Joliet's Best Pizza Winners May Surprise You

JOLIET, IL - On Saturday evening, Elder Brewing held its first Joliet Pizza Off to determine the winner of Joliet's best pizza. Hundreds of people packed into the downtown microbrewery to participate in a piece of a Will County election history. The pizza line stretched outside onto Cass Street around 5:30 p.m. and it stayed that way for more than an hour. "The winners were so close even down to the single vote," Elder Brewing posted on its Facebook page later Saturday night. "Congratulations to all seven and thank you so much for participating. We can't believe the turnout with over 150 votes!!!! The winner of the Best Sausage Pizza in Joliet is Michael's Pizza. The winner of Best Cheese Pizza is Linda's Pizza Westside. Overall winner is also Michael's."

Voters were given little decorative flags or markers to select their winner. Nikos Pizza got colored circles/roses. Linda's got American flags. Cemenos got umbrellas. Michaels got forks. The Big Chill got red/orange. Mauries Tables got blue/green. Aurelio's got yellow.

Elder Brewing told Joliet Patch that they ordered a total of 42 pizzas for the event. Talented Joliet musician John Condron was on hand and playing several of his favorite songs.

"I came hoping to have some new pizzas I've never had," Chris Staford told Patch. He lives in the Plainfield area of Joliet, the area known as "Jo-Field."

For him, Saturday marked his first visit to Elder Brewing. He was not disappointed. "I've got some good beer and I've got some good pizza. I'm happy. It's the best of both worlds," he smiled.

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor