Reprinted with permission from The Calumet Press
 

MUNSTER – Phil and Vince Bacino know a good thing when they see it. That’s why they’ve decided to carry on the family tradition and spread the good word (and food) to people throughout the Calumet Region. The two brothers are responsible for bringing the much-loved John’s Pizzeria to new locations in Munster and St.

John. From the reception they’ve gotten, it’s apparent customers are passing around the buzz.

John’s Pizzeria got its start in 1943 when Phil Bacino (the brothers’ grandfather) settled in the Chicagoland area after trekking across the sea from Sicily. He decided to open a pizzeria in Calumet City and name it after his son, the brothers’ father. John’s was the first of its kind for Regionites, who responded to the southern Italian food with repeat business.

“The things he believed the most in were quality and consistency. If you could make it homemade, we did it,” said grandson Phil, an avid golfer who once gave it a shot on the professional tour.

Old-school practice has served the family well. John’s still makes its own dough, sauce, and sausage. John’s sauce became so popular the family started bottling it and selling it separately. It also offers homemade pasta, lasagna, ravioli, and manicotti. But the big draw is still the sausage.

According to Vince, a lot of pizza places use chunk sausage on their pizzas. John’s cooks its Bacino family recipe sausage and grinds it to spread it all over the entire pizza. “The sausage is the whole idea. That’s the main reason people come for it,” said customer Laurie Goddard, who said she’s been coming to John’s since she was a child. Vince says that the sausage - and the rest of the menu - keep people coming back for generations.

“People kept asking, ‘When are you coming out here? When are you coming out?’ So these are our first steps,” said Vince.

Besides its signature pizza (sizes small, large, and family), John’s Pizzeria offers pasta, appetizers, salads, sandwiches, Italian desserts, and family dinners. The family dinner gives the customer chicken, pasta, salad, garlic bread, and pizza with one topping for $10.95 per person (2-person minimum). John’s opens at 4 p.m. daily at 247 Ridge Road, across the street from the Applebee’s at Ridge and Manor. John’s, which delivers, can be reached at 836-8536.