I have been bored by thin crust pizza. There, I admitted it. I have found pizza’s deeper dish brother to be far more exciting as of late. Deep dish pizza has so much more flavor, depth, and fulfillment…but also so many more calories. I craved a hot piece of pizza the other night, but I knew the right thing to do was to placate myself less sinfully with thin crust. I hedged my bets on a new pizza place in Park Ridge called Paninos.

I ordered a 16 inch thin crust of half mushroom and half sausage for $20. This pizza was meant to feed 3 people, so if paying only $20 would enable me to do that, I felt A-OK with that. It took about an hour to arrive. We dove in. The toppings were fresh and flavorful, the cheese was gooey and ah-mazing, the sauce was nothing to sneer at, and the crust was crispy and tasty. I really enjoyed the pizza, but if I were to dig deeper as to why, I guess I would have to say it was the cheese and sauce combination. For me, I love tasting gooey, slightly salty, aromatic cheese, and I don’t mind if I don’t notice the taste of the sauce–as long as the cheese is that good. The cheese was that good. That’s not the say the layer of sauce wasn’t thick nor pleasant enough, but the combination was a pleasant one. Located on 28 S. Fairview (I believe where the Rosario’s pizza once was), Panino’s is a fresh find. The restaurant also looks kind of cute. Check out more at www.paninospizzeria.com.

Panino’s Pizza gets 5 out of 8 slices.

You can follow Martha on Twitter @examinerchicago

and follow us on Twitter @worstpizza

Most Commented

• Who Says New York Pizza Is Better? Colosseo Pizza in Port Jefferson Isn’t
• The Best Pizza in America According To GQ’s Alan Richman.. Like He Knows
• Lo Piccolo’s Pizza Hauppauge NY