Papa Damiani’s

I grew up eating pizza from here, in the 1960s and 70s. Since then, I’ve had pizza from a hundred other places, including all of the well-​known ones. My memory still tells me that this was the best pizza I’ve ever had. Whether it’s still great, or has declined in the last 30 years, I have no idea.

I love pizza. I love all kinds of pizza. New York style, stuffed, deep dish, veggie pizza, meaty pizza, brick-​oven pizza… mmm, pizza. And I love Papa Damiani’s. I came here after hearing about a couple who drives from Florida every year just to buy a bunch of pizzas from Papa Damianis. The place is definitely a dive, and the neighborhood is not great. But the pizza is amazing. I am dreaming about their sausage pizza right now… all of the toppings are made fresh each day. The menu also offers sandwiches and salads, but I’ve yet to try them.
My one complaint is that this place doesn’t take credit cards. And there’s no ATM nearby, so bring cash ahead of time.

I’m a sucker for any place that is recommended by someone. This place came recommended by a friend as some of the best pizza out there. So, after months and months of not wanting to travel into beautiful Dolton, I decided to go for it. First, no credit cards. Ok, luckily I had just enough change to put together 25.00 but that is a big inconvenience for me (sorry). Second, the place was a total dive, which is ok, as long as the food can make up for it. Third, the pizza did not make up for it. It was ok, but pizza hut is ok too. Fourth, the pizza had a weird peanut butter flavor that has now ruined my freshly clean and vanilla scented car. I had read reviews about people driving in from Florida for this people… I thought about all those weird-​os while I was meh’ing over this pizza.