Bar Cargo

"Bar Cargo, the pizzeria in the heart of River North that opened in 2017, with square-cut Roman pies, is closing. After seven years, the restaurant will close on Sunday, December 1, according to an Instagram announcement. Part of Phil Stefani Signature Restaurants, along with Broken English Taco Pub, the newly reopened Tavern on Rush, and Tuscany on Taylor, Bar Cargo brought stability to a restaurant space at 605 N. Wells Street that had been a revolving door." - Ashok Selvam

"Phil Stefani is a beloved Chicago restaurant owner, and Bar Cargo is what happens when his children take over. A fun spot in the middle of River North, Anthony and Gina Stefani has created a fun pizza bar with a unique pizza that differs from other attempts at square Roman-style pies. The Stefanis have done a good job at combining Chicago with Italy, and serving tasty pizza and cold drinks in a friendly atmosphere. There’s also a solid brunch." - Ashok Selvam, Naomi Waxman

"Bar Cargo, another venue by Phil Stefani, is part of his portfolio of restaurants in Chicago." - Ashok Selvam

"For all our opinions about pizza, Chicagoans are still pretty open-minded. We’re known for deep dish, but we embrace thin-crust, St. Louis-style, Detroit-style, New Haven-style, and even 3D-printed Neapolitan hybrids brought to us by time travelers from the future. We’ll eat it all, unless it isn’t very good. Which is unfortunately the case with the pizza at Bar Cargo in River North. Not everything about the pizza here is bad, so we’ll start with the good part: the crust. It’s Roman-style, so thicker and airier than a Neapolitan crust, and it has a crispness that holds up well to toppings. This would all be fantastic, if the toppings were good. But they’re problematic. Take the namesake Bar Cargo pizza, for instance, which has sausage, soppressata, meatballs, and pancetta. The meat tastes highly processed, it’s way too salty overall, and the cheese is thick and bland. The carbonara pizza, with pancetta, egg yolk, and pecorino cheese, has similar issues: all traces of the egg yolk flavor are masked by the saltiness and rubbery texture of the meat. It’s a shame that these ingredients overshadow a crust that would taste excellent on its own. Other, non-pizza menu items are also disappointing. For example, the coccoli appetizer has balls of fried dough that are unpleasantly dense, plus stracciatella cheese that looks and tastes more like Laughing Cow. The tenderloin sliders have tough, too-dry buns that are almost impossible to bite through. The pear and arugula salad, with chopped dates and gorgonzola, has a nice balance of sweetness and saltiness, and the butternut squash ravioli is decent. However, at $14 and $17 respectively, those feel expensive for very average plates. There are other places doing better salads and pastas, and they have quality pizza, too. Bar Cargo has loud music, dark wood decor, and neon signs on the walls that give everything a red glow. It reminds us a lot of a TGI Friday’s, and we’d be willing to overlook that if the food was better. But too much of it just doesn’t really work. We take pizza seriously in this city, and there are a lot of good places to get it. You have to be doing something pretty impressive if you want your spot to be worth Chicagoans’ time. At the end of the day, there’s just too much great stuff going on elsewhere for you to eat Bar Cargo’s mediocre pies." - Adrian Kane

"Bar Cargo, located downtown, was affected by looting with windows being smashed." - Ashok Selvam