Craft Beer and Great Pizza at Piece
When you live in Chicago, you hear a lot about pizza. Mostly, Chicagoans have debates about where the best deep dish is, and which type of crust they prefer. One place all of us agree on, however, is Piece.
Piece has two great things going for it: 1) award-winning craft beer, and 2) awesome pizza. First of all, the brewmaster at Piece, Jonathan Coulter, is a genius. If you like beer, you will be hard pressed to find something on the beer menu that you don't like. They have a constantly rotating local selection emanating from their own 7 barrel brew-house. Piece beer has won numerous awards at the prestigious World Beer Championships.
Secondly, the pizza is awesome, like I said. It comes in huge cheesy rounds on a hand-tossed crust. There are three options for the "base" pizza at Piece: white, red, and plain. The white pizza has a garlic and olive oil in place of the traditional red pizza sauce. The plain pizza eschews mozzarella for parmesan, but includes traditional marinara-style pizza sauce. The red pizza is what most people think of when they thing of pizza - red sauce, mozzarella, add your own goodies! On each style, you have a choice of dozens fresh toppings.
The atmosphere at Piece reflects the two things they do best. There is a huge bar area, and sky lights provide loads of natural light in the daytime, lending to an airy, open feel. The bartenders know the product, and will be able to speak knowledgably with you about the Piece brews as well as the numerous other beers on tap. The waitstaff is friendly and hip. The scene is decidedly Wicker Park/Bucktown: artsy, young, and cool. The restaurant is pretty loud and casual, but probably not the best place for kids unless you're there for lunch. The bar area is open to the rest of the restaurant.
If you're ready to venture away from the Loop, the Lake and Lincoln Park on your next visit to the Windy City, stop in for a pie and a pint as you explore the burgeoning Bucktown area.
Piece is located at 1927 W. North Ave, and accessible via the Blue Line el (Damen stop), or the #56 Milwaukee bus (North and Damen/Milwaukee stop).
