Bell’s Pizza Plus

On Friday nights, we stop at Bell’s to pick-​up dinner. We always order a large half pepperoni, half sausage pizza and fried dough balls with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and marinara dipping sauce. If you went to school at Northern Illinois University, they are exactly the same as our beloved beer nuggets. The pizza is around $ 18.00 and the dough balls are like $ 3.50. Our order is always piping hot. The dough balls never make it home because I wolf those down in the car. Bell still uses the heavy cardboard boxes that Pizza Hut can’t afford to anymore, so our pizza stays hot the extra 20 minutes it takes to get home.
I love Bell’s small town, mom & pop joint feel with the ice cream bar in the middle, even if I’ve never seen the ice cream bar in operation. I know it’s outdated, but it’s warm and reminds me of simpler times and simpler places. The owner is very nice, even if the staff has to be prompt by a sign above the phone that says to speak nicely to customers. Every restaurant needs a sign like that. Sometimes, they forget out order, but they rush and apologize which I respect when places take responsibility and own up to their shortcomings.
The food is delicious and made from scratch when you order it. The pizza crust is good and old fashion, the marinara sauce is perfect (not too sweet, not runny, not weird, a little tart), the sausage is delicious, pepperoni is just right, but my favorite is the cheese. It is thick, milky and chewy. I love my cheese chewy like an extra layer of cheesy crust on the pizza. I don’t know how they can make a profit on the pizza when it seems kind of expensive to make with all the ingredients piled on. I wouldn’t order the medium because it’s almost the same price as the large pizza but so much smaller. Just go for the large. It re-​warms even better the next day. One of my all time favorite restaurants and definitely my favorite pizza place.