The most annoying thing about eating at one of the half-dozen new thin-crust pizzerias in the city is listening to the incessant babble of food nerds comparing and contrasting every bite of their pie. “The crust doesn’t have the chew of Spacca.” “They don’t use pomodoro tomatoes like Coal Fire.” “At Crust, the mozzarella is made in-house.”
Thank God the diners in Oak Park are happy with what’s just outside the city limits and dig right into Trattoria 225’s fresh-from-the-oven pizzas. Without listing any of the afore-bitched-about comparisons, the pizza is decent. The crust is a bit greasy (and it’s the generous slather of oil that blackens the bottom), but the toppings are fresh, the dough is perfectly tasty and the combinations are tempting (especially the fennel sausage, goat cheese and roasted red pepper).
And despite the enormous space, bright lights and thoughtless choice of piping in an ’80s XM Satellite Radio station, this spot is worth visiting even just for appetizers, like the perfectly grilled octopus, baked clams sprinkled with spicy cherry peppers and a trio of bright bruschetta (pictured). Hell, with a wallet-friendly wine list replete with generous half-glass pours for around $4 (although, the college kids waiting tables couldn’t guide you with a map), we’d stop in just for some drinking. But if we catch ourselves raving about some city pizzeria after that third glass of wine, we promise to shut up and stuff our mouths with another perfectly good slice.