Roots Handmade Pizza Opening Today

Grid View

• Exterior view of Roots Handmade Pizza.
• ice-encrusted liquor taps featuring Eristoff 100% Grain Vodka and Cazadores Tequila Blanco.
• sliding door features 250 year old reclaimed wood from the building. The same wood is used on many of the tables, the entire bar, walls and other details throughout.
• oversized brown leather booths surround the bar area and comfortably seat six.
• Roots boasts a Midwest-only beer list with 15 beers on tap. Roots partnered with Two Brothers to create their own house brew.
• Roto-Flex gas pizza oven, a special pizza oven used to make all Quad Cities style pizza. Can cook 28 large pizzas at a time.
• Additional forty Person dining area has views of the kitchen. Mirrors will be put up so diners can see the chefs at work from this dining room or from the outside.
• Roots housemade rootbeer called "Roots Beer"

A new pizza place is opening in town today, but this one is a far cry from the traditional deep dish style Chicago has come to be known for. Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner, the team behind the The Fifty/50, are opening Roots Handmade Pizza, bringing Quad Cities-style pizza (Mohr is from the area) to Chicago. This hand-tossed pizza, where toppings almost always go under the cheese, is distinguished by its malt crust, thin layer of slightly spicy sauce and scissor-cut pizza strips.

The 6,500-square-foot interior, with seating for 223 inside and 92 on the patio, is divided into three different areas. The front room, with a 35-seat U-shaped wooden bar and 13 oversized brown leather booths, comprises details like funky fixtures with edison bulbs; 250-year-old reclaimed wood from the 110-year-old building; and garage doors that open up on to the street. A small lounge features an electric fireplace and some couches. And a back room, which looks into the open kitchen, can seat up to 40 will often be used for overflow or private parties.

Roots will have five specialty pizzas and nine featured salads with build-your-own options for both. They will have fresh housemade mozzarella, three fresh daily pastas and will grind sausage in-house.

The bar will carry more than 70 Midwest beers (15 on tap), including the Two Brothers-created "Roots House Brew," which is similar to their Domaine DuPage French Style Country Ale. Roots will have two ice-encrusted liquor taps pouring Eristoff 100 percent grain vodka and Cazadores Tequila Blanco chilled to 15 degrees. Specialty cocktails are based on childhood favorites, like Big League Chew and Sour Patch Kids. The team also created an in-house non-alcoholic Root Beer called "Roots Beer."

Roots Handmade Pizza opens today at 4 p.m. and its regular hours will be 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., closing at 3 a.m. on Saturdays.

Roots Handmade Pizza Menu