Meet us where tradition and history are the main courses
This family-owned restaurant in Elmwood Park is the place to go when you are craving a thin-crust Italian pizza. Jim and Pete’s has used the same pizza-dough recipe since 1941!
If thin-crust pizza isn’t your jam, you can opt for a deep-dish, hand-rolled, double dough, or stuffed pizza. Or you can choose a traditional Italian entree like Veal Marsala or Baked Zeal.
No matter what you choose, your meal will be one to remember when you settle into the sprawling and welcoming patio space.
Jim and Pete’s is open Sunday through Thursday from 11am to 10pm and Friday and Saturday from 11am to 11pm.
If it’s a Monday during football season, Monday Night Football is playing on the Plasma TVs.
Entrees are between $15-$20. The Veal Marsala is $23. Pizzas range in price from $14 to $29, depending on style, size, and toppings.
Owner Michael Bucchianeri knows this restaurant inside and out. He started working as a busboy at Jim and Pete’s when he was 16 years old.
Jim Sorce and his brother-in-law Pete Pizo taught Bucchianeri the industry and watched as he worked in nearly every position in the restaurant.
Back then, Jim and Pete’s was a small storefront, but Bucchianeri saw the potential in the place. So when Sorce and Pizo asked if he would like to join the ownership group, Bucchianeri jumped at the chance.
Together, the trio expanded the dining room, adding traditional Chicago exposed brick and creating space for larger events. In 2017, Bucchianeri took over as sole owner of Jim and Pete’s.
You can find Bucchianeri at the restaurant, but what you won’t find is a new name on the marquee. Bucchianeri says that Jim and Pete’s will always be the name for this restaurant that traces more than 80 years of tradition and history in Elmwood Park.
Jim and Pete’s is located at 7806 W. North Avenue in Elmwood Park’s Restaurant Row. It’s about a 20-minute drive from downtown Chicago.
