Its pizza is much better than its fugly logo.
I like to pay out-of-season visits to places like Lake Geneva.
For some reason, things like saltwater taffy, novelty T-shirts with something pissing on something else, and the presence of water manage to bring in tourists from around Wisconsin, and a plethora of self-important fuckheads from Illinois in summer.
But in winter, the place takes on a whole new persona — like a sleeping city of sorts. Or like Sheboygan with more stuff to do and fewer sexual assaults.
With the aforementioned FIB-influx, Chicago residents — who would probably melt if ever forced to eat a thin crust pizza — have used their loud-mouth influence to bring a bunch of stuffed pizza joints to Lake Geneva. Down panderingly-named routes like “Wrigley Street”, “Curtis Enis Run” and “Honk your Horn Because the Guy Ahead of you Didn’t Run a Red Light, and You’re in a Hurry to Watch the Cubs NOT Win the World Series Again Boulevard”, you’ll see Chicago-based chains like Geno’s East, and various other purveyors of the stuffed pizza shamelessly using the word “Chicago” in their names.
When my pal Vince invited me to his hometown of Lake Geneva to meet him for some stuffed Za at Original Chicago Pizza Co., get drunk, talk about Sons of Anarchy and make fun of Corey Hart at length, I gladly accepted.
THE GOOD: Where do I start? Our stuffed pizza, called “The MOB”, found Italian Sausage generously stuffed in the pizza, along with chunky amalgamation of sauteed green peppers, onion and fresh mushrooms. It was cheesy as shit, and the crust (though abundant) was a surprisingly welcomed addition to the package with its golden crispiness. The best part was the sauce. Bar none. At first glance, it looked like a fat chick’s heavy flow period… all black and pepper-flecked with the occasional mushy chunk of what appeared to be stewed tomato. But it tasted almost twice as good. And it was everywhere. I totally got Red Wings by the time I was done… and, like usual, I loved it. Odd coloring aside, I rank the sauce in my all-time top 20. Plus, it was a way more “authentic” Chicago-style Za than anything you’ll get from those dickless corporate neckties at Giordano’s. Except the whole not being anywhere near Chicago part.
On a non-pizza note, all their pitchers of beer cost the same ($8.50)… which is a total rip if you’re getting Miller Lite, but a steal if — like us — you opt for Spotted Cow.
THE BAD: Location. OCPC is inconveniently nestled beneath a shitty looking tattoo parlor and across from the broad side of the local Post Office. We snagged a window seat in the 20-capacity, bar-from-Uncle Buck-looking bistro, and the scenery ranged from a public facility’s Westerly brick wall and an annoying pack of girls who just got matching hummingbird tramp stamps and the kanji symbol for “unoriginal” on their ankles. Beyond that, the names of the specialty pizzas make “The Pak’r Back’r” seem like a work Kafka by comparison. If “The MOB” isn’t bad enough, they seriously have a pizza called “The WINDY CITY” and a sandwich named “The WRIGLEY FIELD HERO” (Bartman?) on the menu.
TRY: Parking in the City Hall Parking lot, then walking back to Main Street if you’re going to be in Lake Geneva over night. For starters, you won’t get a parking ticket. Also, I found $20 on a snow bank. We used it to get hammered at Champ’s.
RATING:
My first bite.
