Elburn pizzeria serves it up, New York-style

We know we love our Chicago-style pizzas in these parts, but hey, there's room to try some New York pizza as well.

Pizza lovers in Elburn, Campton Hills and other villages along Route 38 now have a chance to try some New York-style pizza at Shore Louie's Boom! Pizza.

It's a fairly odd name, and it's a fairly odd place, designed to look like the Jersey Shore, which is where owner Louis Cina hails from.

The new pizza parlor at 151 E. Route 38 in a strip shopping area south of Route 38 and right behind McDonald's, has all sorts of goodies from pizza to calzone and other Italian dishes.

Cina said he's been happy with the response he's received in Elburn so far, making him pleased that he initially listened to a hot tip from his brother-in-law, Elburn resident Eric Wilson.

Wilson told Cina that a previous pizza restaurant in that location was closing, and that he might want to bring a New Jersey theme to this area.

So what favorite menu item has been luring people to Shore Louie's Boom! Pizza? Hold on to your stomachs.

"I'm getting real positive results with the pizza itself, but also the garlic knots," Cina said.

And how does one go about creating a garlic knot?

"I take a piece of dough, tie it up into a knot and fry it," Cina said. "Then I toss it in a garlic butter and dust it with Parmesan cheese."

And that, my friends, sounds really good.

That new Corvette

A 2016 Corvette convertible from Bob Jass Chevrolet in Elburn would look nice in the garage, especially if you won it in a raffle.

The Batavia Rotary Club was pushing its final 200 tickets last week for its 27th annual Corvette raffle. The club always has a goal of selling 1,000 tickets at $100 each to support various local charities and organizations that need the money more than ever because they can't count on anything from the state these days.

Those interested in taking a chance at winning the corvette or $40,000 in cash as the top prize, or any of nine additional cash prizes, can buy a ticket at bataviarotarycharities.com.

A Royal joy

It's likely that St. Charles dermatologist Rany Jazayerli at Clear Skin Dermatology is still floating on air.

This guy is a fanatic Kansas City Royals fan, to the point he does extensive research on the team and various baseball statistics while also calling in for radio spots and MLB Network shows to talk about everything baseball and Royals.

Years ago, I spoke to Jazayerli and we exchanged war stories about the difficulty of pulling for baseball teams that were really bad. The Royals for him, the Cubs for me.

His wish has been answered with the Royals winning the World Series this year. Mine is still in the works, but we beat the Cardinals this year and that was cloud-nine stuff for sure.

New York sandwich

On my first trip to the new McAlister's Deli along Randall Road in Geneva, I asked the young lady at the counter to tell me what has been the most popular sandwich since the deli opened a month or so ago.

She said "The New Yorker" has been ordered quite a bit, so she convinced me to go that route. It was a good sandwich, with pastrami and corned beef stacked high.

Of course, I asked about the autumn squash soup that I had originally mentioned a few weeks ago based on the deli's ads, but a reader informed me that it wasn't available in Geneva.

In a somewhat odd answer, I was told that the Geneva store was too new to have the newest offerings on the menu. How something can be new, but not new enough for the newest is the type of equation we'll leave to the Albert Einsteins of the world. I'll stick to eating sandwiches.

Essentially, I understood. They don't offer it.

But, no harm, no foul. This is a nice setting with good sandwiches and, at some point, it will be old enough to offer the new stuff. Or something like that.

This deli is gone

It wasn't in downtown St. Charles for even a year, but The Bend General Store had some loyal followers for the deli sandwiches and the various ingredients for pasta and other delights.

But it wasn't enough to keep the place open.

Owners Tony and Jen Schaufler used the store's Facebook page to express sadness over having to close because of lack of business.

Many loyal customers have said they will miss the great food at this place. I remember Tony Schaufler's comment to me a year ago, saying, "You can really stock your kitchen up and make some amazing stuff" with the products he sold.

Can't help but think we let a good one get away. But it's in a tough spot on Main Street for parking, though excellent for exposure. It will be interesting to see what type of business can make a go of it at the 320 W. Main St. spot next.

dheun@sbcglobal.net