The Big Tomato

It’s hard to screw up a pizza, maybe in too use to Chicago’s luxury lifestyle with deep dish pizzas made of godlike ingredients. Either way, this is an ok pick for gluten free pizza.

Big Tomato is quite simply the best pizza on the North Shore! Amazing pizza with the most perfect crust, homemade creamy garlic salad dressing that they should sell by the gallon, very homey and cozy atmosphere, great service, incredible prices and BYOB… what more could you ask for? Grab a bottle of wine and go there… you will not be disappointed!

Totally disappointing experience. The toppings on the pizza I had were skimpy except for the onions. The mushrooms and onions tasted like they were precooked although I can’t say with certainty. I ordered the thin crust and it was not what I expected, really thick and gummy. The service not great. My server never asked if things were OK and it was evident they were not since I only ate the toppings off of 2 slices and declined to take the rest home. If I had been asked how I enjoyed the meal I would have given my opinion privately and not be using this public forum. Definitely would not go back again.

Good pizza, good service, reasonable prices. Very nice, cozy atmosphere as well.
I enjoyed eating here, and look forward to coming again.

This was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. I gave this place two stars because the pizza has a lovely thin, crunchy crust and the salad was fresh. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the place because of the outrageous experience we had and the dismissive attitude of the owner/​manager.
The place is small – about half a dozen booths and some tables – so small that you can see every single table and person from any position. So when a table of around 10 little boys who looked about 5 or 6 years old are all yelling, it is LOUD and it disturbs every single living being inside the doors. This joyful screaming went on for over an HOUR. The mom and dad of this birthday party allowed the children to yell freely and were completely unfazed and unapologetic. Every 15 – 20 minutes they half-​heartedly shushed the kids but it was mainly so they could present the next exciting segment of the party. The parents behaved as though they were in their own home where standard public decency is irrelevant. The children were so loud that my friend and I had to raise our voices to hear ourselves. I actually had to press my finger against my ear several times because the shrill shocked my ears.
What is perhaps more shocking than the galling lack of consideration by the overly-​entitled parents is that the manager/​owner did nothing even as he walked through front of the restaurant. He did not ask the parents to keep it down, nor did he check in with the other customers.
Toward the end of our meal my friend complained to the manager. He was unapologetic and offered no compensation for our unpleasant meal.
True, we should have left the restaurant when we saw the group of children. We just could not fathom that decent humans would be so cavalierly inconsiderate at a small, local business. Once we ordered we felt committed, and we were hungry, in the mood for pizza and we kept hoping the parents would direct the kids toward appropriate public behavior.
If this restaurant wants to cater to birthday parties, they need to do what any sensible business would do: charge the host to hold a private party, or create a closed off party room, or enforce normal standards of public behavior. This owner/​manager showed complete lack of respect for the other diners.

Alright so first time ordering from this place. I haven’t even tried their pizza yet. If you order from a place a couple small pizzas for pick up and they tell you 25 minutes but take an hour, something’s wrong. It shouldn’t take that long guys especially when I called right when you opened.

Beautiful fall Monday night with a nice guy yummy pizza, reasonable and BYOB. Love when I can bring my own wine. Great spot to walk to after the theatre! I will return

It’s ok. Nothing to write home about. Basic menu, basic tastes. We’d purchased Groupons. The décor is nice. Friendly staff. There’s nothing wrong with this place but it wouldn’t ever be my first choice to go for pizza or probably anything else. Sorry, just not impressed.

The Italian beef was the best I have ever had. I also like the pasta alfredo. The service was great. Cheap night as it is BYOB.

I went with a good friend of mine today, and we got their deep dish pizza. The pizza was about par with Giordano’s, but the tomato sauce on it was close to Lou Malnati’s. That said, here’s what set it apart from Gio’s or Lou’s:
1. The atmosphere is amazing! Much better than the Lou’s or Gio’s in Evanston. It’s a nice, small restaurant that is really cozy and we had a really pleasant time there.
2. The service was fantastic. We had a lovely waitress who took great care of us. At Gio’s we typically had to holler to get somebody’s attention, but here we had to look up, and the waitress would pop by, smiling.
3. Preparation time. Gio’s takes about 45 – 60 minutes to prepare a deep dish pizza. This restaurant promised 35 minutes, and 35 minutes later (right as we finished our appetizers), the pizza was steaming on our table.
Finally — THIS IS IMPORTANT — if you get the deep dish pizza, ask for their garlic ranch sauce. They make it in-​house, and it’s REALLY GOOD. More than anything else, that’s what set our experience apart from the big deep-​dish pizza chains.
We HIGHLY RECOMMEND this place!

Love the friendly service and food! I love their Caesar salad with creamy garlic sauce, and the salads itself is fresh and superb!
Service is just 5 star imo because they always check to make sure everything is good and satisfying for me.
Stuffed pizza are amazing as well. I prefer Big Tomato over Giordanos because the tomato sauce tastes so much better. Their sauce tastes like actual fresh tomato! Full of that rich tomato flavour makes me come back here. I recommend the Big Tomato Special & Margaritas. The bread crust are soft and yet not oily so that’s a big plus. Will come back again for sure!

still a great place but now byob, fyi
remember to order the deep dish

I’ve only had pizza here, can’t really comment on the rest of the menu. Pizza-​wise, it’s probably the best in the area, but the area doesn’t have much good pizza. It’s also pretty pricey for the portions they serve. The pizza itself is pretty good, but it could probably use a little extra sauce, the crust is nice and the people there are fairly nice. I’d probably visit more often if they did pizza by the slice later at night.

Extremely good service, as well as the pizza. I highly recommend this place. I ordered a deep dish spinach pizza with a couple of people. Nice environment and the layout was very appealing with decent pricing. Next time I’m in the area, I’m definitely coming here.

I have been to The Big Tomato a handful of times. Their pizza is amazing and so are their soups! The place is super cute and the staff is super friendly! Would highly recommend.

Overall, I would give the pizza a «3» but our delivery experience was so poor that the restaurant deserves 1 star.
The pizza was delivered and when we opened it we discovered that it was the wrong pizza and was just plain cheese. I called and was told that they put the ingredients under the cheese and that I must be wrong. They told us to try it and I said I would call back if it was in fact the wrong pizza.
Sure enough it was just cheese, and the wrong pizza. I called back and they finally confirmed with the driver that he had delivered the wrong pizza. They told me that he was in the area and that they would send him back with the correct pizza and to take the incorrect one.
The driver returned and was mad that we had eaten a piece of the pizza despite our explanation that the restaurant had told us to. He left with the pizza and took off without delivering our pizza. I called a third time at which point the manager was engaged and I was told the delivery guy would be back in 2 minutes. He did finally arrive and delivered what was still an incorrect pizza, had pepperoni and sausage all over instead of on ½. At that point we left it and decided to just eat what we found to be mediocre pizza.
I rarely complain about service, but this was very frustrating with no offer of a coupon and barely an apology.

Ordered Tortellini with pesto, they were hard and chewy. Tasted like they were cooked and just put aside. Then microwaved before serving. Also ordered the garlic bread. It was hard as a rock & dry. We ordered a pan pizza that was mediocre. The cheese was rubbery.
The house salad with the house dressing was all that was good.
I do not recommend the Tortellini or the garlic bread. The deep dish pizza was not what I expected.
I have had the thin crust pizza here which is superb.
Unfortunately, the things I ordered a day ago were not fresh.
Disappointed, yesterday. But there are other days ahead. Just might have been an off day for them being two days after Christmas.
No one can expect a restaurant to be perfect all the time, can we?

This place gets 5 stars for atmosphere and service, but only an overall of 3 stars for lack of alcohol and food quality. Really nice little neighborhood pizza place that my kids love. Just remember to bring your chianti!

I live around the corner and decided to try this pizzeria for the first time. I can tell you I was definitely not disappointed. I ordered an Xtra large pizza with spinach and garlic. The thin crust was cooked to perfection. It was crispy and not greasy. The pizza had the right amount of garlic. The spinach was toasted and had a smokey flavor but it was definitely not burnt. It was quite tasty. I also ordered some mozzarella sticks but those do need some improvement. They were small and looked like anything you can buy in the frozen aisle at Jewel.
Also they offer 10% off when you place your order online. A good deal!

It’s my first time here and it’s been in the neighborhood since Cheese-​to-​Please closed up shop about 2 – 3 years.
I wouldn’t travel here for great pizza, it’s pretty bland. Father & Son’s in Skokie serves a better Margherita pizza. My son had the pepperoni and jalapeño personal pizza and liked it probably because it had more flavor and spice.
They do use fresh ingredients so I like that but the crust is only so so.
It’s a very small restaurant and you can tell it’s just neighborhood customers who come here. I would only come back for the convenience and location.