Tavern-style Sausage Pizza at Villa Nova Pizza in Stickney, Illinois

It's Pizza Night at Villa Nova Stickney, where we talk to longtime co-managers Victor Escamilla and Lisa Hodges and check out the pizzeria's signature sausage pizza.
0:00 Intro
0:10 Quick Questions
0:40 Make & Bake
3:03 Take It to the Table
3:45 Quick Questions (Cont'd)
4:25 Patron Roll Call
Villa Nova Pizza makes a tavern-style pizza - a thin and crisp pizza that's heartily topped and then cut into a grid pattern known in Chicagoland as "tavern cut" or "party cut."
On a Villa Nova sausage pie, each one of those cuts has at least one nearly golf-ball size piece of sausage on it - a garlicky, fennel-flecked sausage that's just fantastic. As Victor says, quoting customers, "That sausage is on point."
Villa Nova offers takeout and delivery only. The little tavern/seating area next door that used to belong to them has since been taken over by a sandwich shop, which was under construction when we visited for this video in May 2023. My friends (and Chicago pizza fixers) Subbu Arumugam and Brian Erst and I ate our sausage pizza in the takeout area, perched on the little tile ledge there, and chatted with Victor and Lisa. I'm guessing they normally wouldn't allow this, but Subbu and Brian are known quantities there from their numerous South Side pizza crawls, and so we got to hang out for an hour or so, chat, and shoot this video. Hope you like it!
Until next time, hasta la pizza.
EPISODE NOTES
Villa Nova Stickney: villanovastickney.com/
Chicago Tribune on sausage pizza: www.chicagotribune.com/2017/0...
My May 2023 Chicago pizza trip: www.itspizzanight.com/my-chic...
ABOUT ADAM KUBAN (aka "Why you should trust me"): Adam's been blabbing about pizza online since 2003, when he founded the internet's first pizza blog, SliceNY.com, as a way to document his NYC pizza explorations. At the time, Slice was one of the few places online for serious pizza nerds to gather and gab about this dish we all love. In the intervening years he's become a low-key pizza "expert," with an understanding not only of its history and culture but also how it's made in all its various styles. While entertaining (and then later abandoning) the idea of opening his own pizzeria, he worked at Paulie Gee's in Brooklyn, and then hosted a popular monthly bar pizza pop-up at Emily (also in Brooklyn). Media-wise, he was the founding editor of SeriousEats.com; working prior to that at Martha Stewart Living magazine; having started his career in newspaper journalism. We good here?

[@ericarway]

It's interesting. I grew up across the street from Morton College and we ate a ton of Villa Nova pizza, plus Salerno's, Freddy's, Benny's, Home Run Inn a dozen other places in Cicero / Berwyn and I never once heard the term 'tavern' pizza until these videos started showing up on KZbin. Doesn't really matter. I just find it interesting. That's a very new term. We just called the type of pizza by the name of the place. You were getting a Salerno's or a Villa Nova. If you lived there, you knew what you were getting.

[@heyitspizzanight]

Yeah, I should have asked Lisa and Victor how long they've been calling their own pizza "tavern" pizza. From 2003 to 2014 or so, I published/edited/wrote a pizza blog called SliceNY dot com, and in all those years the writers and I there just called this style "Chicago thin crust" - to distinguish it from deep dish. (I know people IN Chicago don't call it "Chicago thin crust" - maybe just "thin crust," if anything.) "Tavern style" is new-ish to me within the last 5 years or so. I believe it's being advanced by Chicago food writer/presenter Steve Dolinsky. That said, I know a few pizza nerds who used the term "tavern style" - but even then, it wasn't super well defined. I usually hesitate to call it "tavern style," but I did here, because Villa Nova itself calls it that.

[@user-fv5yo5fi5c]

Eric, I grew up in Oak Park and have family that went to Morton and lived in Berwyn. Actually the term Tavern Pizza come from Wisconsin I think. It goes back to some wildly popular frozen pizza from the 70's which I've forgotten the name of. Today taverns serve a ton a Champion brand Pizza. PS..when I was a kid I worked at Allstate Lumber in Cicero in the 70's. Lotsa great joints to get a bite around there back in the dya. Cheers buddy

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@user-fv5yo5fi5c I believe you may be thinking of Tombstone frozen pizza, which grew out of the Tombstone Tavern in Medford, Wisconsin. They were serving tavern pizzas there and got the idea to freeze them. There's also Tree Tavern in NJ, which sells a frozen pizza - but I'm not sure if that's available outside the Northeast? It's kinda interesting - I was talking to my friend Brian, who's a huge Chicago pizza nerd, and he pointed out that a lot of the frozen pizza we all eat is basically tavern-style, via Tombstone and the like. So when people complain about how thin-crust/tavern pizza "is like eating frozen pizza," they're not necessarily wrong. They're wrong in thinking that's a knock to tavern-style, which is GREAT! ANYWAY. Thanks for stopping by and watching and commenting!

[@christopherrlayton8335]

Tavern style was what my Great Aunt & Uncle called it after WWII when they owned 2 taverns and had a pizza oven installed in one. Sure was a great decision for them.

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@christopherrlayton8335 Where’d they run their tavern?!

[@dzurisintube]

Chicago tavern-style isn't a secret but I feel like it always takes an undeserved back seat to deep dish when it comes to regionally defining styles.

[@heyitspizzanight]

100% agree with all this. I enjoy both styles, but I LOVE tavern/thin-crust. All the years I was writing the SliceNY.com blog, the fact that thin-crust was the "non-tourist" / "everyday" pizza style in Chicago came up all the time from Chicagoans. Makes sense. Deep dish is good, but it's a commitment.

[@nextlevelpizza]

One of my favorite pizza styles (coming from a New Yorker here).

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@nextlevelpizza I'm not a native New Yorker, so I feel comfortable enough saying that tavern/thin-crust 100% is my fave style!

[@HB1840]

@@heyitspizzanight Mine too!

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@HB1840 I grew up eating it on family trips to Milwaukee - nostalgia is a heckuva drug!

[@joeitaliano4544]

When we lived in Deerfield, IL, I would drive for an hour to order their pizza. Raised in CT and worked in NJ and Boston Villa Nova Pizza rates in the top 5 places for pizza. Old school package in a paper bag with slits to let the steam out to drive you crazy on the ride home to enjoy a couple of these pies with the family. Don’t miss the opportunity to try this remarkable pie!

[@heyitspizzanight]

That's saying a lot that an East Coast-raised person would have such high praise for Villa Nova. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@paulhavelka4403]

Been going here since 1960...still my fave!

[@heyitspizzanight]

Wow, 64 years of Villa Nova. I'm truly happy for you and the pizza life you've lived thus far. Here's to many more!

[@ThreeToesofFury]

OMG...love this. My next cooking quest will be to perfect chicago tavern style pizza at home. Videos like this are super helpful. thanks for sharing!!!!

[@ThreeToesofFury]

New Subscriber!

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@ThreeToesofFury Thanks for stopping by and for subscribing! Glad this could help you. Hope you perfect your tavern-style pie soon!

[@MichaelFoxMFX]

Wanted to go there for decades. Hope one day soon I can get out there!. So glad to see this pop up on KZbin and see Victor still there

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@MichaelFoxMFX Hope you make it there someday. Thanks for watching!

[@hollywoodrocker69]

I just stumbled upon your channel because I love Chicago pizza. I’ve been going to Villa Nova since I was a kid in the 80’s. It’s crazy because, the view you switched to with your back to the front window, that house right there on the corner was my aunt and uncles house from the 80’s to the 90’s. So many nights of smelling villa nova pizza while I was swimming in the backyard. I use to walk across the street to pick up the pizza. Good times back then. One of the best pizza places in Berwyn/Stickney. I don’t know if you’ve done a video on them yet, but check out Nonno’s pizza in Berwyn on Ogden. Another one of my favorites. Their pizza slices are to die for. If you order a pizza there, order it with Italian beef on it. The Italian beef on a pizza was life changing for me as a kid.

[@heyitspizzanight]

Oh heck yeah, I love these kinds of comments. This is one of the best ones I've gotten on the channel yet! I haven't been to Nonno's yet. Maybe next time I'm in town. I'd want to visit Berwyn anyway to go to the new Milly's Pizza in the Pan location there. I'm super jealous of your childhood and being able to get Villa Nova that easily on the regular. Thanks for stopping by, watching, and commenting!

[@taradactyl5690]

This place reminds me of Vito and Nick's on the southside around 87th and Pulaski.

[@edwardmajka3144]

Marathon Watching 4/25/24 Villa Nova! The best pizza!

[@towdjumper5]

Great stuff.

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@towdjumper5 thank you! And thanks for watching! May your pizza always be delicious.

[@tookitooki8166]

Love Villa Nova!

[@heyitspizzanight]

So much to love about it!

[@bellalegosi7850]

Im going to try them 👍

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@bellalegosi7850 Tell ‘em It’s Pizza Night sent ya! (Not that they’ll recognize who that is lmao) Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@user-ms5ed6kd2j]

There's a small market here in downtown San Diego called Krisp. The deli section makes sandwiches and tavern style pizza. Not NY. And it's the best.

[@heyitspizzanight]

Thanks for the intel! Noted for whenever I might make it to San Diego.

[@markgordon5387]

Wonderful pizza. The world's finest.

[@heyitspizzanight]

Its memory has stayed with me nearly a year later.

[@markgordon5387]

@@heyitspizzanight We've had them since 1960, when my mother and grandparents got addicted to their food. It's not just great pizza, it's the world's finest.

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@markgordon5387 love hearing stories like this. For me, it’s Maria’s Pizza in Milwaukee that’s a family favorite through the generations

[@redriderbbgun8018]

Normally, I don't order sausage pizza. I WOULD ORDER THIS SAUSAGE PIZZA

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@redriderbbgun8018 Correct answer! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@annoyedok321]

That oven is beautiful. Does it rotate?

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@annoyedok321 Not this one! But for one that does, see my video about Kim’s Uncle Pizza - kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2PPXpVunK5me80

[@stevemlejnek7073]

I love a thin crust cut into squares!

[@heyitspizzanight]

What’s not to love?! I also love how there are so many styles of pizza to choose from and enjoy. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@The_Gallowglass]

In Chicago, what you described is just "pizza" and the default is cheese and sausage, not just cheese. :D

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@The_Gallowglass Yeah, I love sausage pizza and know it’s THE thing in Chicago. Hence the sausage pizza order here!

[@GrognardPiper]

Is this the same company as the Villa Nova in Lockport?

[@middnight3474]

My favorite color is ham

[@heyitspizzanight]

Not a bad color, tbh! Thanks for stopping by!

[@ChicagoTRS]

The best...but no pineapple Vic!

[@heyitspizzanight]

It's not for everyone!

[@user-fv5yo5fi5c]

Come on man, pineapple does NOT belong on a Villa Nova Pizza...no way. It's too good and classic. Vic, just say NO!!!!

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@user-fv5yo5fi5c Stirrin' the pot!

[@Lebowski55]

In Chicago, we just call it thin crust

[@heyitspizzanight]

Makes sense! Kinda like how “Detroit style pizza” in Detroit is just “pizza”

[@jasonscott6174]

Why is pizza soooo much better east of the Mississippi?

[@drewhunkins7192]

It's where the Italian immigrants first really took root in America. So the sauces and crusts are going to be of good quality.

[@jasonscott6174]

@@drewhunkins7192 Understood. Likely a lot more genuine, too. It's just the way that it is. 🍕

[@MatthewHill]

I have never seen anyone slice pizza into... squares?

[@heyitspizzanight]

@@MatthewHill Pretty common in the US Midwest. It’s called “party cut” or “tavern cut.” Grew out of taverns serving complimentary pizzas at the bar as snacks. Grid cut ensured there were more pieces to go around; that they were small enough to fit on a napkin, thus eliminating the need for plates; and that the smaller pieces held up better to the cheese/toppings than a larger triangle cut would.

[@packrodgers855]

Did he say pineapple?????

[@heyitspizzanight]

I think that’s what you heard! 🍍🍕Enjoy!

[@mikeforner7797]

tavern???????????????...what is that kind?

[@patrickmcintyre6507]

mr al

[@heyitspizzanight]

Thank you for watching! Good to hear from you.

[@RBS314]

I’m not thrilled to see the kitchen staff handling so many items without gloves. Pen, paper, doe, cheese, meat , etc. hopefully the oven heat kills the cross contamination. Sorry

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

They wash rinse and sanitize their hands before they start cooking.

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

They've been doing it since the fifties nobody's gotten food poisoning they've never been shut down so obviously they're doing something right chief 🤡🤡

[@heyitspizzanight]

Thanks for watching!

[@jimlahey3919]

They wash their hands before handling food. It’s not 1980 where they could get away with it

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

@@jimlahey3919 you'll never tell these people anything you know what I mean brother....

[@ericvonp]

Little Franks in Burbank is better…

[@heyitspizzanight]

Adding it to my list for next visit to Chicagoland! Thanks for the rec.

[@piervalsa]

as an east coast transplant out to this area i tried them twice and both time when i called the order in and asked to have them cut it pie cut. when i got home with the pizza's they were square cut. even though it was good i wont go back because if they cant listen to how the customer would like the pie cut why give them my business. Chicago what the hell is with square cut Pizza's

[@321novrain]

I'm east coast too......the way that this pizza is cut is something I could never understand nor enjoy eating.

[@hollywoodrocker69]

Just ask them not to cut the pizza. Then cut it yourself at home. You had to grow up in Chicago to understand and love square cut pizza. Those 4 corner slices are the absolute best and everyone goes for those first.

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

​@@hollywoodrocker69EXACTLY

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

One thing you have to understand that kind of pizza is made to be cut small and square. If you tried to cut it pie wise it's going to be a train wreck

[@heyitspizzanight]

Thanks for watching!

[@wrxzboost]

guy lost all credibility when the word "pineapple" came out of his mouth