Vito & Nick's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Lake Township

I finally made the trek from the northwest suburbs to this Chicago institution. So many reviews has drawn me here to try the thin crust tavern style.

I must say the pizza was excellent. We had the 14" Sausage & Pepperoni to do a real comparison to other tavern style pizzas. I am not one to say one pizza is the "best" or the "original," even though they have a strong case here at being the original, no doubt.

But pizza is a very personal thing, and it usually involves a pizza you ate as a child growing up somewhere in the Chicagoland area. Its next to impossible to displace the memories and the flavor you loved as a child.

For me, growing up in Roger's Park on the north side in the 70s, it was Barnabys on Touhy Ave that fills that place in my personal history and provides coveted memories. Nothing can change that. It will always be the gold standard to me and what I compare everything to, regarding Chicago style thin crust.

That being said, I enjoyed the uniqueness of this pizza. The crust was very thin and crispy and the cheese goes all the way and even over the edge to produce the charred edge that adds to this distinct style. The sausage was absolutely delicious and the pepperoni was crispy and tangy with a little spice from the red pepper I added. The sauce was tasty, but a little on the salty side for my liking, but still good. The crust held its own all the way through eating it by staying crispy and holding the structure of the pizza. They clearly know what they are doing.

My buddy and I split the pizza and a beef sandwich to make the experience absolute perfection. The beef was juicy and tender. A great way to start the meal.

Jess, our waitress, was super helpful, polite and answered all our questions with a smile and responded quickly to all our requests. Truly excellent service.

Many others have commented perfectly on the atmosphere, the people, the history, and cash only requirements, all of which make up the charm of this place as a Chicago original.

I am glad I finally got out there and every Chicago Pizza enthusiast should make the trip. You won't be disappointed, as you can enjoy this great pizza and just be thankful that Chicago has so many great and unique pizza places to enjoy.

Great job Vito & Nick's, here's to another 105 years! You have cemented your place in Chicago Pizza history....

So there we were, off on a quest for the best Chicago pizza, hyped up by some YouTube food guru. Our order was ambitious: Large pizza, wine, beer, and a cheese pizza and orange juice for our son. We settle in, and time starts dragging like we're in a slow-motion movie. Stomachs growling, my wife's got her detective eyes on. She notices, 'Hey, people who came in after us are already eating!' Feels like we're in some sort of culinary twilight zone.

An hour rolls by, and our waitress finally makes an appearance. She's got this 'I just remembered I left my curling iron on' look. 'Oops, forgot your order,' she says. Then tries to smooth things over with a free beer. I'm driving, so no thanks – not trying to turn this into an episode of 'Cops.'

We're now over an hour in, patience wearing thin. I tell my wife, 'If one more person gets served before us, we're out.' Like a bad joke, that's exactly what happens. We stand up to make our grand exit, and the staff, in a last-ditch effort, offers the pizzas on the house.

My wife, completely over this sitcom, grabs the one pizza that's ready – the cheese pizza for our son – and heads for the car. I'm left standing there, waiting for pizza number two. Then the waitress does this little sign towards the kitchen – 'They screwed up again.' No second pizza, just a hollow offer of a gift certificate. Like I'm going to come back for round two of this madness!

I join my wife at the car, only to discover the 'cheese' pizza is actually a pepper explosion. Our son's simple order turned into a spicy surprise. Into the trash it goes. Oh, and the orange juice we ordered? Showed up an hour into this ordeal, like it took a detour through another time zone.

So, there we are, over an hour and 20 minutes wasted, with nothing to show but a story. We end up at a drive-thru, where a Happy Meal comes to the rescue. Because apparently, the only place you can trust to get a kid's order right on time is a fast food joint. And that's our Chicago pizza fiasco – a lesson in patience, disappointment, and the reliability of...

"ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 4 YEARS AGO" CASH ONLY ------ 🌟 SERVICE ----------- 🌟🌟🌟🌟 FOOD QUALITY - 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Good, fresh thin crust crunchy Pizza at very reasonable prices. I liked it so much that we ordered another one to go. I wouldn't go out of my way to get it. But definitely worth it, if you're in the area. Make sure you bring plenty of cash, they don't take credit or debit cards. UPDATE 04/18/2021 CASH ONLY - NO CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS ACCEPTED -------🌟 COVID-19 DISTANCING -🌟 SERVICE ------------------------🌟 FOOD QUALITY -------------🌟🌟 This place has unfortunately dropped in their quality of the pizza and service. The pizza was salty, no sauce, it looked like it was reheated definitely not as crispy and tasty like it used to be years ago. Even their wings were salty. Our waitress wasn't friendly at all and made us feel unwelcomed. We asked her for a regular coke and she said that they ran out of regular coke, I asked her if they had any other cola products? And she said no!! On my way out by the carry out section near the counter they had a refrigerator full of regular Pepsi. I guess she either doesn't know what other Cola products mean!!! doesn't know what the restaurant has, or she is lazy. The other thing I didn't like is how close the tables are to one another and customers walking to the bathroom without wearing masks and some staff members walking around inside without wearing any masks, including the bartender and some kitchen staff. They defenetly are still operating at full capacity and as if there's no problem with...