Throughout the Chicago suburbs you will find numerous places with the name Barone's Pizza. We chose to eat at the Carpentersville location, but I am honestly not sure if this may or may not be part of a small local chain. There are no indication(s) online or elsewhere the joints are connected, and we forgot to ask.

This particular location, in the far Northwestern suburb of Carpentersville, is located in a small strip mall, set well back from the nearby main drag (Illinois 25), and you’re not likely to see it if you’re not looking for it, or unless you’re a regular. There are two sides to the business, a full boisterous bar with seating and service on the right, and a calmed down version, vinyl-table clothed restaurant on the left.

Judging from mentions of the restaurant on other review sites, Barone's has been at this Carpentersville location at least 25 years. The restaurant does a booming take out and delivery business, with a very complete menu of dinners, sandwiches, pizza, and nightly specials. On a Thursday nite, at the dinner hour, the bar was packed and the dining room deserted. Guess which I opted for?

Meals are served complete – with a complimentary bread basket, soup or salad. The Thursday special was fried chicken, four good sized pieces on the plate, with a choice of fries, smash or baked. The salad was ample, the soup Minestrone.

The thin crust pizza is priced 10-20 % less than other independents in the area, which surprised me, because Barone’s Pizza really piles on the cheese (the equivalent of double at other pie shops), and used a hand-pulled, flavorful, Italian sausage in good sized pieces. The crust is typical of “Chicago thin,” not cracker-like, but crispy and flaky at the same time. Sauce was flavorful without being overbearing. I like sliced green olives on my pizzas on occasion, and it seems like Barone’s Pizza uses my favorite kind, a “Sicilian style.”

Service was perfunctory. The menu states to allow 25 minutes for pizza, so there’s been no oven update in that kitchen in the past few decades. But that’s ok. It was worth waiting for, and if I lived in the Chicago ‘burbs, this would be my new go to place.

And my always “ultimate test” of how is it the next morning, cold? As Mr. Burns would say, “Excellent.”

Barone's Pizza in Carpenterville, IL gets 6 out of 8 slices. You can read more on my website http://burgersdogspizza.com/