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Windy City Pizzeria to bring Chicago to Albuquerque
The shop will serve deep-dish and tavern-style pizzas inspired by Lou Malnati's
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Maxwell Wolf remembers the first time he tried Chicago-style, deep-dish pizza.
It was at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria when he was 10 years old. It quickly became his favorite kind of food, and he鈥檚 never turned back.
鈥淚 slowly taught myself how to make pizzas, and now I can make a good deep dish, and I鈥檓 just wanting to bring that to Albuquerque,鈥� Wolf said.
With a little help from his father 鈥� Robert Wolf, an experienced entrepreneur from Chicago 鈥� Maxwell Wolf is launching Windy City Pizzeria, a Chicago-inspired pizza shop situated inside a shopping center at 4000 Louisiana NE, next door to Horizon Bagels & Cafe and around the corner from Smith鈥檚.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a project, but we鈥檙e excited,鈥� Maxwell Wolf said. He and his father were at the 1,647-square-foot space with a construction crew last week, prepping it to open sometime in early November.
The shop will feature everything from authentic deep-dish pizza to tavern-style pizza 鈥� a crispy thin-crust pizza also popular in Chicago 鈥� and fresh salads with homemade dressing, French bread, Italian sausage sandwiches, Italian ice and tiramisu.
The shop鈥檚 pizzas will also be available in a freezer for customers who want to eat the business鈥� offerings at home, at their own convenience. Carryout and dine-in service will also be offered, and some form of delivery service will likely be implemented later, Maxwell Wolf said.
The business will fill a pizza gap in the retail center, which had a Pizza 9 before it closed and a Richie B鈥檚 Pizza before it relocated to the West Side. The Wolfs believe it will also fill a city-wide gap of shops 100% committed to authentic Chicago-style pizza. Robert Wolf said Windy City Pizzeria鈥檚 creations will be similar to Lou Malnati鈥檚.
鈥淚鈥檝e been going to Lou Malnati鈥檚 for my whole life; it鈥檚 always been the best,鈥� Robert Wolf said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to follow their routine and tweak (it) up, of course. We鈥檙e very confident, and we鈥檙e going to make it right.鈥�
The pizza won鈥檛 be the only thing influenced by Chicago. Maxwell Wolf said the shop will also showcase designs similar to shops in the Windy City and play sports games featuring the Cubs and Bears.
鈥淚 want them to come in here and be like, 鈥榃ow, this reminds me of a pizza shop in Chicago,鈥欌�� Maxwell Wolf said.
Robert Wolf said he鈥檚 happy to be a part of the project but is looking forward to seeing his son lead the business. For Maxwell Wolf, following his father鈥檚 example and creating something special for customers is the highlight of the venture.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something about seeing a customer smile,鈥� Maxwell Wolf said. 鈥淚t just makes you feel good.鈥�
Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.
