PCOC Meeting #26 - Pat's Pizzeria

Pizza Club of Chicago convened last night for its 26th meeting at the new Pat's Pizzeria location on North Lincoln Avenue. Pat's Sheffield pizza joint has long been a standby for the northside's thin crust pizza lovers. Recently though, the Sheffield spot has closed and a new shop opened on Lincoln just south of Diversey. I can't really recall what the old place was like, but the new joint on Lincoln is new and "cute" according to the female members of PCOC. Presumably due to the newness of the place, it is currently BYOB. While the location, ambiance and current brew situation has changed from the old place on Sheffield, many will surely be happy to know that the pizza seems to have stayed the same: thin as hell and addictive once you get in a groove.

We had 10 people last night (with a couple possible late arrivals) and decided to play it safe by ordering 5 large pizzas. While the waiter opined that a large pizza would feed 3-4, we thought that it would be more like 2-3, and while we had some left, if we had ordered 3 or 4 according to the waiter's suggestion, we likely would have been a bit light. As for the pies themselves, we had a couple meat, a couple veggie, and a special. I thought that the straight sausage was the best of the bunch, but I also thought the cheese and tomato was pretty good too. Mr. Mike "Turtle" Carr developed a new way to eat Pat's pizza last night when he slapped two pieces of similar size cheese side together and started putting it back. What Turtle ended up with was kinda like a thin stuffed pizza without the extra layer of sauce on top, and looked like a damn good way to get a bunch of Pat's in your mouth as quickly as possible. With this move, Turtle further added to his reputation of being one serious f*n eater. Kudos Tortoise.

Things at Pat's weren't all aces though. There were some grumbles at the table regarding one of the veggie pizzas that had sun-dried tomatoes on it, as the tomatoes overpowered everything else and were not that tasty. There was also some talk about whether the pizzas were cooked enough. PCOC generally likes to order its thin pizzas well-done or easy well-done, but last night we just went with what the kitchen gave us as there were some fears that ordering Pat's really thin crust pies well-done could be dangerous. After much reflection, if I made the order again, I would have ordered the meat pizzas well-done and left the veggies pies to the expertise of the pizza makers. So there it is, you heard it here, from the experts, Pat's new joint is "cute," and the pizzas are still feature the same tasty ingredients and very thin crust. Overall, an above average spot that I am sure I will visit again or at least get delivery from.

As for PCOC developments, there was some Farm Report storytelling, and some further talk about the First Annual PCOC Games and PCOC charity efforts but no new action was taken on either front. The President won the "picker" raffle and will choose the location for PCOC meeting #27 currently scheduled for July 26.

In other news, The Office of the President is pleased to announce that preliminary talks have begun with various real estate developers of establishing a PCOC PizzaLand Funpark. This pizza heaven will follow along the lines of Disneyland, except instead of focusing on stupid little cartoon characters, the focus will be on big, beautiful pizzas. The hope is that PCOC Pizzaland will open the pizza world to new generations of American kids in a three-dimensional, interactive way by having the following activities:

• pizza workshops for kids,
• pizza slides (like a waterslide but you slide on greazy cheese and you fall into pizza sauce),
• pizza eating contests for kids,
• pizza fights,
• education about the importance of ovens in pizza making,
• daily pizza fireworks displays,
• history of pizza films,
• a pizza themed video arcade (where you win tickets to be redeemed for prizes like free pizza), and
• other exciting pizza-themed entertainment for kids.

For the adults, PCOC Pizzaland will offer the following:

• free beer and other adult beverages in an adults only area featuring bars with countless flat screen TVs that will be able to tune in any conceivable sporting event,
• spa and salon services for the ladies,
• many varieties of PCOC's favorite pizza for free,
• vigilant, paramedic/martial arts-trained chaperones to follow the little ones around all day,
• designated drivers providing door-to-door service to make the ride home after a long day of pizza and beer one of sweet slumber for both parent and child.

Preliminary plans call for PCOC Pizzaland to open by the summer of 2015.