The Baked Tomato

I fear The Baked Tomato is closed, sorry they did not make it.

So I unfortunately went by the reviews on grubhub and didn’t read the reviews on Unilocal.Never doing that again. We placed an order via grubhub at 6:50pm last night. Estimated delivery time was 7:45 — 7:50 which, okay I understand because it was prime dinner time and a Saturday night. When the order was updated as having left the restaurant, the new delivery time stated 8:45 — 8:55…really? Why does it take an additional hour for delivery when we live 10 minutes away?!? So we waited, thinking it would arrive sooner. When 9:05 rolled around I was fed up and called the restaurant. They told me they had a huge order for 10 pizzas to deliver first… so you couldn’t drop my order off first knowing that this would have me wait way longer than I should have for an order for two people. Not only that, the girl on the phone was somewhat rude and unfriendly to me. She did offer me 20% off on my next order but that’s never going to happen. The food was mediocre at best… my lasagna was lukewarm and didn’t taste much like lasagna and my boyfriends sandwich was burnt. Not worth the $ 20 we spent and definitely not worth the 2 hours and 15 minutes we waited for delivery.

Disgusting. Possibly the worst pizza in Chicago. This place makes Dominos look like Giordano’s !

I actually created an account specifically to write a review on this place. I placed my order for delivery (garlic cheese bread, ribs, and chicken parm). I placed my order at 7:30 and was informed that my order would arrive by 8:30 — 8:45. I called at 9pm and was told that they were slammed with orders and only had one driver. At 9:20 my food finally arrived. I wish I could say that it was worth the wait but, in hindsight, I should have just cancelled the order and gone ANYWHERE else.
The cheesy garlic bread felt and tasted like stale bread was used. The ribs were meager, dried out, and very hard to chew. The fries that came with the ribs were soggy and had no flavor. I didn’t even bother to try the chicken parm, as I’m a bit scared to at this point.

I hate to say that the pizza is good but the service is terrible. My husband and I were repeat customers until a few months ago when we never received our pizza. When we called to inquire we were told that it was delivered… well it was not us chewing on the yummy pizza. After 2.5 hours we did receive a pizza but with no explanation or any idea as to what had happened from any of the employees. Now tonight we ordered again and over an hour goes by and we call and they tell us there was no order placed. I sat next to him as he placed it so I know it was. And again the customer service was terrible and unsympathetic to the fact that this is our dinner. Get your stuff in order because this is not how a business is run. In all my years of ordering pizza I have never had a failed delivery… this is twice too many…

We used a Groupon here last week. The food was not bad at all, especially the pizza. We got a thin crust with sausage and hot peppers. We both liked it. The spaghetti was ok, but nothing special. The service was attentive and friendly as well.
It is kind of dark and worn looking inside. It’s actually a rather large place, so it felt a bit cavernous in there as there was only one other person dining in. I would order pizza from them in the future, but doubt I’d do a sit down dinner on site.

Decent pizza but the football pizza decreased substantially in size over time. They said the box they used was bigger but that’s bs. Better joints in the city with better ‘za.

I really hate to say this, but I am extraordinarily disappointed in this place. Was… bland. We ordered pizza, ribs, mushrooms, and a couple of things and not only did we have to put the ribs in the oven for a couple of hours to soften them up, we just didn’t een bother to eat the pizza, it was that flavorless.
We did call and let them know about our experience and the customer service wa wonderful. They offered send us another meal, but in all honesty that was really tasteless too. I would love to see them retool their recipes, he’ll, they carven have my husby come over and help!

I was tempted to give this place 4 stars, but I think it’s mostly because it’s in my neighborhood. My wife and I heard from friends in the area that it wasn’t that great of a place, and it had 3 stars on Unilocal.So, still curious, I purchased a Groupon as an excuse to just give it a try. We went a few nights ago, and were pleasantly surprised.
We went for dinner and ordered their thin crust pizza with mushroom and jalapeño. The sauce was very tasty, and the pizza was pretty good overall; not the best we’ve had, but good.
The place was pretty dead, which I don’t mind, though more people in the neighborhood should definitely come here if they’re in the mood for pizza somewhere close! We sat at the bar, and the bartender was friendly and attentive, but left my wife and I to our conversation when we were talking, which I appreciate.
As for the environment, it was fairly pleasant. There were lots of TVs making noise, but not too loud. Since the place was pretty empty, I was glad that there was something other than complete silence to fill my ears that wasn’t annoying (like bad italian music or something, like another local dine-​in pizza place we’ve been to in the area). The place had a similar feel to Marie’s, another pizza place in the area that we frequent.
This place is no Boiler Room, Piece, or Apart, but it’s good and in our neighborhood, so we’ll definitely be coming back.

Weird and desolate.
UPDATE: And now closed. Tariq’s trust fund must’ve run dry.

Ok, not only do I go here on a regular basis to see Crystal and Tara, but my salon orders from here at least twice a week. When I walk into the baked tomato, I feel like I’m walking into an 80’s movie, which is actually quite comforting to me! The food never disappoints, and good conversation is always expected with the two above mentioned servers. The pizza is the freaking best, and if you want to be a bit healthier, get the spinach salad with chicken breast (suggested by Crystal) YUM!

I have to say, I am VERY disappointed in this place in the last year or so. This place used to be fantastic with service, delivery and great pizza. I have now idea what has changed. It has been a change to the bad.
Pizza was always late. And I only live less than 20 minutes away. Drivers were rude. And when there was an issue with your order, the management would get angry with me, the customer.
Sorry, but I will be skipping this place for my Friday night pizza night ritual.

For some reason, I thought the food here would be delicious — don’t ask me why. I also thought that a place called ‘The Baked TOMATO’ would be a bit more veggie friendly; they have 2 vegetarian options other than pizza.
Due to the lack of vegetarian options, both my boyfriend and I ordered the Veggie Calzone & a side of fries. There isn’t much to say about this besides bland, bland, bland. Seriously, this is the most bland food I’ve ever had.
Atmosphere-​wise, this place is a bit of a dumpy dungeon.

We went here for dinner tonight and it was better than I expected. They have a free parking lot in the back and the folks were super friendly. It’s definitely a neighborhood pizza place and you feel like you’re among friendly neighbors.
There was another couple just finishing up when we arrived. We asked what was good and they suggested the pizza — its what they’re known for. We went with their thin crust deluxe pizza and yes… it’s one of the better thin crusts I’ve had in the city! Who would have thought this little place had it in them?! To accompany our pizza, we also had their chicken wings (good!) and fried mushrooms (good too!).
There’s plenty of tvs around so we enjoyed watching Wedding Crashers while we had dinner. Aside from the tvs, there’s a full service bar and pool table. It’s definitely a place to hang out, although we were on the only ones there today (possibly due to the holiday weekend and torrential rain only a few hours earlier.)
We plan on coming back, as I used Dealavue Dollars (another restaurant gift certificate company similar to
) and we’re definitely coming back for more pizza.

I love going to the Baked Tomato, location is convenient, staff is friendly and food is delicious. I mainly stick to pizza (pick up, and eat in) and have always been happy. Great pizza (half price dine in on Wednesdays), cheap beer prices ($ 1 domestic drafts on Saturday and Sunday).
They also have lots of flat panel TV’s to watch sports (though its not an overly loud environment) and they have a pool table.

I’ve dined in here and mainly ordered for delivery. The service is quick and friendly. Depending on your pizza mood this could be a great hidden place. Personally, I stick with a pepperoni pizza as I found it’s a bit more spicy than most pizzas I have eaten in Chicago. The onion rings are pretty solid too.

Tried The Baked Tomato for the first time last night and were pleasantly suprised. Buffalo wings were good, nothing new and different just average chicken wings but that is ok. Sometimes experimenting goes too far!
Pizza is great got a XL thin crust pepperoni, good well balanced pie not too much of anything and reheated very well this morning!
Only complaint is that for the price the pie is kinda small. Definitely not an XL at most places!
All in all great neighborhood place and hubby loved the old school pizzeria atmosphere!

3.
Another GrubHub-​friendly restaurant, ordering was no problem and delivery came exactly on the projected minute which was a nice change of pace. I ordered a burger and fries and a deep dish pizza and the food was very affordable when compared to a bunch of other places near me and being on GrubHub is always going to make me take a second look at the menu.
The food was neither great nor poor and was up to snuff. The burger was mediocre and the fries were fresh cut but lacked a crispiness that one would enjoy with fries and were a bit too greasy. The burger itself seemed to come from frozen meat and was not that pleasing to the palate.
Pizza had a nice layer of sauce on the top and was Chicago-​style with your sausage, your green peppa, and your onion. It was still warm and was good but tasted better when I layed on some Parmesan, oregano, and hot pepper flakes.
You could do worse, you could do better, but Baked Tomato is the perfect three when chillin’ at the crib on lazy lockdown.

Best pizza in the neighborhood, and we’ve tried quite a few places, we love the hawaiian pizza here. We’ve ate in a couple times but usually get delivery, good beer specials and great service, but the place is usually empty and we feel a little weird.

gross!
I was going to write more, but I do not feel like wasting time doing so.