Purgatory Pizza

Awful. We’re in Chicago — why can’t they make a decent pizza? Our «by the slice» was definitely old and microwaved with new cheese on top. Worst pizza I’ve had since elementry school.

This place sucks Satan’s balls.
I needed to grab something quick, walked by, saw that they had a pizza & soda special, decided to check it out and I will never come back here.
A) I don’t like cracker thin pizza and this «pizza» had nothing to it.
B) Remember how I wanted something quick, service here was crawling and we were the only people here. I would have done it myself.
C) My friend got a sandwich, RIP OFF.
D) Go to Ian’s instead up the street.

Me, a pizza lover, giving a pizza place a 1-​star rating?
Yes. That bad.
The funny thing about this place is that the music is usually blasting so loud that you think a hoppin’ party is going on as you are walking on Clark St. You would assume it is the most popular bar in Wrigleyville based on the volume. Yet every time I walk by there is a maximum of 5 people in the joint, usually 2 or 3 of them being the staff.
One day my friend and I did decide to try this place out, though, and see what they had to offer. I mean, who wouldn’t find a huge chalkboard sign that says «$ 5 slice and pint» attractive!!!
We took a look at the menu and debated on cracker thin or the Purgatory pie. I assumed Purgatory pie (Pp) and it’s «2 layers of crust» mean it was a thick pizza similar to the many Chicago-​style pies. A table behind us was chowing down on some pizza that looked pretty thin, and when we asked the waitress how much more substantial the Pp was, and she said «oh, that table right there is eating a large right now.» And at about $ 25 for a two-​topping Pp (including tax) it was a NO-​DEAL. So instead of ordering off the menu we decided on the special thin crust/​beer option.
I don’t know what kind of cracker they are talking about when they «cracker thin», but, minus the outer crust, this is no thicker than a tortilla. The outer crust is super crunchy, which is fine, but the rest of the crust is so thin and greasy you can’t get any type of handle on it. The waitress never brought us silverware so I had to rip the piece into smaller bites with my hands and get all greasy just to eat it. They were fairly small, too, and at $ 3 a slice, or whatever it would be normal cost, you’d have to buy at least 5 or 6 to be even somewhat full. I should’ve gone to Jewel, bought a Totino’s pizza, a case of Bud Light, and gone home. To be honest, their website is more appetizing than their pizza was. Complete disappointment.
On top of that, our waitress, who was very nice, was pretty unattentive and blamed most of that on «issues in the back». I understand — I have worked in restaurants before — but 20 minute disappearing acts should occur only when you have no tables.
I really think this place has a lot of potential based on the creativity of their menu, but with the combination of high prices, slow service, and still being hungry, they have a lot of work to do to compete with all the other pizza places on Clark.
FAIL.

Dropped in to have a shot since my friend was playing a show next door at Risqué Café. However, I don’t understand Purgatory Pizza. According to the sign outside it is $ 5 for a slice of pizza and a pint, $ 2 for a shot of Jäger or $ 3 for a slice of pizza outright. Ok fine, let’s say you go in for one of the three aforementioned specials on a Friday night in the heart of Wrigley, no problem.
Well, I wouldn’t say it’s a problem per se, but I did find it perculiar that when I walked in there were about 20 people in Purgatory all standing up! The furniture was all nice and all but it did not look comfortable. I saw beers and slices of pizza scattered about the main table and lots of hipsterish lookin’ folk. No problem.
I don’t know, I looked at the pizza, but it looked very unappetizing and would be inferior to Bacci, Pizza Rio and certainly Ian’s. Loud music was played which is fine, but the bar was too bright for my tastes and the fact everyone was standing up hovering around this long table made it very uncomfortable.
We went in, drank our round of Jäger and headed right out. Maybe I just don’t belong???
*Update there was a reunion there so that is why I didn’t belong! ha

Sorry to hear about An P.‘s experience. I was one of the 20 people (more like 30) he was referring to. We happened to have a reunion of sorts last night that caused us to pretty much take over the restaurant. And for that, thank you to Purgatory Pizza for accommodating us! You’re the best! (And props to your DJ for some great mixes).
I’m normally not a fan of thin crust pizza but this place serves one of the best thin crust pizzas I’ve ever had. Purgatory Pizza uses a cracker thin crust that is light and crispy, topped with ingredients I didn’t really think would work well on pizza. For example, I tried the mushroom and onion pizza which was surprisingly a good combination. Even better, I had the «restraint» pizza (with cheese and without cheese) with artichoke hearts, roasted zucchini and squash. Wow! Unexpected and tasty combo! We ordered one restraint pizza without cheese for a vegan friend, and the lack of cheese really brought out the flavor of the artichoke hearts.
But the cheese and crust are what make this place worth a try. Purgatory Pizza uses a six cheese blend that is soft, light and not oily. It also retains its consistency and doesn’t seem to harden into a disgusting mass of cheese as other thin crust pizzas do if left out in the open for too long. Also, the crust is what makes me think that this pizza would make for some great party h’or d’oeuvres.
Give this place a try!

Ehh. The cute gimmick behind this place is overshadowed by its flavorless pizza with overly thin crust. But I do think the gimmick is cute. And aside from the confusion when we entered and complete emptiness of the place when we went there (7 pm on a Friday!), the service was great.
The «purgatory pie,» btw, is a thin crust pizza with another pizza on top of it, upside down. It ends up looking kind of like a cross between a pizza and shepherd’s pie. Neat concept, but the actual pizza itself was kind of flavorless and overcooked.

I remember watching Purgatory Pizza when they first opened thinking «this looks like it’s going to be a cool place for some pizza.» I didn’t make it for a while until after they opened. For most people that know me, know that I am easily hooked on pizza by the slice joints. Anticipation was slightly derailed upon reading bad reviews. But, I will make up my own mind on what I think.
I parked on the street thinking it shouldn’t take but 2 minutes and out the door, so no need to feed the parking meter. It seemed to take almost 10 minutes to prepare a slice of pizza. OK, maybe it will be worth the wait. So, I grab my pizza and out the door I go only to find that the city of Chicago left me a nice New Years gift… a parking ticket.
I prepare myself for Purgatory’s $ 5.00 slice, which was a tad overpriced, only to find out that it was burnt?!? I don’t know if this is part of their theme of «burn in hell» pizza, but this was awful. It seemed like last night’s left overs reheated until burned. It lacked taste, was burned and overpriced. How can they honestly sell someone a burned pizza with burnt black crust? Even Tombstone is better.
All in all, I ended up with a $ 55.00 slice of pizza of nearly the worst pizza I can recall. The interior was cool and the idea was great, but you definately won’t catch me here again.
Sorry Purgatory, by on the 5 Slice Star rating, I am giving you only 1 Slice rating because I have to.
Seriously, I think Purgatory should read into their reviews and make some changes. If not, expect to see another Wal-​Greens or CVS occupying their space soon because nobody wants to eat there. At least they sell Tombstone for less than the cost of their slice, which I can tolerate and not burn.

I have never been to the restaurant but I did have a party at a bar that didn’t have food and so I catered in pizza from this restaurant.
We ordered 5 different kinds of pizza’s (12 pies in total) and they were all EXCELLENT. I loved the cheese pizza (the sauce is midly sweet, YUM) and I really enjoyed the sausage pizza. Delivery was fast and on time so I was very happy with my experience with Purgatory!

I had dinner here last nite. Not what I was expecting. We walked in and there was no hostess or a sign saying we could seat ourselves. Lol. So we just walked to a table and sat down. The waitress came by and gave us menus and we ordered drinks. Mmm… ginger ale. The place was dead. I really couldn’t read the menu. It was so old and faded. I was so confused. I finally decided on a cheese pizza with spinach and onion.
I got my pizza about 15 minutes later and the first bite was flavorless!!! The crust was too thin and too dark. Almost burned. The was also not enough sauce… not that I want my pizza drenched in sauce but there was hardly any on there. I was starving and continued eating wondering if a taste would show up eventually but it didn’t. I was upset. I was really in the mood for pizza and this was terrible.
Overall the service was OK. Our waitress stopped by to check on us several times and continued to refill my ginger ale without me asking her. I like that. Lol. I doubt I will return for pizza again.

We keep getting menus in our door so we decided to give it a try. It will be our first and last time.
We had a large sausage and mushroom pizza delivered. The crust was very thin — and very tough and chewy. The toppings were sparse. There was too much Parmesan in the cheese.
The person who took our order confirmed our address twice, and still wrote it down wrong. The driver called on his cell to get the correct address.
Finally, we found it to be pricey. It was almost $ 22.00 for the pizza. There are other places that deliver better pizza for a bit less.
We didn’t like it, and I don’t recommend their pizza delivery.

A menu from Purgatory found its way into my hands and I immediately began salivating. They have amazing sounding pizza combos, with «cracker thin PBR crust and over 300 American craft beers.» I was totally down.
I decided I wanted to go on Saturday night when it was not dead to have a beer and a pie on my birthday. I asked the waitress what kind of ale they had and she told me they had one.
«You’ve got one ale out of 300 craft beers?» I asked. She told me that the beer was all next door at Risqué. Disappointed, I ordered the only ale they had on tap, Censored. I hated it. A friend of mine arrived and asked about cider and was presented with the BEER LIST! WTF? I was led to believe that I had to go next door to get a beer (which is something I wound up doing because our waitress was so slow I couldn’t get another)
So aside from having to get my own brews, the pie took about half an hour. Acceptable for a Saturday night. The pizza was… eh. It’s not going to bring me back. We got the Restraint and the False Prophet. The restraint was alright, and the False Prophet was too spicy to be tasty, and I’m a spice fiend.
All in all, I’ll save my money for their neighbor, Risqué, which will be viewed and reviewed by me in the very near future.

Yes, I’m a fan of the Purgatory Pizza, but I think they are going to burn sometime soon. I took a friend here on Saturday night so we could get some nourishment before a night of drinking and the place was DEAD! I had been here once over the summer and it was DEAD then too. It’s a shame because I enjoy their thin crust pizza.
After reading some of the other reviews, I have to agree that the service kind of sucks. I never had horrible service during the two times I have been to PP, but I never had great service either. I never had an a horrible experience getting my pizza in a timely manner or it not being what I ordered. PP also has a variety of options to put on your pizza which I appreciate.
On Saturday, PP had signs posted all over the place advertising $ 2.50 Miller Lite on Fridays and Saturdays. When we went to order the MLs our waitress said they were out and gave us Bud Light instead. It just wasn’t the same.

I actually enjoy the food at this place. My biggest problem is the service.
Called them today, the day after the Cubs awful season came to an end, thinking a nice pizza pie would make the emptiness inside me feel better. With a «Delivery Menu» in hand, I called once and got a voice mail asking to leave a message. The 2^nd time I called, a guy picked up and told me they don’t deliver on Sundays… uh what? So, I ordered for pick up and he told me 25 minutes.
Half hour later I go into the place and am told my food is not ready. Instead, the only person who is running 8 tables, the phone, and basically the entire front of house, asks me if I want a free beer. Not really, I just want my pizza to take home and watch the beers beat the ever living crap out of the Detroit Lions. He then proceeds to tell me that I should just come in to the store to eat, since they have a $ 13.00 all you can eat buffet on Sundays. Would have loved to have told him that management should be the ones either coming in or having more people come into help him.
Needless to say, I waited for almost a half hour in the place for my food. Word of advice for all you independent restaurant owners out there… LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY STAFF AND MAINTAIN YOUR RESTAURANT.

I love is the cracker crust on their pizza. Pizza’s take about 30 minutes. My favorite is «Love» with Italian Sausage, Prosciutto, Capocola, Giardianera.
One of the things I love about it Purgatory (and Risqué next door) is that its not crawling with people – apparently I am in the minority on this topic. Everywhere else in Wrigleyville reeks of beer and cigarettes (yes, even after the smoking ban) and is stuffed with wasted bar hoppers.
It’s worth

Man, what a disappointment.
I’ve been intrigued by this place and it’s offer of free pizza if you sell your soul to them on a certain day. So I was at least kind of excited when some people suggested dining there.
The place was deserted. Not a single person in the whole joint. I guess that should’ve been a tip off since it was Sunday afternoon and every other bar and restaraunt on Clark between Addison and Belmont was spilling over with people.
Nothing had any flavor here at all. Homemade chips were soggy, cheese bread was flavorless, ranch dressing was sour, and the tomato sauce tasted like, well, tomatos. I guess that would sound ok, but tomato sauce should be seasoned so it doesn’t just taste like tomatos.
Man, Purgatory, I hope you burn in hell.

We went here on a wonderful summer night, but it was totally dead. Not realizing that popularity is often the pulse of a restaurant, we went in anyway. Despite being dead, however, the pizza took 30 minutes (twice the quoted wait time of 15 minutes), and the kitchen totally screwed-​up our order.
But like a fool, I decided to give them another try (mainly because they are right across from where I live). I called them after seeing a special on their website that says «Large pizza with 2 free toppings on Friday and Saturday.» When I called to place the order, the waitress told me that was for dine-​in only, something which was not in the coupon ANYWHERE. As it turns out, toppings are $ 2 each, so that would have added roughly 20% onto my final cost, so I told them nicely to go to hell and decided to write this deliciously incisive review.

Did the restaurant employees write all of these positive reviews? My experience with this nightmare doesn’t match up even slightly with reality.
We waited for over an hour for our food, and when they finally came, they came out with food for only half of us, and told everyone else that they don’t have any slices of cheese pizza. A pizza place. No cheese pizza. Um… did we have to wait an hour for you to tell us that? And for real, you couldn’t make a cheese pizza in an hour?
Not to mention the food that did arrive was terrible. Cold, soggy, and a poor excuse for edible material. Avoid at all costs.

I didn’t eat here today yet I joined my friends there as they drank and ate. I noticed it was dead and their food took forever to come, they had Cheesy pizza breadsticks (which came out fairly quick), but the pizza and sandwich came out about 30 – 45 minutes later! The pizza was really thin too so it shouldn’t of taken that long! Plus the sandwich was a veggie sandwich. It was a cubs game so they got a discount on the food, since the game got out as they were eating. Which I guess made up for the slow food in some way. I like the flames on the walls and their creativity of the menu and the item’s names. I guess I will try it again, this time i’ll eat and i’ll go on a non cubs game.

The pizza was good. We just had a standard sausage and pepperoni, thin crust.
The server was… forgetful.
The atmosphere was cool. I was diggin’ the big ‘ol flat-​screens.

I thought the menu names were creative, the décor interesting, and the specialty pizza menu to be rather odd. I guess I’m more traditional — turkey and cheddar cheese on a pizza? What?!
The pizza was pizza — I had the hand tossed. The sauce was rather flavorless and the crust crunchy and cut the roof of my mouth.
Loved the server though, she was great!