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Call it the Smoque effect: when the place opened last Tuesday, anticipation for Chicago’s first New Haven-style coal-oven pizza already ran high, and after glowing reports–complete with luscious pix–hit the Web, the mobs descended. By Thursday LTH diners were writing in to complain of 90-minute waits and harried service. Two days and the romance was over: frustrated posters slammed the owners for the “lack of preparation” and their failure to comp meals when the kitchen was clearly overwhelmed. It didn’t help when, on Sunday night, Coalfire closed early, having run out of dough.
Meanwhile, over at Coalfire, Spillane says the joint’s instant popularity caught him completely off-guard: he knew of LTH, but figured it was read by “like 50 guys or something. I didn’t realize it was thousands.” He admits they were unprepared for the onslaught, but swears this week will be better. “You can only fit so many pies in the oven at a time,” he points out, but they’ve hired more help to at least smooth the prep and customer service. Sunday being Mother’s Day, he says, they underestimated the amount of dough they’d need, figuring it’d be a slow day. They won’t make that mistake again.
