Francesca’s Pizzeria Napoletana

Me & my date were in search for some authentic Italian pizza in Chicago, eluding all the typical Giordano’s & Maggiano’s, and fell upon Nella Napoletana. And thank God that we did!
Very nice location, although parking is scarce so it might be better to hop in a quick cab ride or take the red line to Fullerton and it’s only a few blocks away.
The restaurant itself is nice. Vivid with Italian décor and overall a welcoming ambiance to it.
The service was great. Our waiter seemed really knowledgeable of the menu and in turn gave many suggestions to satisfy what we were looking for. He asked and remembered our names which was a nice surprise.
We ordered the arancini as an appetizer. It comes as 3 or 4 smaller sized arancini as opposed to the typical large arancini I’m accustomed to from family dining and local Italian bakeries. They didn’t have much sauce or meat filling but the cheese was good and they turned out alright (I’m an arancini fanatic so I can’t say they were better than some of the others I’ve had).
Then we ordered two pizzas, the margherita and the quattro stagioni. Either pizza was enough to fill any two persons, so the portion sizes were generous. Their pizza is made in a wood-​stove oven so everything cooks so beautifully. You can taste the difference from your typical pizza you may get around your neighborhood. The dough was fresh and flakey, the ingredients were amazing, and everything was very on point.
I would definitely recommend this place to anyone searching for authentic Italian pizza in the Chicagoland area. I’ve gone multiple times afterwards and plan to continue going.

Stopped by this afternoon for lunch… finally. I live a block away and it was time. I wasn’t hungry enough to dive into pizza mode but we did try the Calamari and Arugula salad. Both tasted really great and the pizzas that were passing by us smelled divine. The place is cute on the inside and very clean. It’s usually busy whenever I pass by. Our waiter was friendly as well. I’ll be back.

We spent a wonderful evening here, and it went way beyond the pizza. The service was over-​the-​top attentive and made us really feel special. The pizza margherita had a tasty hand-​tossed crust and a well-​balanced sauce. Be sure the eat any Neapollitan-​style right away because they fade very quickly.
The real stand out for me was the carpaccio appetizer, which was so delicious I could have licked the plate. We will definitely go back. Oh, and don’t forget the dessert. Cappuccino came out frothy and rich, and went well with my creamy lemon sorbet.

So I’ve passed this place a million times, but always thought the name was something different – but still Italian? Anyways, I don’t judge a restaurant by its name, so in I went.
The place is huge and very updated. There is a separate party room which looked really nice and it was situated right across from the bar/​chef area.
The menu is traditional italian, with specials on most weeknights. The specials, in my opinion, probably draw most of their crowd.
There were a lot of big tables with large parties and a few open seats. But besides that, it wasn’t crowded on a Saturday at 8.
Our waiter was excellent, he took great care of us and went the extra mile to suggest what to try and even gave us free dessert! Ok, it’s not like the dessert was $ 20, but still. I’ll take it!
We got the Vesuvio pizza/​calzone ($ 14) and the chocolate gelato ($ 5). The Vesuvio is half calzone half pizza. There were artichokes on the pizza and ricotta and sausage in the calzone. It was all very good and perfect for two people BUT, the calzone part was def. not warm. It probably had something to do with cook time ratio, yadda yadda. It was still good, but could do with some more degrees. The Italian wines were around $ 7+ and the Italian beers ran around $ 5.
All in all, I’d probably come back again for a weekday special. Check it out!

Really good pizza here!!!
Walking by for the past 7 months has always made me curious, but I was not prepared to try it. I have been going to Ciao Napoli in Logan Square for my pizza fixes. This place sort of reminds me of Ciao Napoli from the outside looks of it. Walked in and the inside was totally different… Not as cozy and intimate as Ciao.
Very crowded and loud (it was a snowy friday night). The hostess acted as if she was happy to see us and gave us a choice for seating. We decided to take the high top style seats not too far from the entrance/​exit. The tables were very close, so close that our server (Melissa) literally had to squeeze in between to take our orders. Melissa was very nice and always had a smile on her face and made sure we were taken care of. The lower floor seating area had more space, but we thought the high tops were much cooler.
I ordered the Pizza Funghi e Salsiccia… Melissa was proud that I was able to pronounce it correctly (I felt good about myself as well, LOL). This is some of the best pizza I ever had in my life, seriously! I had pretty good pizza while I was in Rome this past summer and this pizza was definitely comparable to that. I added bufalo mozzarella to the pizza for a couple of extra $ and it was well worth it. Simply delicious!!!
Definitely a gem for Lincoln Park! This place is a must try!

Dear Francesca’s,
I wish from the very beginning you would have put your name on this baby. See, I realllllly am a big fan of you and all the things you do and Nella, well quite frankly, she scared the bejesus out of me. (See my review for Spacca Napoli). I lived with a very well known pizziolo and learned a thing or two about this art form, but never in my life did I ever see anyone creating such a thing of joy with such a scowl. So thank you for making me feel welcome and comfy again!
Onto the food: Classic, simple, traditional Napoletana wood fired pizza. I much prefer mozzarella, asiago, fontina and gorgonzola for my Quattro Fromaggi and you always oblige. The insalata Panzanella is always fresh and crisp with just the right amount of EVOO and you know how I love the Caprese although I prefer fresh tomato vs roasted. Desserts are just divine Calzone Lina is worth every second on the treadmill and the Panna Cotta is delish with a hint of orange and raspberry.
Your Pollo Limone is a direct hit and would be at the top of my list of favorite things if the custom 4 Cheese pizza would ever budge. I am glad that you have claimed your identity. You seem such a kinder and gentler place now.
Bouna Fortuna,
Carol
PS
Grazie for the ½ priced wine bottles on Weds!

Surprise… another great pizza joint in Chicago? Could it be possible? Yep. Especially one with a wood burning oven… you bet ‘cha. We got in quick in this place on a night where every other restaurant in the area was packed and it was worth it. Staff is fast, friendly, and the food comes out fast too. Atmosphere is also cool as they really worked hard to have an open style kitchen where you can see the cooks prepare the pizzas and see the large wood burning oven. To add affect, they also have a large mirror on top of the prep area so that the entire restaurant can see the pizzas being prepared. Obviously, cool for someone that appreciates the cooking process and esp those that have kids.
They started us off with homemade sourdough bread with olive oil. It was quite tasty esp for us that were starving. We then ordered the prosciutto w/​arugula pizza that my wife and I split. It was played out as a single entrée but the pizza was big enough for two (and at $ 14 a pop, it seemed a bit pricey). We ordered it mainly because other reviewers recommended it but not sure if it was the best. Had big chunks of arugula and Parmesan cheese which was good but the prosciutto was really fatty and eventually made me gag a little. The crust is excellent though… and typical of a wood burning oven joint. I could eat the crust by itself. My son had the kids spicy pepperoni pizza and although he found the meat to be a little too spicy for him, he ate quite a bit of it. And i can confirm that it was super good. Better than our pizza. They also added bunny ears to his pizza which we he really loved. So good for kids? Check.
For drinks, i ended up having one of their Italian cabs from a pretty descent list of wines. I liked it. I didn’t get to check out their beers though but i should of. For dessert, we had the chocolate torta (which was like a little chocolate truffle pie) and my son had the lemon sorbet. Both were really excellent and highly recommended.
Have to say that the area is quite clustered and this place would not be my go to wood burning pizza place because of it. But… if i’m back here looking for something to it, i’ll try it again.

I met some friends here for dinner on a weeknight. Getting seated was a total breeze, so that’s nice.
We were starving so we ordered the calamari (fried) and the suppli. One of my fellow diners is my Italian former roomate and we used to make suppli with leftover rice for a treat in college. Our suppli were way better. The calamari was also disappointing; the breading was pale and was flaking off. The marinara sauce was eat-​with-​a-​spoon worthy, though, so that’s awesome.
Our pizzas arrived fairly quickly which is nice when you’re starving! We ordered the quattro formaggi and the margherita. It may seem odd for me to say this, but the quattro formaggi was just a bit too… cheesy. The margherita had fantastic flavor though, so that was great.
My chief complaint about the pizza was that while tasty, was not Neopolitan style. I’m not sure how they bake their pizzas, but the pizza I make at home baked on unglazed terra cotta tiles comes out about a million times crispier than that. The crust was very chewy, the edge parts were too thick and the middle part (under the toppings) was wet and soggy.
I ate a bunch of pizza here and didn’t leave hungry, don’t get me wrong, but calling it Neopolitan is a bit of a misnomer.
Another bright spot: the bread is smoky tasting, which is amazing. After eating a slice, my friend blurted out «this bread tastes like bacon!» which she cried out somewhat embarassedly since our other friend doesn’t eat pork. It was ok though, no pork products were used in the manufacture of that bread.

After eating here three times I thought it time to give Nella some credit!
I walked in for an early dinner with a friend on a Thursday night and the waiter immediately brought over two glasses of Prosecco compliments of the chef. Needless to say, that started us off on the right foot! (A wine-​o bribe works 100% of the time on us!)
We ordered the Caprese and despite it being late October the tomatoes were perfectly ripened and the mozzarella di bufala combined to make the perfect starter.
We decided to split the Prosciutto e Rucola wood fired pizza — thin fluffy crusty perfection topped with smoked mozzarella, Prosciutto di Parma, arugula, shaved parm and olive oil. It was fabulous (as are the Margherita and Diavola, which I have tried on my previous visits).
Our waiter was also helpful with wine suggestions and I was beyond happy with the red Zinfandel.
Just when we thought we were ready for our check, the waiter arrived with fresh plates. After momentary confusion, the waiter explained that the chef would like us to try the dessert calzone filled with melty Nutella and bananas, topped with vanilla gelato and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Um, ok!!! If I had known this was coming, I would have boxed more of the pizza to-​go and indulged in more of this blissfest. I think he treated a lot of tables to free dessert, so Chef Colle really seems to know the key to making a happy repeat customer!
Great experience and extremely reasonable prices. Highly recommend!

So good! Came here tonight with my boyfriend after walking by a couple of weeks ago. Even though we arrived around 9 PM on a Saturday, there was no wait and we had a great table in the spacious dining room. The ambiance is comfortable and open, but still nice enough for a date night too.
We ordered the Insalata Panzanella, a Risotto special, and the Pizza Diavola. All was quite tasty, with fresh ingredients and a rich but light flavor. There was bread with olive oil, which was just enough when partnered with the salad to hold us over for the entrees. Portions are large, so plan on eating half or sharing.
Speaking of sharing, the service was fantastic! We ordered all to be split, and our server, Danny, even made sure to have the risotto plated into two smaller portions so it was easier to enjoy. I liked that the pizza arrives uncut, so you can portion as you see fit.
Great food, excellent service… I’ll definitely be back.

So this is my first coming from Chicago in a long time! I know everybody’s been missing out. Anyway, last night two friends asked to go to an Italian place. I love La Madia and Ciao Napoli, but I was looking for a new pizza place. Did a little research (here, duh!) and decided on Nella. It felt a little relaxed and I wasn’t in the mood to get crazy, at least not that early.
We arrived at about 8PM and the place was PACKED. Jammed! I was shocked. I love seeing restaurants crowded. We were told it was a 20 minute wait but were seated in 5 minutes (sweet!). We sat down and placed our orders. I hate to say this, but I was very disappointed that there wasn’t any bread and olive oil. I was starving and needed a little something before the main course.
For an appetizer we started with the rice balls. Rice balls? What the heck are those? Let’s just say they were insane. It felt like a fried mozzarella stick, in a ball, with rice. That’s all it was! Tasty, but we only got three, meh. I went ahead and ordered the marinara pizza. I’m boring but whatever. Have to say the pizza was great and it was an excellent serving. Not too much food to feel sick, but I was happily filled.
Overall, I very much enjoyed Nella Pizzeria. I’m going to go with 3 stars because while I liked the pizza, it wasn’t anything special, the lack of bread and olive oil, and the small appetizers were a little discouraging. I will totally recommend it though because it was a lot of fun.

Nella is a beautiful space, with an excellent waitstaff and friendly hosts, but sadly that can’t save a restaurant if the food is substandard.
We ordered drinks to start, and I got a white wine. It came barely above lukewarm. Even the bottle of water provided to us was not much colder. Is there some refrigeration issue at hand here? Because on a blisteringly hot day in July the last thing I want to drink is tepid pinot grigio.
Then we got the Insalata Mixta. A huge salad was presented to us, but there were 4 cherry tomatoes and 5 olives on it and a barely imperceptible vinaigrette. A lot of money for just lettuce.
My gauge for how well a place makes pizza, especially Neapolitan style, is to order the Margherita (Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil). I figure if this simple dish comes out poorly, you know not to bother with anything else on the menu. I upgraded and got the Bufalina, which used buffalo mozzarella and was considerably pricier than the version with the regular mozzarella.
When the dish was presented, I was a little disappointed. The crust was perfectly chewy and delicious, but the toppings were just sad. 6 tiny, tiny drops of cheese, 5 tiny, tiny basil leaves that were not evenly spread out, but all in a clump to one side. The sauce was quite literally pureed tomato. Now I love tomato, but there was not a hint of salt, spice or anything to enhance the sauce, and it came off as bland and lackluster. Whether it was intended or not, the whole presentation screamed «cheap». I might have even been insulted had the price been half for the same thing.
Andy’s pie was charred on the outside, and while I liked his far more than mine, he complained of cold spots and not-​quite-​melted cheese throughout the interior of his calzone.
I realize there are markups in any store, restaurant or service industry you go to. But there is also a thing called «perceived value». If I am paying $ 15 for a pizza but it looks like it cost the venue all of 75 cents to make, and is sloppily presented on top of that, I am going to go to any number of alternate restaurants in the city and get something way better.

I usually enjoy it when a Chef offer a different take on the food’s that I love. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t, but I usually enjoy it. As much as I wanted to like Nella, I just couldn’t do it.
The Restaurant itself is Beautiful. It’s a wide open space where you can actually see the Chef’s working in the Kitchen. The Staff is friendly and accommodating. Everything from our server to the person working the door was wonderful.
While reading the Menu, I saw something that made my eyes bulge and mouth water. It’s called the Vesuvius. It’s part pizza, part Calzone. It seemed like a novel idea for a dish so I went for it.
The dish was served on a large, wooden cutting board and looked wonderful. The Pizza looked like some of the Traditional Italian Pizza that I ate in Europe. The Calzone part looked wonderful as well, but here is the part where things go downhill. I started out with a slice of Pizza. When I broke it apart, it was only a bit warm, and the cheese was runny. It tasted good, but I couldn’t get over the Texture. The Calzone part was really bad. When you cut into it, some of the Cheese came running out like a Egg that was just cracked. The Cheese further inside the Calzone was clumpy and cold. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was. I ended up picking through the Calzone and eating the parts that were cooked. I left the Cold, Clumpy cheese for the waste can.
I’m not sure if I got the version of Pizza that Nella was going for, but let’s just say it was not for me. Maybe I was there on a bad day and the Chef didn’t cook the Pizza all the way through.
The bottom line is: The staff was nice enough that I would give Nella another try. I know that the place is fairly new, so I will give them a few months to tweak the menu. I doubt if I would order the Pizza again. There are enough good looking Pasta dishes on the Menu to make me forget about the Cold, Clumpy Cheese.

We stopped in Thursday night about 6:45. The ambiance is really great. It has a fun Italian theme: the waiters wear soccer jerseys, there are picture boxes of fooseball figures on the wall, the chandelier resembles 20 wine glasses strung together. There is a mirror above the prep area so you can watch the chefs prepare your pizza. The food was outstanding! The Prosciutto e Rucola was fantastic, and the Fungi pizza was amazing, even for someone who doesn’t love mushrooms. The crust, sauce and fresh toppings really make this place outstanding. Our food arrived quickly and they even bring you pizza cutters to cut your own.
There is a great little party room that I will keep in mind for future events.
The only complaint I have is with the service. Our waiter was very nice and served us quickly initially, but did not follow up during the meal, and it took a while to request our check.
This is beyond the restaurant’s control, but there were a lot of kids running around, screaming and squealing. I would recommend going later in the evening.
I will definitely come back!

Absolutely my new favorite thin crust pizza place. Do not go here if you are looking for some late night greasy pizza. This is real pizza, cooked in a brick oven.
I went here on a Sunday afternoon and fell in love with the place the moment I walked in. This place is adorable and very inviting. I loved just about every part of my dining experience, except for the service. There was only one server and there were quite a few tables and it took us a long time to be able to order, and then later to get the check. I do, however, like that the servers wear jerseys… why someone complained about that is beyond me!
Now for the food… First of all, I loved the glass jars they serve the water out of. Nice touch. Most importantly, the PIZZA. It was fantastic. I had the cantadina pizza with fresh mozzarella, arugula, cherry tomatoes and salami, but no sauce, just olive oil. It was one of the most delicious authentic pizzas I have had in a long time. I was highly impressed. The crust was amazing, and I don’t eat pizza crust.
The nice boy that brought me here had the Romana pizza and he seemed to like it. I didn’t try his because I was too in love with my own pizza.
All in all, I loved everything about this place, aside from the slow service of course. I loved the décor, the food, the fact that you can see them make your pizzas, the jerseys the servers wear, the water jugs… I will be returning soon, you can count on that.

Yikes — I found ANOTHER decent Italian-​style pizzeria in Chicago.
Forget the ridiculous service (or lack of) at Spacca Napoli. I think everyone should try Nella first.
I was here with a group of friends, among them were several young Italians from Naples. They all agreed the pizza was authentic Neopolitan: crisp, rustic crust, soft and thin in the middle. I tried several pizzas, all ingredients were fresh to the max.
Prices: artisian wood-​fired pizza in Lincoln Park. You can guess from that.
Service: fast, not overly intrusive, and not rude.
When you see four tables of Italian ex-​pats sitting together on a Sunday night, you know you’ve found the «right» pizzeria.

I heart italian stallions! This place is super cute. I really liked it. Our waiter was super nice (tito) and gave us lots of suggestions. The staff is all really friendly. We ended up drinking with them after. It was hilarious
I like this style of pizza a lot. We had the grilled calamari and then the parmigiano pizza (sp?). It was yummy. The wine that they suggested was really good too. I dont remember the name of it, but it was crisp and light. Its a cute place to grab a bite to eat.

Came here on a Friday night with two friends after I saw Rick Bayless tweet about his pizza (Free publicity!). Nice change after Sushi Row on the 2400 – 2600 block on Clark St.
Started out with a salad to share — Rucola e Parmigiano (Arugula, shaved parmigiano, extra virgin olive oil & lemon). At 8.99, I felt it was nicely priced because it was definitely enough for all 3 of us to share as a starter. Salad didnt blow me away, but the fresh parm was a very nice touch. I also love arugula so I was stoked. I think it was refreshing, but as I said, I am not racing back based on this salad.
As for the pizza, we went with the recommendation of the waiter — Prosciutto e Rucola) White pizza with smoked mozzarella, Prosciutto di Parma, arugula, shaved parmesan and olive oil). Really good and quality ingredients which I appreciated. I would absolutely get this again. The leftovers were great too!
The next pizza was the Parmigiana (Tomatoes, mozzarella, eggplant, shaved parmesan, basil and olive oil). I wasnt such a fan of the tomato sauce so this pizza was sort of tainted for me. I would not get this again, unless I was drunk, perhaps.
Overall, pizzas were good and the brick oven gets points in every sort of way. The thin crust was beautiful and I didnt feel like I had bricks inside of me, like after deep dish.
The jerseys sort of creep me out — like whats the deal? I get the Italy theme, but it doesnt fit. Switch it up, Nella. If I wanted to see a jersey, I would go to Wrigley!
Oh, two final points:
— They have fried dough in powdered sugar at the front door. This is free for the taking! No tongs to pick it up, so it is like H1N1 waiting to happen, but good nonetheless. Sort of takes away from ordered dessert.
— Dont need reservations, tends not to get too crowded.

With the big hype that surrounded the arrival of Nella’s arrival due to the rumor that the owner/​chef being the teacher of chef at Spacca Napoli, I waited with great anticipation for this place to open. And when it did, we stopped by for a weekend lunch their opening weekend, however no dice, as they weren’t ready to serve up to the lunch crowd yet.
Fast forward to last night, about one month later, our kitchen was a mess… so I didn’t feel like cooking, but needed to bring out the fiancée for some dinner. Time to revisit Nella. Here’s the recap:
Prosciutto e Bufala: A beautiful looking appetizer (you can see the only photo currently). The mozz was melting in your mouth with creaminess, and the prosciutto was definitely tasty. 14.99 Tasty, but would likely not get again.
Pizza Funghi e Salsiccia: Tomatoes, sausage, red sauce. The topping were very fresh, but there was a definite wetness on the pizza that made the crust a little bit soggy. Flavors were bursting, and overall, excellent pizza. 13.99
Pizza Quattro Formaggi: White pizza, four cheeses, each lending it’s own flavor. Impressively, each of the cheeses really were able to hold it’s own flavors. 13.99.
Panna Cotta: Vanilla-​orange crème flavors, with raspberries… wow, this was really a great highlight to the end of our meal. Our server let us know that the dessert really are phenomenal and worth getting, and he was not off the mark at all on this one. I recommend skipping appetizers, and saving room for dessert instead. 5.00
Service: Our server, William, was phenomenal. Granted, he was not one of the Italian server that were sporting the trendy sport shirts from Italy, but we had wonderful service. From other reviews, it sounds like it may be a crapshoot for what kind of service you get… but William was top notch.
Verdict: Appetizers were okay, the pizza was fan worthy but not the best I’ve had, the dessert was delish. I’d be happy to go back and enjoy more pizza, but at these prices, likely no more than once a month at best.
Disclaimer: I’ve found that I prefer more crispness to my crust… so my judgement of this place may be slightly biased. Nonetheless, the fresh ingredients, great service, and excellent dessert made it a fave amongst pizza places for my fiancée and me.

I was lucky enough to score a table at tonight’s soft opening and I really liked this place. The atmosphere is lively, open and modern. I really enjoyed sitting next to the wall of foosball guys and watching the chefs prepare the pizzas in the giant mirror over the kitchen.
We started with the salmone marinato and the prosciutto e bufala. I’m not a huge fan of salmon, but the bf really wanted to try it. I was a little unprepared for the fact that it is raw, but the giant capers and tomatoes that accompanied it made a good combo, although a tad fishy for my taste. The prosciutto e bufala on the other hand was A-​mazing! A giant ball of super fresh buffalo mozzarella surrounded by the most delicious prosciutto. Loved it!
For our pizza, we went with the capricciosa. Great flavor and prepared just like they do in Italy. Really thin crust and slice it yourself. It was good, but I almost wish we would have had it prepared as a quattro stagioni so that I could have tasted some of the ingredients more. Combined, some things like the artichoke hearts were overwhelmed by the other ingredients.
For dessert, they brought out these delicious cookies. The chocolate and almond one was to die for.
Everything from the bread and olive oil to the dessert was fresh and delicious and very reminiscent of my recent trip to Italy. Better yet, the service was friendly and prompt. I’m so glad to have this great new place in the neighborhood.