Chicago trip, Day 2 (Lunch at Burt’s Place)
the view from our hotel room…thanks Priceline!
the Metra
On Day 2 of our eating trip, we woke up nice and early to take the Metra to Burt’s Place, a little pizzeria in Morton Grove that’s been photographed on the cover of Saveur magazine. Even legendary bad boy Tony Bourdain’s eaten here.
Burt’s Place is so well-known, Morton Grove erected this sign right off the Metra, so day trekkers from Chicago (only 25 min. away) can easily find the restaurant
Two weeks ago, I called Burt’s Place to make a reservation. Burt kindly informed me that I would have to place my order right away, and directed me to their menu on Urbanspoon.com. If it seems strange to order your pizza a full week before you intend to fly out and eat it, rest assured, this is how it always works at Burt’s–it’s a small restaurant, he told me, so he needs the pizza cooked and ready to hit your table as soon as you and your party walk in the door. Otherwise, he’d have people occupying his few tables, slowly sipping beers and debating over the pizza toppings, while there’s a line out the door.
In the hour or so we were there, the phone rang off the hook. Sharon, Burt’s wife, answered the phone and patiently directed each caller to the menu online. This is the only way you’re going to get a reservation at Burt’s.
at 11:30am exactly, the pizza I had ordered 2 weeks earlier hit the table: sausage, banana peppers, and bell peppers
“You didn’t think that when you called 2 weeks earlier from Seattle, I’d have this ready for you right at 11:30am now, did you?” said Burt, as he brought the pizza out to our table. I honestly didn’t expect the pizza to be exactly on time. But there it was!
we enjoyed the Eliot Ness with our pizza
72 years old, and still makin’ pizza!
Burt and his wife Sharon chatted us up for an entire hour, despite the phone ringing, and despite there being pizzas to bake. Burt was especially hilarious, telling us how he hung up on the poor guy calling from Saveur magazine to tell him they wanted his pizza on the cover.
“I’d never heard of Saveur magazine,” he said, “So I said: ‘I don’t buy magazine subscriptions over the phone!’ And I hung up on him.”
Burt and Sharon don’t even have cable, and had to go over to a friends’ house when No Reservations featured the pizzeria on the show.
Burt’s is known for his caramelized crust, and ultra fresh toppings
If you’re ever in the Chicago area, I hope you’ll stop by Burt’s Place for a deep dish pizza and a chat. Burt and Sharon are two of the sweetest, most down-to-earth people we’d ever met.
(Just be sure to call ahead with your order ready!)
Posted: August 17th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments
Comment from Shannalee
Time August 18, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Um, yum. You are the second person to tell me about the place, but I think it’s the photo of the pizza slice, up close, that really killed me. Why have I not been here? I must go soon.
Comment from Andrew
Time August 18, 2009 at 2:09 PM
We’re you taking pictures outside of Hot Dougs on Friday the 14th? My wife and I were visiting from Seattle and I thought I recognized you. But since I only know you from your picture in Seattle Magazine, I didn’t say anything.
Then I get back in Seattle, check your blog to see if it was you, and I realize you ate at Mado too? Either you were following us, or we were following you, I’m not sure.
Comment from sundevilpeg
Time August 18, 2009 at 2:34 PM
One correction: Great Lakes Brewing Co. isn’t local – it’s actually located two states and hundreds of miles away from here, in Cleveland, Ohio. Nice story, though. Burt &; Sharon are quite an interesting pair, aren’t they?
Comment from sundevilpeg
Time August 18, 2009 at 2:37 PM
PS Please correct the garbled text in the last sentence. TIA
Comment from lorna
Time August 18, 2009 at 2:59 PM
Andrew: Yes, we were taking pics at Hot Doug’s on Friday! How funny! How did you like your meal at Mado?
Sundevilpeg: oops! I’ll correct the beer. Thanks so much!
Comment from wasabi prime
Time August 18, 2009 at 11:36 PM
What an amazing place — I loved that No Reservations featured such a hidden gem. Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like PIZZA.
Comment from Andrew
Time August 19, 2009 at 8:19 AM
I loved my meal at Mado. The only thing I had that wasn’t really good were the fried peppers. And it’s not that they weren’t good, they were just so simple that it was odd to get them in the restaurant.
Comment from Whitney
Time September 13, 2009 at 4:06 PM
What toppings did you get on your pizza? I might be making the trek out to Morton Grove next month.
Comment from Shannalee
Time October 6, 2009 at 9:33 AM
Lorna, I just had to check back here and tell you that we went to Burt’s Diner Sunday night, and it was just as you’d described it. Thanks so much for posting about your experience because it helped us have ours! Loved Burt & Sharon, and the pizza was fantastic.
Pingback from Pizza at Burt’s Place | Food Loves Writing
Time October 15, 2009 at 10:37 AM
[...] Dave. We’d known about the rule (it’s recommended that you call days or sometimes weeks in advance), not just because Jacqui had been before but also through online reviews, which, by the [...]
Comment from Emily
Time August 18, 2009 at 12:35 AM
It looks like such a cute place! I have bookmarked it in my aforementioned Chicago folder.
That is a great view too ~ your trip is reading like a dream.