Spacca Napoli

My Dad is obsessed with pizza to the point that he tried to feed me some as an infant. His love is focused on Chicago-style deep-dish like Lumalnati's, and my taste is often a bit different, but the love of pizza has rubbed off on the entire family. I truly enjoy all types of pizza and other than the chain, Sbarro's, I've never had a pizza I couldn't eat. Lately, I've been particularly hooked on Neapolitan style pizza with thin crust, chunky tomatoes and delicious cheese. Spacca Napoli is the pinnacle of this type of pizza.

The restaurant is focused solely on using the best ingredients to make pizza the way Italians really eat it. Spacca Napoli offers several different varieties, containing lots of ingredients, or just a few, like the classic 'Pizza Margherita.' Everything is delicious and served quickly from the special oven. They have appetizers too - including a really yummy eggplant (melanzane) dish that's served cold.

But, the pizza takes center stage here. I've had a few of different kinds and while they are all fantastic, 'The Buffalina,' is the show-stopper. It's a classic margherita style pizza, with cheese, tomatoes and basil, but the cheese is really special. It's buffalo mozzarella, and it's creamy and hard to stop eating.

Spacca Napoli is a wonderful place. It makes me want to visit Italy so bad it hurts and happy my Dad forced pizza into my life so early. You'll never want American-style pizzza again.

Tab: About $35 for a pizza, appetizer and two Peroni's