C W Napkin

Just started ordering from here and have had a somewhat schizophrenic experience:
1^st order on a tues:
came when they said, roughly 45 minutes, burger was tasty, fries crisp, all good. They even called the phone as asked instead of buzzing, because we have babies sleeping. Couldn’t be happier.
2^nd order on a friday:
had to call after 85 minutes– guy who answered the phone (did not say hello, CW, or anything resembling that) could barely speak english– handed off to another fast talking guy who said that our order would be right there, throwing in a desert as a comp–
15 minutes later, food arrived. Forgot the cheese on my burger, messed up my wife’s order as well. Piece of average chocolate cake on the house. Driver rang the fucking buzzer.
Both times ordered through foodler. My wife will not order from CW again. Said ribs were average, and not that good. Agreed the cake was weak.
I know it’s a friday night, but pretty poor showing. Guess that’s it for this place. so be it

By far the worst ribs I’ve ever eaten. I had to throw them away they were so bad. The rest of our food was bad also. Chicken was over cooked and our order was missing bread. We order out at least twice a week and over the last 3 years this was easily the worst food we’ve had.

Saw a bug in my undercooked chicken which was red throughout the meat. When food was delivered (without the promised free cookies) I called to complain — so what if i am not a vegan I just don’t like bugs in my undercooked chicken) and was connected to the manager. The manager not only did not apologize or offer to replace the chicken, he told me never to order from them again.
Who in their right mind would order from a restaurant who flavors their food with bugs or has hired a manager who loses sight on who pays his pay check.
BTW– never had problems with their Irving location.

I’ve ordred from CW Napkin since it opened in the late 70’s (at least I think it was the late 70’s). And I’ve always enjoyed the food and the service. The very few times I’ve had a problem Mike or Art made sure it was taken care of. Lately it seemed as if the pizza just wasn’t as good. And the burgers didn’t taste like the old hand-​made fresh beef I was used to from CWN, but tasted like frozen. Their legendary «Grandma’s Carrot Cake» lost the «Grandma’s» heading and it’s a good thing. It wasn’t nearly as good. It had about one third the icing it used to have. I tried using their online ordering and one night I got a call just after ordering from someone who said they had closed early and couldn’t deliver my food. No apology. No offers of a coupon or anything.
Then, last weekend I ordered another meal online. After over an hour had passed, I called to see where it was. There was no answer. I called another line. No answer. I sent email, asking for a call back. Nada. In twenty minutes, I sent another email asking for a call back. In another half hour, I replied to the email that confirmed my order, asking that Michael should call me. Three days later, I called and asked for Michael. Whoever answered the phone asked «Michael who?» I responded «Michael-​the-​owner» and I guess that you asked ‘Michael who’ means he isn’t the owner any more and that explains a lot.” At that moment he almost sounded like he was concerned. He asked me what was wrong. I told him that the food I had ordered 4 days previously had never shown up and no one had responded to my emails asking for someone to call me with an explanation. He asked me to wait for a moment while he found the manager. He came back on in a moment and said the manager said for me to call tomorrow and he would take care of me. Tomorrow? I can see taking care of problems is really a priority for him. somehow I don’t think I’ll be calling CW Napkin again on any tomorrow. And it’s a shame. I hope Mike and Art got a lot of money for the business and that they left town so they don’t know how badly it’s been changed.

I’ve been waiting for an hour.

Wow I have been ordering here over 20 years and now I don’t know what happen but thier hamburger sucks now!!! IT used to be a hand made patty fresh beef not it is frozen patty from crap meat yuk! I don’t know if they got new owners or what but it really went from 4 stars to one in no time flat!

Four years ago I had a bad experience with CW Napkin, and decided it was time to give it another shot. I ordered delivery and was less than impressed with the food and the service. The woman answered the phone «Hello» like it was her own personal line. When she took my order, she was not very friendly and acted as though my call was a bother. When the delivery person arrived to my door, they failed to put the order on my credit card like they were supposed to.
I ordered the turkey burger, which was extremely dry and had no seasoning. Both my sandwich and my boyfriend’s came with a very small amount of fries. We also ordered chicken wings as an appetizer, which ended up being extremely fatty. I had asked for extra wing sauce and blue cheese dressing, however I didn’t get anything but the wings (not even celery). When I called to complain, the same woman answered the phone — this time she was borderline rude and did not even go so far as to apologize.
I will not be giving CW Napkin another chance, not even in four years. I personally think your money could be spent better elsewhere.

I’m breaking up with CW Napkin.
Maybe it’s just the Internet. Though I hear they’re under new management. Whatever it is, things just aren’t the same between us.
CW Napkin now offers online ordering. Which would be great, but they never get my order right. You would think that Internet ordering would increase accuracy, because you wouldn’t be depending on what people wrote down. Not the case. Fried chicken dinner with two sides? Oops, we forgot your second side. But we charged you for it! Carrot cake for dessert? Oops, we forgot your carrot cake. But we charged you for it!
One of the nice things about online ordering is that they send you $ 3 e-​coupons every time you order. These e-​coupons have fooled me into giving them more chances than they deserve. Because when you use the coupon — they never take it off your order. Surprise! I now *only* order from CW using cash, so I can print my online receipt and pay them what I think I owe, rather than what they think I owe. It’s insane.
One more thing: when you fuck up, don’t blame GrubHub. I didn’t order through GrubHib. I ordered through your own online service.
The food is still good, and there’s a possibility that I would get the right order for the right price if I ordered over the phone. But I’m done. Once I have to start protecting myself against a restaurant, we both need to start seeing other people.

Update!
I’m actually kind of surprised by the low-​star reviews of this place. I have been ordering fairly often from CW Napkin for nearly the past two years now — use «often» loosely, because there are so many choices in Chicago that I like to try and this place isn’t exactly local to me, so I mean at least once every 6 – 8 weeks or so. I usually recommend CW Napkin to my friends and co-​workers who are looking to try something different. I’ve tried a good chunk of the menu — pizzas, salads, wings, breads, side orders, etc. and haven’t been disappointed with any selection. Maybe they just really like me or I put through the most orders of anyone to their restaurant, but I’ve never come across a major issue or anything I didn’t like. I actually want to try almost everything on their menu because the pictures they post look SO GOOD.
Last night we ordered again and everything stayed consistent — 45 minute delivery time, cheap cost, piping hot food, giant portions (the $ 4.95 Caesar salad was insane), unlimited toppings. However, I am pretty sure they changed their deep-​dish crust from the crunchy deliciousness they used to have to a more dry, fluffier type of crust, similar to Art of Pizza’s. While I thought it still tasted great and a medium is plenty to feed me for at least the next 3 days, I really liked their old crust. Maybe this was an off-​night or we ordered it wrong, but hopefully they bring the old crust back or have it as an option in the future.
Either way, TRY THIS PLACE! They still don’t charge you for extra toppings! So go order that veggie supreme, or the pepperoni/​sausage/​bacon/​garlic/​sundried tomato pizza you’ve been dreaming of — just make sure you go workout the next day! Oh, and if you order on
, you get the fresh-​baked delicious cookies for free without having to answer the trivia question on
, which is generally a no-​brainer anyway!

The food here is overpriced and average. But the big downfall of this place for me was the service. The delivery driver forgot a part of my order and when I called asking for a refund or my food I was treated rudely by someone who eventually told me they would send my food right over. It never came and they didn’t give me a refund either because I had paid cash. The only way to redeem my money it seems would be to order from them again and ask them to deduct the amount they owe me. But fool me once shame on you…
You don’t get a second chance from me.

Ordered from here thru Grubhub. Not all that impressed.
The Good:
— My husband got the American burger. It was huge and he really liked it.
— The fries were great. Really no complaint on those.
The Bad:
— I had the full rack of ribs. Did not enjoy the sauce on them. Not sure, maybe it’s just my taste, but they weren’t too good. I only ate a few and my husband took the rest for his lunch the next day.
— For the price we paid, the coleslaw came in an itty-​bitty container. Luckily we didn’t like the coleslaw, so it wasn’t a major issue.
— Delivery took FOREVER.
Most likely won’t order here again.

The only thing worse than my pizza was the customer service.
We ordered using their «fast, easy, online» ordering service. Great idea right? Even better, my fiancé and I found that the online order form through Ordernetwork has a built-​in option for you to order different toppings on each half of the pizza. I hate sausage, he loves it. I love green pepper and onion, he hates it. We only agree on pepperoni, mushroom and canadian bacon. So we order a pizza with one half sausage-​pepperoni-​mushroom, and one half pepperoni-​mushroom– green pepper-​onion.
Imagine our disappointment one and a half hours and $ 30 later when our pizza arrives (soggy, might I add) with sausage, green pepper and onion on the whole thing. And not only that, but because the sausage was a patty and not chunks, I couldn’t even pick it off. I ended up paying $ 30 for a pizza we couldn’t even eat. And what’s worse, the pepperoni, the only ingredient we were both excited about, was nowhere to be found on the whole pizza.
I e-​mailed management about it the very next morning, but received no response. Several days later, they had the nerve to send us an e-​mail survey asking about the quality of our last order. Of course, they never responded to our survey, either.
The only saving grace to this place is the free cookies. Next time I’ll save myself the $ 30 and make my own cookies!
I do have to say, though, the first half of their tagline «Let’s go — it’s pizza time!» is accurate. If I were to sum up my feelings on this joint, I’d say, «Let’s go … to another pizza place.»

I had no idea this place was around for so long until reading the reviews! Insane!
I was tired of the same old Domino’s fare and didn’t feel like shelling out a lot of money that I could be spending on beer to Renaldi’s or something of the sort. Then I remembered ordering CW Napkin when I hung out with some friends down the way.
Pulled up their website. First off, online ordering?! Thank you! Makes ordering a complex pizza better. Second, unlimited toppings at no extra charge — and this includes the meats, not just the veggies! Side note: the jalapenos are HOT, not the usual mild ones you can just eat out of a jar! Whew! Their buffalo wings were very tasty and we had a note requesting ranch and it actually came with it. This hardly ever happens w/​other places… I think the side sauces get lost in the car.
Very affordable, friendly drivers always… I think everyone else will have to be taken out of my phone now… CW Napkin has everything I’m looking for without spending $ 30 on a pizza!

With some regret, I have to burn C.W. Napkin. The last few times I’ve called for delivery, it’s taken well over an hour and the pizza has arrived cold. Hard to appreciate flavors if you’ve got to toss it in the microwave first.
I’ve been a regular for over 20 years, and until recently they delivered a quality product in a quality fashion. (They were the first to Caller ID you into their computer and greet you by name. Very cool in the 90’s.) Delivery was reliable. But when they changed owners, they «lost» all the information, and the first time I ordered after that change, the pizza never showed. When I called, they never heard of me. Delivery got erratic. Then came the little fracas with the health inspectors last fall and the subsequent move into Ranalli’s. I had hope, since that’s closer to my house, but service has actually gotten worse. Delivery is routinely well over an hour, and usually more like an hour-​and-​a-​half.
Too many other places who try hard. Sorry, CW.

The first time we ordered C.W. Napkin we were out drinking at Guthrie’s Tavern and needed some food.
Having dug out C.W. Napkin’s menu out of the big-​bucket-​of-​menus, we discovered that the price of their pizzas include unlimited toppings… SOLD!
Our pizza arrived, loaded, at which point we asked the delivery man what «C.W.» stood for. He either did not know, or more likely decided to keep his closely guarded secret to himself. We brainstormed for a while as we chowed down on pizza that was more toppings than crust/​cheese/​sauce, and settled on «Comes With Napkin.»
So how’s the pizza? I suppose it’s better than a random nation wide chain, and having as many toppings as you want helps, but in all reality it’s not that great.
But what swings this Comes With Napkin review back to the positive is Comes With Napkin’s website.
Not only does it include photos of every dish (real-​world pics, not some high-​quality photo studio versions), and a trivia question that you can answer for 3 free super-​delicious cookies (they don’t taste nearly as good if you cheat!).
So if you’re dying for a pizza with 16 toppings for cheap, served hot, but not necessarily delicious, with some wonderful free cookies on the side, look no further!

Okay their food is good for the most part, but has been going downhill a bit (suddenly what you get for a full slab of ribs is what you used to get for a half slab; and a half slab really is a half slab instead of more like ¾) but THE LAST STRAW is how I spent an hour passing around a menu to everyone at a party, had a $ 200 order, called up, and found out THEY DON’T DELIVER TO ME ANYMORE. Because they moved east, and I’m between Western and Pulaski on the north side.
No amount of pleading … hey this is a $ 200 order … a huge crowd of hungry guests … been ordering from you for 10+ years … made any bit of diff. The guy on the phone was apologetic but firm. He said he had a «sweet older woman on the phone who actually cried» and he couldn’t help her out.
What is it with business owners who insist on being stupid? They can’t send out a warning e-​mail or phone call to their 100 or so regular clients that are about to get cut off? They can’t do one final delivery for those of us surprised by the news, in appreciation of our years of patronage? When he told me the story about the crying lady I said, «how hard is it to just hire another driver to take care of your existing clients?» He had no answer … just, «sorry, we can’t do that. » f he said «we can deliver but because of the distance it’ll be $ 10 delivery fee and it’ll take 90 minutes» we probably would’ve gone with it anyway. Let *us* make the decsion!
Worse they’re still sending me $ 5 off coupons by e-​mail, like rubbing salt in the wound.
One star for being a jerk to long-​time, loyal customers waving money in their faces. And making old ladies cry.

I have to do an update on this one.
I think they have been bought our by Ranalli’s because my pizza box was from there. Hmmmmm…
I have been ordering from this place on and off for since 89. I have had some problems. I dont make the mistake of ordering the full salads because they have nothing on them anymore.
I ordered the BBQ pizza app. They show up with another pizza and offer to redo it. fine sounds good. We are starved but at this point what can you do when you have two jews and a sausage pizza? It took them over an hour to get the thing up to us. We timed at 1:23 min. NO explanation and cold. I called up and they kept putting me on hold. finally i was like I am not going anywhere i want to talk to art or mike. well the guys says im the manager and i was like what happened? well this and that and then i said did ranallis buy you out or what? he was confused and then figured it out and laughed. he said they ran out of boxes and used Ranallis. nice business plan.
so he promises to send out a gift cert. never received… shocker there… just another place getting sloppy lately… they still have not updated their webiste with the new address. I guess they have a new menu. Its hard to tell what is going on…

CW Napkin moved to Lincoln Park and only delivers there now.
After a beautiful 8 year relationship, I get left for Trixie and Chad.
Oh, their food is still good, but their location challenges mean they are dead to me.

I started ordering from CW Napkin when I moved into my condo about 3 years ago and I have always had a positive experience. I should mention that they now take credit cards so that is no longer an issue.
I think that their burgers are really good. They are sizable and cooked well and just overall tasty. Plus, they come with fries and their amazing cole slaw all for under $ 10 which is very reasonable. The fried chicken is tasty and the onion rings are awesome. The only dish that I thought was just so-​so was the chicken parmesan. Not a fan. I have not had their pizza because I live really close to Bojono’s and that’s all I need when it comes to pies.
They have never messed up an order and the food arrives hot and timely. I wish that their website was as up-​to-​date as their delivery menus are but that is a minor complaint.
It’s really one of the best options for ordering food in the uptown area.

Cannot stress enough how fanfuckingtastic my double cheeseburger was. Gotta have bacon on it. It was f’ing awesome. Delivery was later than expected. Which was annoying. But. the food was in pristine order. Warm, fries still crisp and my burger still juicy, cheese still in its melted cheesy state. YUM!
Hot wings are blah. Not good. I can say, any warm sandwich I’ve had so far is awesome.