The Margherita

Sometimes a pizza is just a pizza. Yet for whatever reason, we seem obsessed with categorizing them according to geography. Flour & Stone, a recently opened Streeterville spot, promises Brooklyn-style pizza. Inasmuch as that designation means anything, it leads one to expect that the crust will be thin, the edges blistered, and a slice, for lack of a better word, kind of floppy. According to TV and movies, people in New York are always going somewhere, and their pizza must be such that it can be folded and eaten on the run. In this respect, Flour & Stone fails: I tried to fold a slice and run and succeeded only in the latter. So is it then Brooklyn-style pizza?

No, not really. But it is pizza, and as far as pizza goes, it’s pretty good. We tried the Margherita, and it was a perfectly serviceable interpretation of the classic pie with red sauce, mozzarella, and basil. We didn’t fare as well with the “build-your-own” option, where the large chunks of our chosen ingredients—chicken, artichokes, and roasted red peppers with a white sauce—overwhelmed the pizza, making the slices floppy, but not in a good way.

Flour & Stone is counter service, which I’ve heard people complain about given the prices, but the staff was friendly and very helpful, so who really cares if they take your order at the table or not? As for beverages, at the moment there’s only soda, but for now you can BYO sans corkage fee (there are plans to add beer and wine pending a liquor license). Drink enough wine and anything becomes floppy.

Flour & Stone, 355 E. Ohio, 312-822-8998, flourandstone.com