Ranalli’s Up North

Thankfully this place is gone. It was a shady place to begin with, and the food was crap. You won’t be missed.

This location was closed when I drove by it today. It said closed by order of the City of Chicago… never a good sign.

This is a cute locale with a kind of hippie/​college town vibe. The people who work here are super sweet. Ranalli’s makes a serviceable thin-​crust pizza — tasty and cheesy, not world class. I enjoy coming here — even with the reduced dining room. It’s cozy and fun.

Sadly, they lost the dining room. Still my go-​to take out place, especially for deep dish, and they have a few tables in the main room, but I’m going to miss that big, comfy space.

DO NOT GET PIZZA FROM RANALLI’S!!! I would have given it zero stars if this website would allow it!
Their pizza is just «ok.» Nothing great. But it’s just a few blocks from our house so we order from them. Tonight we ordered a pizza for delivery and when I opened the box I saw that the top of the pizza had slid off!!! I was wondering why the driver seemed so nervous and ran off as soon as he handed me the pizza! And, it also made sense why the box was dripping all over me.
I immediately called Ranalli’s to let them know what had happened. I told Mark, who claimed to be the manager, the situation, and said we’d just like a refund and that we don’t have time to wait around for another pizza to be delivered b/​c we had to be somewhere. He said they would not give us a refund unless they got the pizza back,
They would give us credit but we’d have to give them back the pizza; he’d send the driver back. I explained we didn’t have time to be messing around with this because now we will have to find an alternative for dinner and our guests were hungry.
At this point, my husband who was listening in the background got on the phone to speak to this «manager», to ask him why he was giving me such a hard time. Mark explained that he wanted to see the pizza to «see how bad it was» before determining if a refund was appropriate. At this point, my husband told Mark that it was a pizza whose toppings had slid off, which is really the only way that a pizza could end up inedible, and that we did not want to wait around for the driver to come back. Mark than had the audacity to tell us to leave the pizza on the front step, and that if he agreed with our assessment of the food, we would see a refund on Monday. At this point, my husband became noticeably upset, and let Mark know that if this was the way that he wanted to proceed, he could be assured that we would never be eating at his restaurant again. Mark, after muttering something under his breath, begrudgingly agreed to process the refund.
Fast forward three minutes, Mark calls back, and then GOES BACK ON HIS WORD!!! He tells us that he has been instructed that without the uneaten pizza, there would be no refund coming. At this point, my husband is so angry that he took the pizza and DROVE IT OVER TO RANALLIS. Mark is waiting up front OUTSIDE in full confrontation mode. My husband showed him the screwed up disgusting pizza, and Mark gives him the refund. When asked why he would make customers go through all of this, Mark tells him that yelling angry customers expect free stuff all the time, and that he has to be sure. KEEP IN MIND ALL OF THIS OVER $ 20!!! Basically, this guy is calling us out to be liars! What happened to customer service, or the mantra that the customer is always right.
Bottom line, Ranalli’s. You run a second rate restaurant. Your food is average at best, and that’s only when you can actually get it in a timely fashion and in an edible state. But worst of all is your overall lack of regard for your customers. I have never been treated this way at any establishment, ever. I know it is probably not important to you to know that only one customer feels this way, but I did think that you should know that we have ordered or eaten at your restaurant over 20 times in the past years. Given that we are relatively young, I do not know what that would have amounted to in the long run, but it certainly was a whole lot more than the $ 20 you could have refunded without the attitude. We will be taking our business elsewhere FOREVER, and I strongly recommend anyone reading this website to do the same. DO NOT EVER, EVER EAT AT RANALLI’S. THEY DO NOT WANT OR RESPECT YOUR BUSINESS!!!

This was the first of the Ranalli’s «chain» that I have been to. I tried it the first time a couple years ago. I have to say I enjoyed the patio and the service was okay, however, the basic chicken caesar salad I had sucked. It was like a salad soup. It’s nice that the lettuce was washed and all, but they should have taken it out of the bowl they washed it in. I gave Ranalli’s another go not too long ago, and the 2^nd impression wasn’t any better. And now I read they are closed down currently due to health code violations… good, maybe the neighborhood will be blessed with some where worth going.

Well the food was not bad but the atmosphere was shit.
To start I hate hippies…
I am pretty sure that requirements to work here include…
Failing a drug test, you must smell like pachouli and have a lot of metal shit in your face, not that I dont have piercings but theres a time and a place… And a limit
The place is small, dark and musty. There is shit written all over the walls and the employees kinda suck.
In conclusion if you can handle dirty ass hippies handling your food it is good for carry out.

Went there this past weekend with my two teenage sons. The food was very good. The boys had an appitizer called the ultimate combo which consists of onion rings, mozzarella sticks & chicken fingers and the kids really liked it. I was surprised to see some different appitizers on the list and so I ordered the guacamole & chips. I could tell it was made fresh and the chips are homemade too… it was delicious and it was a generous portion for a $ 6.95 appitizer. We then ordered the thin crust pizza which you really can’t mess up and they didn’t. The crust was just right.
The service was a little slow but the waitress was very friendly. The décor is a little mismatched and it seems like they just threw anything together to make it look the way it does. I would go back again and the fact that you can BYOB is sure to be a plus.

The thin crust pizza slices are what I consider to be perfect thin crust pizza and are a great lunch deal. The panzerotti is delicious, but you need to have the time to wait and eat a massive, flaky-​crust, vegetable-​laden pizza pastry.
For some reason, the music playing when I’m there is always really good.

I would really like to know what happened to the Ranalli’s «chain». In fact, I would like to know how the Ranalli’s restaurants are «related» to one another. The old Ranalli’s on Lincoln seemed to be in the perfect location: Tons of outdoor seating, near Lincoln Park, and in a neighborhood that doesn’t have any of the other «chain» deep dish pizza establishments (Gino’s, Malnati’s, etc.) The «new» Ranalli’s — the one at Clark and Belden — is good, but the menu is goofy. They serve everything under the sun, and it seems incomprehensible that they can do it all well.
We went to Ranalli’s Up North last weekend. We expected the restaurant and the menu to be the same as the Ranalli’s on Clark. Not even close. As other reviewers have stated, Ranalli’s Up North is a very «hIp» restaurant. The interior really does have a neat vibe. However, the outside seating area is kind of dirty and gross.
The menu is fine — better, I suppose, than Ranalli’s on Clark because it is more limited. We ordered two salads and a double decker with sausage, green pepper, onions, and pepperoni. The salads were just ok. But, the salads at the Ranalli’s on Clark aren’t great either. The double decker pizza was very similar to the pizzas we get from the Ranalli’s on Clark. The crust was nearly identical, but the sauce and ingredients didn’t taste quite the same.
While we didn’t like Ranalli’s Up North as much as we (typically) enjoy the Ranalli’s on Clark, it may be the case that Ranalli’s Up North suffers from the same lack of consistency as its sister restaurant on Clark. The Clark St. location generally makes an excellent double decker pizza, but, every once in a while, we get a stinker. (We never order the thin crust, pan, or stuffed pizzas, so I haven’t had them in years and I don’t even know if those are edible at Ranalli’s.)
We would go back to Ranalli’s Up North, but only if it were really convenient and we were starving for pizza. The BYOB is a real plus, though.

Now that I have a little perspective on Chicago pizza, maybe I’m better qualified to review my neighborhood deep-​dish joint.
I’ve tried Ranalli’s a heaping handful of times, maybe six or seven. It’s reliably good, relatively inexpensive and reasonably quick for delivery. I don’t bother with thin crust — if I get thin crust, I’m going all the way at D.O.C. or Spacca Napoli — so the stuffed is it.
Eating in is nice; the quirky seating and hippie flavor of the dining area makes for a fun atmosphere, and I can never argue with a little BYOB. (There’s a liquor store down the street if you forget to grab a bottle from your private cellar before you leave home!)
But even when I order delivery, the pizza shows up hot and fresh, with that gooey cheese and oversized toppings that spill out from between the layers of crust and sauce when you cut into the pie.
Always a treat, and I always end up positively STUFFED afterward!

I’ll give em a 2.5…
After months of passing by this ultra-​hip looking establishment (think original tags, mood lighting, the whole nine), I decided it was time to give it a shot. Too intimidated to actually enter the building (can you say, hipster), I ordered delivery. It was perfect timing because my mom was in town and we were both craving pizza.
One word: mistake. Why, oh why, didn’t I order from Spacca Napoli? To put it nicely, the pie was «eh». Even with our creative topping selection based upon Ranalli’s extensive list of options, this pizza was generically unappetizing at best. Even worse was the salad. Seriously! Do not order a salad from this place. Watery, brown, thin, narsty lettuce, combined with equally unfresh veggies. Gross.
The service was speedy, I’ll give them that. And, they introduced me to diet RC soda. I will probably give them another chance, but maybe I’ll actually go and do the whole BYOB thing (yes, they are BYOB). That way, at least maybe I won’t realize how unsatisfying their food is.

eh. it is so/​so. I am on the hunt for really good, thin crust pizza with delicious crust. where is it, cause it ain’t here.

if you want the option of having sauerkraut, salami or sardines on your pizza, this is the place!
if you’re going to eat here then your best bet is the pizza. the EXTRA thin crust pizza is my favorite. i like to get oodles of toppings and devour it all!
walking into ranalli’s is like walking into the house of a chill, tree hugging friend. the vibe here is very relaxed. the lighting is low and the seats aplentiful. you have comfy armchairs paired with oddly shaped tables. there are bookshelves loaded with dusty digs that you’re more than welcome to enjoy while dining.
when compared to pizza hut or the like, sure it might seem a bit pricey. but you’re getting your buck’s worth. and you sure as hell can’t bring a six pack or bottle of wine into your local domino’s!

Ate the sausage and mushroom thin crust it was OK. But it was a little pricey for the mediocre quality.
The only bonus to this place was that they let me order at 11:50 pm on a weekday night, just 10 minutes before closing.

This place is just down the road from me, so that’s a huge plus and, if I hadn’t caught myself, that would’ve made me give this place a 5, but none of you care how happy I am to have a great pizza place within walking distance from me!
Anyways, the things that are great about this place include: food, wait staff, atmosphere. That just about covers everything, doesn’t it? We’ll start with the food.
The first thing I had here was their «panzerotti», which is basically a pizza folded in half and pinched shut. It takes a while to bake it, but it’s well worth the wait. The crust on their panzerottis and pizzas is amazing; flaky, lightly sweet, and firm all at once. The number of ingredients they have available is HUGE, and they’re all fresh. I give their sauce a B+ because, while it tastes good and has a nice consistency, it could be a bit sweeter.
The wait staff seem to sincerely be happy to work at Ranalli’s. It shows in their casual, easy-​going, friendly demeanor. I showed up for dinner on New Years’ Eve, and employees that weren’t working were just sort of hanging out. That kind of devotion generally means that the owners/​managers are intelligent people, which definitely shows in the quality of the establishment. My only criticism of the wait staff is that sometimes they’re maybe a little too relaxed, and take their time checking up with you, or noticing that you need the bill.
The atmosphere is another great thing about this place. It’s dark, intimate, with soft music that, while isn’t exactly the kind of stuff I listen to on my own, isn’t annoying or distracting. They’ve got lots of neat little things to stare at in the dining area, like old matchbox cars, comic books, book books, and so on. I haven’t sat outside yet, but plan to when it gets warmer.

Hooray for a cozy place that you can carry in a bottle or two of wine and enjoy a nice meal with friends.
The double decker pizzas are delicious and I’m still excited by the fact that I can get things like carrots or cilantro or sauerkraut on my pizza. All toppings above/​beyond the fourth are free, so I like to go nuts. The menu has enough vegetarian-​friendly items to satisfy me, and one of my good friends (who is the pickiest eater I know) even likes this place.
I love the laid-​back atmosphere and the interesting things on the walls, etc. Every time I go here, there is something new for me to look at (like the magazine clippings of models in lingerie in the bathroom!).
Now that smoking indoors has been banned, smoke doesn’t seem to be an issue at this place.
If only they’d stop using beans with lard in ‘em. Then I could craft myself a taco pizza of sorts and could rate them a 5.
Edit: As I was driving around tonight (delivering for another pizza place), I had a customer ask me to go get him a pack of smokes and some beer. I guess any driver for any establishment is free to do this on their own, but when I worked at Ranalli’s, we routinely had people call in cigarettes/​alcohol on their order so the driver knew ahead of time to get the goods. Just another nice service :)

Not so good. The pizza is bad, and the panzerotti tastes weird. A few bad dishes really turned me off to this place.

I used to order delivery pizza from Ranalli’s all the time, until it started to be consistently. .. burnt. I love their funky outdoor café, though.

This is called Ranalli’s Up North, as opposed to a couple of other locations that are apparently further south. The menu features tasty Italian items like pizza, lasagna and puffy panzerotti (sort of like a giant calzone), but strangely enough there are some typical Mexican dishes too. There is an outdoor seating area alongside its bohemian mural on front of the building. The place is BYOB, but there is a good selection of cold soft drinks.