Since I'm on vacation this week, I've got nothing but free time on my hands. And since I was originally supposed to work on Monday night, the plan was for me and Lars Vargas to go out on Tuesday night and sample the pies at Chicago Brewing Company out on the west side. Yes--they make a helluva good pizza--I had some last week for dinner at the poker tournament at Binion's, and was immediately smitten. It was so good that I made a point of asking the guy in the chef's hat where I could buy some. And I was told that dinner was catered from the Chicago Brewing Company out on Fort Apache. Immediately, that restaurant went to the top of the Must Try list.
But Lars is married, and forgot about the Yoga class on Tuesday night that mama signed him up for, so he got a free pass on Monday night instead, and emailed me early in the morning to see if we could reschedule. Like I said, I've got no place to be for most of the week...
Lars got to the house a few minutes early, but I finished getting dressed and we were on our way by 7:00 pm. Luckily by then most of the rush-hour traffic had dissipated, so it was smooth sailing, and we got there in no time.
It's still quite a drive to get there from Henderson--it's even further away than NY Pizza & Pasta. But CBC is much easier to get to--it's just a bit off of the 215 on Sahara and Ft. Apache, so it's almost all freeway between there and the Man Cave.
We were quite impressed with the restaurant when we drove up--it's in a large stand-alone building at the edge of a strip mall, but the parking lot was full--a good sign. The dining room is is fairly large, but they also have a separate bar for smokers and video poker players, and there is also a large outdoor patio with fans and widescreen TVs and such. But we opted for a table in the dining room.
They have a full menu that looked very good, but we were there for the pizza. Of course, the first order of business was their tasty microbrewed beer. Lars got a 22 ouncer of Black Star Stout, and I got the same size glass, but with Ramblin' Reck Amber Ale. Both were very good. Sometimes it's hit-or-miss with some microbrews, but this brewmaster knew what he was doing. We enjoyed them very much.
For an appetizer, Lars was in the mood for some calamari, and I usually don't eat that unless I'm dining with Angy, but well, she wasn't there. So while I just hated to do it, I went ahead and ate some without her. It was quite good, with a nice batter that wasn't too heavy, and the squid was nice and tender, not tough at all. Of course the marinara was just right, not too sweet.
We didn't take too long to kill the platter of calamari, and the pizzas came out shortly thereafter. Yes, I said pizzas, plural--we always order two larges because, frankly, who doesn't love leftover pizza? Lars had a bacon and onion pie, and I went with old reliable, pepperoni and mushroom.
They came out of the oven piping hot, and of course the first bite burned the roof of my mouth and got my shirt dirty at the same time. Ah, but the pain was worth the pleasure. It was soooo good. And Lars gave his the one-hand-free thumbs up, as his other hand was busy, lustily shoving a piece in his mouth.
Unlike Grimaldi's coal oven, these pies are made in a gas oven, but the crust is still excellent. And they use the restaurant-style mozzarella instead of the fresh lumpy kind. Our only critique was that the sauce might've been just a touch too sweet, but that's just a taste preference. Otherwise, we both loved the pizza, and I'd go so far to say that it's the second best pizza I've had in Vegas. Grimaldi's has set the bar so high that nobody is gonna catch them, but Chicago Brewing Company's thin crust pies are fantastic. It's even better than NY Pizza & Pasta, which is high praise, indeed, and way better than the consensus 'Best Pizza in Vegas', Metro Pizza.
They also have regular Chicago-style deep dish, but I'm not such a fan of the casserole pizza, so I can't comment on how good it is. But we saw a few making their way around the dining room and landing on neighboring tables, and they looked pretty damn good, too. I certainly heard no complaints.
Once the pizzas hit the table, I switched from beer to their homemade Root Beer. Oh man, it's gotta be the best I've ever had. I think the microbrews are a little too heavy to go with food, so I switched over, and I was not disappointed. I had some downtown at their Four Queen outlet in the past, and the quality is consistent. It's almost the perfect compliment to a good pizza. I know, it sounds weird, but if you can get past the Chuck-E-Cheez factor of root beer and pizza, it's a pretty tasty combination.
So both Lars and I were quite impressed with our meal and our overall visit, and have decided that we should make a monthly trek out to the West Side, if only to change things up from our regular Grimaldi's ritual, and to check out the rest of the menu (I saw a crock or two of French-onion soup coming out of the kitchen, and you know I'll have to eventually try some of that).
I think the bill came to $68 before tip, but that's two large two-topping pies ($18 each), an order of calamari, a few beers, and a glass of root beer. Not too shabby, maybe slightly pricey, but well worth it as far as we were concerned. Service was friendly and prompt, and the atmosphere was quiet and enjoyable. We'll definitely be going back.
Clicky for full-sized goodness.After dinner, we came back here to the Man Cave for a little bit of Andrew Zimmern/Anthony Bourdain and some Bombay Sapphire martinis. (All that liquor ain't gonna drink itself). We passed on the cigars, as Lars is still fighting the lingering effects of sinus cold, but martinis and conversation were good enough.
It was a pleasant evening, and a fine way to spend the first day of my vacation.
Mikey
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