After one month, we’ve been very pleased with our new hours and menu updates. Being open four days a week is much more efficient and cost effective, and is giving me some needed time away from the kitchen for my personal/family life and non-cooking business. We’ve been selling more barbecue than ever, people are clearly happy to have Midnights and burgers available every day, making pizzas all weekend has been a hit, and doing weekly specials instead of daily specials has worked well for us and for customers. Thanks for your support and for a great start to 2024!
Here are two additional menu updates that we announced on social media over the past month.
Pepperoni Update
When it comes to Chicago-style deep dish pizza, I’ve always been a sausage guy. The only pepperoni pizza that stood out in my mind was one I ate at the original Pizzeria Uno. In my memory, the pepperoni was sliced thick, which I really enjoyed, so that’s how we cut the pepperoni for our pizzas.
Some online comments alerted me to the fact that some people find the thick-sliced pepperoni difficult to eat. I discussed this with my wife, a big fan of pepperoni deep dish. She reminded me that our favorite Chicago pizzeria, Pizano’s, cut their pepperoni thin and layered the slices on the pizza.
So I experimented with this approach and really like the result. It’s the same amount of pepperoni by weight, but sliced thin and covering the entire pizza. Moving forward, this is how we’ll be doing pepperoni pizzas. It’s packed with pepperoni flavor and easier to eat.
Pastrami Update
When we introduced brisket pastrami last spring, it was our Saturday special. We sliced it hot for sandwiches and by the pound, and whatever we didn’t sell was available in the deli case on subsequent days until it was gone. On certain days we would also offer a toasted pastrami sandwich special with the cold-sliced meat.
Week before last, when our weekly special was barbecue cheesesteak, it became clear that offering the toasted pastrami sandwich in addition to the cheesesteak, Midnights, burgers, and hoecakes was a little too much for our small flat top. So, we are switching pastrami to a weekly special that we will offer from time to time like our other weekly specials.
