Pranzi

Best deep dish pizza in Chicago!!! And I’ve tried Giordano’s, Lou, etc. So cheesy!!! Seriously!!! OMG! And you can pick your own stuffing! AMAZING!!!

My boyfriend and I ordered the sausage and arugula pizza because the photo of it on Unilocal looked amazing. The pizza arrived on time (within an hour) but did not look anything like the picture. The arugula looked kind of dingy, there was no balsamic glaze, and it would not shock me if it had been sitting out for a day. TERRIBLE.

Ordered food at 4, the lady repeated my credit card number and order back, both of which were correct. She said it’ll be 30 minutes. At 430 she called back saying she messed up and needed the credit card again. At 520, we got our order, which wasn’t even close to what we ordered and what she repeated. And the food was cold. Will never order there again. Food was cold and not good, and not correct.

We went here last night for some salads and veal parm and both were very good — 4 stars. Service as usual was friendly and accommodating.
If you haven’t been in this area of River North, it is a neglected area being dark and adjacent to the expressway entrance so there is an automatic disadvantage to being located here. Great restaurants in this area have failed — remember Zocalo?
Anyhoo, I have two gripes for Pranzi:
#1 — You are an Italian restaurant so why are you playing douche bag music such as clubbed-​out Bryan Adams covers and other such nonsense? How about some Sinatra or just some more updated music.
#2 — You can’t have your staff sitting at the bar texting — not professional.

My wife and I tried the pizza; the margarita and the carciofi signatures. These were solid pies. The crust was thin, crispy yet delicate and tasty. The plum tomato sauce on the margarita was fresh and savory. The carciofi was good; however, a bit too oily and a bit too much garlic. Pranzi will be a decent close pizza option for us. We look forward to trying thier other offerings soon.

My boyfriend and I had a great first-​time experience. Great service; timing was wonderful. Comfortable outdoor patio within earshot of good music on a Friday night. Feels local and the food was delicious — particularly the caprese salad, cheese pizza and gnocchi. My boyfriend would like to add: the gnocchi was «fluffy like pillows.» :) I’d recommend, especially if you live nearby and just want an easy, satisfying Italian meal.

I have mixed opinions about this place. I live around the block so I’m always tempted to order from here, but I haven’t had the best experience.
First time I went, we went in a group of 12 people and ate there. We got a bunch of different pizzas and pastas and it was pretty good. Nothing mind-​blowing but crispy pizza and flavorful pastas. The Penne Vodka was delicious! Our service was kind of slow even though the place wasn’t very packed.
The next few times I got delivery because I had coupons and almost every time the pizza arrived cold. I’ve tried their xtra thin, which is way too thin for me. And their deep dish is just not deep dish. I was not a fan. I stick to their regular thin which is crispy and cut in squares.
After so many poor delivery experiences though, I finally called and complained the last time to get my money refunded since the pizza was literally so cold that it was inedible. It took 75+ minutes to get the pizza so I was not about to wait again for another one. I was put on a hold for a ridiculously long amount of time. Finally the girl on the phone said the manager was busy and she needed his approval to refund. Instead, she could just «credit» half the amount to my phone number for when I order next. It was my birthday party and I didn’t have time to deal with all this so I just accepted. But I doubt that’ll ever get used considering there’s unlimited pizza options in the city.
Overall, pizza is good but nothing you can’t find anywhere else. The service isn’t that great, which is really hurting the place. Do better Pranzi!

Have you ever had a really good experience with a company, only to be disappointed on every subsequent experience, but you keep going back to them hoping they would return to the glory of that first experience? This is my relationship with Pranzi.
First time, the pizza was delicious.
The second time, they twice sent the wrong pizza and hung up on me when I asked for a discount to make up for the 4 hours of waiting due to the first 2 incorrect pizzas. Apparently to them, «peppers and onion» sounds like «pepperoni and sausage.»
The third time, I was ordering the pizza for my movers so I’m not sure whether it was good or bad.
Just now, however, I received the worst pizza of my life, and it was from Pranzi. The driver either carried it upside down or was juggling pizzas on her way here, because half the cheese had slid off, and the other half was stuck to the roof of the box. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise though. You see, my girlfriend has been encouraging me to use oil in my hair, and with half the cheese in dire straits, there was enough oil surfaced to fund a small Middle Eastern nation for a few years. You might think I could just enjoy the other half, but you’d be wrong — every time I went to pick up a slice, the cheese slid right off, leaving only an oily mess behind. Normally it would be in my nature to report this to the business and give them a chance to correct the issue, but I didn’t want to be hung up on again.
New suggested advertising slogan for Pranzi:
«Pizza so bad even a drunk person wouldn’t touch it.»

Pranzi has unfortunately disappointed me one to many times. I’ve purposely hesitated giving a review in hopes that the back-​to-​back unsatisfactory experiences I’ve had were just coincidental. I live in the neighborhood and Pranzi is one of the most convenient restaurants for me to have a close, easy dinner, so I hoped that my most recent visit to Pranzi would redeem it from the multiple not-​so-​great experiences I’ve had. It did not. The service is my biggest complaint. It’s simply, bad. Living in River North, it’s easy to develop an expectation for great service above most other neighborhoods in Chicago. Pranzi, on numerous visits, has not lived up to this expectation. The food is fine. It’s good, but nothing to overly rave about. Their prices are not an issue either. They’re reasonable for the area. I’d normally completely write-​off an establishment that has continuously disappointed me with bad service, but Pranzi is just down the street, so I’ll most likely give them yet another chance. They are convenient and the food is fine. I hate giving bad reviews, so if anything, hopefully this review makes its way back to Pranzi and someone there who will not take this as a slam, but a plea to try a little harder in the area of service. I want to like Pranzi and when I visit again, I really hope I have a better experience. If I do, I will definitely update this review.

I’ve been to Pranzi twice in the last week since the new owner took over the restaurant. Everything that comes out of the kitchen is amazing and fresh. Pizza, wings, specialty desserts, and much much more. Can’t wait to go back and try some other items on the menu.

Delivery was super fast and food was really good :)

So I have to admit I’m not a huge consumer of pizza. Too much cheese and way too many carbs. But had two teen-​age relatives staying with me recently, and they were in the mood. My neighbor recommended Pranzi. All I can say is that I’m now a convert to their thin crust Signature pizza.
We ordered an extra large with mushrooms, onions, chopped tomatoes and fresh basil. I asked them to go light on the mozzarella, and that’s how it arrived. There was plenty left over for breakfast the next morning (brought back fond memories of my college dorm days).
They quoted us an hour for delivery, and it arrived in 30 minutes, still hot like it just came from the oven.

A pizza and booze place with a common ordinary menu. Specials are an attempt into comfort/​fine dining with a leaping price gap from $ 10-​ish to $ 30.
HALIBUT PRIMAVERA ($ 29) — effort to provide value by including a side salad with a choice of dressing. Vegetables are nicely grilled, but not much taste. Capers in sauce IS the flavor. Halibut is slightly overcooked.
CASSATA — my curiosity became a horrid experience. Doughy.
SERVICE — it was funny that she had to ask the kitchen the difference between swordfish and halibut. Great at pouring more wine. She also gave us the check without asking for dessert service as she was going home. Diners have a better service.
RESTROOM — for a booze place, only ONE accessible stall.

The pizza here is delicious — I’m even willing to wait the 30−45min it typically takes to prepare. But the service issues described in other reviews are accurate and disappointing. One daytime server in particular has a tremendous attitude problem… I don’t know if I did something to provoke him, but he was extremely surly and defensive both times I visited.
I try to be a forgiving customer, but I really don’t want to go back. Maybe I’ll just get carry-​out.

I brought my friends from out of town to Pranzi because I get mailings from them all the time since I live downtown and figured we’d give it a try. Well let me tell you coming here was an epic mistake and you can read below to see why.
Service = Our «waiter» was probably one of the worst I have ever had. He paid extra special attention to the couple at the table next to us (I believe she was a regular), and pretty much ignored us. And when I say ignored I’m not being dramatic; just honest. It seemed as if he went out of his way to give us crappy service. I think he was trying to set the guinness book of world record for being rude to customers. The fact that two other tables in our section had a waitress who was constantly coming around to check on them and refill their drinks just made me and my friends that much more annoyed/​pissed with waiter.
Food
*Calms = Some of the calms were room temperature, but seeing how my friend didn’t feel like she needed to get them out of her body after digestion she gave them 2.5 stars
*Eggplant Rolls = Really good and the perfect amount for an appetizer. 3 stars
*Fish Tacos = Were delicious. She said she would get them again if we ever came back (which we aren’t because of the service we received). 4 stars
*Grilled Sausage Salad = Fresh ingredients and sausage was plentiful. 3.5 stars
Chicken Limone = Good, but nothing special. 3 stars
Pizza = They messed up my pizza by making it half of something I didn’t order. While the pizza overall was good they still totally screwed up my order. Seeing how our server acted like he was allergic to our table I didn’t feel like sending it back because it probably would have taken him a year to come back to our table. 2.5 stars… would have been 4 stars if I had actually gotten the pizza I ordered.
Sad that our service was horrible because I would have given this place a 3 star rating for the food, came back to try more dishes and recommended the place. However, since the service was about as bad as it can get I won’t be returning and I won’t be recommending this place to anyone… well maybe a Dallas Cowboy fan.

SOOOOO GOOD!
Get the white sauce mussels, they are amazing. The décor at the restaurant is super nice and elegant and I love the $ 20 sangrias on Saturday!

I’ve been here a number of times. The service is inconsistent: excellent to nonexistent… At other times downright rude.
The food is awful to average depending on the day.
This is a neighborhood place. Everyone looks and acts the same: River North, suburban… the men: frat, bro, loud/big-talking…the women: typical clones, too much makeup, obnoxious…
This place is a bar that serves «food»
If you visit this place with low expectations you will leave satisfied.
My experiences with the food:
The arancini is dry. The pasta is ok. The pizza is some of the worst I’ve had in Chicago. The salads are palatable. The calamari is ok.
Tip: don’t argue with or question the staff, you OWE them… They know what they’re doing… HA

Ordered Pranzi based on recommendations and I must say I was thoroughly impressed. I ordered a medium deep dish giardinerra pizza. It was really good. Lots of cheese. Could easily serve 4 – 5 people. I usually would finish it by myself but still have half left. She ordered the halibut. It was ok. Again, very generous serving. The rice that came with it was delicious. Delivery showed up about 30 minutes before the estimated time. Will definitely order Pranzi again.

Wow amazing pizza! no frozen crust hard to find a gem like this in the city. I had stubbed upon this place scrolling through my Facebook Luke Cicero the bartender/​partner had posted a delicious looking pizza within minutes I called and ordered. I just moved to the city and I can admit it’s been a struggle trying to find pizza up to par with my expectations. I’m proud to add Pranzi to my list of great pizza in the windy city of Chicago. Keep up the good work guys and thanks again Luke for making me cheat on my diet today. Go Bears!!!
I ordered extra thin XL pepperoni pizza. It was absolutely delicious. It was devoured by half time of the bears game. The price was more then fair I don’t even think you can get a pizza that cheap anywhere in the city. The drinks are also made perfectly. This sport is great for a drink or 2. Located right by the entrance of 90 and Ontario perfect place to stop to beat the traffic …” I’ll be back «*^Arnold voice.

Pranzi is an atypical Italian restaurant, it’s really a mix between an Italian restaurant and a sports bar … it doesn’t quite work. That said, be prepared for the hectic, loud, bro-​dude atmosphere.
On the plus side, they do pour large glasses of wine, but the food wasn’t anything special. My bf actually did not like his food at all, I thought mine was fine (I had the asparagus cherry tomato pasta in a white wine sauce). Further, the bread accompanying the meal was dry, which is disconcerting.