Quonset Pizza

Most of us young 'uns won't recognize what the word "quonset' means, but if you must know, quonsets are those galvanized metal structures that were built in the US during WW 2 as inexpensive buildings that were easy to ship & set-up - they were used by the military for offices, storage, bathrooms, barracks, garages, mess halls, etc... and surplus ones were sold off

So if you're looking for a pre-fab, silvery semi-circle-ish building, you won't find it at The Quonset Hut.  It's a 1970s brown brick building with the funky green angular roof located right at the intersection of Grand and McAree.  Now the address is officially on Grand, but if you want to pull up your car to the proper front entrance -- you MUST pull in through McAree. And given how busy that intersection is, the safest and easiest way is to come south-bound on McAree and make a right-hand turn into the restaurant's parking lot.  

The best part of this place is the pizza.  It's thin-crust, not super soggy with sauce, and the toppings are served generously.  While my taste buds prefer salty over sweet, I will say that the pizza is a bit on the salty side and the crust is nice but could have been cooked just a minute or two longer for a browner/crispier crust.  I came here on a whim as I was in the area running errands and have long wanted to try this place.  It didn't disappoint and the service, while semi-absent upon arrival (seems like they're short-staffed and looking to hire), was friendly.  For a large pizza with 2 toppings, it's just $17 and will serve easily 4-5 hungry adults.   Try the sausage - it is DEElish.  No joke.  I love the fact that this place doesn't aim to overwhelm you with a  ridiculously expansive menu - they know their sweet spot and focus on what makes them special.

Waukegan / Quonset Hut is not a place that i'd go to dine-out, so my review isn't going to be heavily based on the table service / ambience / furniture of the bar area (which is one side of the place and away from the pick-up area).  For take-out, and the food alone, absolutely, it's worth of the 4 stars, I'm giving it.  If you can look past the dark interior, dated decor and the pot-hole filled streets around the building,  do give this place a try.  It's a mom-and-pop small business that aims to deliver fresh food at a highly reasonable price.  I'll definitely be back whenever I'm in the area again.

It's a shame for as many years enjoying this pizza, at times craving it.
Now although it's a 14" one topping pizza at 15.00. They skimp on the sausage.
Which changes the taste of the pizza, what a sad day for long time loyal customers.
I know today everywhere it's get less pay more. Charge a little more don't take away.
This pizza was iconic, not so much now. I know profit is important, but come on!

Quonset USED to be the best pizza on the planet, unfortunately I can tell a lot has changed.  I ordered a pizza a hour before the super bowl and drove a few towns over for nostalgia.  Not to sound over critical but the pizza was soooo bad, one glance and I could tell it looked awful.  My boyfriend and I got sick mid way thru and I called Quonset to ask why the pizza changed so much (it looked red on top like it was missing cheese and the cheese on it was dry and really really salty) as in my earlier years, my palette memorized the (old) wonderful flavor!

I realized after having a very sick stomach along with my boyfriend (we never get sick but were both mysteriously sick now and threw away half of the pizza), reflecting on this I realized I picked up the pizza a hour before the superbowl...there was only one or two cars in the entire two parking lots (probably employee cars). PERHAPS they lack turnover and gave us old food because we were ill for days.  

Makes me sad to write such a review as I used to tell everyone it was the best in the world, and it really USED TO BE!!