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Tonight, the Chow Poodle and I decided to go to Marie's for some pizza. What great timing! It turns out that tonight and tomorrow night, Marie's is offering dine-in customers 1/2 price pizza as a token of customer appreciation. Wednesday night, it will be 1/2 price spagetti & meatballs. This is a really nice gesture by Marie's and certainly a good excuse to go there for pizza tonight or tomorrow. In addition to this great deal, when I was there a couple of weeks ago with G Wiv, the bartender told us that you can go next door to the attached liquor store and buy any bottle of wine in the shop and have it with dinner for either no or a very low corkage charge (I forget which it was).

Marie's Pizza
4127 W. Lawrence
773-725-1812

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Yep, great deal. Corkage is $2.50.

This is one of my favorite pizzas in Chicago. I've long been on record as bemoaning the lack of good pizza within say, a 10-mile radius of our house. Fact is, I've never had a good pizza delivered while living in Chicago, including Marie's.

But Marie's offered enough promise (barely) on delivery, and enough consistent recommendations from reliable sources, that we gave it a second shot on-site a couple months ago. Marie's makes a very good pizza, Chicago-style thin, to be sure, but nicely balanced, tangy sauce, lots of grease, well-salted but not too salty. I like this pizza a lot.

In addition, what's not to like about a pizza place with a liquor store attached? And the decor is standard time warp--lots of painted and engraved mirror, red leather booths, huge glass chandeliers. We don't go out for pizza much--almost ever in fact--but I think we'll start going a lot more frequently.

The other question this experience raised is whether Chicago-style pizza suffers exceptionally on delivery. All pizza does, of course, but the difference between Marie's delivery and eat-in is surprisingly huge.

Anyway, thanks for posting about the discount days. We were there Sunday, and I meant to post about the deal, but it slipped my mind. I think Wednesday has 1/2 off ravioli as well as the spaghetti and meatballs. Has anyone had these dishes at Marie's?

Cheers,

Aaron

I have never had anything except for the outstanding thin crust pizza, salad and an occasional order of garlic bread at Maries. I have been going there for most of the 40 something years they have been in business (on and off). I have seen other diners eating some of the Italian-American dishes and they didn't look special enough for me not to order pizza. I've always meant to try their fried chicken, but have never been able to shake the pizza Jones long enough to do it.

P.S. I don't understand people who bemoan Chicago Pizza. We are lucky to live in one of the greatest chow towns in the world, and our pizza (both thin & pan) is something you can't duplicate anywhere else. I can understand the New York snobbishness when it comes to anything that is different than what they get back there (it's in their nature to whine), but to suggest that you can't get a good pizza in Chicago is ridiculous!

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

I'm not going to rehash the debate here, just trying to put my praise for Marie's in context. I can count on one hand the (not deep or stuffed) pizzas I would happily return to in Chicago--Marie's, Vito and Nick's, Pizza DOC (at one time), Bricks, and Slice of Italy (now closed). (I've only been to Caponie's once, and it was okay but not too special--I'll happily give it another chance someday.) Of those, only the first two are what I would call Chicago-style thin.

In contrast to those two, I don't think I could count on all my fingers and toes all the poor quality, inedible to mediocre Chicago-style thin pizzas that have been delivered to my door in the roughly four years I've lived in this city. I don't care about Chicago vs. New York vs. New Haven vs. Naples vs. Dayton vs. wherever.

I'm not saying you can't get good pizza here, it's just harder than I expected. I'm happy I found one at Marie's. I'm still waiting for good pizza delivered.

I have to say that on a trip to Marie's a couple of weeks ago, the waitress/bartender tried to charge both Erik M. and me for drinks we did not order (and in my case did not have -- she made him one drink claiming that the placement of his empty glass was an implicit order; I had only two beers partly because I rarely ever have more than that and especially because a prescription I'm on strictly warns against any alcohol but then is realistic enough to say "stop at two"). I think I speak for both of us when I say we were happy to pay for what we actually had consumed, but she became furious with us, took the money for the nonexistent third beer out of her purse and slammed it on the counter, told the other waitress/bartender to finish dealing with us, and went over to the other end of the bar to have a drink and sulk.

While I'm sure this is an atypical experience, I'll refuse to be served by her again on my future trips there.

I really don't want to rehash the pizza debate either. I'm just saying that I don't get it when people dont appreciate what we have here. I LIKE Vienna products and don't understand when a place serving them is dissed. I LIKE chicago style deep dish and thin pizza and don't understand all the complaining. I travel a lot and am always glad to get home to some really great chow.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Half price pizza at Marie's is quite a deal.Almost like stealing considering their already low everyday prices. My boys and I went to Marie's last week.A large sausage pizza,1 Heineken and 2 7ups came to a whopping $16! Prices in the liquor store are reasonable as well..one stop shopping.

Another place that has become one of my favorites for pizza is the Edison Park Inn. EPI does a classic Chicago thin crust pizza in a wood fired oven.Thin and crispy from crust to center,very much like Marie's without the greese.Atmosphere wise tho Marie's wins hands down.

Edison Park Inn
6715 N Olmsted
Chicago
Across from the EP Metra station

We went to Marie's Pizza last night around 7:30. I thought it would be packed, but there were many tables open. I have driven past this place hundreds of times and never stopped in. Boy, has it been my loss. We got a booth across from the bar, the waitress was very nice and got us a couple of Corona's . We ordered a large sausage pizza, it came in 15 min and it felt like 2 min , we were so busy checking the place out. When she put the pizza down I could tell this was going to be good, it was great! This was the type of pizza we had growing up, thin, crispy, alot of good sausage and cheese and nice and greasy, the way a pizza should be. I was making yummy noises to the last piece. And the decor, I wouldn't change a thing. 1 lg sausage pizza, 2 Corona's $11.00. Thinking about going back for the spaghetti and meatballs or ravioli tonight. Stevez, Thank you very much for bringing make some childhood taste memories and of course telling me about Marie's. Kim

I guess my question is, name someplace with better pizza than chicago. What are you comparing your experience to? Where have you had a good pizza delivered?

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Bob Kopczynski
http://www.maxwellstreetmarket.com
"Best Deals in Town"

Dallas (Irving, actually) and Omaha, which is to say, everyplace I've lived besides here. And those aren't exactly renowned as bastions of pizzanary excellence. Which is why it has been so perplexing to have such a hard time ordering a decent pizza here.

It's not like I'm coming from Naples or New Haven, where there's a rock solid pizza snob tradition. I never thought any place (city) had better or worse pizza than anyplace else before I moved here.

I thought you could pretty easily get decent pizza wherever you lived, kind of like I think you can get a pretty decent burger wherever you live.

It's not like I haven't had bad pizza other places, I've just had a lot more of it here. Maybe it's just a function of luck, in that in other cities I've found the good ones quickly enough so I haven't had to wade through all the crap like I have here. But the surprising thing is that a lot of places here (remember, talking about Chicago-style thin)--for example, off the top of my head, La Villa on Pulaski, Roma on Irving Park, and Pete's on Western--all serve pizzas that are pretty much of the same style and don't taste very good to me.

This is the closest thing we've got to a good Marie's thread, so here goes.

My wife wrote off Marie's a long time ago as "too greasy for her" which is a death-knell in the world of pizza with her.

The stars aligned and caught her in a forgiving mood recently and we had some pizza at Marie's, which was excellent: thin, crisp, flavorful, and not at all greasy. I had a memory of Marie's sausage having a very strong fennel flavor, which it did not on this evening (or maybe it was just overpowered by the garlic on the pizza).

Besides the great pizza, Marie's is overflowing with old-school charm from the pizza makers in the window to the bar to the career waitresses to the "classic" booths.

If you're like me and you've been a bit let down by the recent changes in Candlelite's pizza, you might want to go back to Marie's. Or if you've never been there, now's as good a time as any to make your first visit.

Best,
Michael

Thanks for the reminder, Michael. I'm a pretty big fan of Marie's style of thin crust -- I like the slight greasiness and the not-too-crisp but very thin crust. Thankfully, the wife LOVES greasy pizza. Maybe we'll trek up there again soon.

My one complaint is the same I have about almost all pizza places: the garlic tastes like it is the pre-minced jarred kind, rather than freshly chopped. However, it might be pushed through a garlic press... I find both kinds give garlic a kind of metallic taste that I just don't like.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Yeah, there's that, but the garlic tasted hefty and fresh at this recent meal. My big beef is the canned mushrooms.

Best,
Michael

Michael,

Count me among the Marie's Fan group, hard to resist the old school vibe, flying pizzas in the window, full service liquor store with decent selection of wine, $2.50 corkage on any bottle bought in the store, and damn good thin crust pizza.




Decorated for the Holidays


One particularly nice touch was my little niece did not seem interested in any of the desserts. The hostess, overhearing the exchange between Annie and the waitress, suggested she might want to choose from the 'secret' freezer of ice cream bars, cookies, Popsicles and other assorted treats. (Meaning the freezer chest in the liquor store)

Annie was pleased as punch with the special treatment and picked out a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, which was on the house. A very nice gesture by the hostess.

Annie/Hostess at Marie's


Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Picked friends up at O'Hare Friday night and, after multiple flight delays, our dining choices started to become limited. I tossed out both Kuma's and Marie's with Marie's edging out Kuma's as they are wine buffs and the thought of a full liquor store to browse to accompany our pizza was quite alluring.

Marie's crisp thin crust was it's typical ever so slightly greasy charming self, but what was funny when they inquired about the over the top decorations, pictured above, I said it was year around then realized the last time I was there was a year ago.

Pizza, price and friendliness of the waitress, even close to midnight, was impressive, I'll definitely be back before another year goes by.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I made my first trip to Marie's tonight, with a couple of neighbors of mine. While it wasn't the best pizza I've ever had, it reminded me of the pizza I ate growing-up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s-60s - the cracker crust.



Marie's features some $2 appetizer-like specials on Tuesday's and prior to the large mushroom/onion pizza we sampled an Italian Beef sandwich, an Italian Sausage in red sauce (with meat), a Greek Salad, and an Antipasta Salad (each a small serving but easily shared by 3 people). The beef was lean and well-cooked, but lacked any descernable taste of spices. The sausage was made without casing and had a soft almost soggy texture but the red sauce with the delayed pucker effect saved it. The salads were good, fresh and the salami on the antipasta plate rose above everything else.



When I eat pizza now I use what Coalfire serves as my standard against which I compare other fare, and Marie's wasn't much competition - but it's a different style pizza and therefore any such comparison isn't of much value. I thought the pizza was bland, lacked flavor - but, oddly, I enjoyed it nonetheless. However, one of my companions at the table is in her mid-90's, has been to Coalfire with me - and she declared the pizza the best she'd ever eaten. "Now, this is a meal!" she proclaimed.



Accompanying the meal we drank from a bottle of Fortissimo - my favorite home-style red table wine, which I was surprised to find on a shelf in the attached liquor store. I like the feature at Marie's where diners can choose one of the scores of wines in the liquor store and have the bottle delivered to the table and served, at retail price, with just a small corkage fee added.

The restaurant was better than 50% full, bar and restaurant seating, and the one waitress on duty handled the chores well - we weren't ignored nor were we pestered. We ate in the dining room, not the bar.





For dessert we shared a tortoni ice cream and cannoli. The tortoni was spumoni without the coloring. The cannoli was 'day old' but okay.

The tab for the food and wine came to $48, before tip. Three people dining-out can't have as good a time as we did, eating and being with one another, for much less than we paid tonight.

It was a good but not great meal and if I'm in the area in the future and hungry I won't hesitate to stop back, and maybe I'll give some of the other menu offerings a try.

DH and I really like Marie's too. It's a great place to go when you want a decent meal at a really good price. There are many nightly specials as well. I agree that it isn't the best pizza you'll ever eat, but the cracker crust and gooey cheese are sure to be a favorite!

Marie's has announced their 2008 (their 68th year) Customer Appreciation Days 9/22 - 24, 2008. Monday and Tuesday (9/22 & 9/23) pizzas will be 1/2 price when dining in. On Wednesday 9/24, spaghetti & ravioli will be 1/2 price for dining in. Marie's Customer Appreciation Days are one of the highlights of the pizza-eating calendar in Chicago. Even though I'll have just eaten there the week before, I'll be back for some 1/2 price pizza!

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Blissfully, Marie's hasn't changed a tick in the past year, stuck in the same time warp as Sabatino's. (If there are any adjustments, it's Cliff slowly working on the beers in the liquor store, and not the restaurant / bar half).

I was reminded tonight of how good their basic antipasto is in addition to the pizza - it's Chicago antipasto salad to be sure, with weak black olives and iceberg, but an abundance of tangy pepperoncini, thick-cut cheese, tight-rolled salami, and a homemade milled garlic dressing that hits the spot. Chicken wings and toasted ravioli (stuffed with sausage and an unexpectedly yellow/orange cheese) were also good, but as always, the star was the Marie's Special pizza, which elsewhere in Chicago would just be a "supreme," though without pepperoni. To quote eatchicago, the quality does decline exponentially with distance from the oven, but for a brief shining moment it is the best old school thin crust on on the North Side, in my experience.

Canned mushrooms or no (and at least on the pies I sampled, they were toasted nicely to the point of indistinguishability from thin-sliced fresh buttons), it's a tasty place.

Marie's Customer Appreciation Days 2009

Monday & Tuesday 9/21/09 & 9/22/09 - 1/2 price pizzas (eat in only)
Wednesday 9/23/09 - 1/2 price spaghetti & ravioli

This is a great annual event. We'll be going on one of the 1/2 price pizza nights.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Thanks for the heads up, I forgot it was time for this. Too bad it's not for a whole month!

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LADIES - Please check out my girlfriend's clothing site that might be of use to someone you know PM me for coupon

The perfect storm came together yesterday, I haven't been in the neighborhood long and have had an extensive list to try, so I hadn't made it here yet, but I caught a thin crust craving. Thanks to LTH, it happened to occur during customer appreciation days at Marie’s. Large pep and black olive was thin, not overly cheesed and surprisingly not all that greasy. Just what I was craving and i'll be going back soon.

Stevez, thanks for the reminder.

My family(me, wife, 18 month old and 1 month old) hit Marie's for any early dinner last night. It was a perfect storm. Our oldest was grooving to the Dean Martin soundtrack and making new friends while lil baby decided to sleep through dinner. Our cheese pizza, a well done Marie's special pizza, greek salad, and a couple beers came to a whopping $24. I very nice early evening out.

The consistency at Marie's is what really makes it for me. I go there knowing what to expect and they always deliver.

I am overjoyed to report - thanks to an assist from Mr. Suburban - that the mushrooms on Marie's pizza are actually now thin-sliced fresh buttons and not canned, and were indeed already fresh as I suspected when I made the above comment. Another reason to be excited about this retro pizza haven.

That is exciting news indeed! I've been boycotting Marie's for years now because of the canned mushrooms, and encouraging my allies to do the same. Pizza parlors that commit these kinds of atrocities have to be sent a message that there are consequences. Thank you to the Suburban envoy for important work in improving interneighborhood relations.

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...defended from strong temptations to social ambition by a still stronger taste for tripe and onions." Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis

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Kenny,

Nadine mentioned to me that this move was actually a response to what she'd read here. She loves LTHForum and really does value our opinions. I kid you not.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Marie's and the Sauganash Whole Foods appear to be the food sponsors for an event in my (and Marie's,) neighborhood this Saturday - "Gomptoberfest" in Gomper's Park. It is a fundraiser for a new children's playground in the park. I'm not affiliated with the event in any way, but I do like Marie's pizza and I know some of you do too, so here's a little info:

Gomptoberfest
Saturday, October 3rd - rain or shine
21 and over ONLY
7:30pm-10:30pm
4222 W. Foster Ave (corner of Foster & Pulaski)
$5 entrance fee (includes a raffle ticket)
Food, Wine, and Beer available (Superior Wine and Glunz Beer also sponsors)
Live Music (no details)

It will be interesting to see how well the pizza travels/holds-up. I've always thought eating in is the way to go there. I'm curious enough to go find out. (And, of course, want to help out the kiddies...)

As the first person ever on LTHForum take Marie's to task for those mushrooms, I have a great sense of personal pride in this accomplishment. Go ME!!

What revolution should I start next?

We frequently get carryout or delivery pizza from Marie's. In fact, I'd wager we do this a greater percentage of the time than eating in. The pizza holds up reasonably well to the journey. Of course a delivery pizza on a cold, busy Friday night might not exactly be the best one you've ever had, but that is true of anyplace.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Mushroom Pizza - October 2, 2009:


Glad to have Marie's Pizza back in my life.

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...defended from strong temptations to social ambition by a still stronger taste for tripe and onions." Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis

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