Renaldi's Pizza

This has been my favorite pizza place since I was a kid in the 80s and use to stop in after spending most of my allowance at the arcade across the street(Times-square). The smell of delicious pizza as you walk in and see the amazing pies behind the glass makes my mouth water. I always go for a couple of slices of thin crust sausage. The atmosphere is of an old Italian mom and pop joint. They take cash or credit and it’s a pretty quick place to get a slice and a coke. I think once you have a slice you may be hooked like I am. There’s a dining area inside and an outside patio as well. The prices are very fair and they serve alcohol. Enjoy the best pizza in town!

Good pizza and nice staff! The only problem is that it is expensive - I think $28 for a medium size sausage pizza is a too much. The place, tables and chairs look a little bit old, and most of their customers do not order the whole pizza and usually buy to-go slices.

I came here for my college graduation celebration. The service was good, but there was only one server, most likely due to COVID. We ordered two appetizers, baked clams and calamari, which were both pretty good. The entrees were subpar in my opinion. I ordered chicken parmigiana which came with a side of penne pasta with some marinara sauce. It didn't come prepared the way I am used to. It was ok, but it could've been better flavor wise. I am not sure about coming back here. Maybe because of the pandemic, the food is not as good anymore. Maybe Renaldi's is more known for their pizza than pasta dishes. I may give this place another chance, but the food was not that good for the price.

Dreaming of pizza? I love coming here for deep dish pizzas. They're heavy duty and delicious. The ingredients are fresh and delicious. You can taste how freshly the tomatoe sauce is. Staff is always friendly. Great place to stop and just grab a slice from as well.

I went here hoping for delicious Italian food. I'm lactose intolerant and vegetarian, and discussed what I should get with the waitress and went with her recommendation. When the food was brought out it had cheese on the top of the dish. I told them it wasn't meant to have cheese, they apologized, took it away, said the chef just sprinkled some on the top by habit, and said they'd have it out again soon. They brought the food out again, and there wasn't cheese on the top, but as I ate, I noticed small amounts of cheese within the pasta and with some of the vegetables, making it seem like they had just removed the cheese from the top of the dish. The bathrooms were also unclean. I would not recommend this restaurant.

Good solid pizza. Stopped by for a quick bite with my nephew. Great employees, they were super nice. A really good slice of pizza and getting in and out in under 20 mins is great. Great price too. Can't wait to take my entire family back for dinner.

My favorite pizza in Chicago. My family and I have been coming here for many years. Our favorite dishes are just a simple pepperoni pizza and then the linguine with clam sauce. Lots and lots of memories here. Every time I visit Chicago I make it a point to come here.

They are open late ... even on a Sunday ... they have wheat beers on tap and know what they are ... great food .... friendly service .... More than just Pizza ... pastas too ... we will come back ... look for Renaldis after dark ... and Sinatra the whole time !

Peace. I been eating Renaldi's Pizza since i was 16 years old. My 1st love introduced it to me and its been exactly the same every since. To badd my favorite pizza spot in the world no longer exists, but a least i lived to experience it... many times over. Now i gotta go to NY to get that cheese slice...Oh well.

When I was in the Navy at Great Lakes for electronics school back in 1973 and 1974, a group of us would take the train to Chicago and then the bus to get to Renaldi's . We went there most weekends Tina, who was our waitress most of those times, knew what each of us usually wanted. The food and beer and service was great. Right now, Father's Day 2024, I'm at the FOE Eagles in Mountain View, talking with a couple of friends that are from Chicago or the nearby area. Of course the topic of deep dish pizza came up and I had to share my great Renaldo's experiences. I had to google Renaldis to see what was going on with them . I'm sad to find out that they closed but pleased that they stayed in business all these decades Thanks for the great memories, Renaldi's !!! Maybe you'll re-open.

The best old school thin crust pizza in Chicago; unfortunately, when I tried to go there several months ago, they were closed. There is conflicting information online, and the phone number is disconnected, but it appears it is closed permanently.

The fact that you can smell the smell of little league/soccer tournament victory down the block, already made me super excited to get pizza here. Authentically vintage with just the right amount of grease and grime, this place is everything that I never knew I forgot about. Pizza by the slice, lots of pasta dishes and incredible service, R's will definitely be someplace we come back to. Different crusts offered, lots of toppings, pizza was better than most I've had in the city. Norah was also adorable and very nice. Thank you!

Real Chicago style pizza that been around for decades. Ir was in need of some updating, however the are are now closed

Miss them I've eaten here for over 40 years best pizza I know there will be another place like this they will be truly miss STAR

Absolutely my most favorite place to get a thin crust slice of sausage. Sad to hear they've close. Place was a gem.

Closed for "remodeling ". I hope they open back up, this was solid pizza but there was never anyone dining inside.

I happened to be near Clark & Diversey today and wanted to get a quick bite so decided to get a slice at Renaldi's Pizza near Diversey & Broadway. It's probably been over 20 years since I've been there. I ordered a slice of sausage and cheese pizza and a fountain drink. The young lady that took my order mistakenly put cheese on the order form, not sausage and cheese. In a few minutes, a young man was behind the counter and told me my slice was ready but it was a cheese slice. I told the young man I ordered a slice of sausage, not cheese, he took the cheese slice and threw it in the garbage can. I couldn't believe it. He then put a slice of sausage in the oven and in just a few minutes it was ready. A slice is big enough to take the edge off. The pizza was good just as I remembered. The drawback IMHO is you never know how long the slices have been sitting under the heat lamp. The fountain drink was a little too syrupy, with not much carbonation. It has a nice sidewalk patio just in time for the nice weather.

the location is west loop was fantastic. Met there before the Blackhawks game. Food was excellent, Service was spot on from Ashley. I would and will recommend this restaurant to anyone. Pizza, Wings, Curds, Pretzel and Calamari were very tasty!

Great pizza ! 4 of us had pizza and salads. I read previous reviews about slow service, so went in with the plan to make sure the staff knew our needs without having to come back and check on us. Small place, small staff and they're covering outside seating too. Just do your part to efficiently order, and all goes well.

I have not ordered in a while, I called. Person was dry, never said price, when my order arrived, I was pressured to pay cash, had to call back to give my cc. 34.00 usd for a pizza. Lesson learnt.

First they didn't have my salad ready, then upon arriving home I found my salad was just lettuce... just lettuce...the pizza was also completely undercooked and stuck to the box, when I order it well done. Upon calling and asking for a refund, the manager wanted the pizza and the lettuce back and for me to walk back and deliver it. Welp if you want your garbage back, come pick it out of my dumpster.

After 3 fails, I'm done with Renaldi's. Ordered pick up and arrived to find they didn't put the order in. Was made to feel like it was my fault because they don't accept orders from Ritual. After a few minutes of that they found the order because they do in fact accept orders from Ritual - no apology offered. I asked for a refund but they refused to provide it because they didn't know how - untrained staff left without appropriate management. I asked if I could speak to the owner and was told she left. No apology. No pizza. No Refund. They owe me $28 but I'll take $2800 out of their pocket with this review, which is authentic, unlike their...well you get it

Been going to this place since 1970's. Called in an order for pick up. When I arrived they didn't have the order! So I waited for them to finish it only To find as I was sitting there waiting, they lost my order! Waited another 30 minutes and they wanted to charge me full price! No discount; no compensation. Barely an apology. After nearly 50 years I am DONE with this place. Renaldi's officially SUCKS!

Came here because my guy raves about this place so much. It's funny because for 2 years we had been talking about this pizza place and found out upon arrival that we were talking about 2 different places. While he was raving about Renaldi's, I on the other hand was floating about Ranalli's (we had a good laugh about it). I trust his better judgement (sometimes) so I trusted that when it comes to pizza places in Chicago that he knows a thing or two. Upon entry I noticed the place was an older establishment who'd been around for awhile. In this day and age long lasting restaurants are hard to come by especially since the pandemic. I'm always happy to see how restaurants continue to flourish after setbacks like the one the restaurant industry took during the pandemic. Fast forward our server greets us but doesn't return until maybe 15 minutes laters. I asked for waters with lemon and straws. The serve bring back water but no straws or lemons. I then waited another 10 minutes to get straws and another 10 for lemons. The fact that I had to constantly remind our server for things wasn't annoying until it became annoying. Being someone who works in food service I'm more than patient and understanding to others. We finally order and our food takes another 30-40 minutes to come out. I had to remind our server twice that we didn't get out fries. We were halfway through eating our pizza before our fries came out. Finally, the drinks that we ordered way before our food came out. The bar is literally 20 feet away from where we were seated, the restaurant wasn't crowded, nor was the bar. I did notice that there were only 2 servers who often huddled up for jokes and giggles opposed to being attentive to their guests. The pizza is rate a 5/10. The service was spotty and questionable. Service alone didn't make me want to come back. I felt seeing as they only had 2 servers their execution could've been a bit better, 1 person taking orders while the other is expediting and checking in with guests. There were other workers around the bar area doing minimal tasks when I felt someone should've given the 2 servers a hand seeing is how they were not only taking the orders but being food runners as well. I am very understanding that many establishments are understaffed right now but this is where ownership and accountability takes place. Instead of burning the workers out you do have; management and owners should be on the front lines with their sleeves rolled up doing whatever it takes to maintain and preserve what's left of their establishment. I probably won't be back. No shade but I'll take "Ranalli's over Renaldi's" any day.

So, tonight I visited my favorite pizza spot. I've been going here for over 10 years now. When I walked in at 10;20 they had 3 slices of sausage pizza. I asked the manager on duty if that's all they had available. Her response after I waited for her to stop texting was, "Yea because we're closing in 30 minutes." I was disappointed but decided to get them...until I heard the nice pizza chef say the cheese is ready. I immediacy stated I would prefer the cheese. As I was waiting about six people came in. The manager leaned over and told him, "Don't cut the slices wide, we just got a rush." Hmmm, are you going to cut the prices thinner as well. Because I would think you would want to continue to have your loyal and new customers happy. Keep in mind he was cutting them the same size they've been since I started coming there. I felt bad got him and all I could offer was a smile. She was bossing him around and delegating in a demeaning manner. Last time I was there it was another woman cussing and speaking I'm a condescending tone. I hope the owners read this, because you need to know what's going on when you're not there.

My roommate and I stopped here after a long day because we wanted Italian food and I had a free appetizer coupon through Yelp. While the pizza was yummy and cheesy and the service was good, a couple of things were disappointing: First we wanted to sit outside, but we noticed "cash only on the patio" signs. Neither of us had cash and we weren't about to use an ATM. We decided that sitting inside was fine, but we couldn't understand why a restaurant would be cash only on the patio yet accept credit cards inside. Secondly, after finding a booth inside, we used the yelp check in offer for a free appetizer. Renaldi's had quite a good selection of appetizers (garlic bread, calzones, calamari) so it was hard to choose, but we did end up settling on the calamari rings. To my surprise they came with cocktail sauce rather than marinara and overall they weren't great. At least we didn't have to pay for it thanks to the yelp check in offer!

The food here is amazing. Hadn't been back since 2014 and now I regret it. Super fresh dough. Made right in front of your eyes by some very kind pizza cooks. The sauce was a bit tangy. The toppings were piled high AND extremely fresh. The cheese, usually my least favorite part, was good and I didn't throw it away (like Vinny in Jersey Shore, lol). Make sure to get an 18" pizza to feed yourself for a week or your family of 2-3 for 2-3 meals. They've been in business for 50y and are family owned and I can see why they have lasted through so many ups and downs in life. They have a nice outdoor patio too if sitting outside is your thing.

Stopped in for a quick late night bite ad ordered a cheese slice. It was delicious, not too oily and the right amount of cheese. Be advised at the check in offer is no longer valid and patio seating is order in only at the time.

Extremely slow service, food was average at best. We ended up having to go to the counter to ask for drinks

Previously whenever I visit Chicago this is the place I order pizza from. However, today I was highly disappointed. The pizza is thinner that what I've previously ordered. BUT This time the driver was absolutely rude. I'm not used to paying for a service, tipping well, and still getting treated shabbily. So let's just say this is my last pizza from this establishment. You only need to show me who you are ONE TIME.

Pizza is mediocre, tasteless and very, very greasy. And expensive. That was not my first choice, they said the kitchen was being "remodeled" for two days and nothing else was available. A week later and it is still closed. Did health department shut them down?

How can this place have 3 stars! I'm a picky New Yorker and this pizza is impressive. For a thin crust pizza this has to be Chicagos best!!! My friend Greg and I are regulars and we have never been disappointed! The staff is always so accommodating and we generally split a pie. This place is amazing!

Large slices of the best pizza in lakeview east! They're open late, and even later on Friday and Saturday. Each slice is pretty cheap too.

Renaldi's has been our go-to pizza place ever since we moved to the neighborhood, and we have never been disappointed. My wife and I have very different tastes when it comes to pizza toppings, and they do a very good job preparing our pizza orders correctly with certain toppings only on half of the pizza. We generally take our pizza to go and eat it at home since we live close by, but we occasionally like to dine there in person during the summer because they have a wonderful outdoor patio. The main downside is that if you are buying by the slice, they sometimes have limited options. Tip #1: Check in on Yelp for a free appetizer with your first order when eating on site. Tip #2: Dining on the patio is cash only. Bring your cash!

I've had Renaldi's pizza for decades and used to say it was the best NY style thin crust in the city. There's obviously been a change in ownership because the pizza is nothing like it was for so many years. It now has almost a cracker crust, the sauce is bland, and toppings are sparce. I guess Frank finally threw in the towel...

I think they have a huge variety's on pizzas, pastas and ingredientes also a kind of beer for a small business like look the staff can be better but It's good over the average the people need to know that the pizzas take 25 to 40 min depends of the kind of the pizza I hear some people asking many times for the pizza when they arrive later than me and Just pass like 15 min if you like a quick pizza you can get it in 7 eleven and cheaper so we need to be aware of what we want for our body, so if the pizzas take time that is because they really take time to cook. I will be back for sure!

...Sadly, no sign of the cozy vibe we recalled.. what no checkered table cloths? it sadly matched the pizza we had too-- unfortunately. We did recall having a decent pizza and the vibe before. It's like someone who'd never eaten a pizza made that pizza. The crust? was pale and without flavor, for a pizza to be so bland with cheese and sausage and pepperoni and sauce on it.. I just don't know how to really describe it. We were like this can't be the same pizza??! Sadly, I'm glad it's survived all these years but we wont be back. I'd do my frozen pizza from Urban Pie ANY DAY over this pizza in this exhausted dining room.

Chicago is known for good pizza and there's a couple popular names that dominate the conversation for best pizza in the city. I think Renaldi's deserves to be in that conversation

Terrible food, try anywhere else. Make this your last resort. Pizza toppings are cheap and everything is so salty.

TERRIBLE SERVICE. I Hate that I have to give even 1 star. I came in for a spaghetti & meatball meal with garlic bread & a drink. My Server " Kevin M" only came to my table 1 time to bring the food. He Never came back to check on me & how my meal was & I waited & waited & waited for a drink refill. I noticed the other server working the other tables kept going back & checking on her tables. I noticed my server " Kevin M" would go stand up front talking with the pizza maker. I'm Very disappointed & do Not recommend this place to eat or drink at. There are A lot of other places to eat in the area, I obviously chose the wrong place. So sad.

A bare-bones, dimly lit place. But wow, the thin crust slices (floppy, New York style) are absolutely delicious. Especially the sausage pizza (you can't get this kind of delicious sausage anywhere but Chicago, by the way.) Friendly staff too. The only thing I don't like is the ambiguous tipping situation. I ordered at the counter, and was expecting to go back to the counter to pick up my order, but a waitress brought it to me. Now I think I didn't tip enough!

Old school real pizza old school atmosphere neighborhood vibe tasty and delicious hand spun dough, lots of years of excellent food! I love the antipasto with the aranchini peppers and Italian dressing.

This is my ultimate favorite pizza place in Lakeview! I truly cannot resist the urge to buy a slice of pizza whenever I've walked past the window. Renaldi's Pizza Pub resembles one of my favorite pizza places in New York City. I've always been a fan of pizza places that make the pizza right in-front of the customers because the pizza makers always seem to put on a show when they know they have an audience. The inside of the restaurant is spacious enough for an intimate date night to a medium sized group of friends. The inside of Renaldi's is like any of your standard pizza joints. I'm a huge fan of Renaldi's because you can tell a lot about the quality of product just based off the sauce and the cheese pizza. I've introduced a lot of people to Renaldi's and they always made the same comment on the sauce quality. The price of the pizza and food is a little high but it aligns with the prices that you would normally find in Lakeview. I've only had the pizza so I can't comment on any of the other food.

When in Chicago, I did not go to either Giordano's or Lou Malnati's because I got so many conflicting opinions about them. Instead, I wound up here at Renaldi's. It wasn't planned. This pizza pub is just off Diversey, in a somewhat upscale area, not too far from Diversey Harbor and the lake itself. I went in and it was the fact that they sold slices at around lunchtime that enticed me to stay. I wish I could say that my two slices were as tasty or as hearty looking as some of the ones I see in other people's photos. They were fine, but the ingredients sort of tasted flat. The crust had a good consistency, though, and the thickness was about right. I was a little dissatisfied. I'm going to round up to 3 stars because the girl working serving up the pizza and ringing up the order was good-natured and helpful. I guess that Renaldi's is sort of a local institution and has been around for quite a while. I saw three or four guys who reminded me of Siskel and Ebert eating pizza and (intelligently) carrying on with the assured air of local folks. I guess they must know something. Or maybe they ordered something else. It could have just been my experience. If so, attend to the entire inventory of pizza and food you produce to make for a more uniform experience for customers from near and far, even if it's the more nicely priced slices. Again, note that it's only about 3 or 4 blocks to Diversey Harbor and Lake Michigan. It will be a good way to walk off some of the calories from the pizza, see how the other half lives while fronting the Gold Coast, and catch some great views of the Loop's skyline from up along L.S.D. ... which is a place and not a thing.

I love this old school Tuscany-inspired, pizza dough throwing place. Gangster Lobster YUM!! Sweet little outdoor patio off Broadway. Yummy Chianti carafes. So happy it is still open after all these years. I visit every time I am back in Chicago.

Great place for a late night slice of Sicilian or regular pizza. They have a number of different toppings and the staff are courteous. $15 minimum for cards which equates to about 4 slices, so take a date if you are picking up some pie on the way home. Love stopping in here a couple times a month, they never disappoint.

Got our pizza order wrong on Saturday. Person on the phone said I'll get a credit but I'm still waiting

Got a slice of the cheese Sicilian pizza and it was the best slice of pizza I have had in a long time. Will be coming back for more.

Renaldi's. Where to begin. This place is like half pizza restaurant/ half bar. The pizza looks like it would be ok, but didn't get to try it. We sat in the bar half, it was hysterical. So first we all sit down, and order a round of beers to sip on while we take take a minute to familiarize ourselves. So they got this new bartender working on this particular night, and he's simply trying to remove the caps of our domestic bottles with this super aggressive bottle opener/maneuver and cracked the top on 3 of my bottles in a row. He kept apologizing and was blaming the bottling company for their cheap glass. Eventually I politely said, it's ok They're twist offs anyways, and just twisted my cap off, I couldn't watch him waste any more beer. There was like 6 of us here, nobody had open tabs, nobody kept track of who's drinking what or how many we had, which was fine by us. I was sitting in the same seat for the whole time we were there drinking the same domestic light beer, and then all the sudden there would just be a full Heineken in front of me. A couple minutes later there was a summer shandy. Other people were ordering drinks, and they just kept bringing them to us. It was hilarious. So then there's this dude wearing a sweatshirt with the UNIVERSE all painted on it. It has like galaxies, and planets and stuff. Supposedly the space guy was supposed to be training this kid, but they didn't care, we didn't care, nobody cares. We ordered these Mozzerella sticks that came on a bed of lettuce haha. Authentico!!

Great local spot for a quick slice of pizza or a sit down pasta meal. I've been here a few times and it never disappoints! They have both indoor and outdoor seating. You can also get slices of pizza to go although sometimes those options are limited. While it's a little pricey for a casual Italian spot, the food is always delicious, there are many different pasta options and it has a cozy Italian atmosphere.

Amazing pizza and always has hot and ready slices. Consistently a great experience. 2 different style to choose from.

Went here for dinner last night with some friends, warning for those who want to sit on the patio that it's cash only... found this out the hard way. Servers did not let us know that when we sat down, they have a really tiny sign stating that the patio is cash only but you wouldn't know it was there unless you were looking for it. Onto the food/service. We ordered breadsticks and a large pizza. The guy who took our order forgot to put the order in for the breadsticks appetizer so we got those after the pizza arrived then offered to comp the breadsticks but it was already free for their yelp check in deal. The pizza was the greasiest pizza I've ever had and we were never even offered silverware/napkins or Parmesan cheese/crushed red pepper. Overall terrible experience unfortunately

Did Renaldi's change ownership recently? Everything seems different and not quite as good. The regular workers/owners haven't been there, all of the photos are down from the walls, house salad dressing is new and the pizza has been overloaded with cheese and undercooked. Could have been some off-days due to staff shortages, but it really seems different lately.

This place is simply the best! I came to their patio during covid and had a great experience. The pizza is fantastic, service incredible, cannolis delicious and the penne alla vodka with chicken is now my all time favorite. The atmosphere is perfect for a family night, date night or meet up with friends. Thanks Renaldi's for the great food.

Placed an order for my cleaning crew, who were hungry and craving Hawaiian pizza. The ladies that clean my home arrive in a group of 3. I asked for the largest size pizza, the 18" Hawaiian, and a very large Italian salad with Italian dressing. I asked if this was enough for 3 people, and they said it was more than enough for 5. That was true. They called 20 min later, saying they didn't have Canadian bacon, but had prosciutto and pancetta instead. The ladies opted for prosciutto. Food was ready in 30 min. I didn't have any pizza or salad to say how it was, but I've had it before and it looked as I last expected: average. They enjoyed it plenty, though. (I'm not a Hawaiian pizza fan, though). One 18" Hawaiian pizza and an Italian salad- $60 (pickup order). Not worth it from here.

Went in to get a single slice and decided to get a small deep dish. Decided to get one drink while I waited what I thought would be 30 minutes - After well over an hour I asked about my food and it was forgotten about. They said they never made it and then charged me $14 for my one glass of wine. A fucking scam of a place. Non of the glasses of wine were $14, but I was tired and did not feel like arguing due to me waiting hungry for over an hour.

I'm from New York and eating at this place reminds me of home. I would recommend it to anyone who isn't into Chicago style pizza.