The Top Pizza in Carbondale
But the reality is Carbondale does have several very good pizza places and some that are just not cutting it. The problem is, the best ones, are often a little more expensive than the chain stores.
In my opinion, the best pizza in town is from Pagliai’s, but I’m also a fan of whole wheat Mondays at Quatros and for cheap, nothing beats Wise Guys. And what do they all have in common? Not one of them is a national chain.
Pagliai’s is on the Strip, the section of U.S. Highway 51 just north of the Southern Illinois University campus and has been for at least the fifteen years that I’ve lived in the area. It’s a small, unassuming building with a rock facade and no glowing neon signs or huge name on the door. In fact, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s easy to miss.
The reason Pagliai’s, affectionately known to the locals as Pag’s, is such a great place for pizza is that it is still made the old-fashioned way, after you order it. That means no delivery within 30 minutes. No street side pick up on your way home from work and no promise that they always have pepperoni pizzas ready to go like some of the chains offer.
Instead, they offer specialty pizzas, like the chicken, bacon and tomato alfredo pizza that is my favorite. No tangy red pizza sauce here, just a ton of grilled chicken, real bacon bits and fresh tomatoes baked into a creamy alfredo cheese sauce.
Pag’s also offers the traditional pizzas, both American traditions like pepperoni, and more true Italian traditions like artichoke hearts and red onions. The restaurant is small, seating maybe 50 people, and delivery often takes an hour, but the taste of the pizza makes it worth the wait.
The major problem with Pag’s is that they are more of a family restaurant than a college pizza joint and close early, at midnight or before, in a college town. Domino’s, by far the worst pizza in town and the worst service in Carbondale, delivers until 3 a.m. during the school year.
Domino’s Carbondale location is everything a pizza place shouldn’t be. The pizza itself is bland and boring and the service is so bad I would rather go to the store and buy pizzas to cook at home than call Domino’s. My worst experience, though not my only bad one, happened recently when I called to ask if they still had their large single-topping pizzas for $7 each if you bought three. The clerk hemmed and hawed and eventually said he could give them to me for that price. I asked if he had any other specials and he quoted to me a family dinner option including sodas and dessert that we weren’t interested in for $25. So, I ordered the three large single topping pizzas.
When my pizzas arrived, the order was wrong. In addition, taped to the top of the box was a coupon offering their nationally-advertised special of any large single topping pizza for $6 and a note saying that the coupon was not required for this special. When I called back, the same clerk told me that he is not supposed to talk about that special unless people ask for it specifically. When I mentioned that I had asked about his specials, he asked, “So what, do you want me to bring your dollar back?”
I told him no I wanted to talk to the manager. Strangely, there was none on duty and no one ever called me back. The pizza as bad, the order was wrong and the staff was rude. Carbondale Domino’s will never get another dime of my money. Second to Pag’s, Carbondale’s other best pizza is Quatros and many would argue that it is the better pizza. On Mondays, when they offer a whole wheat crust, I sometimes find myself agreeing.
Quatros is again very close to campus and caters a little more to the college crowd with $1.99 pitchers of soda or beer on Wednesday. The pizza has a heavy tomato sauce which I do not like as well as Pag’s, but it is good on the whole wheat crust. The do not skimp on toppings and they do offer fast service, especially over the lunch hour.
Again though, I find their service rather lacking. The delivery service is only available until midnight and the wait time at the restaurant can be horrendous, especially if the Saluki football or men’s basketball team is playing in town.
The restaurant itself is in a strip shopping center and rather dark. It seats about 75 people in two rooms and tries to cater to a family atmosphere when students aren’t in town. The pizza is not, in my opinion, as good as some of the other menu items including their chef salad, but it is head and shoulders better than Papa John’s, Domino’s or Pizza Hut.
The best option for late night pizza is hole in the wall restaurant called Wise Guys’ just off the Strip on College Street. Wise Guys is open late, usually until 4 a.m., with pizza and subs. It is the best of the late-night pizza, though otherwise rather plain. Still, the cost is reasonable and the timing’s right for pizza in a college town.
Carbondale has at least eight pizza places in town and any college student will argue in favor of a different one, but the locals know that the best pizza in town is at Pag’s.
