Stella's Pizza & Pub

Attached to the Fox Bowl in Wheaton is a small bar/eatery off to the side. Having received a few menu's and coupons I never quite knew what to make of Stella's. However upon recently learning they carried more than just pizza and beer I decided it was in my best interests to stop by.

The first thing to notice about Stella's is it's more or less a part of the bowling alley. It's directly attached to it and there is no wall or divider separating you from hearing the sounds of pins being knocked down. There's quite a bit of space to actually sit and eat on the inside which surprised me. In any event in stopping by Stella's and after a lengthy look at their offerings I decided to try the Chicago style hot dog.

The hot dog I received came on a regular non-poppy seed bun. The bun was soft and showed no signs of dryness. On the hot dog were two long tomato slices, these were a bit thicker than I would prefer, but were not too soggy or mushy. There was a pickle slice about as thick as a pencil on it, the slice was not quite as long as the hot dog but was close enough to where only one bite would be without pickle in it. There was a bit too much mustard on this hot dog, and a fair amount of onion. The relish was a little too lightly applied. The sport peppers applied to the dog weren't too hot and had a good texture to them making them easy to bite through. I didn't detect any celery salt on the dog but this didn't detract from it too much. The sausage itself was skinless and fairly thick, I'm not quite sure of the vendor but it was a tasty dog that was well heated and flavorful.

Overall this was a pretty decent hot dog and I would say was right about average. While I haven't yet tried their pizza I'd say my overall experience at Stella's was positive and will visit again at some point to try other items.

I tried the italian beef and fries. Sad when the fries are the best part. This had to be the WORST italian beef I've eatne in my entire life. Thick, unflavorful, dry...and yuck. I won't return.

So I received a menu from Stella's in the mail claiming "My new favorite pizza place!" on the front. I couldn't just ignore a claim like that. Having just discovered Jack Straw's in the area, it was hard for me to find a time to try this new favorite pizza place of mine. However, as JS closes ridiculously early (why?!?!), I decided to go with Stella's as they are open until 11 pm every night (definitely a plus! pizza places need to be open until AT LEAST 10 pm!). We ordered a large for delivery with no great expectations as they only offer thin crust - not my favorite to begin with.

My boyfriend apparently decided to write my review for me this time as he convienetly asked "when are you reviewing this on yelp??" - no pause for a response, then: "a less greasy Rosati's Pizza, fresh ingredients, but not enough bacon." Well, there you go. It was pretty accurate. If you like Rosati's thin crust, you'll love this. It was very fresh and well made. The sauce was good. A lot of pizzas that are not greasy tend to be dry - not the case! I agree that there was a certain lack in bacon. So possibly a little skimpy on the ingrediants, but this was our first try, so maybe it was an isolated incident??

Will I go running back? Not with Jack Straws just down the street (double crust!!!).... but if you enjoy thin crust pizza, definitely try it out. It was well made - just nothing spectacular. I will try actually going there next to see what kind of beers they offer as they are a pub as well. Hopefully an update soon - I just wanted to get something up here as when I went to seek guidance on if I should go here or not on Yelp, there was nothing for me to go off of!! :)