Joanie's Pizzeria of Long Grove — Restaurant in Long Grove

Updated review Aug 2025:

Joanie’s has quickly become our favorite pizza place here in the northern burbs. Both The Village and The Florentine are fantastic. I love how they get that amazingly crispy outer crust, but the vegetables still retain their crisp and flavor as well. So many other places overcook the veggies.

We also really enjoy interacting with Tina. She makes a killer cocktail- both her famous Sangria and her margarita. Don’t expect a bunch of simple syrup and sugar in these, she makes them perfectly balanced without all that artificial stuff. Thanks for taking such good care of us!

And…we’re on our way to Italy this December to enjoy all that Roman and Neapolitan style pizza, but Joanie’s will always be our favorite Detroit-style pizza here in Chicago.

Original review 2024:

It’s patio season in Chicago, y’all, and what a perfect way to welcome the season than Joanie’s patio!

We came here to enjoy our first-ever (I know, but really 👀) Detroit-style pizza. We had never tried it before because we’re not big into heavy crust on pizza, so typically choose thin crust (tavern-style) or Neapolitan-style pizza, and just won’t eat the rim of the crust.

This, however, was a complete surprise! The crust was so pillowy soft, not heavy and incredibly crispy on the sides and bottom. It was one of the best pizzas we have had in Chicago!!!

And, I don’t even like Italian sausage normally, as it takes over the flavor of everything, but this pizza was so perfectly balanced with toppings and sauce, that the Italian sausage just blended in and added the right kind of saltiness to the pizza.

Recommended: The Village Detroit- Style

We also had a small garden salad. I appreciate that they put the dressing in the side so you can choose how much you want and the salad isn’t swimming in dressing.

Based on the recommendation of many, we tried the Broasted Chicken, and the first bite took me back to my childhood. It is the kind of homemade chicken that you might have experienced at a big family reunion or gathering during the summer. So incredibly memorable, not overly oily, and really great crunch on the skin.

We will definitely be back for the great food, that amazing patio, and the friendly service!!!

My only gripe is that their wine by the glass prices are a bit overpriced for the amount poured. The quality of the Sauvignon Blanc I had would have been reasonable at the $8-9 mark, but at $13 was not really worth it. Considered having a 6oz and 9oz pour at your current price points, as $13 was way too...

First time to Joanie's and we will definitely be back. The atmosphere is casual and cozy, the food is very good and the service is excellent.

We sampled Joanie's thin crust pizza, broasted chicken and baby blue salad.

The pizza is quite good and rivals our local favorite. The crust was good and crispy, the sauce was bright and not overly seasoned. The pepperoni was flavorful without being greasy and the cheese was plentiful without being too much. One thing that was really cool is that they serve the pizza on a piece of corrugated, so air can move under the crust, which keeps it from getting soggy. That makes the last piece as crispy as the first.

The baby blue salad has a lot going on with iceburg lettuce, red onion, walnuts, dried cherries or cranberries and a really nice sweet vinegarette. Everything was fresh and crispy. All the flavors played well together especially the dressing. While many sweet dressings can be too much, Joanie's seems to have gotten the recipe just right. The broasted chicken reminded me of Russell's from back in the 70s-80s. But probably better. The chicken was incredibly moist, as you would hope for. The batter was wickedly crispy without a ton of seasoning, letting the flavor of the chicken come through. The sides were a very nice creamy cole slaw and broasted potatoes. Again with the cole slaw, less is more. It wasn't drowning in dressing but was fresh and crunchy. The potatoes are crispy outside and almost creamy inside. Caution should be used with your first bites as they are like little balls of lava, in a good way. Pro tip from our waitress, get a side of barbeque sauce for potato dipping.

Obviously, I was very happy with the food. But the really pleasant surprise was the service.

Everyone we encountered seemed to be genuinely happy to be there. Our waitress seemed to be taking a while getting to us, which another waitress noticed, so she came over, apologized, took our order, brought drinks etc. Then our regular waitress appeared, apologized and explained that she had just lost an altercation with the iced tea machine and was tied up trying to dry herself off. The communal approach to service really serves the customer and staff well. They appear to be looking out for the customer, each other and the business.

I highly recommend Joanie's for a really comfortable atmosphere, solid food and excellent service.

2020 note: Joanie's is closing temporarily until approx Jan 28th for some remodeling and building repairs. Check their Facebook page for updates and...

We were loyal customers prior to the new management. In fact, aside from the delicious food, we always enjoyed interacting with Joanie herself, whose personality is larger than life..the whole experience was always a joy. Last night was our first experience under new management. The food was still delicious but our overall experience was quite disturbing...first of all, we had a large party and called ahead to see if we could get a reservation. I was told reservations were not being taken and the current wait for a table was over 2 hours. Unfortunately, some members of our party of 8 were already en route to the restaurant and unreachable, while others were trying to make arrangements elsewhere. When the members of our party arrived they were immediately seated at a table for 8...causing the rest of the party to cancel another reservation and make their way to Joanies. After our meal, the manager made us very uncomfortable by scolding a bus boy right near our table. It was extremely unprofessional that he chose to do this where patrons could hear every word. I have been in management for almost 40 years and would never ever speak to an employee in that tone using that type of language under ANY circumstances, let alone on the floor where patrons could hear this. Then, a short time later, the same manager came to our table to ask about the call we made where we were told there was a 2 hour wait. His response was i must have spoken to "a 15 yr old answering the phone who didnt know what he/she was doing." Another inappropriate comment by this manager which I am sure resulted in the same type of treatment to the employee he suspected of providing this information. When Joanie ran this restaurant the perception was all of the employees loved her and her relationship with the staff and customers were like family...I am sure she was tough but i dont believe she would chastise an employee on the floor. Last night, due to the inappropriate style of this manager, the atmosphere was hostile towards the staff which made it uncomfortable for myself and my family. Although the food continues to be incredible, we are not planning on dining in again...