Big Joe's — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I'm a very particular Chicagoan about pizza... Generally, I tend to enjoy tavern-style, thin crust.

I found this place when going down the street for chiropractic therapy. I was in a mild amount of pain after a really good adjustment, and just wanted to sit somewhere for a while.

I was not prepared to be impressed by Detroit-style pizza, given my state of mind and pizza snobbery. Was I ever mistaken.

The sauce is good (I recommend adding red pepper flakes, as it is a bit blander to allow for versatility in toppings). Having a smaller four-slice pizza with the edges crisped up from a clearly fresh-baked pie is awesome. I usually can't eat much more than half, so I have dinner or a decent lunch the next day.

If you do come in the hours for the pizza buffet, they do have thinner crust pizzas, but those aren't quite up to the Detroit-style that they specialize in. They already had these fluffy/flaky long appetizer rolls stuffed with pepperoni and cheese that were quite tasty, and if I didn't want to save room for the pizza, I could have easily filled up on those.

Service is what you can expect at a mom-n-pop: friendly through the exhaustion. I don't think this place is nearly as busy as it should be, given the quality of...

Three words: TURTLE. RACING. FRIDAYS.

That's all you will need to know when coming to this bar located on the north side of Chicago.

Big Joe's a cash-only dive bar located in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. Beers are cheap, and entertainment is exciting. The place is a bit on the small side (or maybe the crowds too big) but that makes it all the cozier during those frigid winter months.

What also makes this place worthwhile to me is the fact that it isn't too well known to be crowded with tourists while also being known enough to not be empty. Also, a great idea to take your out-of-town friend when they visit. A great (somewhat) hidden gem in Chicago.

And don't worry, they do take good care of the turtles. I know, I asked as well.

5/5.

PS. Best of luck if you end up with Yolanda as...

This was honestly the highlight of our trip to Chicago. We came all the way from Florida and knew we had to come here when we heard about it. We ubered from downtown which was easy enough. We arrived pretty early--around 7:30 or so which was honestly a fantastic idea. We staked out a couple seats at the bar which was really nice once the place got packed. We were able to chat with Bob and Tracy and had so much fun. We ordered plenty of drinks to acquire tickets for the turtle race 🐢 and then my friend won a chance to race. Her turtle came in second but it was a blast. We stayed till about 11 and saw three turtle races. Highly recommend this Friday night activity to everyone!!

Also, make sure you bring tons of...