Gelsosomo's Pizzeria near Chicago, IL

Basic Information:

Pizza: Gelsosomo's Pizzeria

Number of Locations: 10, mostly near Chicago, IL
Location Reviewed: 5184 S. Franklin Street in Michigan City, IN (in front of Meijer on US 421 just north of I-94 exit 34B)
Website: https://gelpizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: September 2024
What I Ordered: small (10") deep dish pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $24.88 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review:  4.5 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: Gelsosomo's offers a true Chicago style thick crust that is at least 2 inches thick.  The crust has the crispy texture you would expect, and the sauce and cheese blend well with the crust.  Score: 10/10

Sauce: This pizza has lots of sauce.  The sauce had a nice tomatoey taste at first, but a bitter flavor grew on my taste palette the more I ate.  I would like this sauce more without the bitter end.  Score: 8/10

Cheese: This pizza has a thick layer of cheese baked right on the crust, which is where it should be for a deep dish pizza.  I like it.  Score: 10/10

Toppings: The sausage comes in nice big chunks and has a mildly spiced pork flavor.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  Both toppings appear in abundant quantity.  Score: 9/10

Overall Taste: The big gobs of sauce dominate the taste, and therefore this pizza has more of a bitter taste than I prefer.  Score: 7.5/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza looks like the robust deep dish pizza it is.

Dining Atmosphere: Gelsosomo's has a nice casual dining atmosphere with nice booths and a few TVs for entertainment.  I enjoyed the dining experience here.

Customer Service: The table service was quick and attentive on my visit.

Monetary Value: While the price is expensive, it is not the most expensive pizza of this type I have ever had.  Thus, the value is about average.

The Final Judgment:

I enjoyed the food and service at Gelsosomo's.  Only a fresher, more tomato-tasting sauce like the sauce at Lou Malnati's or Uno's keeps this pizza from being elite.  Score: 86/100

Gerry's Pizza Italian Restaurant in Rockford, IL

Basic Information:

Pizza: Gerry’s Pizza Italian Restaurant

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 7403 Argus Dr. in Rockford, IL (beside Red Roof Inn)

Website: https://www.gerryspizza.net/

Date of Review Visit: May 2019

What I Ordered: 10” thick crust pizza with pepperoni and sausage

Price: $11.47 (includes tax but not drink or tip)

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Gerry’s Pizza offers thick and thin crust options.  As will come as no surprise to any regular reader of this blog, I chose thick.  Unlike many thick crust pizzas, this crust is thick under the entire pizza, not just around the edges.  The crust has a lot of body, but it is a little too crispy and bulky in places.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: This pizza has plenty of sauce, but the sauce has a strong garlic taste that overpowers any tomato taste and pretty much every other taste on this pizza.  I’m not a fan of garlic, and therefore I am not a fan of this sauce.  Score: 4/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in excellent quantity, and it is a stringy mozzarella that does not leave a lot of grease.  I like it.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage and pepperoni both appear in high quantity, but neither one has a lot of independent flavor.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The taste of garlic really overpowers everything else.  That’s too bad because there are some other good things going on here.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza looks like a nice thick crust pizza with the odd but not unheard-of square cut pattern.  

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered carry-out, but Gerry’s has a large dining area with a single TV tuned to game shows on my visit.

Customer Service: The service was friendly and fine.

Monetary Value: The price is fairly high considering all I ordered was a 10” pizza with no drink.  Better value can be found elsewhere.

The Final Judgment:

Gerry’s is not the best pizza in Chicagoland, but it’s not bad.  I prefer Lou Malnati’s or Uno’s to Gerry’s.  Score: 77/100.

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria (Pizza Review #100)

Basic Information:

Pizza: Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria

Number of Locations: 81, mostly near Chicago, IL

Location Reviewed: 1050 E. Higgins Rd. in Elk Grove Village, IL

Website: https://www.loumalnatis.com/

Date of Review Visit: May 2019

What I Ordered: Personal Malnati Chicago Classic Pizza (8” deep dish sausage pizza); Coke to drink

Price: $11.99 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photos:

Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: True to its name, the crust on the pizza at Lou Malnati’s is an inch thick Chicago-style butter crust baked in a pan.  They do also offer a thin crust option, but I have no idea why.  I have not yet seen anyone do this style of crust better than Malnati’s does.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza features a thick layer of sauce spread over the top.  The sauce has some chunks of tomato, which I don’t like.  However, the most important thing to me about any tomato sauce is that it tastes like tomatoes, and on that metric this sauce passes with flying colors.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese seems to be 100% mozzarella, and it appears in high quantity even though I had to look for it under the thick layer of sauce.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The sausage is an entire layer, and as you would expect on a Chicago-style pizza it appears in nice fresh chunks.  This is my favorite kind of pizza sausage.  Score: 10/10.

Overall Taste: Everything comes together really well.  Maybe this pizza has a little too much sauce with a few too many chunks of tomatoes.  Score: 9.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The sauce and crust dominate the appearance, as usual for a true Chicago-style pizza.

Dining Atmosphere: The Elk Grove Village location has a dark dining room that is well-decorated with antique light chandeliers and antique-looking chairs.

Customer Service: The service was friendly and excellent, but the pizza took longer to make than it should have considering they weren’t that busy when I came here at 3pm on a Wednesday.

Monetary Value: The price is reasonable for pizza of this quality.  Therefore, while this is not cheap pizza, it does offer good value.

The Final Judgment:

A Chicago classic, Lou Malnati’s ranks right up with Uno’s and LaRosa’s as my favorite pizzas available.  Score: 93/100.

Monical’s Pizza Restaurant

Basic Information:

Pizza: Monical’s Pizza Restaurant

Number of Locations: around 60 across 4 states; based just south of Chicago

Location Reviewed: 850 W. Main Street in El Paso, IL (I-39 exit 14)

Website: https://www.monicals.com/

Date of Review Visit: August 2018

What I Ordered: 8” pan pizza with sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $9.46 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Monical’s offers 2 crust options: thin and pan.  As will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog, I chose pan.  The pan crust is thick but not super thick, and it has a nice crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside texture.  Overall, this is a pretty good pan crust.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: The tomato in the logo suggests that the sauce will be the strength of this pizza, and the tomato tells the truth.  The sauce has a thick consistency, appears in high quantity, and has a nice tomatoey taste.  What more could you want?  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza does not have a ton of cheese, but it produces a lot of grease.  As good as the sauce is, the cheese is equally bad.  Score: 3/10.

Toppings: The sausage appears in small chunks but has no flavor whatsoever.  The pepperoni comes in thin slices with just a little spice.  There is also a “topping” of spices sprinkled all of the pizza; I never care for this many spices.  The two real toppings appear in decent but not overwhelming quantity.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: The overall taste is very underwhelming.  The sauce saves what could be a disaster.  Score: 6.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza has a nice crust-dominated pan pizza appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Monical’s has a nice dining room with antique sports equipment hanging on the walls, but the entire room smelled like beer.  The independent Baptist I am does not like that smell.

Customer Service: The service seemed rushed even though they were not super busy on my visit.

Monetary Value: This is not the best pizza around, but it is pretty cheap.  Therefore, the value is pretty good.

The Final Judgment:

Monical’s is definitely not elite, but it has some things going for it.  I would stop at Monical’s again if I found myself near one.  Score: 73/100.