Ach-N-Lou’s Pizza Pub

I am a crust fanatic and This place takes the cake! It’s flakey and crispy yet still chewy! They have THE BEST BLT pizza I have ever had in my life! They don’t offer delivery which is the only ding I would give them but it’s so good they don’t need to offer it because it’s worth the drive! Their appetizers are always hot And they have an amazing hometown ma N pop shop feel!

If you like «Old School’ thin crust pizza… especially in Aurora, this is a solid joint to consider for in-​house or carry-​out.
However, looking for a new angle, I purchased a frozen A-​N-​L pizza to cook in my own oven! «That’s a different perspective completely.
I decided to buck the odds in regards to label warnings regarding variable cooking time disclaimers, no warnings of «gluten», and not a single «peanut» was involved!
Unfortunately the taste of A-​N-​L pizza doesn’t translate the same in frozen form. The cooked pie had the taste of squeaking cheese curds on your teeth while the pizza sauce was as rare as ponding water on scorching asphalt. The Italian sausage only made an guest appearance.
It wasn’t good!
«It’s not delivery, It’s DiGiorno’s»

Ach-n-Lou’s is a blast from the past, it reminds me of getting pizza as a child in the 80’s, largely because I don’t think a single thing has changed here since then. The pizza is great, and while we’ve tried a bunch of different options, the classic thin crust cheese and sausage is simply the way to go.
They’ve got a really crazy «super cheese» pizza which I’d say is worth trying once, as it’s insane just how much cheese they manage to stack on it, but you’ve got to *really* like your mozzarella to get through any more than once slice of it. Similarly, their taco pizza is great, but I recommend eating in if you’re curious about one as they stack lettuce on top and you really need to eat it while it’s in the sweet spot of the pizza being hot and the lettuce being cold.
Deducted a star as I *really* wish they offered delivery. Ach-n-Lou’s would likely just be out default pizza place if they delivered, but I guess we just need to think ahead and keep a few of their frozen pizzas on hand for when we have pizza emergencies around my house.

Ach and Lou’s is great pizza. One of the better thin crust pizzas in the Chicoland area, IMO. If you are going with the goal of being pampered with service and attentive wait staff — this is not your place. You stand in line and place your own orders for food & pick your own bottles & cans of pop out of a cooler and then wait for you name to be barked out over the sound system. The place is usually pretty busy, so you have to play the vulture game of table watching to bag an open table.
Good sauce. Cheese is different from most pizza places and I mean different in a good way. I can’t put my finger on it? Is it a mix of mozz & something else? Different moisture content than regular pizza cheese? I don’t know. Great sausage — not the typical rabbit turd style by real sausage. I am guessing it is made especially for them by a local butcher and not the typical pizza supply type. I was a little saddened to see that they use a pre-​made crust. It is a good crust, but I had always thought that was their own.
Our favorite dish is the baked mushrooms. Really simple, but really good. Mushrooms, pizza sauce & cheese. My liking would be a little more baked cheese, like a French Onions Soup or baked lasagna — you know almost burned on top. The cheese is the pizza cheese and is very thick and chewy.
I have found Ach & Lou’s to be one of the few pizzas that is NOT as good or better as a next day leftover. It must truly be enjoyed in the old school goodness of the Farnsworth Ave location. It is just about unchanged since the ’70’s. I like that.

1 star for horrible customer service. Our family has been coming here for 30 years. They say they close at 10pm but started turning lights and music off at 930pm and turning customers away. The manager or owner (whoever closes up) at the end of the night screamed out at 10:01 «FOLKS WE’RE CLOSED.» Not even a thank you or a polite way to say please leave. I will say pizza is always consistently good but I wouldn’t recommend eating in. It’s not worth it to be treated horribly when you have given this business your time and money over the past 3 decades.

The pizza here is quite good– not my favorite, but it ranks high for the far western burbs. This is, however, just a cool, casual, friendly place to hang out or take the family. If I had kids, I’d probably be here often. Expect a long wait (an hour or more) for your pizza if you walk in and order on a weekend night. Ours was a little longer than that, but I think that was by mistake (i.e. forgotten) — they made up for it by offering us a free round of beers. Forgiven. :)

If you grew up in Aurora (like I did) there is a good chance you’ve eaten quite a bit of Ach n’ Lou’s pizza. The key to the deliciousness of this pizza, in my humble opinion, is the red sauce. I’m not sure how they spice it, but it has a great flavor. The other important key is the crust. To me, it can be almost sweet, like a nice homemade Italian bread. Finally, I think they also spice the cheese a little with maybe some oregano or something. Whatever their recipe is, I REALLY like it. I purposely order Ach n’ Lou’s whenever we have out of town guests because I like to introduce them to an Aurora institution. In all my years of doing that, it always gets fantastic reviews. Nine times out of ten, we order pizza. But they also have good sandwiches. The «combo» is phenomenal.

Been here several times over the years. I have noticed that the prices keep going up and the toppings keep going down. Customer service is terrible. Just left after ordering a personal 10″ sausage for $ 8.70. I have to say the worst pizza I have ever eaten. Never had a chewy thin crust pizza. A frozen Aldi pizza would of beat the pants off this one. Sorry… I will never be back!

Delicious old-​school pizza pub! While they have burgers and sandwiches, the reason to come here is for the pizza.
They serve thin crust pies, cut into squares, the old Chicago way. This pizza is loaded with toppings and tons of cheese, the sauce is tangy-​sweet, the crust is crisp. Everything I love in a pizza!
I’ve been coming here for years, so maybe being a regular helps, but the staff is extremely friendly, too. Oh, and they have beer I bottles and on tap. Excellent experience all around.

Just tried Ach-N-Lou’s pizza for the first time tonight. To be honest it is no better than any other pizza place I regularly order from. I usually order from Tony Weeds, Luigi’s or Rosatti’s. I picked up the pizza no more than 5 to 10 min. after it came out of the oven and 15 min. later by the time i got home the cheese was pretty hard even with the sauce piping hot underneath it. Service is great. Everyone was very nice. I’ll just stick to the places that deliver near me.

This place has really gone down hill with their food. Ordered the mozzarella mushrooms and the mushrooms where severely under cooked and the cheese was very chewy. It’s definitely changed here. You can feel it when you walk in. The service is very cold like there’s no heart left in this restaurant. We ordered a large pizza and a cheese just kept falling off and not in a good way. We’ve been coming here for years and every time we visit this is always our first stop. It’s like they don’t care about their food anymore. Sad to see such a great establishment like this in such a weird state. I hope they change for the better and soon.

Delicious !! Everything here is wonderful! One of my favorite places to travel to for pizza!

Nice, locally owned business. Excellent pizza.

Um there deep dish 15″ is amazing I think its like one big loving pizza I had the spinich and garlic deep dish and My family had the Sausage on one side and peperoni and garlic on the other side. They loved it… My only thing is pizza small kind pricy but is it worth it OH YEAH! I will come again in fact I dream about the pizza.

Ach-N-Lou’s has never disappointed. Our family always gathers there and they have great pizza. We always get the thin crust, square cut and it is always perfect!
I cannot say enough good things. Plus they have a freezer full of pizzas to take home which we always do too. Just as good as dining in. Not the same as New Jersey pizza, but flavor of the sauce & cheese are very similar, crust is a little crunchier.
If you can only get thin pizza at one place in Illinois, do it here.

This has been our pizza spot for 20 years now. We love their thin crust pizzas and even buy a couple frozen ones to take home each time we are in there to eat. I describe it as good old fashion pizza.

More fond memories of this place growing up. Since I moved out of the area, I have 5 top pizza places that I try to visit when I’m in town. Ach-N-Lou’s is one of them. Gotta get my pizza fix and my friends are always happy to meet me here because it’s yummy.
There is nothing fancy about this place… just a little pizza pub in a strip mall off Farnsworth. But the pizza is fantastic! I order thin crust cheese and there is nothing else needed on this pizza — no need to smother it in cheese and peppers because it is perfect just as it is. Beer & wine is available in bottles.
They recently added video casino games. I still think that’s weird, but kinda cool if you just want to play some video poker without going to the casino.

Old school pizza. Just your classic ingredients at this place. But you will also get a perfectly cooked thin crust pizza every time as well.
We have been eating here for years and never been disappointed. Make sure you ask for fresh crust on a busy night. It will take a few more minutes for your pie to arrive, but well worth the wait. We love pizza, so we have tried every pizza place in the area, but always end up coming back to Ach’s.
Not a big fan of the recently added gaming machines, but I guess that is what we call progress in Illinois. The gaming machines are crowding in on the bar which use to be a nice place to sit and have a beer while waiting for your pizza if you were getting it to go.

Ach-N-Lou’s is awesome, no doubt about it. I come here for lunch, as it’s right down the road from work and the food is good. The employees are extremely friendly and make you feel welcome.
The interior is a nice mix of booth and table seating, but there’s a bar and also gaming machines. This place certainly deserves to have «pub» in its name. It isn’t overly bright in here unless you’re near the windows. Closer towards the pickup counter and bar, the atmosphere is very pub-​like. If you removed the restaurant portion, it would feel like a dive bar (that’d be awesome!) I love me a good dive bar and maybe that’s why I love this place so much.
The pizza isn’t bad but the sauce is a little sweet for my liking; it’s very similar to Braconi’s pizza sauce. The toppings and cheese are quality though, and the pizzas are well cooked so no complaints there. The thin crust is my favorite. If you choose, you may purchase their pre-​made pizzas to bring home and cook at your convenience. Every time I’ve visited, I’ve witnessed many patrons purchasing pizzas to bring home and cook later, so they must be good. I’m just a lazy cook when it comes to pizza and prefer delivery, but maybe I’ll bring some home one day.
Their Italian beefs are phenomenal. Why? Because they are the size of a football and they sit in your belly like one. You honestly will not need to eat for a while after consuming one of these bad boys. What I love about them is they put the hot peppers UNDER the beef, therefore keeping them in place while you eat. It’s not your typical giardiniera either, but pickled peppers (small jalapeño or possibly serranos) sliced lengthwise. It’s different, but damn it’s good. I also chose to have it sweet topped; the bell peppers are raw and diced which was again different, but surprisingly good. Portillo’s has nothin’ on Ach-N-Lou’s.
Even though they have a bar, this place is family friendly and not somewhere to come, get drunk, and make a scene. I wouldn’t say it’d be somewhere to hit up for a date (nothing fancy here) unless your date is into low key and casual. Good food, great vibe, friendly service. I’m a fan!

Disclaimer: I prefer to eat my pizza with utensils. Ach n lou’s specializes in thin crust, and they do not disappoint.
Very good sauce, very good cheese. Just good pizza, no other way to describe it. Love the vibe of the restaurant. Restaurant is small in front, but there is a whoel dining area in the back. Highly recommended for thin crust za!