The Local Pizzeria

Great New York style thin crust the veggie was delicious and I would like to go back for the fat finger fried dough dessert. The music is good and it’s a cute setup. I like the map on the wall of the location cute use of space. I hope they stay open!

C and I went out for pizza last night and discovered that our usual place is now closed on Mondays. Bummed out but desperate for pizza we did a Unilocal search and discovered The Local Pizzeria. This is my report:
First, about the name: There appears to be a bit of confusion about the name. There is «The Local Pizzaria» and there is «The LoKal Pizzeria.» We like «Local» because the pizza icon within the word is clever; with one slice missing, it looks like the letter «c.» On the other hand, we thought «LoKal» was confusing. It appears to suggest «low cal.» Anyway, on to the review:
The good:
* Open on a Monday. Excellent! My heroes!
* Pleasant, cheerful and helpful cashier/​server; sweet, actually
* Nice modern-​ish décor that contrasts black & white photographs against white walls and re-​purposed wood that is used for tables, trash bins, etc. Add to that one wall that is essentially a painted map, showing the location of the place. Very creative design ideas that come together to make for a hip ambiance.
* No TV (Yay! They deserve a pat on the back for that!)
* Great music playlist
* Nice lighting; somewhat dramatic.
* Very clean
* Sparklingly clean windows (a good sign for any restaurant)
* BYOB
* Nice wine glasses
* Comfy padded chairs
* Nicely designed take-​out menu printed on quality paper
* Quality napkins that don’t melt in your hands
* Many options on the menu: Pizza by the slice or by the inch; antipasto, salads, panini, pasta, chicken entrees, ribs, and more. You can choose the ingredients for your pizza or choose from a long list of «designs.» Everything is fresh.
The not so good:
* I wasn’t keen on the plates. I recognize that they are kind of cute, but they are metal and aren’t flat, so when you are cutting your pizza, the plate rocks. I guess I could pick up the pizza and eat with my hands, but when I’m with a girl (my wife) I try to act civilized.
The bad:
* Hmm. Can’t think of anything. They pretty much have it nailed!
Those are my impressions, however, a word about the pizza: We ordered a 14″ pizza with wild mushrooms and ½ sausage. The flavor was wonderful. I really, really liked the sauce and the sausage tasted exactly how Italian sausage in Chicago is supposed to taste. Now about the crust … it had an excellent flavor, however, for a thin crust pizza, it was somewhat too thick, making it difficult to cut with an ordinary knife. Indeed, as I was zealously sawing away I didn’t notice that the pizza dish was slowly moving on the metal stand until suddenly the pizza slid off the stand and fell to the floor. Oops. Fortunately, the pieces that fell were going to go home, so it was not huge loss. The server offered to make us a small pizza, which was very nice, but we declined. We’ll just come back and order another.
Food: 4 stars
Ambiance: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars

I’ve checked out this place twice in the last month and I couldn’t be more satisfied. The pizza and service from the people who work here is well above average. Great job — I’ll be back soon!

This was my first visit to this eatery. I was excited to try the build your own pasta dishes. The menu was extremely promising. The décor was beautiful as well and we did get greeted as soon as we walked in. That’s probably the only positives I have.
This place can truly benefit from hiring more staff or putting a system in place where one staff member doesn’t need to be in four places at once. Our order took entirely too long. Other tables that were seated after us received their appetizers long before we saw our garlic knots. We also stressed that there would be no cheese on any of the food items, except my husbands dish. When we finally received our entrees (just under a one hour wait) the waitress presents our food and quickly realized I did not want cheese on my plate. This happens, it’s ok. It’s understandable. What I did not find ok was the waitresses attitude. There was no apology or reassurance. Maybe because she was being over worked? Who knows.
The food was mediocre. The pomodoro sauce was bland at best. Maybe we are tough judges being New Yorkers and having lived in Italy, but it was like eating air.
I’m usually forgiving of the food if the customer service was present. Unfortunately, we did not experience that.

Ehhhh… Pizza was a bit undercooked and soggy when it made it to my house. Nothing wrong with their pizza, nothing outstanding about it though. Semi-​NY style, maybe a step above Sbarro and the like. My biggest beef was the slices of sausage instead of the usual smaller chunks you get elsewhere in the city. It just throws off the ratios in my book, though that’s completely personal.

This pizza is a cross between Chicago cracker crust and NY style — it’s like fluffy chewy cracker crust. The crust is soft and chewy with great flavor. The tomato sauce is fresh as are the ingredients. My goto is a fresh mozzarella with tomato sauce and caramelized onions. The garlic knots are ok and my wife swears by the spinach and chicken pizza. This place is now a staple for delivery in our house.

The chicken Romano (with roasted red peppers) was great, but late. This was because the place was overwhelmed by all of us striking teachers coming from the demonstration at Northeastern. I didn’t get my food until my friends were pretty much finished, and the people running the place felt so bad that they surprised me with a lovely, scrumptious white chocolate mousse with strawberry sauce. All in all a great meal and a great place to hang out and talk with friends, and I’d be glad to come again.

We were in the are and were curious as to what local had.
We thought it was a simple pizza joint but no it has many options.
What we got was a chicken pesto panini and a slice of veggie pizza.
The Chicken in the pesto was really worth it because it was a big piece. This was not deli slices. Everything was flavorful.
The veggie pizza slice was yummy. I usually like my pizza to have meat but this tasted good without it.
I will definitely come back here!

I paid $ 6.08 for an above average slice of pepperoni pizza, a Coke, and a chocolate chip cookie, including tax. What’s not to love about that?! Truly, this place is right by North Park University so it caters to the college crowd. Food is good but nothing fancy. Service is just okay. But again I say… pizza happy hour = $ 2 pizza. I’ll be back just for that.

Great pizzas and kid-​friendly pastas. Our go-​to is the white pizza with wild mushrooms and prosciutto. I recommend the pizzas/​pastas over the sandwiches. Both the bolognese and alfredo pasta dishes are delicious. I’m never one to order tomato soup, but it was fantastic.

Amazing food!!! Recommend to everyone and the staff is super nice. I love coming here with my boyfriend for a date night after we go out. This is a family owned business, so everyone is very personable and want to cater to your needs.

I would say that the portion is just enough. I ordered two chicken fettuccine Alfredo to go for 23 and done chance after tax. (Not bad) the cashier actually suggested it and I’m glad I went with her suggestion. I thought this was really good and they didn’t cheap out on the chicken. Will definitely ode from here again.

Full disclosure: I’m a bit biased toward this place because I know the owner. If you go in at a slow time and he comes over to your table, ask him how the place came together. It’s a great story.
And now, the food. It’s wonderful. Everything is made from scratch, much of it from locally sourced ingredients, and it shows. Pizza is sold my the slice or the pie, and the slices are more than generous. Thin, crispy crust, bright sauce, not overly cheesy. They have your standard toppings, but check out their specialty pizzas. The wild mushroom pizza, with red onion, feta, and arugula, is a treat. The BBQ chicken works well with wood-​fired oven. They have a kale caesar salad, which is a nice twist on the original, and two fresh soups every day. Ask about the contorini, which is their seasonal veggie side of the day. I just realized I’ve been writing mostly about their vegetarian items, and for a big carnivore like me, that says something!
My only regret about Local is that I live too far away for them to deliver. But I work nearby, so a quick lunch is always an option!

The Local P has the best pizza in the neighborhood. What makes it great is fresh ingredients, excellent crust and delicious sauce. I think fresh ingredients makes a big difference, especially with toppings such as mushrooms. The crust is crispy with chewy edges. The tomato sauce for both the pizzas and pasta dishes is very tasty, i.e. you can taste more than just tomato and salt.
I have eaten both delivery and in house. Both experiences have been great. The delivery is fast, so the food arrives warm. The service is friendly and caring.
We will be frequent customers and you should be too.

Despite having kind of a terrible name, this place is a fantastic addition to the neighborhood. Their pizza is REALLY good, and so are their sides and soup. The space is clean and really cute if you want to dine in, and they are quite fast as well. It’s really high quality stuff.
Perfect for a date or lunch for 2, or for a big dinner (I’ve seen groups of 15 – 20 accommodated nicely). The price point is very reasonable also.
Especially recommend the thin crust, wings, and mozz sticks!!!

So this place was pretty dang good! It’s pasta and pizza, nothing too fancy. I thought the sausage was spectacular. The biggest downer was that for a place that specializes on pizza… They… Um… Didn’t have any pizza. The pasta was cooked perfectly, the pesto was fresh and flavorful.
Seating is pretty slick. Edison bulbs, maps, fancy calligraphy, maps on the walls — the works. Plenty of seating, although the parking seemed to be somewhat limited. There was almost no wait and no delay in service. The staff was very kind and helpful to an out of towner
Bottom line is this though, this little local joint is right next to a subway. Ten times out of ten you should go here instead of the silly subway next door. I would have loved to give this place 5 stars for the price point, but… Really… No pizza? Womp womp.

Fiz o aniversário surpresa para o meu esposo, com ajuda do proprietário e todos funcionários e amei, saiu tudo como eu esperava! Fora a comida que pedimos que estava muito boa (quente e sem demora), fizeram uma pizza típica do Brasil chamada Romeu e Julieta e nos deram de brinde, estava maravilhosa !
A decoração ficou ótima, escreveram parabéns na lousa do estabelecimento e colocaram musicas típicas brasileiras. Me senti em casa, foi muito mais do que eu esperava !

Establishing a long-​living pizzeria in the Chicago neighborhood appears to be a very difficult task! Our once go-​to place for pizza (Ciao Bella on Lawrence) has closed its door back in March, so I’ve been in the process seeking for a new replacement. Oh by the way, Rosa J. refuses to give her business to Dom*no’s or Pa*a Joh*s. She’s all about the local businesses… and there’s a place called the «Local Pizzeria» on the northeast corner of Foster and Kimball (diagonally across from the Chicago Public Library-​Albany Park branch). Was that coincidental?
I’ve been paying attention to some of the Unilocal reviews; I’ve decided to hold off the visit until this evening because some have mentioned that the business wasn’t yet full-​fledged when they first opened to the public. I was on the way back home from the Lincolnwood Town Center, and I met hubby who just got off work and headed inside.
Other than pizza by the inch or pizza by the slice, they served lighter Italian fare (pasta or simple antipasti). I was interested in the pizza, so we went with 12-​inch wild mushroom. The total was $ 19 and some change after tax.
Once we placed our order at the service counter, we were given a number and found a booth by the window. We came past 1700 hour so the combos were no longer available. By the way, their meal combos are offered daily until 1700 hour. You can either have a slice of cheese pizza, a pop, and a choice of soup or salad for $ 6.25 OR a slice of single-​topping pizza, a pop, and a choice of soup or salad for $ 6.75.
The pizza came ten (10) minutes after the order was placed. The crust was thin and almost resembled as bruschetta rather than a «thin-​crusted pizza.» The entire «pizza» was seasoned just right and ingredients (arugula, red and white onions, mushroom slices, feta, and garlic) were spot-​on fresh! Nevertheless, the entire pizza was on the greasier side. Perhaps sprinkle some cherry tomatoes on top with the arugula would help absorb the amount of grease. That was my personal opinion since I could be somewhat critical on food.
Otherwise, I felt the Local Pizzeria was repeated-​business worth in my book. I knew the prices could be considered «high» in comparison to the place that advertises «$ 5 pizza; ready when you walk in,» but I could have easily paid much more if my wild mushroom pizza somehow ended up in a trendy loop-​area pub.
I now have a reason to jump on the CTA 92 (Foster) bus after work at the Jefferson Park Blue Line station instead of catching the bus 81 so that I can treat myself some delicious pizza and pasta.

I was hoping for a good pizza joint in the hood, and I have found it! So excited that it is finally open! For the longest time I thought it was spelled lokal pizzeria (because of the pizza shape in their display)…is that just me?
I had the caprese salad and the vegetarian pizza. The caprese salad was just okay (a little more balsamic would have been helpful), but the vegetarian pizza was amazing! My roommate had the wings and the cheese/​sausage pizza (will explain in a second), and he greatly enjoyed his food as well. The wings had more pepper than I was expecting, but it was still pretty good. My roommate had asked for the sausage pizza, but they didn’t have any fresh slices, so he just got the cheese pizza, which was perfect… but then they brought him the sausage pizza without any extra charge! I thought that was amazing on their part to remember his first request.
The ambiance is very chill. I liked the décor as well, and good/​friendly service. You should check it out!

I was driving by and decided to grab a quick slice of pizza to go from this place — since I’ve seen it under construction for a while now and it now looked open.
The +++ first. Cute atmosphere and good menu choices that appear on the healthier side. Their lunch combo to get a slice of pizza plus soup or salad plus a drink for $ 6.25 (cheese) or $ 6.75 with toppings — is a pretty good deal for lunch. Food reheated pretty decent, vegetable pizza was nice and crispy (even for take out) and mushroom soup was taste (albeit a little salty).
My experience ordering, simply put — was a total disaster. I put in 17 minutes into the meter, thinking it was plenty of time to run out and grab a slice. I am surprised that I didn’t get a parking ticket, since I was in this place for about 35 minutes. AND, I was the 2^nd person in line to order when I came in. They really need to streamline their order of operation, since everyone in line around me was so frustrated and yelling instructions at them.
Food was 4 stars, experience was 1 star — averages out to 3 stars. Will be willing to give them another chance once they hopefully get their stuff together… Maybe.

I am so excited to have this place in my neighborhood!
The food is fantastic & you can taste how fresh it is.
I ordered the Chicken Parm & a slice of pizza — which was a ton of food, but I wanted to taste everything! (Maybe a little over excited?).
Chicken Parm is one of my heartthrobs, so of course I’m pretty particular about it. Chicken was so juicy & breaded in house. The pasta & sauce with it was pretty spicy — right up my alley!
After we had our meal — The owner brought over 3 more dishes to sample. Pork tenderloin & mashed potatoes to die for! served with a Orange Marsala — wow.
The dessert we sampled was also delish — strips of fried dough heaven with some strawberry sauce. I could eat these for an afternoon study sesh snack.
I can’t wait to make this one of my regular places. There seems to be a balance of quick things to grab (salad, soup, pizza by the slice) as well as dishes to sit and enjoy.
Little first week growing pains — cashier seemed un-​organized and a little confused. And orders were written on a note pad. A fuse blew at one point — whoopsy. But I’m sure these small system things will get perfected with experience.
The atmosphere is great — and the employees were very friendly and excited about the food they served.