pizzapotpie? well, why not?!. whaddayamean they don’t serve pizza? it says it right there on the sign – “chicago pizza oven and grinder company”!
as andy griffith might have said, “what it was, was a pizzapotpie...”
yep, that’s probably everyone’s first response when they open the two-page menu that features just one pizza-“like” offering – in “half-pounder” and “one-pounder” sizes- and a handful of hot sandwiches, known here as “grinders”.
since 1972, this place has been serving what i would call an “inverted pizza”; a steaming, bubbling caldron of pizza ingredients-in-a-cup, brought tableside on ceramic plates dating to the paleolithic era, and masterfully flipped by the waiter into a bowl of dense dough.
billed as “made from scratch”, this pizza-in-a-bread bowl features a chewy dough and mild tomato sauce seasoned with olive oil, fresh garlic, onions and green peppers. thepotpie, once turned upside down, is capped with a thick cheese covering that requires deft knife skills to pry open.
a “half-pounder” is certainly enough for the average person, especially when you trick it out with the only two options offered; sausage and/or mushrooms. sorry, no pepperoni, sausage or anchovies – kinda like ketchup on a chicago hot dog, so don’t even ask. and at $11.75 a bowl, it’s a deal – the full-pounder is priced at $23.50.
the grinder sandwiches are also massive, arriving on 10-inch loaves of crusty bread and packed, tip-to-tail with filling options including; italian ham, meatballs, sausage and, my favorite, the vegetarian which arrives by fork lift and is loaded with onions, olives, mushrooms, red and green peppers, romano cheese, garlic oil and spices, all topped with a massive brick of melty swiss cheese and bubbling tomato sauce. cut it once, cut it twice, this is a cuppa-two, or tree person sandwich.
also worth noting are their humongous salads which are truly the size of newborn infants. you can easily feed four adults, or an entire pee-wee soccer team, with just one of these tomato-wrapped cornucopias of veggies and meat. choose from the country french, the classic greek and the great american, from $13- $25.
the place is almost always packed after 5pm, and the traffic pattern is very dis-feng shui – basically a one-way route down a long and narrow, 1970’s wood-sided corridor of booths to the left and larger tables to the right. hunker-in for the wait, but don’t be tempted to wander across the street and visit the other pizza/italian joint that’s visibly empty while you stand out in the cold – you’ll be very disappointed.