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frankfortstation.com Dining Out
the frankfort station | November 9, 2017 | 27
The Dish
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza comes to Orland Park
Franchise made
famous by Florida
focuses on Italian,
New York traditions
Bill Jones, Managing Editor
Chicago-area folks can be
particular about their pizza.
We like sausage and green
peppers, on everything. Pepperoni
is allowed. But start
talking about shrimp or pineapple
and you better have a
solid exit strategy.
We give props reluctantly
to the Windy City’s elite
counterpart in New York,
but the very notion that other
places in the nation may
have figured out how to replicate
the culinary wonders
of the pie is like telling us
a Loch Ness Monster really
was spotted in the latest
blurry photograph.
“Yeah, OK.”
And when it comes to
pizza from the lower half of
either of the coasts, no one in
their right mind should even
try to start that conversation.
With that, I present to you
Orland Park’s latest: an Italian-inspired
pie by way of
Brooklyn’s coal-fired ovens
from a company started in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza
opened its doors Oct. 30
at Orland Park Crossing, its
walls lined with both New
York icons and Dan Marino,
who is involved with the business
and sees his name appear
alongside two eggplant dishes
on the menu. Its slogan, a simple
pun: Pizza well done.
While the company started
in Florida, Brett Damato,
a regional manager for Anthony’s
and a Long Island
native, said what it offers is
“authentic to Italian roots”
modified by the Brooklyn
style of coal ovens that
founder Anthony Bruno
Large meatballs with ricotta cheese, bathing in a tomato
sauce, are served in orders of two, four or a bucket of 13 on
the Anthony’s Originals portion of the menu.
grew to love in New York.
“We’re bringing our roots
here,” Damato said of the
chain.
And Anthony’s is sticking
to what made it famous on
the East Coast. Patrons will
not find a cheap imitation of
Chicago deep dish inside of
its walls.
“It’s not what we do,”
General Manager Annie
Schwartz said. “Thin crust.
Well done.”
The method is key. Anthony’s
uses an oven that
burns coal — nothing more,
nothing less. And its cooks
constantly move the pizzas
to create a deeply dark crust.
“It’s got such a color underneath,”
Schwartz said.
Anthony’s flies in its tomatoes
from Italy for its sauce,
after Bruno finds a farm he
likes and buys it out for the entire
year. It uses only Grande
mozzarella, buys only the full
wheels of pecorino Romano
and Filippo Berio olive oil.
Meatballs are always handrolled.
And those ingredients
are applied with balance, rather
than quantity, in mind.
The Anthony’s Originals
portion of the menu offers
just two franchise staples:
coal oven-roasted chicken
wings, served with caramelized
onions and focaccia
bread, and meatballs
with ricotta cheese, slowly
cooked in a tomato sauce.
“The wings, I think
they’re life-changing,”
Schwartz said, noting they
are marinated for 24 hours
and baked, rather than fried.
Anthony’s Classic Italian
Salad comes in two sizes,
with an option of cheese, but
with only a house dressing.
The Italian Soul Food features
three items, and diners
also have three sandwich
options, but only one choice
for dessert: New York-style
cheesecake (obviously).
“We have a very simple
menu,” Schwartz said.
“There’s not pastas or any
of that. Simplicity is how we
do it. ... Less is more here.
“This menu is Anthony’s
culture. These meatballs are
Anthony’s mother’s.”
The meatballs and ricotta pizza is one of the specialty pies offered at Anthony’s Coal Fired
Pizza in Orland Park. Photos by Bill Jones/22nd Century Media
Anthony’s Coal Fired
Pizza
14205 S. LaGrange
Road in Orland Park
Hours
• 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Sunday-Thursday
• 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.
Friday-Saturday
For more information ...
Web: acfp.com
Phone: (708) 873-7900
Anthony’s is proud of its
Floridian roots, and Miami
Dolphins Hall-of-Famer Dan
Marino lends his name to
both the eggplant Marino as
well as a specialty pizza made
with the same thinly sliced
eggplant, layered with tomato
sauce and grated Romano
cheese. The catering packages
even play on Marino’s
jersey number, with a package
priced at $13 per person. And
a bucket of 13 meatballs at
Anthony’s is fondly referred
to as a “Dan Marino dozen.”
“He’s actually been with
us since we opened the second
Anthony’s,” Schwartz
The cooking space at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza reaches
800 degrees.
said, noting Marino was a
regular of Bruno’s Runway
84 restaurant before that. “A
lot of the menu items stem
from there.”
Schwartz started with the
company eight-and-a-half
years ago, while in college,
in Florida, and said research
led to the 65th store in the
franchise opening in Orland
Park, making it the first of at
least three spots planned for
Illinois.
“I think they needed
something like this out
here,” Schwartz said of the
concept. “It’s nice to be in
another end of the world.”
The Orland Park spot has a
bar and roughly 20 tables in
its 3,000-square-foot space,
allowing it to feel cozy,
“like home,” according to
Schwartz. And Damato said
he hopes that is what Orland
Park becomes for Anthony’s
and its roughly 50 employees.
“We felt like Orland was a
great town to be in,” he said.
If Orland Park is wise, it
might just want to swallow
its Chicago pizza pride along
with a slice at Anthony’s.