Santullos....The Critic's Pick

"Santullos...One of the best Pizzarias in the country"
- Penny Pollack, Food Critic & Author of "Everybody Loves Pizza"

Santullos featured on Chicago's CBS Morning show Watch Video CBS Morning News

While Wicker Park's Santullo's is mostly known for its sandwiches, the massive, NYC-style pizza holds its own, served by the slice and by the pie, with a specific Santullo's Pizza of the Day for you to use as a guide, if you're just not sure what you want. If you want to go basic--that is, not dive into the goat cheese, homemade meatball or grilled-chicken toppings just yet--the Portabella mushroom and oven-roasted tomatoes should do fine. (TL)

NEW CITY CHICAGO - 2005

I would have included Santullo's in my pizza article three weeks ago had I known about it. Santullo's does an excellent New York-style pizza. I dropped in for a couple of slices recently and I was duly impressed. This was excellent thin-crust pizza. I could just as easily have been on Arthur Avenue in New York City. Yes, Santullo's comes that close to serving a classic New York-style slice, aka "folder."

From the cheese and sausage (I also had one with pepperoni) that blanketed the top, to the crispy crust on the bottom, this was pizza that delivered good eating. The crust had a good chew; the tomatoes were not overly seasoned, and the toppings were not an anchor weighing everything down. The key to a good slice is balance. You want to be able to fold the slice and not have everything pop up and off when you give it a gentle squeeze. Slices, and they are a generous cut, go for $3.25. You can, of course, order the whole pizza. Extra-large goes for $17.50. Pizza toppings range from artichoke hearts to oven-roasted tomatoes.

Santullo's is a lot more than pizza, though. There are salads -- Caesar, Caprese, spinach and house are some of the choices. Sandwiches include Italian, spicy chicken, roast beef, veggie and meatball. Bigger food includes lasagne and chicken oreganata.

Two sandwiches that caught my buds were the chicken Vesuvio and the meatball. A hefty herb-roasted chicken breast ($5.25) was tucked into an Italian roll along with oven-roasted tomatoes, mozzarella, and sweet red peppers. There was some kind of herb mayonnaise, too, but it could go, since it just gets in the way of the other flavors. A little olive oil should do it.

The meatball was mighty tasty from top to bottom. Good roll, one that held up to the hefty and almost heavenly meatballs, the tasty marinara sauce, and the melted provolone. It was a lot of sandwich for $4.75 and, hands down, beat those served at Potbelly Sandwich Works.

Beer and wine are served. And check out the kiddie offerings ($3 for any of them), which include cheese pizza, sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese.

by Pat Bruno - Chicago Sun Times