Celebrate National Pizza Month at these 10 longtime suburban favorites
October is National Pizza Month, and pizza needs an entire month to be celebrated because it is the world's most versatile food.
It can be vegan or loaded with meat. You can use red sauce, white sauce, barbecue sauce, no sauce, whatever you want. The crust can be innumerable degrees of thickness or thinness - you can even stuff the crust (oooohhhh, stuffed crust). The crust doesn't even have to be made of traditional dough, it can be made from cauliflower or other vegetables if that's your jam.
The only limits to pizza are your imagination. You could easily enjoy pizza every day in October and never have the same thing twice. And you could just as easily do it without ordering from the same place twice.
While the suburbs are full of national chains and Chicago pizza titans, there are myriad local joints that have been serving their communities quality 'za for years.
We asked followers of the Daily Herald Facebook account for their go-to spot for pizza and we got almost as many different answers as responses. Here are 10 of the most popular suggestions.
Barnaby's of Northbrook
960 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook, (847) 498-3900, barnabysofnorthbrook.com/
Barnaby's has been around for 40 years, serving thin and crispy corn meal crust pizzas.
Danny's on Douglas
231 Douglas Ave., Elgin, (847) 742-5400, dannyspizzaelgin.com/
Danny's is a family-owned restaurant that is on its fourth generation in the business.
Dondi's
1041 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, (847) 439-5250, dondispizza.com/
Dondi's closed in October 2022 after 50 years in business, only to reopen under new ownership a few months ago using original - or at least similar - recipes.
Joe's Pizzeria
7 N. Wolf Road, Wheeling, (847) 537-8110, joespizzausa.com/
Joe's has been serving up its signature thin-crust pies and other Italian fare since 1966.
Little Pops NY Pizzeria
1819 Wehrli Road, Naperville, (630) 210-8084, littlepopspizzeria.com/
Opened by New Yorkers in 2014, Little Pops was recently named best New York-style pizza in Illinois by The Washington Post.
Pizza Factory
101 W. Northwest Hwy., Barrington, (847) 381-6740, pizzafactorypizza.com/welcome-barrington
The second generation restaurant has been specializing in Chicago thin-crust pizza since 1976.
The Pizza Kitchen, LLC
356 Georgetown Square, Wood Dale, (630) 422-7944, pizzakitchenwooddale.com/
Open since 1987, the Daily Herald's 2023 Best of the Best Reader's Choice winner offers six different crusts and more than a dozen specialty pizzas.
Tuscan Market & Wine Shop
141 W. Wing St., Arlington Heights, (847) 392-9700, tuscanmarketandwineshop.com/
Billing themselves as "a wine and beer bar that offers food," their specialty nine-inch pizzas get great reviews.
V & V Paesano Pizzeria
374 S. Main St., Bartlett, (630) 289-5780, vvpaesanopizzeria-bartlett-il.securebrygid.com/zgrid/themes/10583/intro/index.jsp
In Bartlett since 1981, the family-owned spot uses all homemade ingredients, including the sausage.
Wayne's Pizza
1618 W. Northwest Hwy., Arlington Heights, (847) 255-2441, waynespizza.com/
Wayne's has served the area since 1964. Their "Hillbilly Pizza" with barbecue sauce was featured on "Chicago's Best."