Nicola’s Pizzeria

This place is now CLOSED. I notified Unilocal a week ago, but it still is not indicated in this listing. Even funnier, Groupon Now is still offering deals for this place every day. I also notified them a week ago of the closing. I work a block away and pass by all time, but I guess no one believes me!

great place, appears to have closed sadly

Long overdue review, as I’ve been coming to this place with some degree of regularity for the past three years or so.
Location: 5 out of 5
Prime loop location means easy walking distance for financial (get it, it’s on FINANCIAL???) industry folks and Federal civilian employees. Public transportation is plentiful, though parking might be a little more difficult to come by. Given the fact, though — that they really don’t have anywhere substantial to sit to eat, you should be in and out in under 2 minutes if you’re just grabbing slices to go.
Customer Service: 4 out of 5
Though not tasked with duties commensurate with a full service sit-​down establishment in the area, e.g., Poag’s, Ceres, etc. the customer service is still above average. Generally speaking, I’ve interacted with a very nice blonde woman over the past few years, and I’ve always been treated well. No frills, no attitude, and no potential for «deceptive» practices like the other Jumbo Slice w. Free Pop does. We’ll not name them explicitly here.
Slice Options: 3.5 out of 5 (depending on when you go)
This part is important, because what you see available for take out can change depending on what time of day you go. If you go during the heart of the lunch rush, say, after 11:45, you’ll see a great variety: cheese, pepperoni, sausage, combo, veggie, garbage, buffalo chicken, Hawaiian, etc. If you go at around 11, the selection may be limited to cheese, pepperoni, sausage, and combo. But you see, there’s a pricing difference too depending on what time you go, which will be explained in the next section…
Pricing: 4.5 or 5 out of 5
Slice pricing: Plain Cheese is is 3.25, Combo is 3.75, Veggie is 4.25, and some of the specialty slices are 4.50 or 4.75. But wait — there’s more! With each slice you purchase, you get a free 12 oz can of soda (Cocacola products). But wait, there’s even more! If you go between the hours of 10AM — 11AM, you can get slices of pepperoni, cheese, and maybe even sausage for a measly 3 dollars. And they offer the same deal between the hours of 2pm — 4pm. So if you’re a «plain» pizza type of guy or gal, stock up early or eat late — and you’ll save some proportionally significant moolah!
Taste/​Quality of Slices: 4 out of 5
I’m not entirely sure that «NY Style» captures the style of pizza, but I’d affirm that the crust has an excellent balance of doughiness to crispiness. The cheese and toppings are a bit nicer than what you’d find at most take-​out places; we’re not talking Piece type quality or variety, but I’d venture to say that the toppings are on par with what you might find at Metro Pizza. Maybe not exactly the same, but pretty darned close. The pizzas aren’t over-​sauced either, which I personally prefer.
Décor/​Ambience: NA
Not really applicable here. The actual customer space is probably right around 100 square feet — and there might be a place for 3 people, tops, to sit. You order pizza, you grab your slices, you get your free can of pop, and you’re on your way.
Overall: 4 out of 5
Convenient and reasonably priced with an excellent product. Be sure to try the Buffalo Chicken if you ever get a chance.

This place is awesome. Pizza & pop for under 5 bucks. The slices are always changing, too. They’re typically on groupon, too. For 5 you get two slices and two pops. Finding someone else in the office willing to dish out $ 2.50 for that deal isn’t hard to find.
Buffalo chicken pizza, BBQ chicken pizza, veggie, Hawaiian, meat lovers, Chicken/​Bacon/​Onion, and my new favorite — thick cut roast beef, red pepper and giardiniera. They still have all the classics as well for those not as adventurous.
Steve’s the owner — real nice dude, always recognizes us by name and gives us a heads up when they’re rolling out with something new.
All in all — my favorite spot downtown for a slice. Top notch ingredients, attention to detail and won’t leave a hole in your wallet.

Lots of different pizza options available, all of them looked delicious. $ 3.50 gets you a big slice of pizza and a can of soda. I kept it simple and had a slice of cheese pizza. Delicious. Friendly staff, quick service. Perfect lunchtime spot.
Only downside is that there is nowhere to sit inside. I got lucky that I was there on a beautiful day and could just take my meal to Financial Plaza and chill, but that won’t work in the brutal Chicago winters.

For $ 3.50 you can get a can of pop and a big slice of NY style pepperoni pizza. The pizza is hot and yummy.
Super fast and the service is excellent. The owner is really nice.
There are speciality pizzas like hawaiian, combo (sausage+pepperoni), bbq chicken, etc and they all under $ 5 and you get a can of pop. Best deal in town hands down.

The crust wasn’t as thin as ny style pizza but this place sure has a ny vibe to it. The pizza was pretty good but the service was great! Super fast and he told me to be sure I get my bottle of water included with the slice. Not bad for $ 3.50.
I believe it was Nicola himself who helped me out. I like his ny demeanor and ahem ladies, he’s jacked and really hot!

You get a slice of pizza and a can of pop for under $ 5. What else do you need to know?
Taste-​good
Value-​great!
Portion size-​good size-​not as big as Baci but a nice size nonetheless
No where to sit but there is a small counter you can eat your slice at
Service-​pleasant

I think this place is called Nicolas now. Regardless of the name, the pizza is good. Very good in fact. Its a tiny, no frills pizza place like the ones in NYC. I got a slice with spinach and tomatoes (they were out of veggie, boo). It was a large thin crust slice, and the crust was crsipy for a change! The sauce was tasty, not too sweet. My only qualm was that the cheese was a bit globby but I think it was because the tomato slices were so huge they had to compensate. For less than $ 5 I’ll definetely go back for some za when Im in the mood!

Very cheap and close to work. I’ll eat any slice here but you
gotta try there calzones, buffalo chicken pizza and bbq chicken pizza! These bad boys are my favorite and Ive never tasted anything like those chicken slices! Yummy!

Delicious and cheap. What’s not to like?

Renamed to Nicholas’s Pizza.

Medium sized slice of cheese pizza plus. *ahem*. SODA. for $ 4.65!
There’s no room to sit down or eat inside. In other words, order your pizza and move on out!

It’s Ok. If they are trying to be a real NY-​style pizzeria then please have powdered garlic, oregano, red chilli flakes and parm available so customers can adjust their slices to their liking. Also, a little more variety in the toppings is a must.

Buy!

One step up from buying your pizza out of a truck.
That’s not meant to be a critique of the end product, it’s an assessment of the storefront. Literally when you walk in there are a few pizzas under heat lamps and a cooler of drinks and that’s all. No menu, no seating, no specials or anything else; just pizza, calzones and drinks.
I’ve been twice and both times got a very large slice of NY-​style cheese for $ 3.30 and was quite pleased. I’m giving this place 3.5 stars; the only reason I don’t give it more stars is that I find the pizza selection limited, what’s out is what they have so go early for the best selection. They seem to make 4 kinds of pizza per day and 2 calzones. Pizza is usually cheese, pepperoni, sausage and a special. Reportedly they’re in the process of printing menus.
For veggies the offerings are limited. I haven’t visited yet when there’s been any other option than cheese pizza.

Update:
Since it’s opening the pizza has changed.
–Crust is still good
–Too much cheese, which is hard thing for me to say because I love cheese
–It’s now $ 5.00 for a slice + Soda (which is still fair)
–I was really not impressed upon my visit last week.
–I changed my stars from 5 to 3. It’s just fast food pizza, not much making it stand out.
Everything I want from a slice of pizza:
–Good, tastie crust
–Yummie cheese
–FRESH MUSHROOMS & toppings
–4.00 fo a HUGE slice of Sausage, Peppers, Mushrooms and Onions…
SOLD.

Good pizza, served in a place without any chairs. Who needs chairs anyways there is a park across the street with places to sit in the sun. The pizza is big and on the dry side. Helps slow you down in the eating process enough to enjoy it. I would say 3.5 or if I could. Better than most. Has soda cans. If you are looking for no nonsense straight up thin-​ish pizza this is it. More cornmeal on the dough than flour if that is what you like. Ready to serve ready to eat with a handful of napkins. Cheap enough. Some guy with a sax will play the same song over and over across the street.

this is one of my favorite lunch spots. super cheap, super good, and if you aren’t horribly starving, one slice and a pop should tide you over till dinner time.
you can take your slice across the street and eat outside of the Options Exchange. beware of hungry pigeons!

This is your standard lunch place. Pizza is $ 3.30 a slice, and new calzones are $ 5. Let me stress that…$ 5. As in, less than $ 6. Or $ 7, for that matter.
What I find most amusing here are the signs in the restaurant apologizing for a price hike on the pizza slices due to higher raw ingredient costs. It want from $ 3 to $ 3.30, as I recall — and considering their size, I’m fine with the price hike. But if two slices of pizza are $ 6.60 (and you’re stuffed when finished) then I’m at a loss as to how the incredibly huge calzones can be $ 5, as they’re easily just as much food. Unless ingredient costs are cheaper, I almost feel like I’m stealing when I order one.
Pizza and calzones are both tasty. If you’re in the mood for a slice, this is a fine place to stop in quick. They sometimes have a green pepper pizza that I don’t usually see at any of the quick slice type Loop pizza joints, so if you enjoy a little veggie with the ubiquitous sausage and pepperoni, that might be worth a trip.