Monical’s Pizza

YAAAAAYYY!!!
they have gluten free choices!!!
I had the florentine, and it wad good.
Too bad their regular pizza is crappy.
My husband had the Italian Delight, and it wasnt. He said the sausage sucked.

Growing up in central Illinois… Monicals is a staple. It’s not the Chicago style… it’s it’s own style. All you can eat on Mondays… great young servers that hustle for their customers. I’ve brought many people from the city here and they can’t figure out why they are so far out of the city. Let’s just say… We like it that way!!! Family Pleaser all around!!!

I have return to the 80’s in a time machine called «monicles». The ambiance of that era had me expecting the cast of Goonies or breakfast club to come in and grab a pie. The music and décor was very 80s with maroon red everywhere. Sort of an upscale Pizza Hut. Our friendly server brought us 10 squishy (grocery store quality) mozzarella sticks, served Lukewarm. A mozzarella stick must be crunchy and piping hot. The pizza had a cheddary nabisco flavor with a bit too much pepperminty oregano. The taste was peculiar but not all that satisfying. Regardless, I was back in the 80s. Thank you Monicles.

I wanna start this off by saying that I am a big fan of the restaurant scene in the Urbana-​Champaign area. It is restaurants like these that really make me question the progress that these towns have been making culturally. I come down here from Joliet every weekend to visit my son Michael Mwarm, who is now studying Family Services (he switched from agribusiness) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-​Champaign. We waited here for a table for 45 minutes. Michael is staying at the Weston dorm. The food smelled very good, but we still could not find a way to get a table. Michael enjoys his classes and has really bonded with some of his professors. At any rate, even though we left without being served, I would still recommend the University of Illinois at Urbana-​Champaign.

I’ve had the meat lover’s pizza and the hawaiian pizza at Monical’s. We got the «regular» crust with the meat lover’s and the thin crust for the hawaiian. I preferred the meat lover’s pizza that night — weird because hawaiian pizza has ALWAYS been my favorite. My complaint about the hawaiian pizza is that the crust was too thin to accommodate for all the toppings (I know, I know I shouldn’t be complaining about «too many toppings»). I still ate it and it was good but could barely taste the crust. I think next time I will get the hawaiian with the regular crust.
My roommates got calzones one night and they looked and smelled delicious. Will have to try those as well. :)

It was delivered by the time they promised, and was hot and and delicious! I’d recommend it to anyone that likes terrific Chicago pizza!

I grew up on Monicals and I have always loved the cracker thin crust pizza and the salad with the french dressing. My one complaint is the sausage tastes a little funny now.

How this place doesn’t have five stars from all reviewers is beyond me. Best pizza on the planet and great ambience. Crunchy hot thin crust pizza. Yummy!

Great, friendly service. The gluten free pizza crust was great with mozzarella and spinach. I had the Italian sub which had lots of flavor.
I would definitely return when traveling through.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Monicals Pizza… and like Claudia S I too am from Chicago. So you’re probably all thinking I’m crazy if to love Monicals this much being that I have such good pizza options (Lou Malnatis, Giordanos, the list can go on) in the city I still can’t figure out if its my childhood attachment to Monicals or is the pizza is really THAT good. I’m a born and raised Chicagoan but all my family lives near Champaign where Monicals is pretty popular. Any trip down there and we were getting Monicals for dinner. I love Monicals so much my dad surprised me and drove me an hour away to this location for my birthday dinner. I guess you could say its an obsession.
My favorite part about Monicals is their french dressing… OMG it is amazing! Dip your pizza (preferably pepperoni bacon bit thin crust extra cheese =]) and it is like eating a piece of heaven!
This particular Monicals has good and quick service. I’ve been going to Monical’s around central Illinois my whole life and they are all very consistent with their customer service as well as quality of food. I’ve never had anything there that I did not like. But, like I said before, the best thing from there is a thin crust pepperoni bacon bit pizza with extra cheese, dipped in their wonderful french dressing. Gotta try it!

I think Monical’s is more of an acquired taste, but it’s worth going out of your way to acquire it.
Monical’s is super thin-​crust pizza, featuring a cracker crust with a thin layer of cornmeal on the bottom. After making a recipe of St. Louis-​Style Pizza, it’s pretty safe to say that Monical’s is the chain version of that style of pizza.
In general the chain is consistent, and this is also true for the Manteno location. The ingredients are reasonably fresh (at the very least, well-​sourced) and the breadsticks nice and yeasty… although I like them just a bit crunchier than they were here.
Of the sauces, we usually get cheddar and nacho cheese sauce, which are nowhere near homemade but still go right with the breadsticks. Same with the ranch sauce on the pizza.
If you’re heading downstate or out of state and have a craving for a new kind of pizza, give Monical’s a try.

This is really crappy super thin crust pizza that all my kids and grandkids like. It is tomato sauce with bland cheese. It is really really expensive for pizza. It is not better than pizza hut, which has some flair and the same ingredients. I heat up a cheap Theresa’s frozen pizza made in Peotone and it is better. Nice staff. If you like super thin pizza with less ingredients than dominos, and twice the cost… be my guest.

I love this pizza… and I’m a Chicagoan. My mom grew up in one of the shittylittletowns nearby and when visiting family, Monical’s became the place to go out to eat. I normally don’t like thin crust, but they just somehow get it right. Super thin without overloading the toppings to weigh it down.
Perhaps it’s not fair to review Monical’s as I’ve only EVER eaten their pizza, breadsticks and salad, but I love it. I make trips down here just for the pizza. Forget family, I want breadsticks & nacho cheese! I’ve brought many friends here, all whom are skeptical about the pizza being good and the drive being worth it but they always end up with my leftovers, because I’m just that nice.
Honestly, the food really isn’t anything special. The breadsticks are pre-​cooked and warmed up in the microwave (which is also why they re-​heat so poorly). The salad is your basic iceberg topped with cheese, large tomato wedges and carrots and the sauce on the pizza doesn’t have any flavor that makes you say «wow, that sauce was amazing!»…but it’s good pizza.
This actually isn’t my preferred location as I find the staff to be… annoying, but it suffices when I’m not paying attention and get off at the wrong exit (this location is right off 57).

Never had a bad experience with the service or anything. Staff is friendly. My issue is with the pizza, just not my style. This place has a predominantly local following i.e. you only really like this food if you grew up on it. I’m a Chicago transplant so I prefer the deep dish or stuffed style of pizza. Monicals is ultra thin which can be OK if flavorful, but the sauce is lackluster and sparing, the cheese is greasy, and the crust too thin to possess any discernible flavor. It basically reminds me of what a Tombstone pizza would be if ate fresh and never fozen. A telltale sign of the pizza’s shortcomings: everyone raves how good it is when topped with french dressing… A truly good pizza would not need such an outlandish addition to give it good flavor.

Very clean and the pizza is REALLY yummy! Some of the best pizza I’ve ever had in my 30+ years. We were the only ones in the dining room and our server was friendly but slow. She was a teenager, though.
The dining room was spotless.

This is my favorite pizza chain in Illinois. I get down to this area every once in a while for work and you can bet that Monical’s the place that I go every time.
They have a fantastic house French dressing. I usually buy a bottle to take home with me. The crust on the pizza is fluffy and their breadsticks are to die for!

Always a great place to eat with great service and great food. Whether we dine-​in, carry-​out, or get it delivered, we’re never disappointed.
If thin crust pizza is your forte, then you’re headed to the right place. Fresh ingredients help make this pizza what it is, but be sure to hang onto some French dressing to dip it into. If you’ve never tried this, you’re missing out!
This location is unique in that there is a giant tree in the middle of their dining room, but it doesn’t take away from the experience.

It had been years since I’d been to a Monical’s. I spent 7 years in Central Illinois for school and, believe it or not, we thought Monical’s was expensive and only went there for a special treat when we were sick of Papa John’s (what I wouldn’t give for Papa, now!!).
This Monical’s was clean and did not disappoint. Its sublimely thin and square-​cut pizza was just as I remembered from my student days. And be sure not to forget the special sauce! One of my friends — who had never had Monical’s pizza — was still raving about it two days later. The breadsticks hit the spot while we waited for our pizza. Our server, Mallory, was attentive and helpful.