'm not a fan of sausage I tried it anyways and it was fucking amazing. It really was better then any thin crust pizza I've ever had. It gives deep dish a good run for its money. As a concierge I am always asked for pizza places to go to and this is the place I will be sending my guests. Try it...you won't be disappointed.
UPDATE: This place keeps getting better. I tried the mushroom pizza last night and it was unbelievable.
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