There is this place on the NW corner of division and halsted now. Its ok. Kinda of a low rent NYC things.

any other opinions about this place?

Piero's in Highland Park, definitely beats Lou Malnati's in my book.

For thin crust? That shouldn't be difficult.

I agree with you, was just responding to the Citysearch post as well.

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I second Piece for beer (house and assorted), pizza (New Haven style), and as a good place to watch sports (Damen Ave. Sports Bar being the only other place I know of size).

Two weeks ago they started work on expanding their tankspace to allow for more (variety and quantity) of their house brews.

Karaoke and such on Thursdays and other nights.

Also, Piece is hosting a New Year's party ($65). Not my thing but some of my friends plan to go...

but any FT reviews on the pizza there? wondering before i decide to make a run as it is relatively close

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About Piece... well, it's complicated.

For one.. there's a lot of variety.. Red (traditional mozz, tomato sauce), white (parm & garlicky I think), and plain (mozz or mixed cheese, herby?). And then toppings and so on.

I personally like combinations like red-sausage-banana peppers, white-veggie-pepperoni (gets kindof crisped like), etc. Mix and match of tops, meats and veggies.

Mixed green salads are awesome. Pears, candied pecans, blue cheese. My favorite.

As I was saying though.. this being the restaurant biz, I think turnover is an issue, and who's manning the oven on a particular night can make a big difference. Actually a huge difference.

Since it's just down the street from me I can ride out the variances I wouldn't say hit or miss, but ymmv depending.

I don't want complicated pizza choices when it comes to thin crust. Topping and size and get it here in 30 minutes.

I grew up on the Northwest side and there was a local place on Montrose near Austin (no longer there) called "Double ZZ's". That's where we always got pizza and where I learned to love Chicago thin crust (we never knew that deep dish existed).

To me, traditional Chicago thin crust is cut into squares, not pie slices. It does tend to be a soft crust and the crust edge (which needs to be crunchy) is no more than a quarter inch wide. Sausage has to be chunks (from bulk Italian Sausage), liberally applied. The sauce is a little spicy and thin enough to drip out if you're not careful. The cheese is thick and has to be cooked to a dark brown.

I go a little out of my way to Ledo's in Countryside for that type of pizza (they changed something in the last ten years or so and it isn't quite as good as when I was a kid). John's in Brookfield is my usual delivery, although they are missing something in theirs -- but it isn't bad.

The problem with the places that have become chains (Malnatti's, Home Run Inn, Giordano's) is that they are chains. The old man running the store isn't there to keep an eye on things and the cash register is taking precedent over the pizza. That, and they have tended to expand the menu too much and lost focus on what got them there. It's like a good hot dog and beef place -- once the menu expands beyond reason, the hot dogs and beef tend to suffer (mainly because the dogs and beef are tending to sit longer in the cookers while people order other things).

Maybe we need a thin crust pizza do. I might even venture into the 'burbs for a good thin crust pizza!

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I'm originally from the east coast, so I don't have to tell most of you that Chicago pizza just doesn't work for me. Consequently, I only voluntarily eat pizza in Chicago about once a year. That said, I'll also put in a vote for Piece...it's my restaurant of choice when it comes to pizza. Though I'll agree, some nights it's only good, but it still comes a lot closer to what I know as pizza than anything I find at a lot of other Chicago area pizza places.

For other NY/CT pizza fans, I have heard a lot of good things about Pizza DOC, but haven't tried it yet. Any thoughts?

Pizza DOC is very good, but nothing, IMO, like New York pizza. The closest I have found to NY pizza is at Renaldi's on Broadway, just north of Diversey. It reminds me of the pizza at Ray's Famous on 6th Ave. at 11th St. in NYC (which is my favorite for NY pizza). If I'm in the neighborhood, I will, more often than not, stop in for a slice.