Santullo's

After stuffing myself with pies from 6 other pizzerias, I decided to (of course) eat more pizza and grab my first "NY-style" slice in Chicago at Santullo's while waiting for my table down the street at Piece Pizza.


At this point, I'd had a good variety of deep dish, Neapolitan, artisinal and thin crust pizza throughout Chicago, but no hot slices. Thankfully Santullo's, located in the oh-so-hip Wicker Park neighborhood, couldn't have been more convenient for me at the time.


The place has a welcoming, almost kitschy rockabilly feel to it, with plenty of seating and tongue-in-cheek humor regarding its clientele.


I was so used to stumbling into NY pizza joints and placing my order with anyone willing to take it- not the case at Santullo's. I had to be redirected to the front register (even though I was the only customer around).


It was there that I came across Santullo's esteemed "Best Pizza" award next to the register. I don't really understand it- it's a...pizza cutter attached to a golden wire-frame pizza slice? Hmm, okay. Pretty sweet.


This coupled with the seemingly endless reheat process, I was seeping with anticipation for my slice. "This is going to be so awesome," I remember thinking to myself.


...This is so not awesome. Look at the muted layer of coagulated cheese. In this light (which to be fair is unflattering), it looks almost like prosthetic skin. Did I just make that up? After a good four minutes reheating in the oven, the slice was somehow piping hot and incredibly soggy at the same time.


The last time I ate a slice this shitty and sloppy it was at Blondie's in San Fran. No, Santullo's slice isn't quite as bad, but after making my way halfway through and sampling the crust, I tossed it in the trash all the same. And that's saying a lot.


Sure Santullo's, if that's what you wanna call it. At this point I realized Chicago should stick to making deep dish, and NY should stick to making slices. Please.