Burt’s Place, Morton Grove, IL

After a fun trip to the Home Alone house in Winnetka, IL. we made a stop at a much talked about pizza place just outside of Chicago called Burt’s Place.  I had read great things about this place on the internet and from Mr. Bourdain’s show, No Reservations, so myself and others were excited to check this place out.  Tucked away in a cozy neighborhood with more than cozy service, this was easily the best pizza I had while I was in Chi-town.

We almost didn’t find it.  Who would have thought such a popular pizza joint would be nestled far away from the main business road, way deep in a neighborhood that I would have no doubt never, ever visited if it hadn’t been for Burt’s Place?  The people inside were more than accommodating.  The joint was small, and about two people were on the floor serving, one of them I recognized as Burt’s lady from the No Reservations episode.

As soon as we realized they didn’t accept credit cards, we told them we had to go find an ATM.  That was no problem for them, they took our order anyway since the pizzas usually took around 45 minutes to cook and let us leave to get money while the pies were in the oven, so they’d be closer to being done by the time we came back.  I can’t imagine any other pizza parlor doing this for total strangers.  Very cool.

We sat down and ordered some beers from a menu that consisted of mostly Great Lakes Brewing Co. beers which were all very much good beers.  I ordered a pale ale with an %8 abv. which is something I’ve never seen done in a pale ale.  I was disappointed in the lack of a beer for the budget minded as every beer on the menu was $4 or more, and thats bottled!  Is it really that hard to keep a small stash of Budweiser?

Anyway, I didn’t come here to drink.  We ordered two small pies, which was more than enough food for 6 of us.  Granted, some of the ladies only ate 1 slice, and one couldn’t eat any due to a Gluten allergy (god bless her soul) but the three slices I ate absolutely annihilated me.  One pie was sausage, one veggie.  The verdict?

Amazing.

This was one of those pizzas where you can tell just how great it is going to taste before it enters your mouth.  You can taste the spices and flavors through your nose right as it’s placed in front of you.  The crust on these pizzas is caramelized which is sort of a defining characteristic of Burt’s and it really sets it on its own pedestal.  Crispy, chewy, full of flavor and plenty of it to go around, the crust is almost one with the cheese that is baked on top of it.  And forget about that dog food sausage that you find on your pizzas around here, this stuff is sliced thick like pepperoni and spiced perfectly.

I forced myself to eat more of this than I should have, but how many times am I gonna get to come here?  If I’m ever in the windy city again, I’ll definitely be making a trip out here.  The pizza is absolutely crushing and the people of Chicago, I consider them lucky to have such a killer place to eat.