Vito and Nick's Pizzeria
Vito and Nick's sits here because it is the founding text of the tavern pie tradition — everything Pizz'amici and its cohort learned, they learned from what's been happening on Pulaski since the postwar years.
The history of Chicago tavern-style pizza runs through this building at 8433 S. Pulaski, where Vito Barraco's family has been producing cracker-thin, square-cut pies since Mary Barraco developed the recipe in 1949. The crust stays crisp from edge to center under a generous layer of bubbly brown cheese and a sweet, oregano-forward sauce. There is nothing trend-adjacent happening here; the pizza is good for the same reason it has always been good, which is that the recipe is right and the family has never stopped caring.
The dining room is a Chicago tavern in the full sense — booths, a bar, low light, families who have been coming for three generations. The neighborhood is Ashburn, far south on Pulaski, and the distance filters out anyone who isn't serious. Vito and Nick's ranks just below Pizz'amici not because the pizza is inferior but because the newer restaurant is doing something original with the form. The original form, though, is here.
- Sausage and mushroom thin-crust pie
- Pepperoni and cheese
- Whole pie, square-cut
