Flo & Santos — Restaurant in Chicago

The story is that the owners are of Polish and Italian descent, married and started this lovely place together. I found this extremely interesting and what attracted me here as they offer Perogies and Pizza, Kielbasa and Kraut and Chicken Parm. We were greeted immediately, however, we did show up after around 9 PM. loved the spacious layout. The tables, floor and bar were clean and the seats are free of table scraps. Since this was our first time we were quite overwhelmed by the amount of drink specialties and beer selections, its not a bad thing, just not certain what to order! However, we told our server what we usually like and she recommended one called Old Chub. I tried it first as I am pretty picky, the head is very creamy and fluffy, the color is not super dark like a guinness, the taste had a slight sweetness to it, and it has a super clean and refreshing taste on your palette. The alcoholic content was about 8%, so i stuck with one beer. We ordered the blue cheese waffle fries that is garnished with jalapeno bacon bits, scallions and creamy blue cheese dressing. The concept of these ingredients together are wonderful. However, I would have like to had the bacon cooked less so that I could taste the spiciness of the jalapeno, when you cook it to bits you loose the flavor. I am usually not a fan of blue cheese dressing, however the dressing is creamy and chunky, I would request them to add more toppings or a side of the dressing. I am a huge fan of scallions so next time I will ask for more. We also ordered the Buffalo Bill pizza, which contains blue cheese, scallions, chicken and hot sauce. I can say this wasn't my favorite. I like my hot sauce with more kick, like Sriracha. The chicken could have been shredded as i only like cubed meat in salads or soup. The crust was great, I love thin crispy crust, something that will stand up to toppings. They have plenty of pizza toppings if you want to build your own, small pizza starts at 12 and 2 bucks per topping. They have specialty pizzas and daily specials. We also ordered the Ravirogi, their spin on ravioli. This dish is wonderful. Instead of "ravioli" they served it with meat perogies, topped with a vodka bacon creamy tomato sauce and two chunks of garlic bread. The garlic bread is great with scooping up the sauce. The flavor of the sauce made the combo enjoyable.

We went later in the evening because we wanted to avoid dinner rush. We like to have the kitchen staff be able to take time on our dishes. But since this was our first visit, I will have to go during rush just to see how the experience rates against going later. Overall, I say the food is good, I am very willing to return because I love the different choices in beer, drink specialties and the polish vodka flights. So go take a risk, order an appetizer you know you will like; order a dish that the ingredients and pairings your kind of familiar with and order something you're not sure about. Oh, and be sure to ask for a sample or two of a beer on tap so you can find something your taste buds will enjoy, they do not mind...

Flo and Santos is a pizzeria/gastropub located on 13th and Wabash. Yesterday was chilly and snowy so we didn't wanna travel far from home for a quick anniversary dinner. I had heard from my coworker about the place and suggested it since I had already googled pictures and menus. Walked into a quiet establishment that wasn't overly busy. The hostess seated us right away to a booth towards the back since all the booths in front were filled with dining patrons.

Once seated, a waitress arrived promptly bringing water and offering us extra time to get acquainted with the menus via QR codes provided. My wife started off with a signature cocktail. She gave it a thumbs up but noted that she had slightly better ones. It was called the Jungle Cat. I had the Maplewood Son of Juice lager. It was ok. Like having a mimosa of beer and orange juice.

We ordered patio salad, Tower O' Ring, Buffalo Wings and the medium Marco Pizza (Italian Beef, grilled onions, fire roasted red peppers and gardiniera peppers).

The Patio Salad was just meh. Fresh greens, carrots, tomatoes and onions tossed in an italian dressing. Kinda reminiscent of a chopped salad. It's shareable for 2 or 3 ppl. Not much flavor coming from the dressing. Just a hint. The fresh vegetables carry it. That's ok but not necessarily for me. I need just a lil bit more.

The Tower O' Rings (Onion Rings) is a great appetizer to start. Fresh out the fryer, these perfectly stacked onion rings are full of flavor. From the batter down to the juicy onion hiding below the crispy exterior. These were everything loved em.

On to the Buffalo Wings. They're good. I dislike when places don't season or flour the wing before frying them. Maybe I'm a bit biased. But deep fried naked wings doused in sauce are, to me, disrespectful. These wing tho had a nice buffalo flavor from the sauce, cooked thru and thru with a great heat level. I appreciated that spice. Not bad @ all.

And finally the pizza. I know tourist come to Chicago for the deep dish but here in our city, the everyday favorite is thin crust or tavern style. The Marco is fantastic. Salty, savory, spicy, crispy... Just an all out assault of flavors to the taste buds. Tender well seasoned Italian beef, fresh mozzarella, the sweet peppery notes from the red peppers and that gardiniera was the icing on the cake. I really liked this pizza a lot.

Overall I really enjoyed my visit here. The staff made us feel welcomed and it felt like a cool spot for a quick date night or hang out with friends. Prices are reasonable and there's specials everyday. Kudos to the staff and the food was great. I...

Current review:

Last three times ordering carry out from here were a very mixed bag:

Giant greasy slabs of pepperoni on one One good pizza One burned pizza

Dropping my rating for 2 of 3 bad pizzas to a 2 out of 5.

Previously I was also overcharged (see below).

Previous review:

I've eaten at Flo and Santos about six times over the past year. The pizza, while not Chicago-style, is generally of top quality. Toppings are generous, sauce is tasty, dough is flavorful. The place is small, but feels cozy rather than cramped.

Service is generally good, though I did have one problem with their online order system. I ordered online, and was charged a higher price when I actually picked up the pizza. Unfortunately I didn't notice until I got home. It was only a few dollars, but I did take the time to write an e-mail about it. I thought I might get a discount coupon or offer for a free appetizer, but I only got a brief apology.

That being said, it did not deter me from ordering again, though I must admit that I now frequent Lou Malnati's far more than Flo and Santos, even though Flo and Santos is about two blocks from my apartment.

But whenever I have a hankering specifically for thin crust pizza, the pizza at Flo and Santos holds its own with not only local competitors but thin crust pizza across the United States (and I have lived in 14 states from...