Monday, June 1, 2009

A Slice of New York: Gigio's

The blog Slice, dedicated to all things pizza, reviews Gigio's and declares it "Solid option for Chicagoans seeking a New York pizza fix." Read the whole review here. It includes some history on this long-time Uptown fixture:

Gigio’s was opened by the Buttitta family in 1965 after they moved to Chicago from Palermo, Italy. The original location was about 10 blocks south on Broadway. That neighborhood got a lot nicer and rents went up, so in 1993 John Buttitta moved the restaurant to a part of Uptown that does not appear headed for dramatic increases in property value any time soon. There are a few other Gigio’s in the area, most notably one in Evanston, but the only Gigio’s that is tied to the Uptown one is the D'Gigio's Pizza, which is far west on Belmont and also offers catering services.

10 comments:

  1. Great stuff if you like tons of cheese and grease! This is old school pizza, nothing healthy about it. I'd suggest delivery, carryout is not for the faint of heart.

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  2. Yes its great if your body would handle it. Even when I drive by and see the Gigio sign my arteries start to clog up. It for the young at heart............

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  3. I've been going here for more than 12 years. Try it, it's consistently fabulous!!!!! One of the best things about it is that they use fresh REAL dough...not those frozen frisbee crusts that most other places use. Sure, you can't eat it all of the time, but very few places have as good crust and sauce. Don't let the riff raff in front frighten you. This is a GREAT place to order from!!!!!
    They are honest people with a good product!!!

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  4. Gigios has been there since I was a young lad going to Gordon Tech High in 1973. It is GREASE personified, but extremely TASTY when you are under the influences of those nasty teenage years! A buddy from back in the day tried it recently and found it just as TASTY!! Do they still have the bullet proof glass?

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  5. Sorry, won't see my pizza loving backside in that joint. It's a mess. If they don't care enough about the neighborhood to keep their little slice of it neat and orderly than they don't care enough about my business. And it's not the riff raff in front that will scare me off, it's the look of the business.

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    1. Sorry to hear that brotha, this is the best pizza you'll ever have! Hands down!

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  6. Chuck, lighten up! Gigio's is an Uptown institution. Frankly, I'm suspicious of any pizza joint that looks too clean. I normally go delivery with them, but have picked up on occasion. It's not for the faint of heart in terms of grit and interesting street characters, but it's right by Uptown Bikes and I more often than not see a cop car parked nearby. I'd say it's pretty close to perfectly safe.

    I hate to say it, but people who can't get behind a place like Gigio's probably moved to the wrong neighborhood.

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  7. Josh, your comment has been removed but I would like to respond anyway.

    Maintaining standards is not snobbery (as you stated I was in your since-removed post). Helen, and you (as was painfully obvious in your removed post), may be quite satisfied with the status quo in Uptown; I and some others are not. Economic and cultural diversity is no reason for any neighborhood to keep the bar as low as it is in ours. One can be poor and still remain proud of their home, business, street, block, neighborhood, and city. And while those of us who have chosen to remain in Uptown would like to raise the bar higher we do wish to maintain the flavor that we love about this neighborhood.

    And, honestly, I don't think wanting a clean, friendly, welcoming pizza parlor is snobbery in the least. It's simply basic common sense.

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  8. Economic and cultural diversity is no reason for any neighborhood to keep the bar as low as it is in ours. One can be poor and still remain proud of their home, business, street, block, neighborhood, and city.


    I remember having some of the best food in my life from so-called "greasy spoons." We paid for the food, not the ambiance. But then, I'm old, and not as fearful of bad decorating as are, apparently, some newer residents of the neighborhood.

    When the diners are replaced by fern bars, there goes the soul of the neighborhood.

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  9. This neighborhood's got lots of problems. But people who see Gigio's as one of them need to have their heads examined or maybe just stick with the tex-mex eggrolls at The Cheesecake Factory (or any other overly sanitized eating experience).

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