G Wiv wrote:

Josephine wrote:Like that innovation in flavor, G Wiv! Was it your idea or was Jimmy serving it up to his family?

Evolved naturally from a conversation I was having with Jimmy and his mom Sarah.

Speaking of conversation, Sarah spoke highly of just opened Chicago Pocha, said the owner was know far and wide for her soups and "country style" cooking in the Korean community. I had the good fortune to be invited by Jimmy and his parents, Doug and Sarah, for a meal and would heartily agree. In particular Spicy cod soup, Kwang Uh Mae Woon Tang and tendon salad.

Mr. Kang gave me my first introduction to Makkoli, Korean fermented rice wine. 6% alcohol, distinctive fermented tang softened by the natural sweetness of the rice, served cold in a cold metal bowl Mr. Kang said was traditional.


Spicy cod soup, Kwang Uh Mae Woon Tang


Chicago Pocha
5854 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773-728-7274
6pm - 2am (I suggest a call to confirm hours)
Sign still says Matsu Shita

I just gave them a call. They are no longer Chicago Pocha, and are in fact back to Matsu Shita. The food reflects the change as well.

G Wiv wrote:Stopped at Jimmy's PC for a couple of slices last week and hit the bonus round, kimchi, mushroom and garlic, no bulgogi on hand. Exceptional pizza, exceptional combination, exceptional flavor, can't wait to try one with bulgogi.

Bulgogi, mushroom, garlic, kimchi with raw eggs on top and a gochujang/daenjang mix on the side.

Bulbogi, mushroom, garlic, kimchi, egg at Jimmy's Pizza Cafe



I've waxed poetic about Jimmy's crust, thought I'd let this picture add a little more to the conversation.

Beauty shot, Jimmy's crust



I should point out this artfully prepared and delicious pizza is not available without preorder, though Jimmy was clear he would happily make kimchi bulgogi pizza a regular menu item if demand warranted.



Very happy to see Jimmy's Pizza Cafe nominated for a GNR, count me a fan of a GNR for Jimmy's.

Enjoy,
Gary

My wife and I finally tried the White Pizza from Jimmy's last night and loved it. Despite being told that it would be an hour for delivery, the pizza was on our kitchen counter an amazing 22 minutes after we ordered. Unfortunately, it was cold outside and the pizza needed a little rewarming and the crust needed a little crisping up. So we blasted the slices in our oven for 4 min and they were perfect.

Much to Mr. X's chagrin, we don't eat a lot of pizza. Good thing he doesn't read this board much so I won't have to explain myself. I was out running errands yesterday and was hungry. I knew it was a little risky, but I went to Jimmy's just before 11 hoping to get a slice. I only had to wait about 5 minutes for the sausage pizza to come out of the oven. I can see why we're talking about this pizza. The crust was crispy, yet tender. I really felt the sauce shined -- I'm not sure if it was more than just good tomatoes but it was great. I had some magical bites where the balance of sauce to sausage to crust with a couple of crushed red pepper flakes was perfect. I did think some of the crust was underdone -- the bottom was fine, but some of the crust under the toppings wasn't fully cooked. I did really enjoy the bubbled crispy edges and I'm not much of a edge person.



I also had a pepperoni roll which I posted about in the Best Things You've Eaten Lately thread. Wow.

Jimmy's is the kind of pizza I like -- good yet minimal crust, high quality toppings. I'll have to surprise Mr. X one of these days by ordering some for delivery.

The GP wrote:Jimmy's is the kind of pizza I like -- good yet minimal crust, high quality toppings.

I would have to agree about the quality of the crust. It's light, airy, with a high degree of both crackle and chewiness. Having said that, I don't really consider it representative of New York style za, what Tony Bourdain refers to as a "utility" slice. First of all, it's not greasy enough -- I distinctly missed the red oil slick that should have pooled on my paper plate by the time I was finished eating. Jimmy's also uses much less mozzarella than what I was accustomed to growing up in NY. I'm used to the molten cheese and toppings fusing into a quasi-solid masss that pulls away into threads each time you take a bite. Jimmy's sauce is nicely balanced but he also uses far less than what I remember from my childhood.

In the end, you have crispy, chewy, dry slice of pizza which stands on its own merits. There's no doubt in my mind that the star of Jimmy's pizza is the quality of crust which outshines most of the New York pizza I have ever consumed. I'm looking forward to nabbing more of the white pizza in the future.

I should mention that Jimmy's is closed on Mondays which thwarted my first attempt to visit.

G Wiv wrote:

G Wiv wrote:Beauty shot, Jimmy's crust

This type of crust was sadly missing on both the white slice I tried as well as the sausage (which crumbled sausage on pizza I'm not a fan of)
as a result, I have no need to go rushing back to Jimmy's.

If folks keep having terrific pizza, I guess I'll have to give them another shot but in my back to back tastings, Dante's had the better slice.

Jimmy's Pizza continues to impress me. It's solidly in my delivery rotation, though I usually re-crisp the slices in my oven. Counter service is fairly brisk during lunchtime, so don't be deterred by a line.

Large white just arrived and it's perfect as usual. Bonus points for prompt delivery this far east. Jimmy's still rules.

Hear, hear Alek. I was at an event last week where Jimmy's delivered 12 pizzas to feed the crowd. High marks all around. Love Jimmy's.

pro-tip for reheating the occasional slice of leftover Jimmy's, pop a slice on a preheated cast iron skillet and into a hot oven for a minute or two

Jimmy's has been a regular post-work Friday evening stop for a while and they consistently deliver but the slice of mushroom I just ate was one of the best slices i've eaten period. Perfect chewy crust, tons of fresh mushrooms and just enough fresh parm grated over the top. If you like NY style slices and mushrooms, get some ASAP.

EDIT: lol, just realized I'm the only one posting in the jimmy's thread

Yeah, I don't bother posting on Jimmy's but I'm there quite a bit as it's so close to me. I find the pizza to be consistently excellent . . . best NY-style pies/slices in Chicago in my opinion.

Everyone, try the calzones! I like Jimmy's pizza, but I died a little bit from happiness/deliciousness when I had one of their calzones.

Love Jimmy's White Pizza. Make sure to add other toppings - my memory was false that there is sausage on it. There isn't. Recently got one and it was just the cheese. Still good though, but add other toppings if you want them.

I've never been impressed by their beignets, but I'm spoiled by Cafe DuMonde.

They are SUPER fast with delivery.

Jimmy's Pizza Cafe, 7-years in business pizza is as good, if not better, than when they opened.



Jimmy's Pizza Cafe, Count me a Fan!

Picked up a pie from Jimmy's Pizza Cafe got to chatting with the affable Jimmy and tried a slice of burrata. Tip-top ingredients combined with talent yielded deliciousness. Just when the rich slice seemed over the top the basil leaf perked up my palate. Amazing what a single leaf of basil can do in the right hands.




Jimmy's Pizza Cafe, Count me a Fan!

Maybe it's a timing thing but the last few times I've been by for a slice (or two), my reheated slices have been sub-par. On the other hand, I stopped at Gigio's in Evanston over the weekend and their NY-style was better than I remembered - and as good as I've had here.

Thin, crisp, depth of flavor, Jimmy's Pizza Cafe 9.1 One bite, Everybody knows the rules.





Jimmys Pizza Cafe, count me a Fan!

Apparently the building was trying to remodel and turn into condos, and kick out Jimmy's during the construction - but I think the Alderman stopped it.

Jimmy's Pizza Cafe has found a new location, about a mile due south of the original location, near Montrose and Western. They hope to be open in that location by the fall.

https://chicago.eater.com/2021/7/22/225 ... ravenswood

Jimmy’s Pizza Cafe, 2434 W. Montrose Avenue, planned for a September opening.

lodasi wrote:Jimmy's Pizza Cafe has found a new location, about a mile due south of the original location, near Montrose and Western. They hope to be open in that location by the fall.

Montrose just west of Western on the north side of the street, I drove by for a look-see. Space is huge, the counter person said about two months from yesterday.

I love Jimmy's pizza, crisp undercarriage, juicy toppings, flavor for days. Two slices and a soda for $10, quite the deal.

click to enlarge



Jimmy's Pizza Cafe, count me a Fan!

It is indeed huge. I ate there a bunch when it was Nick's Pizza and Pub...which didn't last too long. And, that was a great place for families because it was so big, but Nick's made the asinine decision (imo) to maintain their shelled peanuts on every table gimmick (including tossing shells on the floor). I don't know if was directly linked to their closing...but we know multiple families with peanut-allergy-kids who could never even step inside the place.

And back to Jimmy's, I really hope it succeeds there, but I'm nervous. Jimmy's has one of my favorite pizzas in the city (and probably the best NY variety in Chicago). But that's going from a storefront to one of the biggest restaurant spaces in Lincoln Square. It kind of reminds me of when Pork Shoppe expanded its empire from a small restaurant in Avondale to a huge place in Andersonville....and neither survived for long.

Hopefully Jimmy got a sweet covid lease on the new space (and a no-peanuts clause)... and we'll be enjoying that place for years. Good luck Jimmy!

jellob1976 wrote:It is indeed huge. I ate there a bunch when it was Nick's Pizza and Pub...which didn't last too long. And, that was a great place for families because it was so big, but Nick's made the asinine decision (imo) to maintain their shelled peanuts on every table gimmick (including tossing shells on the floor). I don't know if was directly linked to their closing...but we know multiple families with peanut-allergy-kids who could never even step inside the place.

And back to Jimmy's, I really hope it succeeds there, but I'm nervous. Jimmy's has one of my favorite pizzas in the city (and probably the best NY variety in Chicago). But that's going from a storefront to one of the biggest restaurant spaces in Lincoln Square. It kind of reminds me of when Pork Shoppe expanded its empire from a small restaurant in Avondale to a huge place in Andersonville....and neither survived for long.

Hopefully Jimmy got a sweet covid lease on the new space (and a no-peanuts clause)... and we'll be enjoying that place for years. Good luck Jimmy!

If I remember correctly, didn't Nick's release a statement when they closed basically condemning the neighborhood for not being supportive enough? No mention of how they weren't supportive of the neighborhood's (valid) criticism of the peanut thing. No mention of how their pickup staff seemed disorganized and clueless every time we went there.

I tried to order Jimmy's on Friday, and it was 90 minutes just for pickup! I assumed everyone was trying to get their last pizzas from the old location. I'm excited for the new digs (not excited that it's a mile further away from me, but what can you do? ).

LPython wrote:
If I remember correctly, didn't Nick's release a statement when they closed basically condemning the neighborhood for not being supportive enough? No mention of how they weren't supportive of the neighborhood's (valid) criticism of the peanut thing. No mention of how their pickup staff seemed disorganized and clueless every time we went there.

I never saw that, but it wouldn't surprise me based on what I heard about their dealings with the peanut allergy families.

Shouldn't there be a roughly equal percentage of peanut allergies in Lincoln Square as Crystal Lake and Elgin? Sounds like they tried appealing to a different, and not well-scouted demographic, more than anything. It would be interesting to see the differences in the customer bases. It's obviously much broader than the allergy issue.

bweiny wrote:Shouldn't there be a roughly equal percentage of peanut allergies in Lincoln Square as Crystal Lake and Elgin?.

Not sure about Elgin, but based on the amount of time I spent in Crystal Lake the past year or so I'm going to assume that since Covid didn't exist, neither do peanut allergies.

rmtraut wrote:

bweiny wrote:Shouldn't there be a roughly equal percentage of peanut allergies in Lincoln Square as Crystal Lake and Elgin?.

Not sure about Elgin, but based on the amount of time I spent in Crystal Lake the past year or so I'm going to assume that since Covid didn't exist, neither do peanut allergies.

LOL! ^^ This, ftw!

=R=

I'm also worried about how Jimmy's will do in that space. But all I can do is shower them with cash and eat their delicious pizza.

KevinM wrote:I'm also worried about how Jimmy's will do in that space. But all I can do is shower them with cash and eat their delicious pizza.

Lol, that's quite selfless of you!

=R=

Jimmy’s Pizza Cafe Adds Draft Beer From Local Brewers To New North Center Location

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/08/23 ... -location/