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Chicago Pizza Authority, 840B Summit St., (847) 742-8802
CPA is a long time Elgin favorite. The sauce is superb, mild yet very tasty. Crust is a little tough as the pizza gets colder but hot, it is excellent. Sausage is also very mild and tasty but there could be a little more of it. Vegetable toppings are fresh and plentiful and the selection is excellent. The pizza generally arrives quickly, especially on the east side.
Dining-in ensures hot and fast pizza and they offer a salad bar/pizza buffet which is a good deal.People at CPA are some of the best we dealt with.
In the view of our resident pizza expert, Chicago Pizza Authority tied for third with Nick’s in our search for the best pizza in Elgin. It had possibly the very best sauce, good quality ingredients, a little more oregano but not overwhelming. Crust was the only downside and not a big one. It’s just after it starts to cool, it is a little tough. Overall, a solid selection
Panel Comments:
“Delicious! Sauce is terrific and toppings are excellent. Sausage pieces were a little small, though.”
“Crust is little chewy and doesn’t have much flavor. Sauce is best we tasted, though.”
“Topping are very good but could use a few more of them.”
“Everyone there was so nice and the deliveryman was very friendly. Pizza was good but some of the vegetables were a little undercooked.
“Liked this one a lot. One of the best we had. Very easy to eat and not that filing. I think the crust needs a little work, but it was all doughy.”
Danny’s Pizza, 302 S. McLean Blvd., (847) 742-5400
Danny’s is a long-time Elgin favorite that might be hard to find, but worth the effort. They follow orders well when you are ordering; They took us seriously when we said extra cheesy; that pizza was dripping with cheese and it was delicious. However, there wasn’t enough sauce to go with the cheese. We’ve noticed that is a problem with certain pizzas _ extra sauce helps with the order. Otherwise the pizza was well cooked. Crust was good and overall, the pizza was above average. The delivery guy was kind and the person who’d answered the phone to take my order was pretty helpful.
Panel comments:
“There wasn’t enough sauce for the pizza, but the spices gave the pizza more flavor to make up for it. There needs to be more sauce or less cheese to even it out. I would say the taste is average and, if you’re hungry, it’ll do.”
“I generally don’t enjoy cheese pizzas or extra cheese pizza but Danny’s was a pleasant surprise. It had a thin crust and three times as much cheese. It was slightly annoying to try and find the slices amongst the cheese but the taste made up for it. It was sweet and delicious, but not chewy.”
“Cheese was sweet, proportions were good. The crust was sort of bland but a good crispiness. There weren’t too many spices — needs a tad more flavor.”
“The Danny’s cheese pizza has a crisp crust and a mildly sweet sauce that adds a complimentary flavor to the cheese that covers every inch of the piece. Wonderful!”
“This pizza was overall very good. I had an extra cheese piece and it had tons of cheese. The sauce was sweet, there was just the right amount. The pieces were cut very small though, making them somewhat hard to eat.”
“Danny’s was the best in my opinion, the sauce was sweet and not too much. So good!”
Mel’s Pizza, 728 W. Chicago St., (847) 695-8180
The head honcho’s favorite among an excellent selection of local pizzarias. Dine in, carry out or delivery. Excellent sauce, well-cooked crust at high temperature. Ingredients are quality, oregano is implied and fennel is in feng shui balance. Delivered hot, a rarity, and by a man who did not look as though he failed to complete third grade
I’ve always liked Mel’s (Mel is a woman, by the way, Melissa, I believe). This is old school pizza; not double thick crust or pesto sauce with bean curd toppings or any of that other New Age healthy lifestyle crap. This is pizza, my friend, as it was meant to be. I think what sets them apart is that they must cook their pies in a very hot oven. The crust is crisp, not chewy or doughy and holds up well to the toppings and sauce. All toppings are quality the sausage is tasty without being too spicy; pepperoni was outstanding. I like tomatoes on pizza and they didn’t make the crust soggy. The sauce is rich, tomato-y but does not overpower the flavor. The cheese is superb, not too thick and very tasty. (We always ask that ours be cooked a little longer to brown the cheese.) Everyone has their own favorite, but for me, Mel’s was #1. It arrived hot and exactly as I ordered it.
Panel comments:
“WOW! Really, really good! Everything is perfect!”
“Loved the flavor, especially the crust. Not tough and a little thinner than the others. Mine was a little overcooked on the edges though.”
“Sausage was really good and pizza wasn’t greasy. I thought there was too much sauce though. I got it all over myself.”
“This one and Nick’s are my favorite. Excellent flavor and the quality of the ingredients is obvious. This one stands above the rest.”
“Not especially friendly on the phone, but clearly one of the best local pizzas I have ever had.”
“Loved this pizza a ton.”
Nick’s Pizza Pub, 990 S. Randall Road, (847) 531-5550
Unlike some of the other entrants, Nick’s has a very lively and interesting restaurant which, of course, we have to discount in the analysis of the actual pizza itself.
Visually the pizza is very appealing; ingredient portions were well distributed and plentiful (every get a huge slug of onions all in one bite and none anywhere else?) The two pizzas ordered were the Hawaiian with the barbeque sauce and the pepperoni, both with the double crust. The bill was a little on the spendy side but the pizzas were quality and the service was good. People were friendly and we were treated like we were the only people in the place, something that added to our enjoyment. Crust was excellent, sauces were both good and the flavor was excellent. We would return to Nick’s. A solid #3.
Panel comments:
“This pizza did not have evenly distributed sauce. The pepperoni was good and flavorful as was the sauce. The cheese was too flavorful, it did not mesh with the rest of the pizza as well. All together the pizza was good.”
“Nick’s pizza never fails to impress me. The sauce on the Hawaiian was sweet and tangy, which helped to compliment the pineapple, the thicker crust was satisfying and the herbs sprinkled on top finished of an amazing pizza.”
“Delicious! Sweet taste, good flakey/puffy crust, good amount of cheese to topping to crust.”
“Nick’s Hawaiian pizza contains a crust that folds and twists, creating a nice texture that contrast the soft cheese and pineapple. There is also a sweet and zesty BBQ sauce that contrasts the mildly flavored cheese.”
“There was too much sauce on this pizza. It was a little bit spicy but I liked it overall. I really liked the cheese and the crust was the best I’ve ever had.”
“I really, really liked the Nick’s pepperoni pizza. The spices on top added great flavor that was delicious! The only thing I didn’t really like was the amount of sauce on the pizza. Crust was so good too!”
Geno Nottolini’s, 1061 N. Liberty St., (847) 888-4884
Nottolini’s pizza had to struggle to make it to average, a fact I attribute the use of substandard quality items, mostly the sausage and the cheese.
I didn’t dislike the pizza, but I didn’t love it either. The prices, however, do not reflect cheaper ingredients. Nottolini’s did offer a 20-inch pizza as its large which is good when one seeks quantity. But the sausage was pretty greasy and the cheese was thick and had no flavor. Sauce was just OK as was the crust. We couldn’t get too worked up over Nottolini’s. The added size was nice, but there just wasn’t a lot of flavor to it. The pizza arrived fairly hot but we couldn’t say our exchange with the deliveryman was particularly compelling. He didn’t say hello or make eye contact. He took our money, handed us the pizza and left, no “Thank you for your business,” and no goodbye.
Panel comments:
“For the size of the pizza the price is really pretty good. The sauce, though is not very flavorful, and there isn’t very much of it. The crust was too thin, almost like a frozen pizza, but was soft and tasty.”
“The pizza was huge and was aesthetically pleasing, but it didn’t have very much flavor. The sausage was the only thing that had any taste.”
“Great textures, feels good in my mouth, looks the best. However, the taste is virtually dull—no taste besides a hint from the sausage.”
“Delivers a generous amount — it’s large out-sizing the competitors by a few inches. However, I would not prefer the taste over another option.”
“Wasn’t the best. The cheese didn’t really have much flavor.”
White Cottage Pizza, 280 S. Randall Road, (847) 622-9500
White Cottage adherents would pillory me (if they knew who I was) because to them, White Cottage is not just the best pizza in Elgin, but the best in the entire known and explored world. I liked it, despite the fact that its price was a little uptown, but I can’t rate it as my favorite. Close though. Its cheese and sauce blend to make every mouthful a delight. But the large I ordered had so much cheese on it that it sat a little heavy. The crust holds the ingredients well but is a little chewy. As it cools, it gets a little tougher to bite through, meaning even with strong jaws, you could have trouble tearing it away. The pizza has some of the best flavor of any of the pizzas I tried, but the cheese was a little overwhelming. Eat it hot and fresh and it ranks #2.
Panel comments:
“Fantastic flavor! Sauce was super. This is the best I’ve tried."
“Crust was too tough but the sausage was excellent. Really liked it.”
“Ingredients were good. Pepperoni was lost in the cheese but it all combined for a deep, rich flavor. Very, very good.”
“I had two pieces and it filled me up. Only thing I didn’t like was that I couldn’t find where the slices were in all the cheese.”
“Sauce was very rich and thick and good spices. Sausage was outstanding. People were really friendly. I will definitely go back."
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