Eddie's Pizza & Pub

Rule #1 of grocery shopping: Don’t Shop Hungry. So on the way to the store Sunday afternoon we dropped into new North Aurora restaurant Eddie’s Pizza & Pub, located in the Clock Tower Plaza on the southeast corner of Oak and Randall. Eddie’s just opened in December in the space previously occupied by Danelli’s.

You know how some places are named after a fictional guy who is never there? Not the case here. Eddie is purely non-fiction, a former ComEd guy from Aurora who just wanted to open up his own place.

The décor is classic pizza joint: the tables are decked out in red and white checkered cloths along with jars of parmesan and red pepper flakes. Championship banners and framed pictures of Chicago’s beloved sports teams adorn the walls. Flat panel TVs display playoff football. And for your interactive entertainment pleasure, a gigantic 20th Anniversary Golden Tee Live 2009 arcade game is standing by to vacuum up all of your dollar bills.

When you find a table at Eddie’s, don’t feel unwanted if your server doesn’t run up to take your order. It’s only because here the patrons place their order at the bar. It’s a full bar, too, offering liquor, wine, and beer including Miller Lite, Bud Light, and Blue Moon on tap.

Mrs. Voice and I split a house salad to start. Normally this wouldn’t be much to talk about because most restaurants use their house salad as a profitable way to discard their lettuce cores and depressing veggies. But this is what I would call a “nice salad.” First, it was made with romaine and spinach instead of the customary iceberg, and Second, it was actually big enough for us to split and not feel cheated.

Although the menu offers plenty of choices like wings and Italian beef samiches (which looked really good slathered with cheese as a staff member whisked it past our table), we went with Eddie’s suggestion, the Jackpot pizza, “Sausage, Pepperoni, Onions, Green Peppers, Mushrooms.” Good times. Our pizza was thin crust, but a deep dish option is also available For A Few Dollars More. (just skip the Golden Tee if you need the extra money)

Stop in and say hi to Eddie. And tell ‘em you heard it from the Voice!