Burt's Place

08/10/09

SKIP THIS DUMP

by ralp at Citysearch

Smelly, funky atmosphere. It smells like Burt is keeping his pets in the restaurant, and that they went to the bathroom once too often -- I'm not kidding.

The pizza is CHEAP. Crust is BIG, lots of cheap dough. Very, very little cheese. I ordered "double cheese" on our pizza because I had read a review stating that there wasn't much cheese on the pizzas at Burt's, and even with a supposedly "double cheese" order, we got VERY LITTLE cheese.

Then when I complained, they went in to the back room and supposedly consulted with Burt himself, and came out and said he would NOT put more cheese on our pizza. Then our waiter told us he would NOT charge us

for extra cheese, but when the bill came, the extra charge was on the bill !!

The service was quite bad. The waiter and waitress barely paid attention to us, and gave us misinformation about what we were ordering. It was obvious to me that they didn't care about the customers.

I say, DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE ABOUT THIS PLACE. It's a dump. If you like cheese on your pizza, this is NOT your place. And the service and attitude are REALLY BAD. Go to Gino's East, or even Giordano's if you like deep dish. Burt's is a crap-hole.

• Pros: sauce is good
• Cons: EVERYTHING IS A CON

03/31/09

A Diamond in the Rough

by ScottWagner at Citysearch

Before the tv show coverage, Burt's Place was a hole-in-the-wall, old timey, hidden gem of a place that only those looking for great Chicago-style deep dish pizza without any flashy-ness knew of. Its still is.

Burt and his wife run a very laid-back little place. Yeah, its not fancy. It never pretended to be. Sure, its quirky: you have to call in your order an hour ahead of arriving; its located in a converted blacksmith shop; its not spotless and cookie-cutter new; and the staff consists of Burt and his wife--who are real people. But for years, that's why people have come to this wonderful place. The quirkiness and the pizza.

Burt's a living legend of the Chicago pizza scene. Look him up.

His pizza is the caramelized, thin outer-edges, thick, but light bottom crust, deep dish pizza like you might have had a Pequods. Which makes sense since he founded that perennial favorite. However, he knows just when to pull the pie from the oven--before the edges burn.

The few other things on the menu are easily forgettable--except the Great Lakes beer. Then again, you shouldn't come to Burt's for anything but the pizza and a beer.

Not surprised the other reviewers didn't dig Burt's. Its not for everyone. That's why Burt's Place is "Pizza for Adults."

• Pros: Terrific pizza and service. Treat you like family.
• Cons: Calling ahead takes forethought.

02/18/09

don't believe the hype; think 70's trailer with bad pizza

by stevo197411 at Citysearch

I know, we've all seen it, Anthony Bourdain's visit to Burts Place. Notice in the show, he never recommends the pizza. There is a reason for that. It's horrible. DO NOT GO HERE! One, the staff of 2 (including hippy Burt) let the show give them huge egos, and they will treat most poorly. Two, they haven't remodeled the place since the seventies. Three, the pizza isn't truly a deep dish. It's about as deep dish as a grocery store bought pizza. My pizza was undercooked. Four, the pizza is way way overpriced for the quality of food and environment. Four, the bathroom is disgusting (you know what they say about restaurants bathroom, it reflects the kitchen). Five, it's out of the way from downtown.

This is no lie. I've eaten all over the country, and this was honestly one of the worst experiences I've ever had. Even if the pizza was good, the staff was totally rude.

DO NOT GO HERE. You've been warned.

The ratings here do not reflect what it truly is. They must be crazy about Bourdain or something. Think 70's trailer with a kitchen.

• Pros: none
• Cons: far from city, dirty, old and not remodelled, not truly deep dish, very very rude staff, pizza isn't any better than a grocery store pizza.