Roots Handmade Pizza

I’ll just start off and keep it simple why this place earns 2 stars. The food and the price. The pizza is just gross. We’ve been there twice and had a regular sausage pizza and the taco pizza. I’m not sure what type of sausage they use or what is in their homemade sauce but it lacks flavor and both are gross. The Taco Pizza reminds me of the tombstone style they made back in the 80s. It’s loaded with Doritos and lettuce and lacks any sort of taco flavor at all. We’ve had a few good apps, the spinach dip and the garlic bread were solid. But an app, a salad, and a pizza with one Coke was $ 57.
I’m disappointed it took them 2 years to open this place and their food is blah. Great décor and ambiance but this is a neighborhood that won’t tolerate average food. Id rather get takeout from Jimmys or Apart… and for those of you ripping the negatives for our questioning the pizza style… ugh…please stop with the Quad Cities style madness, like anyone in the Midwest even knows what that means. Because we all travel to Bettendorf for pizza!!!

We forgot out leftovers on the table. Womp womp. Our only disappointment!
We split the roots Caesar salad (so yummy!) and a pizza that was half taco/​half burger. A definite preference for the taco side but appreciated the interesting toppings and options roots offers. They have a build your own salad option as well which is great when nothing is quite what you’re looking for.
Really great beer selections with lots of unique rotating draughts.
We’ll be back to try more pizza and will definitely get the salad again! (And more beer of course!)

The atmosphere is a cross between an old school pizzeria and a hipster gastropub. Gigantic beer menu, very decent cider selection, but a boring wine list. The service was excellent. All the employees were very friendly and efficient.
There was an hour+ wait on a table (at 7:30 on a Saturday night), but we were able to grab a couple of seats at the bar and order right away there. They were out of hummus, so we got the green goddess salad, which was amazing. I would come back again just for that. We got ½ taco, ½ garden pizza, and both were excellent. I ordered the garden pizza without mushrooms, but it came with them all the same. This was at probably the busiest time of the week, so I was happy to overlook the mistake and just pick them off. The pizza is cut into strips rather than squares or slices, which made it difficult to eat, we needed forks and knives. The pizza overall was very good, but the crust especially was amazing! The desert menu is very tempting, but between splitting a salad and a 12″ pizza, there was no way we could eat more.
The salad came 10 – 15 minutes after we ordered, and the pizza probably 15 minutes after that. Impressively fast given how busy they were. I will definitely be back.

Roots is great. Their salads are so good and the options to build your own salad are excellent. Pizza is tasty too.
Go for the food. Only downfall for me today was (wait for it peeps because I’m sure to go to hell with this one)…I came with my hubs and teen son so we were seated in the way back. Thanks a lot. Grrrr! Right next to every parent with young tots to the left and right of me. Not diggin that at all. So… Chicago street Roots is more my option than Lawrence for now.
Still solid good stuff. Appetizers awesome too.

Great neighborhood pizza place. Stay was friendly. Tons of beers to choose from. Will be back again!

Really good mozzarella sticks. Pizza was ok but my son liked it. I prefer NY style pizzas more but he likes his pizza loaded with cheese. Good service, spacious and great for kids. They give them pizza dough to play with.
Also, ½ bottles of wine on Tuesdays.

My review is a delivery-​based review. The pizza wasn’t great. Got the veggie and was underwhelmed. The crust is way too hard for my liking (this might be a characteristic of Quad-​Cities style?). Also got a salad that I didn’t even order and was charged for. The total I was given over the phone was not the same as I was charged. I didn’t call to make an issue out of it because I like salad. BUT I don’t like brown lettuce and tasteless ingredients. So that was awful.
I will say that the calamari, even boxed up and delivered– was delicious. Not
chewy at all and perfectly battered.
Thank goodness!

So I feel bad giving Roots 2 stars, but it just was not my cup of tea. First of all, I had no idea what Quad City style pizza was but I heard good things about the pizza at the other location on Chicago Ave so I was excited to have a Roots open in my neighborhood. However, upon trying to eat here last weekend, it was much too long a wait for some pizza so I left and tried again during a less crowded Tuesday night.
Right away the first thing I noticed was that the space is extremely loud which made conversation during the meal difficult. I considered that maybe Roots is more of a bar than a restaurant. They had an excellent beer list, but I’m not a beer drinker so that didn’t help my experience any.
I wanted to start with something small since I was pretty hungry and pizza always takes a while. We ordered hummus and I have to be honest, it was not only pretty bland, but you have to pay extra to get pita and veggies because you have to choose one or the other. Pita and veggies are pretty standard with a hummus «plate». On top of that, we ordered hummus because we were about to eat pretty unhealthy pizza and we were going for something a LITTLE healthy to start with and I was shocked when the pita came to the table that it was deep fried!!! I mean, is there anything less healthy than deep fried pita bread??? It’s like a grease sponge.
Now I have to say, looking at the pizza menu, you are overwhelmed with great options. I had already checked it out online, so I knew what to expect. Roots totally delivers on options including 6 – 8 locally themed pizzas. Collaborations with other popular restaurants around town. Like Lille’s Q, Antique Taco, Publican, and some other great options. We elected to do a half and half of two of these options. I was super excited to try this pizza.
And that’s where Roots completely failed me. You could put all the greatest ingredients in the world on this pizza and I don’t think I would never like it. The crust here isn’t the soft chewy crust or the light crispy crust I like in a pizza. This crust is like biting through a thin piece of rock. It’s completely hard, dry, tasteless and terrible crust. Neither half of the pizza we ordered that sounded great, delivered on taste because the crust is so hard and dense and difficult to bite through. Plus there’s not nearly enough sauce to counter the drywall your biting through.
On top of how bad the pizza tastes to me, it costs an arm and a leg. $ 22 – 24 for a 12 inch pizza??? It was 4 small pieces each. It’s not like the pizza was covered in freshly shaved truffles. Which coincidentally, I’ve had before on a much better pizza for a cheaper price.
Sadly, I won’t be back to Roots. Quad City pizza is apparently not my jam. I find it completely lacking taste and the texture was totally off putting. Sorry Roots, you’re just not for me.

This was a restaurant in Lincoln Square that we kept driving by waiting to open for months. Now that they finally are open, it’s an immediate hit for our family and worth the wait.
With a toddler going everywhere with us, most of our restaurant experiences lately have been rushed to avoid a bored baby or inconveniencing others. Roots is so prepared for young kids with their table lay out, drink cups and activities (coloring and play pizza dough) that we can actually relax while waiting for our meal. The kids chicken strips are freshly made and scaloppine like and all of the kids meals have a diverse variety of sides to choose from.
For the grown ups, there is a huge variety of pizza toppings to choose from and not just the usual. There are opportunities to experiment with gyro meat, chorizo and chili. Roots’ speciality pizzas are just as interesting such as their Antique Taco Chili Cheese Curd pizza.
This is absolutely now our number one favorite family restaurant to go to. It looks a bit congested on the weekend evenings, but for Sunday lunch it has been brilliant!

Great place! I came here for my first on a busy Saturday night right at 530 with two kids and waited 2 minutes for a seat. If you are here any later plan to wait at least 30 minutes, it gets packed fast!
The place has been only opened for 3 weeks and the whole staff was operating like a machine! We were in and out in 45 minutes! Service was fantastic, and the food was tremendous! We ordered Hummus and Pita Chips and the famous Mozzarella Sticks for appetizers! I think I ate too many sticks because I could hardly put down any of the awesome pizza!
Now to the main event, the Pizza! It’s Authentic Quad Cities Style Pizza. The Dark Roasted Malt Crust is nothing you have ever tasted before. It’s good, it’s really good! We ordered the McDowell, it’s like a Big Mac on a pizza but with better ingredients! The pizza is ridiculously good, I wish I had ordered more side sauces to dip these scissor slices into!
The bar menu is pretty expansive, its 10 pages long! You only have 100 beers to choose from! The kicker is that the Beer choices are only brewed in the Midwest! I was just getting over the flu so I wasn’t able to try any of the Beer. I definitely will try the beers on tap with the taco pizza!
I definitely will be back here, the service is great, the beer selection is ridiculous and the pizza is phenomenal! Oh, I forgot to mention that there are 12 Large Flatscreen TV’s to watch games!

C’mon guys… an hour for take out salad, chased off the street by a cop for having my hazards on be issue I don’t have a permit. I finally get my food… then just one fork?! Hope these opening days kinks are worked out soon!

Meh. I’ve had better pizza for the price.
My party of 6 walks into a completely empty restaurant on a Sunday. We are here for pizza and football. The TV’s are all located in the middle of the place, and the host seats us at the entire back end of the restaurant. We ask if we can sit closer to a TV and she said that would be impossible because of «waitress zones». At this point, we should have just left. I mean really. same sized tables with view of a TV were obviously open throughout the establishment.
The beer list is the only thing that was above average here. The mozzarella sticks were actually pretty ok as well. The pizza was a different story. It was as close as you can get to a store bought frozen pizza as you can get. It even came on a piece of cardboard! It was bland and overpriced. This trip made me sad since I live down the street and have been anticipating the grand opening for some time now. This is Chicago, a city known for pizza. Don’t bring this kind of weak pizza game to a world class pizza town. We also cannot let anyone from New York try this place. they will never let us live it down. Go back to the Quad Cities Roots!

I am no stranger to Roots and have been a returning customer at the West Town Location. I’ve been following the opening of the Lincoln Square location since the day they put the sign up! My girlfriends often ask my boyfriend and I for dining suggestions and this time around I was so excited to suggest Roots!
We came in on Sunday for dinner and it was packed! Soon as our name was on the waiting list we were told our wait would be at least 30 – 40 minute wait for a table for 7. Luckily the bar is pretty big so we were fortunate to wait there.
To start, The atmosphere is completely different than their West Town location! Way different, like you can actually see interior — it isn’t dark, love the lighting and the ability to read the menu without pulling out my iphone! Another important thing to know is that the atmosphere is completely different than the West Town location, Lincoln Square is so family driven — expect to see a wide mix of diners: college students, hip couples, families with their kids! I also have to mention that the restaurant can get VERY LOUD! I found myself having to yell across the table and even repeating myself several times… it comes with the territory!
The staff is amazing and their service is nothing short of spectacular! With the dinner rush hour going on, our waiter was 110% attentive and genuinely enthusiastic about 5 of the 7 guests being Roots Virgins! We ordered 3 appetizers (Mozz Sticks — Monkey Bread — Kalamari), 3 specialty pizzas, and my boyfriend and I decided to do something different — I had the Fettuccine and he had a Foldover. AMAZING!
The Appetizers were a hit, everyone enjoyed them! The wait for our entrees was as expected and the minute the food was served everyone was amazed! The Taco pizza definitely lit up some eyes at the table! Everyone was happy, the food was a hit among my friends! More importantly, my boyfriend and I were so happy to have gone with our gut about trying something new! Everyone left satisfied!
That wasn’t all… Our waiter was so nice he pushed us to order dessert! And after everyone declined, he told us to order 2 free desserts on the house! How cool was that! Obviously my boyfriend and I will continue to be Roots supporters! Check this place out, you won’t be disappointed!

Great pizza. This is a solid 4 star pizza but I’ll give it 5 to offset the moronic bad reviews. one gives it 1 star because the website may have had the other location’s # also listed & said they could make a better crust at home (yeah, sure). If it’s too loud, stay home and close the windows.
Very crispy crust with lots of flavor in the cheese and veggies. The kids chicken fingers were great, tender and only lightly breaded. Great new place in the hood.

I am a list person…
1) Please update your website as of today, your number is not on there. I had to call other Chicago location to get #
2) Understaffed. Should not take 25 – 30 min to get our drinks. Water and Ice Tea?
3) Cardboard crust for the Gluten free pizza. I can make a better crust at home. I have and I will for now on.
4) Really loud. Need to add something to help with acoustics. Shouting to talk to someone sitting across from me at a 2 person table, not cool.
5) Overpriced. 2, 12″ pizzas, and a ice-​tea should not cost over $ 60. Seriously… I don’t mind paying for good food, shoot I live down the street from this place.

Good grief, the bad reviews on here are just ridiculous. I really like this new addition to my beloved neighborhood so I’m going to give them ratings bump. First of all, addressing the bad reviews — why on earth would you go to a pizza place whose entire deal is Quad Cities-​style pizza and then complain about it not being ~Chicago pizza~? Newsflash — you’re going to get Quad Cities-​style pizza. Secondly, the place is not too loud. I have been here three times already for pizza or to stop in for a drink, including at very busy times, and it was fine. I’m not sure why the other reviewers were expecting this place to be silent and full of big, sloppy deep dish pizza pies. I know it’s very upsetting that this place has a more unique style, but luckily for you, Chicago has plenty of other places in which you can eat twice your weight in pizza sauce and soggy crust.
Anyway, the first thing I tried was the garlic monkey bread and it was delicious. The craft beer selection is great (half off cans on Mondays!) and I love that it’s all from the Midwest. TVs everywhere but it’s not overwhelming. The portion sizes are pretty big, too. My friends and I tried three different pizzas and I enjoyed them all. I am eagerly awaiting coming back to try the Antique Taco pizza next time. Quad City-​style crust isn’t for everyone, but I really like the toasted flavor. And the staff was so lovely — fast service and everyone’s so friendly and attentive. Welcome to the neighborhood, Roots!

Was honestly leaning more towards 4 stars but I felt Roots deserved a 5 star rating here to balance out the ridiculous 2 and 3 star reviews they’ve received.
Came here with a group of 4 a couple days before New Years. It was busy for a Tuesday night, I think probably because of the holidays. It took about 45 mins to get seated. They do deliver and have carry out so keep that in mind! The restaurant is very open, with a large bar area and several flat screen TVs along the walls. There’s a clear shot into the kitchen in the back where you can see the guys making the pizzas. It is loud in here, so if that «really» bothers you, get it delivered…
We started with the mozzarella sticks. You get five massive sticks with one order and they are delicious! Highly recommend. For pizza we did a 16″ half Lillie’s Q pulled pork (some of the best bbq in Chicago in my opinion) and half Antique Taco. We had gotten a similar pizza at the original location and loved it. I liked the Roots’ taco pizza better than the Antique Taco special pizza but you can’t beat the Lillie’s Q pulled pork pizza! Their crust is made with malt so it definitely has a unique flavor to it. I’m a fan!
I think Root’s is a great part of the Chicago pizza scene and I’m happy they opened a location in Lincoln Square. It’s not deep dish, it’s not Neapolitan, it’s Quad Cities style. And it’s good! Give it a try

My husband and I chose to eat here for our Christmas Eve celebratory dinner.
We were impressed. For this being a brand new restaurant, they were on top of things, the food had very fresh flavor and the staff were very attentive.
We have been waiting for this restaurant to open for months and ITS FINALLY HERE! The service is AMAZING as well as the food. The restaurant is very large with a full dining/​bar area. They pride themselves on only serving Midwestern brews and the food is all very unique as well.
I ordered a build your own salad and it is one of the freshest salads I have had from a restaurant in a long time. With the salad, you are able to choose five vegetables, something crunchy, a cheese (if you want), a protein and they have a HUGE list of dressings.
My husband ordered the Chicken Caesar foldover and the flavours blended magnificently. Both of our meals were pretty large so there may be another meal involved after leaving the restaurant.
Come check it out. YOU WONT BE DISAPPOINTED! :)

I’m pretty impressed with this place. In their first week open, they completely have their act together. Great service, knowledgeable servers, really good food (try the Lillie Q pizza!) and a completely polished style with regards to menus, website, and interior design.
It took a long time for this to open but these folks missed nothing. I’ll be back. A lot.
Regarding food itself, we had the mozz sticks (awesome), a large pizza split between some veggie stuff my wife ordered (she must have made a mistake, veggies are the food that my food is given) and the Lillie Q pork/​slaw. The crust is hella good, too.
Anyway, these people really have their act together. It is so rare to see such cohesion in a mature restaurant let along a new place.

I’ve been patiently waiting for this place to open and wow, the second Roots location does not disappoint. The original Roots in West Town has been my favorite pizza spot in the city for a long time, and I’ve been a huge fan of all their spots, including Homestead, Berkshire Room, West Town Bakery, and The Fifty/​50.
The food is always the highlight– the best mozz sticks on the planet and the unique Quad city style malt crusted pizza is delicious. Before Roots, I’ve never had this pizza style before. Huge thank you to Roots for bringing this style to Chicago. Yes, the pizza market is super crowded here with so many great options. Roots is very welcomed here and their quality is beyond exceptional. I end up craving for a pie at Roots way too often. The salads are great as well. The new kale and Brussels sprouts was awesome.
The 22 tap list of Midwestern beers is exceptional. This is NOT your typical pizza place list. The unique and diverse offerings are on par with the top craft beer bars in the city. Most recently, I had the hard to find Surly Darkness and hop bomb 4 Hands Ca$h Mony. The very helpful beer menu contains what’s up next and on deck — these sneaky guys know how to entice me to come back (again and again.)
The space is gorgeous and the servers are great. The Sixth cocktail bar is soon to open next door and I can’t wait! Keep up the great work team. You will see me often and soon.