Candlelite: Enjoy the Pizza, Fall in Love with the Garlic Fries
Posted by Daniel Zemans, February 18, 2009 at 3:30 PM
"The crust is the thinnest, crackeriest (now officially a word) crust I have ever encountered."
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Candlelite
7452 N. Western Avenue, Chicago IL 60645 (map); 773-465-0087; candlelitechicago.com Pizza Style: Very crisp, very thin Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: Fantastic pizza for a neighborhood bar but only mediocre as a pizzeria; garlic fries are exceptional Price: Specialty pizzas are $9, $14, $17; all pizzas are 2-for-1 on Tuesdays
If they made romance movies about restaurants, Candlelite's story would make a great script: In a working class neighborhood on the far north side of Chicago, a local bar served up classic cracker-thin-crust pizza for seven decades. In the mid 2000s, the owners decided to close up shop and some regular customers refused to let their local watering hole and pizzeria die. A group of them banded together and saved their beloved pizzeria, and they all lived happily ever after.
Well, as long as you define happily ever after as a nice bar, pretty good pizza, and exceptional garlic fries.
The first thing I noticed when walking into Candlelite was that the inside looks nothing like I expected based on the exterior. Outside, Candlelite looks every bit like a nearly 80-year-old dive bar in Chicago should, from the dark bricks to the overflow of neon lights devoted to beer and sports. I expected to walk into a dark, dirty building with walls stained from decades of cigarette smoke and filled with cheap plastic and formica furniture. It turns out that when the new owners took over, they invested a chunk of money in the place. The result is modern lighting, heavy wood furniture, and exposed brick walls. If it weren't for the glow of the neon lights, the inside could pass for a trendy bistro. Actually, I don't think most bistros have multiple plasma TVs showing sporting events, but you get the idea.
I went to Candlelite on a Tuesday night, which is unquestionably the best night to go, as that is when you can get two pizzas for the price of one. Candlelite offers a variety of specialty pizzas as well as the build-your-own option. We opted for two of the specialty pies.
Up first was the white pizza, which is topped with olive oil, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, mozzarella, Parmesan, and goat cheese. The toppings worked well together. The caramelized onions were very sweet, and the pizza could have used a little more Parmesan or goat cheese to balance it out, but that's picking nits.
The crust is the thinnest, crackeriest (now officially a word) crust I have ever encountered. There are people out there who view crust as serving no function other than holding cheese, toppings and, sauce, and people who lean that way would love Candlelite. I like the texture of a crisp crust (though I think this place goes a bit too far) and I'm OK with bland crusts when the toppings are good, but the toppings would have to be pretty spectacular to get me to go out of my way to eat this crust again. And they're good at Candlelite, but not that good.
The second pizza was the Italian Meat Lover, which comes with a thin, nicely herbed tomato sauce as well as Italian beef and Italian sausage. They did a good job with both meats. The Italian beef was moist and very well seasoned, and the sausage seemed fresh and had a good amount of chewiness without being rubbery. The crust was just as thin, dry and tasteless on this pizza, but the sauce and the juices from the meat went a long way towards compensating for that.
No review of Candlelite would be complete without mention of their garlic fries. Ordinarily when I go out for pizza, I get nothing else, as my goal is to eat as much pizza as possible. But I will never set foot in Candlelite without getting their garlic fries. These perfectly cooked fries (recommendation: Ask for them crisp) come coated in vinegar, herbs, and loads of fresh garlic.
The upgraded version of Candlelite remains a great neighborhood institution. If I lived in the neighborhood, I would be happy eating the pizza regularly despite the crust (which some people absolutely love). The garlic fries, on the other hand, are well worth going out of your way for. And as long as you're there, it's definitely worth checking out the pizza, especially on Tuesdays.
@Adam: Crime Story involved Chicago cops tracking Chicago mobsters in Vegas and the opening of the show includes multiple shots of Chicago, including Buchingham Fountain, police cars coming up from Lower Wacker Drive and the city's skyline. That said, I don't think Candlelite's sign is shown.
@Brian: My St. Louis pizza experience is largely limited to Imo's which does have a crackery crust, as do many Chicago thin crust establishments. It's certainly possble that the crackeriness of Imo's crust is obscured by the impressive amount of Provel cheese product on top, but I never noticed it being as dry and brittle as the crust at Candlelite. Also, Imo's crust actually has some flavor to it while Candlelite's crust is bland. I've read online rumors that Imo's uses corn syrup in their crust, but I have no idea whether that's true.
@Adam The show started in Chicago as well and they headed to Vegas sometime late in the first season. I have the series on DVD (self recorded) so I'll check for that sign. The opening while in Chicago showed a number of neon signs.
Can anyone name the song played over the opening credits?
Much of the plot of Crime Story was that the Chicago mob funded and built much of early Las Vegas mostly through the Central State's Teamsters pension fund. So the show took place in both cities
And Michael Mann- He is a man's man as far as directors go
Such as in Heat and Last of the Mohicans
Wow! That white pizza looks absolutely to die for. It is making me think about the good pizza I had on monday and wishing I could get some right now.
Oh and the garlic fries look like something that I could eat by the handful and quite possibly never get tired of. I love me some garlic and if they would get anywhere near me I am sure they would vanish in an instant.
That it was Gaffer. That it was. Del Shannon's Runaway that is. I just checked the opening and the Candlelite was not one of the lounges shown. Turns out all I had to do was check youtube...
1) If you are using good cheese, olive oil on a pizza is just overkill. The butterfat from the cheese is tastier and extra oil is just ridiculous.
2) Since when is a cracker crust a good thing?? A nice crisp bread-y crust is much better. If I want crackers with tomato sauce on it, I'll buy a Totinos.
@Mooner I'm not a big fan of cracker crust either, but the I've become a big fan of the crackery crusted pies at Lucali's. I strongly suggest you give one a try if you have the opportunity. You may change your opinion as well.
My childhood home was two blocks from Candlelight, in Rogers Park. I've driven past the restaurant for the past 20 years, never realizing they had such good food. Thanks for posting such hidden gems in Chicago that would otherwise never register on my radar.
I just made an amazing discovery. The Meyer Lansky/Hyman Roth wannabe character on Crime Story, Manny Wiesbord, is none other than Dr. No. I knew it as soon as I heard Dr. No speak. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
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The crust is the thinnest, crackeriest (now officially a word) crust I have ever encountered. There are people out there who view crust as serving no function other than holding cheese, toppings and, sauce, and people who lean that way would love Candlelite. I like the texture of a crisp crust (though I think this place goes a bit too far) and I'm OK with bland crusts when the toppings are good, but the toppings would have to be pretty spectacular to get me to go out of my way to eat this crust again. And they're good at Candlelite, but not that good.
The second pizza was the Italian Meat Lover, which comes with a thin, nicely herbed tomato sauce as well as Italian beef and Italian sausage. They did a good job with both meats. The Italian beef was moist and very well seasoned, and the sausage seemed fresh and had a good amount of chewiness without being rubbery. The crust was just as thin, dry and tasteless on this pizza, but the sauce and the juices from the meat went a long way towards compensating for that.
No review of Candlelite would be complete without mention of their garlic fries. Ordinarily when I go out for pizza, I get nothing else, as my goal is to eat as much pizza as possible. But I will never set foot in Candlelite without getting their garlic fries. These perfectly cooked fries (recommendation: Ask for them crisp) come coated in vinegar, herbs, and loads of fresh garlic.
15 Comments:
Garlic fries are the best...Poste in Washington, D.C. has some tasty garlic fries on their happy hour menu.
johnnaknowsgoodfood at 3:49PM on 02/18/09
"crackeriest" crust reminds me of St. Louis style.
BrianPrestonCampbell at 8:25PM on 02/18/09
Was that sign is the opening of the Michael Mann series "Crime Story"?
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 10:21PM on 02/18/09
@paulie: Doesn't look like it—unless you're being funny here. Crime Story was set in Las Vegas. Here's the intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKDHRTRHwbc
Adam Kuban at 10:17AM on 02/19/09
@Adam: Crime Story involved Chicago cops tracking Chicago mobsters in Vegas and the opening of the show includes multiple shots of Chicago, including Buchingham Fountain, police cars coming up from Lower Wacker Drive and the city's skyline. That said, I don't think Candlelite's sign is shown.
@Brian: My St. Louis pizza experience is largely limited to Imo's which does have a crackery crust, as do many Chicago thin crust establishments. It's certainly possble that the crackeriness of Imo's crust is obscured by the impressive amount of Provel cheese product on top, but I never noticed it being as dry and brittle as the crust at Candlelite. Also, Imo's crust actually has some flavor to it while Candlelite's crust is bland. I've read online rumors that Imo's uses corn syrup in their crust, but I have no idea whether that's true.
Daniel Zemans at 10:49AM on 02/19/09
@Adam The show started in Chicago as well and they headed to Vegas sometime late in the first season. I have the series on DVD (self recorded) so I'll check for that sign. The opening while in Chicago showed a number of neon signs.
Can anyone name the song played over the opening credits?
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 12:12PM on 02/19/09
Del Shannon's best tune
gaffer at 12:19PM on 02/19/09
Much of the plot of Crime Story was that the Chicago mob funded and built much of early Las Vegas mostly through the Central State's Teamsters pension fund. So the show took place in both cities
And Michael Mann- He is a man's man as far as directors go
Such as in Heat and Last of the Mohicans
gaffer at 12:26PM on 02/19/09
Wow! That white pizza looks absolutely to die for. It is making me think about the good pizza I had on monday and wishing I could get some right now.
Oh and the garlic fries look like something that I could eat by the handful and quite possibly never get tired of. I love me some garlic and if they would get anywhere near me I am sure they would vanish in an instant.
FrostyGhost at 1:16PM on 02/19/09
That it was Gaffer. That it was. Del Shannon's Runaway that is. I just checked the opening and the Candlelite was not one of the lounges shown. Turns out all I had to do was check youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is5ofSHZWTM
...but I figured that The Slicemeister would have spotted it if it was there.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 7:04PM on 02/19/09
Crime Story's opening was "The Green Mill", IIRC.
Mooner at 8:09PM on 02/19/09
Two things:
1) If you are using good cheese, olive oil on a pizza is just overkill. The butterfat from the cheese is tastier and extra oil is just ridiculous.
2) Since when is a cracker crust a good thing?? A nice crisp bread-y crust is much better. If I want crackers with tomato sauce on it, I'll buy a Totinos.
Mooner at 8:16PM on 02/19/09
@Mooner I'm not a big fan of cracker crust either, but the I've become a big fan of the crackery crusted pies at Lucali's. I strongly suggest you give one a try if you have the opportunity. You may change your opinion as well.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 9:47PM on 02/19/09
My childhood home was two blocks from Candlelight, in Rogers Park. I've driven past the restaurant for the past 20 years, never realizing they had such good food. Thanks for posting such hidden gems in Chicago that would otherwise never register on my radar.
banina at 3:35PM on 02/20/09
I just made an amazing discovery. The Meyer Lansky/Hyman Roth wannabe character on Crime Story, Manny Wiesbord, is none other than Dr. No. I knew it as soon as I heard Dr. No speak. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 11:39AM on 02/28/09