Persona Pizza Chicago
If I was forced to choose one food item, and this one thing would be all I was able to eat for the rest of my days, I feel pretty comfortable saying that pizza would be the way to go. You can go NY style, thin crust, deep dish, marinara, pesto, meat lovers, veggie; the options go on and on. Just as your choices of toppings are never ending, in Chicago your choices of where to order your pizza from can seem endless as well. There are the old staples we all know and love, be it the deep dish spot you take your family when they are in town, or the spot in your neighborhood that is perfect on a cold winter evening. But where to go, when you are in rush before a meeting, hungry because you forgot to eat breakfast, or want to grab something tasty for home as you depart work for the weekend? Persona Pizza, located right in the loop on Washington and LaSalle is your go to for quick, delicious pizza.
Persona Pizza is an award winning pizza chain due to the renowned skill of World Pizza Champion Glenn Cybulski. Glenn and his group of partners opened their first Persona in Santa Rosa, CA and success took off from there. Now Chicago has their first Persona being led by Greg Dunn, a local Chicagoan who has many ties to the food and beverage industry. We met with Greg at the new location and his excitement about bringing the Persona product and brand to his hometown was evident.
Persona prides itself on its fresh ingredients and fast service. Their dough is made fresh every day, a good deal of the produce is sourced locally and the pizza is cooked in 90 seconds in their wood fired oven. Greg was nice enough to treat us to dinner and we all sat down to sample three delicious pizzas and a salad. We had the Burrata and Beet salad, a make your own veggie pizza with Persona’s pesto base and two from their, “The Tops” section. First was the BBQ Chicken, Bacon and Ranch and the other was the Chipotle Chicken, a pizza that has won an award at the World Pizza Competition in Napoli, Italy. What really stood out was the delicious crust. It was crispy and never felt weighed down by the different meats, cheeses and sauces. Between the pizzas and fresh Burrata, it’s hard to imagine that during a blind taste test, anyone could tell a difference between Persona’s fast on the go product with a more expensive option.
If you have a bit more time or looking for something other than pizza, Persona has more great options. They have a variety of salad options and are adding calzones, pasta and a meatball sandwich to the menu. Soon they will be selling beer and wine for all those looking for a relaxed, happy hour option.
If you are in the area, go check out Persona Pizza. We recommend the Chipotle Chicken but go ahead and make whatever works for you. A quick 90 seconds later you’ll be more than happy you stopped in!
Persona Pizza invited me and a guest for a complimentary tasting of their menu, but all opinions are my own. Cover photo provided by Persona.
