AVONDALE — Pizza fans rejoice, much-loved Dante's Pizzeria finally opened its second location Tuesday evening.
After facing some of the usual delays — such as surprise repairs and the like — owners of the Logan Square New York-style pizzeria opened their new, bigger location just across the border in Avondale, at 2825 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Devotees of the original location and all its dark mythological and occult imagery, will not be disappointed. The Avondale location blows out the theme with more dark, hell-inspired paintings and some surprising new touches, such as a church pew for seating and a garbage cover made to look like a confessional.
All the food favorites will be offered, such as the Geryon, Minotaur and Virgil pies, to name a few, not to mention wings, sandwiches and other goodies.
Owners Tim Murphy and Aaron Butts also hope to get a liquor license "as soon as possible."
"But we have the liquor store [Crown Liquors] next door and we're BYOB," Murphy offered for the time being.
Murphy and Butts opened the original Dante's Pizzeria at 3028 W. Armitage Ave. in September 2011 and ever since have been serving jumbo New York-style pies that easily rival the actual New York City variety.
Both have amassed a fair bit of pizza know-how at other Chicago pizza joints and can often be seen through the kitchen window throwing dough themselves.
They also spent a full year perfecting their dough recipe before even opening the first Dante's.
"We did it at my house with a little mixer and one pound of flour at a time," Murphy said Tuesday afternoon as he and Butts prepared to open the new location. "I like it. I don't know that it's perfect — OK sure, it's perfect."
"It's the best," chimed Butts, with a laugh.
It will be a few weeks before the Avondale location will begin delivering, but when it does it will expand the current delivery area north to Irving Park Road between Pulaski Road and California Avenue. Right now, delivery stops at Belmont Avenue.
The Logan Square location will continue delivering south to Grand Avenue.
The hours will be the same at the Logan Square location — 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Once they get a liquor license though — they said they will apply soon — Murphy and Butts said the Avondale location will stay open later.
Until then, the two said they hope to get plenty of people coming in to hang out with drinks of their own.
"Come to the restaurant and buy pizza from the restaurant, is what I think," Murphy said when asked to say something about the new location.
With that, Butts laughingly chimed in again.
"Yeah, buy our pizza!"
