- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Leona's Pizzeria
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
5 reviews for Leona's Pizzeria
It's probably more like 3.5 stars, but I'm feeling generous today.
Thanks to my husband's generous but somewhat stereotypical grandparents, we found ourselves here last night for dinner at 4:30 p.m.
(And there weren't even any early bird specials!:))
This was my second trip to Leona's, actually, but I figured I should wait till I went again to review it. So here we go--
Good:
-- Large variety of food, mostly centered around Italian-American
-- Nice decor, slightly snarky
-- Food is good, portions are HUGE (I got the "petite" salad and it was more than I could eat -- I'd hate to see the "regular")
-- Tasty garlic-y bread, crisp fresh lettuce in my enormous salad, husband's pizza looked delightful, other food reported to be good
-- Food was timed well
-- Raspberry lemonade was delicious
-- Kept the Pepsis coming for my husband
-- Brought a whole little pot of coffee for Grandma
Not so good:
-- I was never offered a refill (maybe lemonade refills aren't free?)
-- Service was a little spacy. Felt like the waitress was sort of apathetic, and when it came time to take the check and return the change, she took her sweet, sweet time. I started to wonder if it was because we were with older folks, if there was a little senior discrimination going on. (Note: there were very few other people in the restaurant.)
It's a good place to go for tasty food and big portions, but I feel like they could stand to step the service up a bit. Generally when people are ready to pay they are also ready to *leave* and it shouldn't take 20 minutes from receiving the check to getting your change, especially when the restaurant is not at all busy.
Still, given how much the grandparents seem to like it, we'll probably be back again when we're in Oak Lawn.
Leona's has excellent food...and to be honest, that's about it. When Leona's initially opened in Oak Lawn, it was the best restaurant around. However, when I currently dine in at the restaurant, I have to be prepared to EXPECT a problem. Whether it's all of the food coming at a different time, the wrong order being brought to our table, food missing, or a general bad attitude from the employees (I've never had the same server twice in this restaurant), dining in is never pleasant.
Delivery is no better. Normally, I have to double whatever amount of time they tell me my food will be delivered so I can expect it at the proper time ("It will be 1 hour sir!" Means 2 hours, etc). The same can be said for the service and mistakes made with the orders.
To sum up, Leona's of Oak Lawn has great food that is ruined by horrible service.
I really do enjoy the food here. You are served heaping servings of unpretentious, home-cooked Italian food. And not to mention some of the best mozzarella sticks. (You buy them individually- but two is more than enough!) And for the most part, the service here is friendly, courteous and prompt. Even though, I really think the Leona's on Taylor street is the best, I am happy to admit that this is one time a restaurant went semi-chain, that it still retains the quality of the original.
I've been coming to this Italian place for a while and 4 out of 5 times I really enjoy the food. Except it's been 2 occasions when they run out of things that I ordered. I have a usual here, its the "baked garlic chicken with an order of wedge fries and fettuccine Alfredo. YuMmY. While I wait, they offer a freshly baked bread with or without appetizers. It's right in front of the Westfield mall aka Chicago Ridge mall, so after doing a little shopping( and you prefer not to eat from that food court like me) just cross the street for an Italian meal.
I used to love this place. I really did. I've been coming to this Leonas location since it opened. I've since moved further south and still made the drive to eat here. I've chosen to spend a few of my birthday meals here! However, the food is only incredible when they can get the order right. I understand that their food takes a while to prepare, it's always been well worth the wait! However, on more than one, more than two, and actually, more than three occasions within the past year they've gotten a whole order wrong. They brought a huge patty of beef when we ordered a Big Fat Vegan burger. Our request for a cheese and veggie pizza came back with sausage and pepperoni. These aren't small simple mistakes like forgetting the side of barbecue sauce. These are mistakes that ruin the whole meal which we've already waited paitently for only to recieve something we can't eat. The waiters and waitresses were usually unapologetic (only one waiter apologized and got the right order as quickly as possible.) It's sad that I can't go back to a place that I used to eat at often; their food was not only great tasting, but wholesome, too. I'll miss you, Leonas in Oak Lawn.
Specialties
Catering, Delivery, Pizza, Lasagna, Beer, Wine, Burgers
History
Established in 1950
LEONA'S, Believe It: For Real, the same family business for 59 years! One Big Usually Happy Family. Today we operate some of the most successful restaurants in Chicagoland because we've held to a simple philosophy: Good Food, Good Attitude.
Meet the Business Owner: Leon T.
Leon: Fearless Leader
Insanely qualified to lead, that's me. Conceivably conceived between lunch and dinner 55 years ago. 3rd generation, creatively named after my grandmother Leona and genetically programmed to live the agony and ecstasy of a restaurateur.
Imagine spending your entire life in the family business. As a youth I remember being ,mildly embarrassed about being raised above the original Leona's. Then I hit adulthood and became obnoxiously proud of such authenticity.
It takes a strong family to persevere in the hospitality industry today and our resolve is not tot measure our success by short term profits. More importantly, our long term success will be determined by the smiles we can put on the faces of our employees and customers...oh my God. I've turned into my father.