Rainbow Pizza

$ 4/​slice for warmer pizza that tastes awful? Unless you’re drunk this is a total pass over. What a joke… and waste of money.

This is a quick stop to get some moderately cheap food in Boys Town. Even though this pizza is re-​boxed Renaldi’s, it is still pretty good. They are open until 5am too. Nothing fancy, but still a place to stop in if you’re looking for a bite to eat on a late night out.

Beware these false advertising hucksters. I received a promotional coupon for Rainbow Pizza during Pride. The coupon stated «Get a Piece on Halsted» on one side, and on the other side, it said «Present this card for a $ 4 slice and a free Pepsi drink.» I assumed this meant that the bearer of the coupon received the slice (which is typically $ 4) and the drink for free. I presented the coupon to the guy inside — he simply pointed outside and told me to talk to the smoking manager (?) standing on the sidewalk. Immediately, the manager (or whoever he was) very rudely barks to me «You get a free drink! It’s for a free drink, ok?» «But, the coupon says…» I reply. «A FREE DRINK! You pay four dollars for the pizza and you get a free drink!» he angrily tells me. Clearly, I was not the first person to be tricked by their confusing and misleading promotion. I just walked away — if they want to keep their customers happy and get return business, they should honor the free pizza and soda promotion, even if that’s not what they originally meant (which I think is a crock anyways — they purposely made the wording confusing to get people into the place!)

A one star rating for Rainbow Pizza is a generous rating. I first went during Market Days. The slice of pizza was over $ 4 a slice, which is fairly typical for a slice of pizza in Chicago. The pizza itself… far from typical of Chicago pizza. When I opened up the box, the slice was hard and stuck to the box. It looked like a piece of several day old frozen pizza thrown in a box. The slice was not only an aesthetic disgrace, it also tasted horrible! My drunk taste buds couldn’t even enjoy its taste. I returned a few months later hoping that the place had improved. It was the exact same. I also found out that the pizza is delivered way in advance from another local pizza joint. I could make a Jack’s frozen pizza, bring it to a friend’s apartment and sell it outside with more positive reviews than this place. Save your money and go to Beggars or Pie Hole for a better late night local option.

In a word: tragic.
This place is easily distinguished by the tacky, how-​1990s rainbow sign out front. Yeah this is Boystown and Gay Central, but hasn’t the rainbow thing kind of run its course now? You’re selling second hand pizza — couldn’t you come up with a better name than Rainbow Pizza?
I’ve tried it three times now — once right after they opened, at Market Days; once around Halloween; and now here at the end of 2012. If anything, it’s consistent: hard. dried out slices, cardboard tasting crust, ingredients fused onto/​into the triangle shaped container, varying food temperatures (between lukewarm and stone cold), lack of choices, and way overpriced for what you get.
$ 2 for a can of Pepsi???
And lastly, the grumpy old guy who usually works there smokes inside and even though it is not designed as a sit-​down restaurant, it reeks of smoke. It’s located between a head shop and a couple of gay bars, and the area is kind of sketchy.

Glad to see this quick stop, pizza place on Halsted. Perfect for a late night snack. Sure, its nothing fancy. 4 choices. Cheese, Pepperoni, Sausage or Veggie. It is Made by Renaldis (Broadway and Surf). And it gets delivered fresh, about once an hour, throughout the night.
Sure — it’s not the same as sitting in Renaldis. But its fills the spot.
No chairs here — no frills, just grab a slice on the run. It’s NOT a restaurant. Just slices and drinks. — I understand from North Halsted Merchants Assoc, if they had ovens and chairs it would require a restaurant license — and that space could not qualify as a restaurant. Its grab and go decent pizza. Cash only. No big deal, many places are asking for cash only these days — especially on little ticket items.

Hooray for supporting local businesses. That’s what Northalsted Market Days are all about. It’s even better when they’re gay businesses. Take Rainbow Pizza (no, really — please take it away).
Their business model is kind of like the Little Caesar’s of pizza by the slice. They’ve got warming ovens packed to the top with slices of basic pizza for $ 4 each. Stamped on the top of the boxes is the name «Renaldi’s Pizza» from another part of town. So, I guess they buy from the Renaldi’s and then resell them here?
I’m not sure. All I can definitely say is that they don’t have any chairs or stools here. This was one of my first stops when I got to the festival because I thought I should eat something before it gets too cray, cray. When I asked about chairs he said they didn’t have any because that would require a different kind of license.

I have lived in Chicago for 26 years, and can say without a shred of doubt that this is the most abismal excuse for «pizza» I have ever had. I would rather pay $ 5 to chew on an old ladys chin mole than eat this ever again. A pure disgrace to a city that prides itself on pizza that doesn’t taste like Llamas genitalia. It reminded me of the garbage they serve at crappy water parks. Next time I am hungry and slightly over served, I will reheat leftover Hot Pockets and be much happier.

I stopped in here with a friend last night, as the line for the newly named Dimo’s was literally out the door and Beggars was closed. I figured that we could give this brand new establishment a shot, as it just opened maybe a week ago. My friend and I love our late night pizza, and I was a little put off by the completely empty restaurant at 2 or 3 in the morning on a Saturday night, but hey, this is summer in Boystown, where men actually care what they look like.
They don’t take cards, cash only, and the owner simply pointed me to one of the two ATM’s located inside. Huh. Strike one. They only had 4 types: cheese, pepperoni, pepperoni and sausage and sausage, so we decided to give it a fair shot and split one of each between us two. The pieces were a good size, but they were stacked in a warmer and were obviously not fresh. They were also individually pre-​packed. We might as well have been at 7 – 11. Strike two. We gleefully rushed back home to eat our pizza and strike 3 woefully emerged: the pizza sucks. It’s not disgusting, but the crust is boring and lame, and the toppings reminiscent of 7 – 11 quality. I know that restauranteurs aren’t opening up gourmet late night eateries for a reason, but this is still Chicago and there are far too many great pizza places in a two block radius to eat at Rainbow. Unless of course you’re that drunk and you don’t care if you eat thick cardboard. Slices are also around $ 4 or $ 5. I handed them a $ 20 fresh from the ATM and got about 5 back.
I guess it’s really for the best that I don’t live next door to a delicious pizza joint anyway. I’ve been known to go on benders.